Timberline

Timberline is not just the beating heart of Aquilegía, but its thinking brain and flexing muscles as well. To keep with the bodily analogy, this planet does not just pump blood throughout the system, but acts as marrow and produces its blood. This is by design—interplanetary governance is difficult. Better to harness the power of multiple worlds without having to manage multiple worlds. Learning lessons from the old Sol System, Timberline's dominance is maintained throughout constant warfare. The Isocratic States of Proción, all twelve of them, exist on the surface of this world.

Timberline was first visited in 2312 CE as the Armada de Nuevo Colorado surveyed the system. There was much debate about which moon of Aspen would make for the capital, then of the Admiralty of Aspen, Aquilegia. It was only natural to pick the largest moon of the largest world around all of Proción. With high atmospheric pressure and an inert Nitrogen composition, Timberline's surface experiences far less radiation than it would otherwise from Aquilegia's punishing luminosity. Cottonwood became the primary rival to Timberline, for its position beyond Aspen's Van Allen belt and lower radiation, even without an atmosphere.

Today, this moon has the highest population of any world in Proción and the only world to have a permanent population around the white subgiant of Aquilegia. It produces the vast majority of agricultural products consumed in system as well as industrial goods. The "One World, Many Planets" system cements Timberline as the permanent capital, in all senses, of the system.

Climate

Timberline enjoys relatively mild temperatures compared to its sister moons. On the warmest days, large-scale outdoor events, where only an oxygen mask and very good sunscreen are needed, are held, usually athletic events, field trips, military parades, and things of that nature. Most days, however, Timerbline is a frigid worlds with over a hundred degrees of frost covering the planet. Large-scale human settlement has created fleeting ponds, emerging briefly during warm periods before freezing once more. The permafrost in the ground prevents the ponds from being absorbed by the dry soil, mostly because the soil is not very dry to begin with. Anaerobic bacteria have been found in these pools, rapidly adapting to the environment in just a few centuries.

Culture

The people of Timberline are primarily the descendants of people found in the South-Western United States before its collapse. Water shortages forced millions into megacities at the time, creating a creole language of Spanish and English still spoken to this day. As the language drifted, a single hybrid language has come to dominate less formal communication.