Erdath: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 05:13, January 11, 2025

Erdath is the third planet of the Holias System in the Vernarca Nebula, of the Ervo Sector of the Silky Way galaxy. It is a temperate, if cool, world with life covering much of its surface. In the distant past, it was little more than a colony of the robotic Edrons before their destruction in war, but today it serves as the homeworld of the Lrenn, capital of the Erdathian Federal Republic, and a major world of the Vernarcan Federation.

Erdath was named so by the ancient Lrenn, after the god of the dust then believed to rule all. Its surface is teeming with life of all sizes, from bacteria to great whales, from the depths of the ocean to the most dizzying of mountain peaks. As the homeworld of the Lrenn, it has served a vitally important role in the history of the Vernarcan Federation, as the capital of the Erdathian Federal Republic, one of its founding members.

History

Formation

Evolution of Life

Edronian Era

Rise of the Lrenn

Colonization of Space

Erdathian Domain

Glorious Revolution and the Federal Republic

Federation Era

Modern Times and the War of the Broken Bow

Physical Characteristics

Erdath is among the largest worlds to support sapient life within the Ervo Sector. With a mass of almost three standard terrestrial masses, its surface gravity is high enough to make living there uncomfortable for many species of the Vernarcan Federation. Its high mass leads to a substantial amount of active volcanism across its surface, as well as highly active plate tectonics. Within the Holias System, Erdath is the largest terrestrial planet by far, with both Lovos and Eloraz being less massive than Teralla.

Like most terrestrial worlds, Erdath's surface is made up of silicate compounds, around 40 kilometers thick on average. Most of its surface at over two thirds is covered in ocean water, and in the distant past it may have completely submerged the planet. A great number of freshwater lake and river systems exist as well, hydrologically separated from the salty oceans.

By Terallan standards, Erdath is deep in a seemingly permanent ice age, with nearly a fifth of the planet covered by its polar caps. This causes grievous erosive processes to take place over its non-equatorial landmasses.

Erdath's interior structure is defined by several layers,

Orbit and Rotation

Erdath orbits its host star, Holias, with an orbital period of 383 days and an orbital radius of around 1.06 AU within its star's habitable zone. This makes Erdath the third planet within the Holias System, orbiting well beyond Lovos and beneath the orbit of the Senith Belt near Vulus. The planet's lagrange points are occupied by the Tavi Group of asteroids, which together made up the first colonies of the Lrenn beyond the planet's sphere of influence.

Erdath rotates once every 1.25 days, with a minimal axial tilt of just 2.35º. This means that Erdath has functionally no seasons, with its "arctic circle" being almost right on top of the poles.

Atmosphere

Geography

Erdath's surface, with an average temperature just two degrees above freezing, is dominated by fjords, tundras, ragged mountains, and vast ice fields covering much of the seas. Due to Erdath's size, the planet has a highly active plate tectonics system, with plates smashing into each other and later pulling apart at such momentums as to push up vast mountains even under the planet's higher gravity. Over Erdath's five billion year history, most of the planet's land area has thus been affected, creating a very mountainous surface.

Erdath's surface is dominated by a single large supercontinent, Drovala, with the rest of the planet's land area broken up into a large number of subcontinents and island arcs. The poles are largely iced over, with permanent ice caps forming over 14% of the planet.

Climate

Erdath's climate is, as a rule, cold. While calling it "marginally habitable" is a bit of a stretch, it certainly isn't as superhabitable as a world like Teralla. With Holias' light adding up to 1310 W/m² of irradiance on average, its equatorial regions possess climates analogous to the boreal or subarctic regions found on Teralla.

The planet's strong greenhouse effect and thick atmosphere also means that its average temperature is more uniform, with temperature dropping off much more slowly as latitude increases. However, it still does decrease, and the far north and south are in a permanent deep freeze with large-scale ice caps, very little precipitation, and frozen oceans.

Surroundings

Due to its size, Erdath's sphere of influence is filled to the bring with a massive and great variety of objects, ranging from its twin large moons of Verto and Lirtso to the innumerable rocks making up the Erdathian ring system, to the few outer captured asteroids, to the vast number of artificial habitat stations which exist in its orbit. From afar, its ring system is the most visually striking set of objects within Erdath's sphere of influence, but its two moons add up to more mass in total.

Verto

The first of the major moons, Verto is a barren moon predominantly covered by craters with little geologic activity. Its ancient rocky surface is covered by a massive ecumenopolis, with a great population of almost a trillion people. Verto orbits Erdath once around every five days, which marks the length of an ancient Erdathian week.

Verto's massive colonization by the Lrenn early in the history of its space travel has vastly changed its surface, from a barren rock face to a massive globe-spanning city. This city is partially covered beneath an impressive set of domes, holding the artificial atmosphere in over the urban areas. Other parts of the city are situated entirely underground, dating back to the ancient subsurface colonies using the lunar regolith as radiation shielding.

Lirtso

Ring System

Shepherd Moons

Civilization

Urban Areas

Lrenn Effect on Erdath

@@ Line 118: / Line 118: @@
 ===Modern Times and the War of the Broken Bow===
 ==Physical Characteristics==
-Erdath is among the largest worlds to support sapient life within the [[Ervo Sector]]. With a mass of almost three standard terrestrial masses, its surface gravity is high enough to make living there uncomfortable for many species of the [[Vernarcan Federation]]. Its high mass leads to a substantial amount of active volcanism across its surface, as well as highly active plate tectonics.
+Erdath is among the largest worlds to support sapient life within the [[Ervo Sector]]. With a mass of almost three standard terrestrial masses, its surface gravity is high enough to make living there uncomfortable for many species of the [[Vernarcan Federation]]. Its high mass leads to a substantial amount of active volcanism across its surface, as well as highly active plate tectonics. Within the [[Holias System]], Erdath is the largest terrestrial planet by far, with both [[Lovos]] and [[Eloraz]] being less massive than [[Teralla]].
+Like most terrestrial worlds, Erdath's surface is made up of silicate compounds, around 40 kilometers thick on average. Most of its surface at over two thirds is covered in ocean water, and in the distant past it may have completely submerged the planet. A great number of freshwater lake and river systems exist as well, hydrologically separated from the salty oceans.
+By Terallan standards, Erdath is deep in a seemingly permanent ice age, with nearly a fifth of the planet covered by its polar caps. This causes grievous erosive processes to take place over its non-equatorial landmasses.
+Erdath's interior structure is defined by several layers,
 ==Orbit and Rotation==
+Erdath orbits its host star, [[Holias]], with an orbital period of 383 days and an orbital radius of around 1.06 AU within its star's habitable zone. This makes Erdath the third planet within the [[Holias System]], orbiting well beyond [[Lovos]] and beneath the orbit of the Senith Belt near [[Vulus]]. The planet's lagrange points are occupied by the Tavi Group of asteroids, which together made up the first colonies of the [[Lrenn]] beyond the planet's sphere of influence.
+Erdath rotates once every 1.25 days, with a minimal axial tilt of just 2.35º. This means that Erdath has functionally no seasons, with its "arctic circle" being almost right on top of the poles.
 ==Atmosphere==
 ==Geography==
@@ Line 129: / Line 138: @@
 The planet's strong greenhouse effect and thick atmosphere also means that its average temperature is more uniform, with temperature dropping off much more slowly as latitude increases. However, it still does decrease, and the far north and south are in a permanent deep freeze with large-scale ice caps, very little precipitation, and frozen oceans.
-==Major Moons==
+==Surroundings==
+[[File:VertoLirtsoEclipse.png|thumb|300x300px|Verto (left) and Lirtso (right) crossing over [[Holias]] as seen from the surface of Erdath.|alt=|left]]Due to its size, Erdath's sphere of influence is filled to the bring with a massive and great variety of objects, ranging from its twin large moons of [[Verto]] and [[Lirtso]] to the innumerable rocks making up the Erdathian ring system, to the few outer captured asteroids, to the vast number of artificial habitat stations which exist in its orbit. From afar, its ring system is the most visually striking set of objects within Erdath's sphere of influence, but its two moons add up to more mass in total.
 ===[[Verto]]===
-The first of the major moons, Verto is a barren moon predominantly covered by craters with little geologic activity. Its ancient rocky surface is covered by a massive ecumenopolis, with a great population of almost a trillion people. Verto orbits Erdath once around every five days, which marks the length of an ancient Erdathian week.
+[[File:Verto.png|thumb|300x300px|Verto from space before becoming a Ecumenopolis|alt=|left]]The first of the major moons, Verto is a barren moon predominantly covered by craters with little geologic activity. Its ancient rocky surface is covered by a massive ecumenopolis, with a great population of almost a trillion people. Verto orbits Erdath once around every five days, which marks the length of an ancient Erdathian week.
 Verto's massive colonization by the [[Lrenn]] early in the history of its space travel has vastly changed its surface, from a barren rock face to a massive globe-spanning city. This city is partially covered beneath an impressive set of domes, holding the artificial atmosphere in over the urban areas. Other parts of the city are situated entirely underground, dating back to the ancient subsurface colonies using the lunar regolith as radiation shielding.
 ===[[Lirtso]]===
+[[File:Lirtso.png|thumb|300x300px|Lirtso seen from orbit|alt=|left]]
-==Ring System==
-===Shepherd Moons===
+===Ring System===
+====Shepherd Moons====
 ==Civilization==
 ===Urban Areas===