Mortem

Template:InfoboxPlanetMortem is a class-TeLT (temperate lacustrine terra) planet, orbiting the star Etile. Located in the galaxy NGC-5267, 273,790,000 light years away from Earth, it was discovered by a Latin scientist, naming it after the word for "death" after it took almost all of his crew when he crashed. The scientist, C.P. Watson, was unable to report his findings due to a solar storm interference, so the planet remains unknown to everyone besides him and the inhabitants.

Geography and Climate

Mortem is covered in mainly rolling hills and plains, with mountain ranges in between. Its watery atmosphere results in a fine mist or fog covering the surface, which sometime accumulates in puddles or bogs that dot the plains. Winds can blow through and mix low and high temperature/pressure mists, creating fierce tornadoes and hurricanes that occasionally tear through the wasteland. An interesting thing to note about the planet is the amount of space debris and metal scrap dotting its surface, evidence of a massive space battle.

Atmosphere

The planet's atmosphere is 48.9% nitrogen, 29.6% H2O, 21.1% oxygen, 0.297% CO2, with traces of SO2, CO, and noble gasses. The amount of oxygen makes it breathable for humans, but the extreme amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is enough to condense in your lungs and drown you from inside. The creatures of this world have adapted specialized noses for separating water from dry air, along with scaly hydrophobic skin that keeps water out. The increased water in the atmosphere mixes with the trace amounts of sulfur dioxide to create a hyper-diluted sulfuric acid, which doesn't effect life too much, but results in increased weathering of rocks and corrosion of metals.

Status

The planet is currently undergoing a process similar to what Mars experienced billions of years go. Its core froze up, stopping magnetic fields and letting the fierce solar radiation vaporize its atmosphere and oceans. It is likely that the planet will become uninhabitable in 1,228,000 years.

Life

The rolling plains of the world are covered in a grass-like plant, different species ranging from less than a centimeter to over 10 meters. Some areas are more forested than others, but the majority of the surface vegetation is small, limited to bushes and grasses. Animal life ranges from bison-like grazing animals to canine pack-hunters. The main inhabitants of this world, the Srepparcs, are intelligent humanoid beings with dark, scaly skin and large limbs. Fires are incredibly hard to light in the moist atmosphere of Mortem, trapping the Srepparcs in a stone-age limbo. They have gotten around this by using the metal scrap found in the various ruins and debris dotting the surface, fashioning it into a variety of clothing, tools, and building materials. They eat on a diet of scavenged food from wreckage or raw meat from animals, and hunting is a popular sport.

Society

The Srepparcs live on an anarchic scavenger society, with various clans and gangs that roam the grasslands looking for food or scrap. Some have learned to settle down, growing food themselves. The lack of fire is still a major roadblock for them, keeping them from developing any further.

Ship Log

On January 9, 6162, the human science vessel Entropy is scouting the galaxy NGC-5267 for good colony spots. It is part of a discovery crew of, 600,000 spacecraft that are the first ever to enter the galaxy. The vessel, with 555 people on board, enter the Etile system.

Man 1: "Alright, we've entered the heliosphere of RS 6635-3147-7-2088549-823. Nothing special so far."

Man 2: "What about that rocky planet, right there?"

Man 1: "Just another boring lacustrine. Seem hundreds of them in my time."

Man 2: "But scans detect primitives on its surface."

Man 1: "So? Look, I know its only your 7th day on the job but buddy you gotta learn what planets are special or not. We're not here to abduct cavemen."

Man 3 walks into the bridge.

Man 3: "Uh, cap'n, we've detected a massive debris field in orbit around that rocky planet"

Man 1: "Alright. Send a research shuttle to investigate"

Man 3: "Right on way."

Man 2: "Um, did you see that?"

Man 1: "See what?"

A research shuttle disembarks from the main vessel

Man 2: "Look on the scanner, it says a solar storm is approaching"

Man 1: "Send a turn-back message to the shuttle immediately!"

The vessel rumbles as a solar storm passes over it. Communications and naviagtion systems temporary disabled.

Man 1: "Did it send?!"

Man 2: "N-no, sir."

Man 1: "God... damnit, redirect course towards the shuttle."

Man 4 (C.P. Watson): "Do you know how dangerous that is? To fly straight into a debris cloud? A shit as big as ours cant navigate through it."

Man 1: "Listen. I'm not letting 80 of my men die out there. Without their navigation systems, they'll parish. We need to get them back."

Man 4 (C.P. Watson): "You do understand that our ship's navigation systems are offline too? We're flying into a debris field blind!"

Man 2: "Sir, hes a senior scientist. You should trust hi-

A large peice of scrap rams into the ship at orbital speeds, tearing it in half.

Man 1: "THE HELL WAS THAT?!!!"

Man 2: "Wh-whats going on!!!???"

Man 4 (C.P. Watson): "This is all of your fault! I told you there was something wrong about this system the moment I discovered it!!!"

Man 1: "Be quiet and brace for impact! Everybody!"

The science vessel Entropy crashes in a remote location on the surface of Mortem. Out of the 470 people onboard, 413 of them die immediately or soon after. Meanwhile onboard the research shuttle...

Man 3: "Shit! Did you guys see what happened!

Man 5: "Pull up! Pull up! We gotta get out of this debris field before the same thing happens to us!!"

The small shuttle with 85 people onboard escapes the debris field around Mortem. Its out of fuel, and the communications systems still havent come back online. Trapped 23090 kilometers away from the nearest planet, its batteries slowly drain away as the ship goes dark forever.