Kukanou-2b

Kukanou-2b

(Cosmos)

Type

Moon

Diameter

1/4

Mass

1/32

Gravity

1/5

Atmosphere

Breathable, thin, mildly toxic

Orbits

Kukanou

Source: Treading History's Folly, pg(s). 3

Kukanou-2b is a shattered moon orbiting the gas giant Kukanou. It once served as the adopted homeworld of the mentrasi after their flight from their original home in the Scoured Stars until their extinction.

Geography

Kukanou-2b is the second moon orbiting the blue-and-green gas giant Kukanou, in a solar system with a blue dwarf star.

Most of Kukanou-2b's surface is made of igneous rocks, the remnant of its past as a volcanic moon. All volcanism on Kukanou-2b ceased when most of its tectonic plates shattered, filling the surface and caverns with lava. Since then, the core of Kukanou-2b has been rapidly cooling, although the surface still suffers occasional quakes. Due to the greenhouse effect caused by an intense cloud of ash and carbon dioxide, Kukanou-2b is hot and its atmosphere is toxic to the point of intolerable for most species, and plants find it impossible to survive.

History

Kukanou-2b was first settled by the mentrasi, after they fled the Scoured Stars to escape from Kadrical, their covetous god. Kadrical wanted them to return, so he sent a Tear to Kukanou-2b to serve as a beacon and key, but the mentrasi paid him no heed and sealed the Tear near the surface, above their underground cities.

The mentrasi were driven to extinction by seismic instabilities, which flooded all of their cities with magma except Xaharee, whose engineers managed to use powerful force fields to hold back the lava until they cooled and hardened, but the city still took significant damage from earthquakes. The residents tried to magically bind themselves to the moon, but only successfully bound their souls, and their ghosts still haunt the Kukanou-2b.