Utraneus

Utraneus

(Cosmos)

Type

Planet

Diameter

×1.25

Mass

×1.5

Gravity

×1

Atmosphere

Normal

Year length (PST)

300 days

Day length (PST)

36 hours

System

Suskillon system

Satellites

Three moons

Inhabitants

Colonists from Suskillon

Source: The Last Refuge, pg(s). 62

Utraneus is the third planet in the Suskillon system. A world of shallow oceans and rapidly-eroding landmasses, it has no indigenous intelligent life and hosts a colony of settlers from Suskillon.

Geography

Most of Utraneus' surface is covered in shallow oceans, with the rest being small continents and islands. It is orbited by three moons with wildly different orbits, leading to complex tides and harsh monsoons, in turn resulting in the rapid erosion of most landmasses. The water's high mineral content (from the compressed remains of corals and molluscs) quickly rebuilds the land and riddles it with caves and pits. Due to the lack of soil and vegetation, surface water easily drains and is rare above sea level.

History

In 5 AG, a colony of shirrens who had just broken free of the Swarm became the first intelligent lifeforms to set foot on Utraneus. They built a shrine to Hylax on Aqanat, the planet's largest landmass, unaware of the lack of stability of land on Utraneus. Three years later, a sinkhole collapsed the shrine into a cave system. Seeing this as a sign from Hylax, the shirrens cleared the nearby tunnels and coverted it into a monument of their journey, known as the Caves of Pilgrimage. Knowing that staying would be problematic, the shirrens then left Utraneus for Ilemchuuva or the Pact Worlds system. Before leaving, they sealed the entrance to the Caves of Pilgrimage and placed a psychic marker above it.

In 121 AG, Suskillon's government built the space station of Oddrock in an orbit geosynchronous to a proposed colony on Aqanat. After several decades developing a way to stabilise Utraneus' landmass, the first colonists from Suskillon built the city of New Grakka in 201 AG, almost directly on top of the Caves of Pilgrimage, under the guidance of shirren scientists. The shirrens built a new temple to Hylax known as the House of Friendship, but never rediscovered the Caves of Pilgrimage.

In 319 AG, after Suskillon was overrun by the Swarm, most of its surviving citizens fled to Utraneus and took refuge in New Grakka.

Inhabitants

Aquatic life flourishes in the oceans of Utraneus, but their shallowness and turbulence inhibit natural evolution, and no indigenous lifeform has evolved intelligence. Above the water, organic life is rare and usually has to resort to magic to survive.

The city of New Grakka is a thriving metropolis, as the settlers were determined to develop engineering and improvisation to manage Utraneus' erosion. Due to the lack of biomass on the surface, most agriculture on Utraneus is hydroponic, and protein is predominantly provided by aquaculture. Customs and imports are tightly regulated, after the introduction of the invasive species called muottas.

Since the original stabilisation formula has been modified to work on underwater limestone, there has been a growing colony of kalo from Kalo-Mahoi.