Serpentian Oxi Regulations

Overview

As a limited and crucial resource in Shyrofor, oxi -- "Serpentian salt" -- is protected. Serpentis is known well for its strict and thorough regulations given its status as the planet with most accessible quanities of the mineral comparable to its sibling worlds. These laws encompass everything from oxi distribution, production, who can obtain it, how, and the monitoring of existing oxi societies -- large, solid crystal deposits -- and locations where they may or have begun to form.

Notice

Serpentian oxi regulations -- and just about all other laws -- are void beyond the High Mountain Ridge. Aside from the fact that few dare to set foot into territory swarming with demons, She'kilna, the eternally dark side of Serpentis, is under the jurisdiction of an entirely different governing body.

Globally Protected

It is a crime to disturb an oxi society and a planetary offense to harvest crystals from oxi societies without a license. The Serpentis Environmental Preservation Bureau (SEPB) maps and monitors oxi sites for the protection of the mineral and safety of travelers. Especially large societies or those that contain very large crystals can pose a danger to animals and people alike. When oxi reaches a critical mass, they can and do discharge energy which will fry anything that gets too close. The larger the crystal, the more damaging the discharge. It's this energy that has made oxi an attractive power source for large scale applications, including its uses in municipal power plants to power cities, the Skyway, and crucially the UV Barriers.

Production and Distribution

The SEPB monitors natural oxi in the environment. It also regulates its distribution to the populous, movements globally, and production.

Municipal Distribution Centers

Oxi is a requirement for life on Serpentis, however it can't be found in stores for purchase. Instead, it's kept under lock and key at municipal oxi distribution centers located throughout the cities for people to pick up. Rations are determined by household size, and individuals can decide between, or a combination of, beroxi and soroxi. The styles include artisinal, refined, or unrefined. Taxes cover the cost of oxi production. With the exception of artisinal varieties, which call for a small fee, there is no upfront cost when picking up rations. Pick-ups are limited per season: once in spring, fall, and winter, and thrice in summer.

Greater Quilan

For those who are unable to enter the cities to pick up regular rations, a vast network of greater quilan make up the bulk of Serpentis' global trade and mail system. Specific tribes granted certified merchant status are permitted to carry out transactions involving oxi and are depended upon by hundreds of shyr families that live beyond municipal borders. They provide the same choices as distribution centers and adhere to pick-up limitations by arriving at the same seasonal intervals.
A census of native individuals is formed via data collected from the distribution centers and greater quilan. This allows for decisions to be made surrounding the production of oxi. Municipal and global governing bodies also heed this data when making decisions.

Water Filtration

Organisms in the Shyrofor system are accustomed to the salty and subtly metallic flavor of oxi given its presence in all faucets of nature, including water. The people of these worlds don't perceive their water as fresh or salt in the way other races do. When off-worlders first settled on Serpentis, they had many challenges including the absence of "freshwater" to drink from. Distillation was of course a regularly used method by those who found the flavor offensive. Today, off-worlders can find filtered and distilled water in stores as well as water refill stations. Homes are also equipped with high-efficiency oxi filtration systems which can be turned on or off at any time by residents. These filters were built to allow all homes to be accessible to anyone and automate the collection of discarded oxi for reuse elsewhere.
The removal of oxi from water is largely a flavor choice. The health of off-worlders is unaffected by the consumption of Serpentian food or unfiltered beverages. Filters are also produced for the purpose of providing oxi-based people living abroad with a method of adding the mineral to their water rather than removing it. These filters come in a variety of sizes and fit all sorts of pitchers, jugs, faucets adapters, and more.

Oxi Farms

Industrial oxi farming uses similar methods as traditional farming. Since both involve evaporating water from ocean-fed springs or wells to extract oxi, altering ocean salinity over time is a concern. Therefore, the SEPB regulates how much oxi can produced annually and how many industrial oxi farms can be built. Farms operate during the summer and fall, and yields are required to be reported at the end of the production season. Traditional oxi farmers produce far less oxi than industrial farms across a much smaller area, so the latter have more stringent limitations to follow including the amount of land they are able to operate on.

Exports

Beross' natural scarcity of accessible oxi and frigid temperatures greatly limit the amount of life the planet can support. Valuable shipments of the precious mineral from Serpentis have enabled cities to flourish and populations to steadily rise.
People of Shyrofor do live on other planets within and outside of their home galaxy. As such, oxi is exported in sizable quanities to vital planets Asira and Ethiea. Secondary planets also recieve a fair portion based on census data provided to Serpentis. While other planets do ensure Shyrofor natives have easily accesible oxi at an affordable price, as stipulated in trade agreements, how they regulate the mineral otherwise is entirely at their discretion. Oxi is highly valued. Yet illegal activity is largely a non-issue given the accessability of the resource for those who value it as a delicacy rather than a requirement. People who are not oxi-based are always better off obtaining oxi on a world beyond Shyrofor.

Permits & Licenses

There are a number of permits and licenses one must obtain if they wish to conduct research in the field, carry out transactions involving large quantities of oxi, or utilize solid crystals for any manner of application.
The buying and selling of oxi greater than a certain threshold is illegal without an appropriate license. All transactions involving oxi are to be reported at the end of each season. This is enforced with fines per unreported transaction and potential revocation of licenses. Municipalities hold their own special-purpose licenses that allow them to purchase large-format oxi for power plants, UV Barriers, and shared Skyway maintenance.
For research purposes, licenses are granted only to vetted scientists, researchers, and conservationists whom are required to report how much oxi they remove or disturb, when, and the exact coordinates of the site. Failure to do so includes fines and loss of license. The individual may not obtain another for a period of time dependent on the severity of the infraction.
It is illegal for people who are not oxi-based to purchase, sell, or be in the possession of the mineral while on Serpentian soil. Buying and selling permits are granted to off-worlders by meeting specific requirements backed with proof. For example: owning a qualifying business or being employed in a qualifying role. Under specific circumstances, an off-worlder can obtain a permit that enables them to pick-up oxi at a distribution center on behalf of a roommate, partner, child, or someone in their care. All licenses and permits are to be renewed -- the frequency dependant on the cirumstances -- and involve a small fee to do so. This fee helps fund the SEPB and their continued efforts to safeguard oxi.
Certified merchant status functions as a license and has been granted to certain greater quilan tribes that partake in the trade and mail system of the planet. Individuals belonging to these tribes are allowed to buy, sell, and possess oxi for the purpose of distributing it to rural communities. They are the only tribes allowed to do so. This status must be maintained by meticulously documenting and reporting transactions involving oxi as well as much of the same data that is collected by distribution centers: household size, location, dates, types of oxi distributed, etc.

Additional Remarks

Beross has the most limited amounts of oxi and harvesting it in any meaningful quantities is unfeasible. Therefore, given that the difficulty and impracticality alone deters smuggling, the only regulations that exist are those that determine who can purchase imported shipments from Serpentis. Soros is a restricted planet whose relations with other worlds are in a poor state to say the least. That said, any oxi regulations here were erected by the High Seren monarch and exist solely to oppress those of lesser social status. Ethiea and Serpentis regularly engage in freeing refugees from the world via smuggling. Oxi is also harvested where possible during this time. Might as well...
People native to Soros and Beross are oxi-based, so they have the same rights to oxi as Serpentian natives. Arakin and vesankin are native to Xilxixian which is within the Shyrofor system. And while oxi is present on their planet, they aren't oxi-based and so would have the same restrictions to oxi on Serpentis as other off-worlders.
If someone living outside of Shyrofor wants to order oxi online, it'll be shipped from storefronts or warehouses located on whatever planet the customer is living on.