Delvasi
The planet Delvasi is a verdant terra-class world in the Aelycah system. It is truly a sight to see from orbit: a mottled blue and green marble encircled by a pale ring system. Delvasi's diverse biosphere has spawned a unique, volant sophont species called shyxaure.
Geography
Location
Delvasi is the second planet from its sun, Aelycah. The planet has two relatively small spheroid moons, and the magnificent ring that occupies its intermediate equatorial orbitals was formed several million years ago by the destruction of its innermost moon at the hands of extreme tidal forces.Surface
Landmasses
Delvasi has just three continents which sit in the global Orivasi Ocean, widely spaced apart. Two of these continents are inhabited by a vast diversity of life; the third (Chulyx) is mostly obfuscated by the north polar glacial sheets and thus largely barren. The larger of the two temperate continents, Aoyn, is the ancestral homeland of the shyxaure, while the smaller Mayxihul was settled by nomadic shyx early in their species' proto-civilizational history.Ring Shadow
The shadow from the rings helps equalize the temperature gradient on the planet by blocking the most direct equatorial sunlight, creeping back and forth across a narrow slice of the world in a cosmically regular cycle. Its range is, coincidentally, across the narrowest region of Aoyn: the Shaderift, a long bay near the equator.Ecosystem
Delvasi is the abiogenetic origin point and native home of the delvasigenid group of organisms, a highly successful and widespread type of life that includes shyxaure. Delvasigenid biochemistry and structures are highly similar to those of terragenids, allowing a greater degree of biotic exchange between the two trees of life (to the simultaneous joy and consternation of shyxaure and humans alike.) The reason for this appears to be convergent evolution, as no definitive link between the two biospheres can be reliably established, and small differences in the basic structures of life preclude a common origin.Delvasigenid Life
Chemistry
- Hydrogen
- Oxygen
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorous
- Sulfur
Genetics
- Adenine
- Cytosine
- Diaminopurine
- Guanine
- Thymine
Metabolics
- Nicotinamide reversible hydrogen ionization
- Acetyl enzyme oxidation
Structure
Base unit is a phospholipid bilayer cell with internal components in water-based fluid suspension. Genetic material is contained within the cell either in open suspension or within a specialized chamber.Archive Data
HAZARDS
- {Soulbridge} (rings)
- Shaylon* (s)
- Atloare* (s)
- 63% nitrogen
- 36.2% oxygen
- 0.8% other gases
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