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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

Basis
Carbon
Key elements
  • Hydrogen
  • Oxygen
  • Nitrogen
  • Phosphorous
  • Sulfur
Solvent
Water

Genetics

Structure
Double/single helix (alternation)
Primary nucleotides
  • Adenine
  • Cytosine
  • Diaminopurine
  • Guanine
  • Thymine
Strand
Ribonucleic acid (oxy/deoxy forms)

Metabolics

Primary cycle
Adenosine phosphate binding
Secondary cycles
  • Nicotinamide reversible hydrogen ionization
  • Acetyl enzyme oxidation
Energy input pathway
CO2 + H2O + hv → CH2O + O2

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

ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS
System
Aelycah
Parent body
Aelycah
Perihelion
1.34 AU
Aphelion
1.32 AU
Semi-major axis
1.33 AU
Eccentricity
0.011
Inclination
5.31°
Orbital period
546.43 days (500 solar days)
Rotation period
26.23 hours
Solar day
26.3 hours
Obliquity
4.82°
Notable satellites
    {Soulbridge} (rings)
  • Shaylon* (s)
  • Atloare* (s)
  PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Class
temperate mesobaric terra (TR)
Radius
7196.86 km
Surface area
6.51e+8 km2
Volume
1.56e+12 km3
Mass
7.382e+24 kg
Gravity
9.5 m/s2
Atmospheric pressure
1.12 atm
Atmosphere composition
  • 63% nitrogen
  • 36.2% oxygen
  • 0.8% other gases
Average temperature
16°C
  BIOSPHERE INFORMATION
Life
Organic multicellular
Biome(s)
marine / terrestrial
Origin
Abiogenesis
Genesis group
Delvasigenia
-Native sophonts::shyxaure--
ERPA Biosecurity Rating
HIGH
  HABITATION INFORMATION
Tech level
14
Population
6.24 billion
Demonym
Delvasiri
Administrated by
Planetary Altotribe of Delvasi
Member of
Council of Aelycahri Tribes
Jurisdiction of
Worldtribe

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