Floating Islands

Floating islands are giant rocks held aloft by the whirling winds of the Aer. Over the course of dozens to a few hundred years they descend into the depths of Uranus. Despite their ephemeral existence, the islands form the bedrock of Uranian life. Many creatures of the Uranian Aer begin their life on an island and return only to birth and foster the next generation, and historical Uranian civilization was based entirely on islands.
The Uranian word for island can also be translated as meteor or cliffside. Most islands are asteroids captured by the planet's gravity and thick atmosphere, but the occassional rare island is formed inside Uranus's core and ejected. Ranging in size from barely that of a house to continent-size, the islands provide solid ground and pleasant climate for about a lifetime before falling into the Mares.
Today most people live on Eyries, vehicle-cities that remain aloft on their own power. Living on an island is considered rural and somewhat archaic. Not only is the island lifestyle inherently impermanent, islands are not able to maneuver around environmental hazards. Island inhabitants must weather massive thunderstorms or volatile and toxic clouds. Rare collisions with another island inevitably prove to be catastrophic.

Life cycle of an Island

Most islands begin as meteors and asteroids pulled in by the gravity of Uranus. These foreign bodies are sterilized by the flash fire of atmospheric entry, followed by the freezing cold of the outer layer of the Aer.
Once they enter the habitable zones of the Aer, islands are colonized by flora such as the Parachute Trees, and are followed by fauna that eat the vegetation - and seed other plants in the process. Some Uranians deliberately settle new islands to terraform them, and others seek out islands that have already developed their own ecosystem.
The lifespan of an island is determined not only by its size and shape, but also by its location. Denser islands tend to sink faster, while islands with shapes that cause them to spin out of control generate turbulance that shortens their lifespan. Extraplanetary islands enter along the equator of Uranus and are flung out towards the poles by the retrograde equator winds, where the air moves slower and causes islands to sink faster. Some islands remain airborne for generations, but ultimately all islands fall into the depths of the Mares.

Parachute Tree by Annie Stein

When a island falls into the depths, the creatures of the mares collect to feast on the dying flora. Plants release whatever seeds they can before they are consumed, and animals will have long since fled. An island is quickly stripped of nutrients, and anything that remains is burnt away by the extreme heat of Terra, the core of Uranus. Here, the rock itself is melted down. Sometimes new islands are formed deep in the terra, and rise up through the mares.
Rarely, large marestorms fling islands into the Aer, providing a glimpse into life in the mares. Mare-touched islands have rich ecosystems, though the upset usually kills or drives off most of its inhabitants. They are covered in coral, algae, barnacles, and other marine-like life, and occassionally contain internal pools with strange, bloated lifeforms.

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♅ Uranus
Locations Aer ( Eyries ( Airship of Theseus · Caelus Eyrie ) · Floating Islands ) Society Humanoids ( Harpid · Sirenes ) · Artefacts ( Sword of Clouds )

Location under

Uranus

Inhabiting Species

• Parachute Trees