The Ariad
Geography
The Ariad is a terrestrial planet in the Luo planetary system, approximately thirty-two lightyears from the Solar system and eighteen lightyears from the Chil planetary system, the home system of the Elves. It has a slightly larger diameter than the Earth, but a lower average density; its gravity is about eighty-five percent that of the Earth's. The Ariad is thought to be around eight billion years old, with life first evolving around three billion years before present day, although little is known of the planet's history due to limited access to geological archives. Nearly sixty small moons orbit the planet in a cluster; they are thought to have once been a single body. These moons exert a small graviational pull on the planet's water, resulting in a fairly low tidal range across most of the planet.
The Ariad's mantle is a powerful source of Delta Radiation. Radiation levels are highest in the Ariad's single ocean, the eponymous Ariadic Ocean, due to the increased density of the oceanic crust. The dangers posed by sea travel mean that little is known about the geography or biology of the Ariadic Ocean.
Almost ninety percent of the Ariad's surface is covered by water. The poles are capped by permanent sea ice. Three island systems - Quesela, Marakhin and Cai-et - comprise the majority of the Ariad's landmass. Quesela is by far the largest island system, making up over half of the total landmass. It is also the only island system which has not yet been successfully colonised by non-native species due to its high and fluctuating levels of delta radiation (chickens are a notable exception - several feral populations seem to be flourishing on Quesela's north coast). The radiation levels of Cai-et and Marakhin are comparatively stable, making these island systems safer for settlement.
Fauna & Flora
Much of the Ariad is extremely biologically productive, with organic soils often reaching thicknesses of several kilometres. The planet's productivity and high atmospheric oxygen content makes it able to support animals of extremely large size, comparable to the largest terrestrial animals ever found on Earth. Almost all of the Ariad's native organisms have evolved to take advantage of delta radiation in some way.
The Ariad's most widespread biome is of tropical wetland and mangrove class, with tropical seasonal rainforest, land-coral savannah and tropical grassland classes also contributing to much of the Ariad's biosphere. A few humid subpolar forest class biomes exist at the Ariad's higher latitudes. The only deserts on the Ariad are the polar deserts where virtually no multicellular life is able to survive.
Natural Resources
With the exception of the poorly-explored polar deserts, all of the Ariad's terrestrial biomes are characterised by high organic productivity, with much of the forested landmass being covered by peat deposits, sometimes several miles thick. This peat is used for fuel, fertiliser and construction, although due to its global abundance its role in international trade is limited. Due to the huge volume of carbon sequestered in peat, its exploitation (especially as fuel) is heavily regulated by international law; how well these laws are enforced varies regionally. It is thought that global reserves of coal, natural gas and oil are abundant, but due to tight restrictions on their extraction and use, exploitation has remained limited.
While domestic crops and livestock still provide the majority of global food, wildlife is an important resource for almost all cultures, with rural elfin communities getting up to 70% of their food intake from wild or semi-wild sources. Commercial hunting and wild harvesting has relatively few restrictions except for very long-lived, slow-reproducing species, but it is heavily monitored in most regions to prevent ecosystem disruption. By biomass, the largest global crops are wheat and soya, while the largest livestock is kaw, a crustacean-like pa'anan animal that provides almost half of the protein intake for urban elfin populations. The most widespread domestic gaian animal is the chicken, which has adapted well to the Ariad - modern ariadic chickens can grow to nearly twice the size of chickens on Earth, and many successful feral populations now exist across the world.
Coastal regions, especially around the Gulf of Marakhin where tidal ranges may cover kilometres of land, are often populated by large fields of land corals, a kingdom of organisms which like its namesake deposits skeletal structures made of carbonates, although land corals may also build their skeletons from other minerals such as silicates. Land corals are one of the most highly utilised resources for construction, providing feedstock for over 90% of the planet's concrete, cement and glass. Stone is generally quarried from the Ariad's montane regions, especially areas populated by elves, who have a long history of converting exhausted quarries and mines into habitation. Siendine, the capital of Pa'an Chil, is in fact built in and around a series of quarries and mines.
The exploitation of metals, especially iron, remains a contentious subject in international politics. While the Ariad is known to have rich iron ore deposits, especially beneath Cai-et's tropical and subtropical rainforest peats, global restrictions on mining have left this resource relatively underutilised. Proponents of these restrictions point to the environmental damage caused by extraction and processing of metals, while critics argue that the limited global supply of metals severely limits the spread of technology, especially to poor populations, and that the restrictions encourage the spread of Concealed Mines.
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