Asronis

Asronis (Imperial Cartographic Catalogue Designation Kumara 5.1.6.A.9.4//3.1) is the largest and innermost moon in orbit of the planet Metra (ICCD Kumara 5.1.6.A.9.4//3). Asronis is one of 69 total moons of Metra, a Category 0 gaseous planet. The informal designations of the system are “the Ta system,” after the Asronian endonym, and the “Asronis system.” Previous Imperial Catalogues have referred to the world as “Ta 3a.” There are 6 planets in the system. Asronis has a mean radius of 30,663.63 units of length.

It is a Category 3 world, a planet with a relatively harsh environment capable of supporting biological life with “significant adaptation or technological intervention.” In the KIPU Habitable Planet Classification, Asronis' designation is K2tr3. The world is home to two known sapient species: the Asronians and the Navoonoids (also called Navoon). In general, the environment of the planet is very cold, relatively dark, and has elevated exposure to radiation. Without significant protection, exposure to the environment of Asronis will cause death for most life forms in short periods of time.

The Asronian sun (Alavar, sometimes erroneously called “Ta”) is a 5th order star (predominately white, secondarily yellow) that is near the lower bound of mass and size for that order. As such, it emits levels of UV and other radiation that preclude any planet or world in its orbit from being classified as any category higher than 4 (“habitable with some biological adaptation.”) However, because it is at the lower end of the mass and size spectrum for its order, the system is considerably more habitable than the average for 5th order stars. Metra, around which Asronis orbits, is a gas giant at the outer end of the “habitable zone” of Alavar. Asronis does receive sunlight from Alavar at levels that can sustain some life, but the biosphere of Asronis depends on tidal heating forces from Metra as well.

Asronis is a high radiation world. The largest single source is Alavar, which emits significant amounts of radiation, though the planet Metra is also a source. Asronis has no magnetic field of its own, so levels of radiation reaching the surface are relatively high, and most life on Asronis features adaptations for radiation. That said, Asronis gains some protection from Metra’s magnetic field, and the Asronian atmosphere features a thin layer of trioxygen, preventing the most severe kinds of radiation from reaching the surface. However, the background radiation levels of the planet are still high enough to cause radiation poisoning in most species after only a few days of exposure.

The climate of Asronis is almost entirely water ice and tundra-like soil. Massive ice sheets and glaciers exist at both poles, with these beginning to thin at approximately 50 degrees of latitude. Various volcanically active regions on the planet generate enough warmth locally to melt some of the ice and expose soil beneath, and some of these areas have small seas. However, there is a large ocean centered on the equator that takes up about one-fifth of the world’s surface area. The largest Asronian urban agglomeration encircles this sea, which is known as “the Vantar.” (Vantar being Asronian for “ocean.”)

As in most worlds, life first evolved in the Asronian ocean and then spread to land. In the Vantar, and to a lesser extent in smaller bodies of water, biodiversity in plant and animal species vastly exceeds that of land. Native plant life on Asronis is relatively simple on land, with lichens and low groundcover plants the predominant form. Since achieving space flight, Asronians have introduced some foreign plants to the world, primarily root vegetables. Asronian plant species very commonly have symbiotic or other dependent relationships on microbes, often for energy production.

The most common types of animal on land are simple – largely in the arthropod or gastropod categories, some semi-chitinous. These small animals often have dependent relationships with microbes as well. There are some examples of more complex animal life, but at a very limited level compared to many other worlds. One species, known as the Orkar, has been domesticated by the Asronians for assistance in hunting, companionship, and other tasks. It is a type-2 carnivorous quadruped.

Fungal life on Asronis is common. By mass, it is the most common form of life on Asronis, largely due to one species: the Navoonoids, otherwise known as the Navoon. There is no consensus on whether the Navoonoids are a group of separate but interconnected life forms (“Navoonoids” in plural) or one large hive-mind consciousness (“the Navoon” in the singular). In either case, they are/it is sapient. As of the writing of this entry, the usage of the plural (Navoonoids) is the stated preference of these life forms. There do exist other species of fungal life, none of which are known to be sentient. Fungi on Asronis feed largely on decomposing plant matter, with animal matter forming a minority portion.

The Asronians and the Navoonoids exist in a somewhat symbiotic relationship. The Navoonoids are linked together in a system that is analogous to a neural system, in which individual nodes communicate with each other and together form a massive network capable of computing in the literal sense. They form what is essentially a worldwide supercomputer. The Asronians depend on the Navoonoids for their entire information network infrastructure. For their part, the Navoonoids depend on the Asronians to provide nourishment, which they primarily do by giving the Navoonoids all of their deceased.

Asronis is home to a population of 6.3 billion Asronians. (There exists no count of distinct Navoonoids, as this number is subject to constant change.) The number of other Imperium citizens present on Asronis is non-zero, but negligible. The capital of Asronis is at Zaram, a metropolitan conurbation of some 34 million situated near the equator.

Asronis is particularly rich in metals and minerals, with the extraction, refining, and export of these forming the core of their economy. The Asronian manufacturing sector is broad, but in many cases limited by environmental regulations the Asronians impose to ensure conditions remain optimal for the Navoonoids. (Granting Asronians the legal authority to regulate all internal environmental standards was a condition the Imperium accepted during accession negotiations.) Except in limited areas, Asronis has relatively poor soil for open-air agriculture, requiring the Asronians to use other methods such as greenhouses or hydroponics. Asronis imports more food than it exports. Hydrocarbon fuel sources do not exist in any significant amount on Asronis. Energy generation on the planet has been primarily nuclear, wind-based, and geothermal since antiquity.

Asronis sees almost no tourism and is considered to be an almost entirely industrial world. No official ranking higher than a Prefect has ever visited Asronis personally. A “rimward” world, reaching Asronis requires either a Class 3 navigation license or hiring the services of someone who has such a license. Asronis is also classified as “environmentally sensitive,” with several import restrictions and prohibitions in place, the violation of which is a felony enforceable by both Asronian and Imperial authorities. Imperial facilities of note include the orbital Port of Asronis, a Level One import, export, and customs facility, and His Supreme Majesty’s Prison at Dravai, a minimum-to-maximum security prison and detention facility that is specially designed to detain individuals who are adapted to high-radiation climates.