Sepia
Sepia remains unexplored by the majority of species in the galactic community. It serves as the final bastion for humanity, a blue giant burning somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 degrees Celsius. Blue giants are among the rarest of stars, among the most massive stars in the galaxy.
They are short-lived compared to other stars. Most will go supernova in less than ten million years, sometimes less than five. They are also thought to be the progenitors of most black holes.
When we discovered the star and settled in the system, we used the name to refer to the star cluster around it as well. These stars are relatively close by, each with its own secrets to reveal. Our celestial neighborhood features anomalies in these systems, and several that linger in the space between them.
Anomalies of Note
- A-1: Anomaly 1, or The Rainbow Bridge, is an impenetrable space along the Eagle Nebula. Attempting to move through it will destroy the vessel, as scolding hot matter swirls across the 300,000 km area. Many believe this is one of many stages leading to the birth of a star. It's one of the closest things to a space storm one can get.
- A-4: Anomaly four, lovingly referred to as Alfred by the warfarers, is an alien drone of unknown origin. It's nearly three hundred meters across and fifty meters wide, floating around the solar system of Sepia 54. Alfred seems to be a malfunctioning repair ship, one that will seek to repair and refuel any vessel that comes within range. It even retrofits the ship to accept what fuel it has stored in its hull if the technology is incompatible.
- A-6: Anomaly 6, or The Devil's Reef, consists of derelict ships, the number far too numerous to even estimate. No one knows what happened to them. There is no evidence of fighting, many of the ships are still intact and capable of flight, and more ships appear as time goes by. The new vessels are completely empty and there is no indication as to why the vessel was abandoned. Most of the time, escape pods are still on board.
The Area
The eagle nebula sits in close proximity to Sepia. It obstructs the night sky on most of the planets in the system. This can be said for many systems in the Sepia star cluster. With over 300 stars, all within one lightyear of another,
The Eagle Nebula acts like a curtain, a barrier between us and the rest of the galactic community, it's the main reason we've been gone unnoticed for so long.
Most systems in the cluster remain uninhabited. Wayfarers venturing out for the first time continue exploring the region to gain valuable expirience before going any further. Wayfarers also make routine trips to Anomaly 6, the stellar graveyard that sits 2 lightyears away from Safeharbor.
- A-15: Officially named “The Theta Ring,” A-15 is a hyperlane ring aimed at the center of the galaxy. A Hyperlane requires two interconnected structures to function, and The Theta Ring functions just fine. It’s twin, however, shouldn't exist if it is indeed at the center of the galaxy. The supermassive black hole should have destroyed it. I believe it is a means of eliminating waste. Debris, trash, obsolete ships unable to be refitted, and more could be tossed into the center of the galaxy and forgotten. It does beg the question of how Theta’s twin ring was built in such a place. Without more advanced Higgs-tech to protect our ships, we can only speculate it’s true purpose.
- A-23: Anomaly 23, often called "The Black Spire," appears to be a monolith built in space, carved from glossy black stone. It features ornate carvings, intricate fractals that cover it’s entire surface. It orbits Sepia-149, and its origin as well as its purpose eludes us, like so many other thing we find in the void. It could have religious significance to the ones who built it, as it’s awfully difficult to sculpt such a work of art in a vacuum. It could also be a landmark to assist in navigation. The black stone will reflect almost anything that interacts with it. Light, waves, fields, and even beam weaponry will be reflected back to its origin. I could also see it as a monument. It could be a memorial of sorts, or maybe a warning. Nothing else exists in the system of Sepia-149 except for an asteroid belt, dense enough to indicate the destruction of a planet in the system.
The Sepia Solar System
Sepia-1 "Freya"
by Dadrian
Freya is the closest planet to the system's star. The planet has no spin, the side facing the star consisting of molten rock in constant flow. The opposite side is frigid and far too cold to support life.
There is a thin atmosphere comprised of chlorine, methane and hydrogen, but no signs of carbon or oxygen exist. On the colder side of the planet, many of these gases freeze and rain down to cover the surface.
The planet has many valuable resources, particularly metals, such as platinum. Large craters have been found on the planet's surface. It is believed that whoever built the planet wide city on Safeharbor likely used materials found on this planet to do it.
Sepia-2 "D'artagnan"
This planet is hot, with a thick atmosphere of ammonia created in high pressure storms. Its proximity to the star makes it too hot for life to live there, as is. While it could be a candidate for terraforming, it wouldn't be the greatest idea. There are traces of water on the planet, but also traces of carbon monoxide. This means there is a chance life once lived on the planet, or that somehow life still does.
Athos, Porthos, Aramis
There are three dead moons circling D'artagnan, named after the three musketeers from Earth's classic literature. These three moons have no atmosphere, and are scorching hot due to their proximity to Sepia.
Numerous facilities have been found on these moons, from defense arrays to research stations, but all were created by the same species as the planet-wide city on Safeharbor.
Numerous facilities have been found on these moons, from defense arrays to research stations, but all were created by the same species as the planet-wide city on Safeharbor.
Sepia-3 "Safeharbor"
by Dadrian
Safeharbor was an Ecumenopolis, a planet wide city. It lies far enough from the star to be habitable, though mechanisms on the planet are said to be responsible for its weather and habitability.
47% of the planet's surface is liquid water, though much of the landmass is just part of the city built over the water.
The planet is the last bastion of humanity, and acts as their capital, despite most of the planet being unexplored. Humans occupy numerous stations and outposts in the system, and all are there to expand their influence from this planet.
47% of the planet's surface is liquid water, though much of the landmass is just part of the city built over the water.
The planet is the last bastion of humanity, and acts as their capital, despite most of the planet being unexplored. Humans occupy numerous stations and outposts in the system, and all are there to expand their influence from this planet.
Unity
Unity is the name for the moon hovering above Safeharbor. The moon is one massive defensive structure, a Warmoon. While most of this structure is not functional, there are numerous areas that are still of use.
During The Battle of The Pillars and The First War. Unity was vital in protecting Safeharbor from enemy fleets. Scientists were able to activate numerous defensive installations across the war-moon, firing ancient missiles and laser batteries at an unsuspecting foe. New sections are being restored routinely but it will take decades to restore the moon to its former glory.
During The Battle of The Pillars and The First War. Unity was vital in protecting Safeharbor from enemy fleets. Scientists were able to activate numerous defensive installations across the war-moon, firing ancient missiles and laser batteries at an unsuspecting foe. New sections are being restored routinely but it will take decades to restore the moon to its former glory.
Sepia-4 "Aristotle"
Aristotle I's a planet with a dense atmosphere of nitrogen and hydrogen, and even oxygen. With a few tweaks, it would have made a tropical paradise after terraforming. The planet hides a silent terror, however. Aristotle is the first catastrophic terraforming event humans encountered.
During an attempt to terraform it for human life, drones uncovered a microbiome in caves everywhere on the planet. Humans could live there, but the potential hazards that come from the microorganisms awakened by terraforming are too great to colonize.
by Dadrian
Ooh. Yay. A new article, and one I have a couple of critiques for again. Firstly, there are several strange things within your opening paragraph. "It’s mostly unexplored, especially among most species in the galactic community." The phrasing here is odd, especially the "among" part as that dramatically shifts the meaning of the phrase. You are likely looking for something more like "Sephia remains unexplored by the majority of species, however, it serves as the final bastion for humanity." This also fixes the slightly strange syntax of the following sentence. As well, I would actually suggest altering the first and last line to be the opening, resembling something more like "Sephia is the blue star, burning at roughly fifteen thousand degrees kelvin, that gives its name to one of the solar systems of the Milkyway Galaxy." This is less contradictory, suggesting Sephia is both the solar system and the star, instead of creating the idea that it is both within the reader's mind. Another phrasing thing comes up with anomaly 6 as you don't actually state that it, in of itself, is the anomaly. You simply, later, state that the ships comprise the anomaly. It's not the end of the world, but it took me a second to understand the phrasing as you meant it. Uhh. So, your side bar is kind of weird because it looks cool but then you specified the type of geographical location it is which, unless is crucial to organization trees. Its placement detracts from the design due to it being placed at the bottom of the sidebar. It's small, but I would suggest removing that as you make it obvious in the opening of the article. I've not read the text next to them, but I've been scrolling past the images and I love them. I'm aware they're technically not yours, however, they are super cool. Alright, onto the actual planets: Does Aristotle have any moons? You mention the moons for two of the planets and, presumably, Freya doesn't have any. However, I would assume Aristotle does. Adding a mention of the moons could also help to expand the article. There's also one other thing that I think could help some of your legibility: the line breaks. At the moment, I believe you're using a break and a [br] to make it work. doing double breaks instead would be a better method as the large spacing between paragraphs gives a more intentional look. That's about it. There's not anything specific about this that really seems out of place as far as worldbuilding goes. Other than the species that built Safehabor and stations on the moons, but that's left untouched intentionally. Maybe a bit about how humanity discovered this place, but that could already be explored and I just either completely missed it or forgot it.
OOOO all good points. I've made some adjustments already. Ill add a little bit soon to expand on it to fill in some the gaps. This was an article made in haste so I could have information for another XD however, these are valid points and i shall fix! thank you sir.