Arctica

" Others might think that this frozen hellhole is useless. That there isn't anything of use to them here. But our race calls this world home. It was our first refuge and home after the sundering. We are born and cared for in the icy caress of our worlds mountains and valleys. It is where we thrive the most."
A Lycans saying that serves as an example of the love for their homeworld

Arctica is a frigid and eternally frozen world somewhere in the far southern milky way galaxy. Orbiting a dying star in the end stages of its life, Arctica serves as the homeworld of the Lycans after their banishment from Inaria following The Sundering. Despite the harshness of the planet, it is nevertheless the most developed and well settled planet of the Lycans, with gigantic cities being situated in the valleys and the plains. In the icy caress of the planet, the Lycans find comfort, and they are ready to defend their home till the very end.

Geography

Rugged mountains, badlands and barren wastelands. This planet might seem like a gigantic useless snowball in the cosmic ocean to some. It takes a sharp eye to see the value of life on this planet and how resourceful it truly is"
A lycan describing the geography of Arctica

Arctica is a frigid and frozen planet bordering on the edges of habitability. Most of the landscape consists of rugged mountains and badlands, with only a few relatively large areas close to geological hotspots that contain arable land and unfrozen water even in winter being habitable. The mountain valleys too are habitable as they are protected from the unforgiving, bone chilling winds that blow across the entire planet and have relatively earthlike conditions. Around 70 percent of Arctica is covered by oceans that are frozen for most of the time except for short periods during summer and during the spring and autumn seasons near the equator.

Climate

According to the Planetary classification system, Arctica is officially a supermassive cryonic world but this can change based on the seasons, as Arctica is closer to being a supermassive boreal world during the summer. The climate that covers most of the planet is usually one of the cold desert type, with little precipitation and bitterly cold winds constantly blowing across the surface. Only some areas on the surface and near the equator as well as the sheltered mountain valleys have the necessary conditions for non microbial and complex life as well as civilisation to arise. In the summer, as the surface heats up and the ice retreats, many alien plants and even forests start to bloom in the warmest areas, giving rise to an extremely diverse climate.

Fauna & Flora

At first glance, one might think Arctica to be a planet completely and utterly devoid of life. Its barren plains and wastelands might not look like the best place for life to arise. The truth however, could not get any further.

Plant life

Arctican plants have specially adapted to the cold of their planet. The plants and microbial animals of arctica can hibernate for decades and even centuries at a time if they have built up sufficient nutrients. Many of the plants can also resort to devouring other plants and animals for nutrients if they live in a nutrient deficient area. From the bioluminous and beautiful bloomworth to the gigantic and carnivorous Arctican Strangler, the planet has all sorts of flora without which, the fauna could not exist in the way they are existing now.

Fauna

Arctican fauna is just as diverse as the flora. Most of the arctican fauna is carnivorous, owing to the little amount of plant life they can eat. Like the plants, the arctican fauna is also adapted to the harsh climate of their planet and many of them can hibernate for a very long time, albeit not as much as their microbial and plant brethren. Another strange thing about Arctican fauna is that strangely, a lot of them resemble those from Cadmeia, which may suggest an ancient link between these two planets.

Natural Resources

"It take a sharp eye and an even sharper mind to recognise and see the value of our world"
A common Lycan saying

To the untrained eye, Arctica might look like a barren snowball in space. Preliminary scans might not show much about the planet but the truth could not be any further. The resources of Arctica are even more of that of Cadmeia, with large quantities of valuable metal being stored below the icy surface of the planet. Mining on Arctica is far more difficult than on Cadmeia however, owing to bitterly cold temperatures and winds often blowing across the planet.
Another very important resource that can be found on Cadmeia is geothermal power. The planet has some hotspots of geological activity around which most of the large settlements are established. Siphoned off these hotspots dotting the surface of the planet, the energy and heat taken from there is then used to run most of the daily needs of the large Arctican population including producing food through the methods of artificial photosynthesis and geofarming . To this day, has served as the chief power source for most, if not all the parts of the planet

A view of the night sky from the surface of Arctica.

Atmospheric composition

The composition of the atmosphere of Arctica as given below:

1. Surface pressure- 140 kPa

1. Oxygen- 21 percent
2. Nitrogen- 70 percent
3. Methane- 5 percent
4. Water vapour- 3 percent
5. Trace gases- Remaining

Orbital characteristics

1. Perihelion- 2 AU
2. Aphelion- 4 AU

Geological and geophysical characteristics

1. Gravity- 1.20G
2. Radius- 12 million Kilometres
3. Natural satellites- 40
4. Average surface temperature- minus 4C
5. Geological structure and composition- Surface made mostly of basalt with a core rich in iron and magnesium

Demographics and biospheric composition

• Population- 400 billion

Population composition:

1. Lycans - 60 percent
2. Humans- 20 percent
3. Aenarri - 15 percent
5. Saurians - 4 percent
6. Other races- 1 percent

Type

Planet