Adan
Geography
Adan has an unusual ecosphere. It has a single sea
– called the Cleft – that fills a deep horizontal gash
near the equator. The Cleft is fed by porous aquifers
that cycle in nutrient-rich water, enabling it to host
thousands of microbial species and primordial plant life.
The majority of its flora are algae, seaweeds and other
water-bound plants but the world also hosts a variety
of land-based plant life that extends from the shores of
the Cleft when Adan’s stars shine overhead.
Ecosystem
Most desert and near-desert worlds like Adan
have difficulty establishing much more than a thin
atmosphere. A large portion of a planet’s breathable
atmosphere is generated by photosynthesising oceanic
plant life. Oceans also provide a portion of a planet’s
albedo, which reflects light and radiation, enabling it to
retain atmosphere. Worlds with little to no hydrosphere
are therefore at a distinct disadvantage when it comes
to developing and maintaining standard, breathable
atmospheres.
Adan defies the odds with the help of
the Clench, a massive bramble of adaptive seaweed,
coastal ivies, vines and other plant life that extend
themselves thousands of kilometres from the Cleft, far
into the surrounding deserts. These perennial life forms
contribute to Adan’s atmosphere by photosynthesising
oxygen and exuding a dusky pollen, which spreads
out over much of the planet.
The pollen would be
capable of seeding additional plant life but fails to do
so in Adan’s arid deserts where conditions are less
than optimal. However, the pollen does have the
fortuitous side effect of adding to the planet’s albedo
and reflecting light and radiation, which might otherwise
burn away the atmosphere
Ecosystem Cycles
A single day on Adan is approximately 44 standard
days long. Its axial tilt is slight, so most of the planet
experiences a consistent climate. The Clench grows
when Adan’s binary pair – Metalhava, an orange main
sequence star, and Olauvi, its red dwarf companion
– shines upon it and recedes when night descends.
Technically, day and night are each 22 standard days
long but Adanians do not measure it that way. Numin
is 26 standard days long and begins as the light of
dawn first touches upon the eastern portion of the Cleft,
causing the Clench to begin growing.
As light reaches
the central portion of the Cleft, the eastern Clench
attains its maximum size, extending approximately
1,000 kilometres from the coast and covering about
three million square kilometres. Meanwhile, the western
Clench has already begun to gather and bustle along
the west coast, preparing for its mad dash into the
desert. By the time the dawn light shines upon the
western shore of the Cleft, the western Clench has
already reached half its maximum size, growing at a
rate of 5–10 kilometres per hour, its progress clearly
visible to the naked eye. At its longest reach, the
western Clench extends nearly 3,000 kilometres into
the desert, covering approximately 6.3 million square
kilometres as the stars shine brightly overhead.
While
the eastern and western Clenches cover a scant 3.6%
of the surface of Adan at their apexes, the industrious
plants photosynthesise enough oxygen for the world
to maintain a standard atmosphere. Numin ends as
Metalhava and Olauvi disappear over the western
horizon and Tarashu, the night consisting of 18
standard days, descends upon the region around the
Cleft, where the vast majority of Adanians live.
The Clench is essentially a
collection of hundreds of species of symbiotic plant life
that works together to survive and prosper on Adan’s
harsh surface. The scientists theorise that the Clench’s
writhing tendrils have been attempting to make their
way to these aquifers for centuries, a blink of the eye in
Adan’s geological history but a watershed event in the
planet’s relatively short period of human colonisation.
By reaching the planet’s hidden water sources, the
Clench not only ensures its own survival but gives itself
the potential to grow much farther into the desert. Only
time will tell what this means for Adan but the extension
this far means a longer harvest during each Numin.
At the very least, there should be no famine on Adan
for the foreseeable future. At best, it could mean that
Adan has entire oceans underground, just waiting to be
discovered and brought to the surface. Additional studies
will be necessary but if the Adanians and their allies in
the Community can continue to learn how to manipulate
the Clench, they might be able to free trillions of litres of
water, possibly even creating a measurable change to
Adan’s hydrographic percentage.
Localized Phenomena
Climate
Numin is hot, ranging from 26° Celsius at dawn,
reaching 55° when the binary pair shines directly
overhead. Tarashu is cold, reaching depths of -6o,
which would be worse if not for warm convection
winds that blow in from the desert. Numin is the busy
season for Adanians. They harvest crops from dozens
of Clench species during this time.
Natural Resources
There is precious
little arable land along the Cleft but clever farmers have
found ways to cultivate fast-growing crops with what
resources they have. After the harvest and approach of
Tarashu, the processing begins at factories for sale and
distribution to Adanian citizenry. Surpluses are sold as
exports to visiting merchants at the downport. Among
the most popular of these are the many varietals of
bramblewine, edible cactus apples, rich and durable
fibres and exotic pigments extracted from colourful
floral blooms.
Harvesting the Clench is a tricky business. The
best crops are extracted from deep within its rapidly
advancing brambles and tangles, which grow anywhere
from one to 50 metres high, in some cases completely
blocking out the light of the twin suns. For centuries, the
harvest has claimed its share of sacrifices, farmers and
pickers who become lost in the floral maze or trapped
by vines and tendrils. In more recent times, Adanians 
UWP: D661696-6
Dunea: 2336Maps
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ADAN
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