Delvasi

The planet Delvasi is a verdant terra-class world in the Aelycah system. It is truly a sight to see from orbit: a mottled blue and green marble encircled by a pale ring system. Delvasi's diverse biosphere has spawned a unique, volant sophont species called shyxaure.

Geography

Location

Delvasi is the second planet from its sun, Aelycah. The planet has two relatively small spheroid moons, and the magnificent ring that occupies its intermediate equatorial orbitals was formed several million years ago by the destruction of its innermost moon at the hands of extreme tidal forces.

Surface

Landmasses

Delvasi has just three continents which sit in the global Orivasi Ocean, widely spaced apart. Two of these continents are inhabited by a vast diversity of life; the third (Chulyx) is mostly obfuscated by the north polar glacial sheets and thus largely barren. The larger of the two temperate continents, Aoyn, is the ancestral homeland of the shyxaure, while the smaller Mayxihul was settled by nomadic shyx early in their species' proto-civilizational history.

Ring Shadow

The shadow from the rings helps equalize the temperature gradient on the planet by blocking the most direct equatorial sunlight, creeping back and forth across a narrow slice of the world in a cosmically regular cycle. Its range is, coincidentally, across the narrowest region of Aoyn: the Shaderift, a long bay near the equator.

Ecosystem

Delvasi is the abiogenetic origin point and native home of the delvasigenid group of organisms, a highly successful and widespread type of life that includes shyxaure. Delvasigenid biochemistry and structures are highly similar to those of terragenids, allowing a greater degree of biotic exchange between the two trees of life (to the simultaneous joy and consternation of shyxaure and humans alike.) The reason for this appears to be convergent evolution, as no definitive link between the two biospheres can be reliably established, and small differences in the basic structures of life preclude a common origin.

Delvasigenid Life

Chemistry

Basis

Carbon

Key elements

• Hydrogen
• Oxygen
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorous
• Sulfur

Solvent

Water

Genetics

Structure

Double/single helix (alternation)

Primary nucleotides

• Adenine
• Cytosine
• Diaminopurine
• Guanine
• Thymine

Strand

Ribonucleic acid (oxy/deoxy forms)

Metabolics

Primary cycle

Adenosine phosphate binding

Secondary cycles

• Nicotinamide reversible hydrogen ionization
• Acetyl enzyme oxidation

Energy input pathway

CO₂ + H₂O + hv → CH₂O + O₂

Structure

Base unit is a phospholipid bilayer cell with internal components in water-based fluid suspension. Genetic material is contained within the cell either in open suspension or within a specialized chamber.

Archive Data

ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS

System

Aelycah

Parent body

Aelycah

Perihelion

1.34 AU

Aphelion

1.32 AU

Semi-major axis

1.33 AU

Eccentricity

0.011

Inclination

5.31°

Orbital period

546.43 days (500 solar days)

Rotation period

26.23 hours

Solar day

26.3 hours

Obliquity

4.82°

Notable satellites

{Soulbridge} (rings)
• Shaylon* (s)
• Atloare* (s)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Class

temperate mesobaric terra (TR)

Radius

7196.86 km

Surface area

6.51e+8 km²

Volume

1.56e+12 km³

Mass

7.382e+24 kg

Gravity

9.5 m/s²

Atmospheric pressure

1.12 atm

Atmosphere composition

• 63% nitrogen
• 36.2% oxygen
• 0.8% other gases

Average temperature

16°C

BIOSPHERE INFORMATION

Life

Organic multicellular

Biome(s)

marine / terrestrial

Origin

Abiogenesis

Genesis group

Delvasigenia

-Native sophonts::shyxaure--

ERPA Biosecurity Rating

HIGH

HABITATION INFORMATION

Tech level

14

Population

6.24 billion

Demonym

Delvasiri

Administrated by

Planetary Altotribe of Delvasi

Member of

Council of Aelycahri Tribes

Jurisdiction of

Worldtribe