Nafok

Nafok is the jungle capital of Laran, home of the capital city Nafok Aguot, and an epicenter for dark power. Choked by plantlife, no settler would survive without the tricks which Lati and Lerin have learned over the millennia living in this biological hellhole.

Geography

Nafok was once a lush garden world, a world with a wide variety of ecosystems and biomes. That doesn't tend to last when a planet is inhabited by Lati, as a few large rituals which took place in the middle of an especially overgrown jungle went very wrong. The reason is officially unknown, though everyone knows that someone close to whoever cast the ritual sabotaged it, causing the terrain and plant life to be enchanted. The jungle spent the next century overtaking the entire planet, choking everything from the plains to the tops of mountains, depths of the oceans, and deep ravines with plant life. It is unconfirmed by archeologists, however, and will likely never be known, as the original jungle became so overgrown that nothing no orbital bombardment, not lava from the depths of one of the many undersea volcanoes, not anything, can pierce that plant shell.

There are many different mountain ranges and environments, but no matter how the ground is shaped, everything but the highest mountains has been overtaken by jungle and jungle life. Sentient life has been able to tame the jungle somewhat, enough to establish their cities, but it's still islands rising out of the sea.

Ecosystem

One thing that a being on Nafok is never lacking for is water. Rain is a constant, and so life has never wanted for liquid sustenance. Lightning is another, strikes being so common that most of the local ecosystems have evolved to rely on it. The lightning transmits sustenance into a tree as it strikes it, taking the place of the sun in the photosynthesis process. The tree will then shed any excess nutrients as pollen from its trunk and branches, supplying nearby flora. the flora is then eaten by the herbivorous fauna, which is then hunted, and everyone knows how the food chain works.

Ecosystem Cycles

As Nafok is stuck in a permanent wet season, the flora is always flourishing. The fauna has no need for a hibernation season as food is always plentiful. The main loop is how the concentration of rain clouds moves along, the thicker they are, the more lightning strikes. Even at the thinnest, most of the nutrient distributors (large trees, tall bushes, vine collections along the top of the canopy) have enough excess lightning nutrients stored up from gathering those of other distributors to feed their local ecosystems.

Localized Phenomena

The growth curse was not the only major ritual to go wrong on the planet, as world-altering rituals going poorly seem to be a dime a dozen in Laran. Another curse set the planet to have a perpetual lightning storm. Clouds cover the skies, rain always blanketing the air. Sometimes it's no more than a drizzle, other times it slams down on the stone temples of the cities and the canopy of the jungle like a hammer to an anvil. Lightning is also a common occurrence, and most of the flora and fauna have adapted to gain nutrients from the lightning.

Fauna & Flora

While Nafok has many recognizable animals, it is the flora that truly takes the spotlight.

Flora

The  is the main tree family on Nafok, having adapted to shed its bark so it can better distribute the lightning it doesn't absorb. At the smallest, a mature Wulveloka has reached several stories tall, on occasions the largest being able to create entire layers of jungle canopy with their own branches.

The   is a family of creeping vines, known by the Nafoki as the lightning weed. It infests every crevice it can, providing the most challenge for the planet's florists and gardeners. While a few are easy to deal with, when they gather, they seem to meld together into an impenetrable mass. They also have a nasty habit of being extremely conductive, amplifying the lightning's power as well as channeling it, as more than one Lerin has died by brushing against one at the jungle floor while its other end was being struck by lightning.

The is the most common grass family on the planet. They usually cover the jungle floor, tall blue blades sticking up out of the ground, one clump is a feast for any rabbit or other small herbivore which comes across it. They are also completely impervious to flames as long as they are alive, but light like oiled tinder when dead.

Fauna

The most famous of the animals on Nafok is the Dupan Qilteov Qora, a species of feline predator commonly referred to as the leopard. Their coats are a mottled hue of dark blues and greens with black spots, being on average 50 kg or 110 lbs, 2.5 m or 8" from snout to hind, and notoriously deadly. In many ways, they exemplify a Lati, using treachery stealth, and whenever that fails, brutality to survive. A common strategy is for them to leave their young out as bait for the smaller predators, then pounce on them when they arrive.

Natural Resources

Nafok's wildlife is ridiculously hardy, but also in an extremely delicate balance. Should someone somehow stop the perpetual lightning storms, the entire ecosystem would collapse. Fortunately for the current inhabitants, that seems impossible, so instead the flora has gathered a litany of biologists, looking to see if they can replicate the plant life and use it to seed new worlds. 

Nafok is extremely rich in gemstones, most of the onyx supply for Varanium having come from the capital planet before the Keakubepov Collapse (see the Larani Timeline). The planet would also make an excellent wood farm, had most of the tree's not proven incapable of staying sturdy without the constant presence of lightning.

History

Nafok was first settled by a Lati over four thousand years ago, when it was a backwater on the edge of Larani space. Lati however, seemed to have a natural affinity for Inkallu when on the planet's surface or in orbit, so it quickly became a hotspot, even becoming home to Mul-Zamain himself. Upon his death and Otanli being severed from most of the outside Rift, Nafok became the capital of Laran.

Tourism

While there are many cities and temples on the planet, there are only really two most would consider worth visiting.

The first of these is the capital city, Nafok Aguot. It is by far the largest city in Laran, housing some few hundred million inhabitants. It is a mire of corruption and decay, where betrayal and brutality are currency, but in a certain light, it can be quite beautiful.

The second of these is the famous Nakinqel, a giant temple built up from the deepest ocean floor. It was created as a testament to Lati stubbornness, a challenge to any actual gods, a dare for them to even attempt to rival these mortals who clawed for divinity. It is now a ruin, inhabited by archeologists, pilgrims, and sightseers.

Misc

Little Note: All Cities on the planet are at least two words, the first of these being the planet name, Nafok. All independent temples (temples unconnected to a larger city, or which a city was built around) are always one-word names prefixed with Naki-.

Type

Planet

Location under

Nafok

Included Locations

• Nafok
• Nafok Aguot

Owner/Ruler

Impirator

Ruling/Owning Rank

Impirator

Owning Organization

Laran