Ancient Asteroid Impact

In the very early days of the star system, when the worlds were young, Mudewei stood straight, facing Iradae and Lan'tha more properly. And then, from some unknown point within the star system, gravity jostled a great rock free from its place. The rock hurtled free and careened toward the sun, except it crashed into Mudewei instead. Mudewei tilted, and great masses of rock flew into space. The asteroid, the pieces that used to belong to Mudewei, and the few bits of space dust left in the system formed two moons, but the great crater left behind is the true legacy of the impact.
The crater is thought to have opened up to a reserve within Mudewei of a mysterious liquid, which bubbled gradually up to the surface as the planet cooled and settled. Over the eons, the liquid, combined with the emergent proto-bacteria on Mudewei's surface and other unknown composite, developed into the Ice Flats Substance. The crater, now the Ice Flats, created a second primordial ooze unrelated to more southerly primordial ooze that spawned most of the rest of Mudeweian life, including the Sandibari. The end result has been two "trees of life" on one planet, complicating any hope of taxonomy by either native species or outsiders, but also allowing sophont species to travel either north or south and encounter "alien life".

Localization

The asteroid impacted a point on Mudewei fairly close to the north pole, resulting in the dramatic effects on tilt. Scientific analysis of both moons suggests that at least part of the rock has contributed material to both.

Type

Natural