Jerando

Collectively, the assorted mega and giga corporations of the Quilok are said to hold over 3,000 star systems home to over 100,000 planetary bodies and an uncountable number of asteroids and comets. However all of these combined would not be as valuable or as famous as Jerando, The Pearl of Worlds. A large blue planet almost double the mass of Earth, Jerando's value derives primarily from its fortuitous location at the intersection of the Orion and Sagittarius arms of the Milky Way galaxy in a small corridor, only a parsec wide, between the large molecular cloud known to humans as W51 and the interstellar winds coming out of the galactic core. These circumstances gives whoever holds Jerando exclusive control of any trade passing between the Sagitarius and Orion arms of the galaxy, a fact immediately noticed and capitalized on by the mercantile Quilok when they discovered the planet almost a 1,000 years ago.
Under Quilok rule Jerando has become one of the most densely populated planets in the galaxy home to over fifty billion individuals with tens of billions more visitors at any given time. These masses are housed in hundreds of thousands of cities grown reefs (most of which are artificial) using Quilok biotechnology. These cities are extend to every level of the planet with sky scrapers and space elevators stretching into the highest layers of the atmosphere and mining platforms and geothermal plants extending deep beneath the ocean floor. These cities are as cosmopolitan as they are gigantic and practically every known sentient species in the Orion arm is represented among its population.
Like all the rest of the civilization for which it has become the de facto capital, Jerando has no government in the sense that humans would understand it. Instead every function necessary to society is carried out by a corporate entity the vast majority of which belong to one of several thousand mega-corporations or the handful of giga-corporations each of which own entire solar systems. Almost every issue that affects the planet and its people is handled internally and independently by these entities but when planet-wide disaster threatens a council of the most powerful CEO's will meet to coordinate their efforts.

Geography

The surface of Jerando is entirely covered by a salt-water ocean with the only natural interruption taking the form of small ice caps at either pole. Most of the planetary ocean is relatively shallow at only two kilometers, but the planet is also home to trenches of almost unfathomable depth, reaching over fifty kilometers below the oceans surface. These trenches have only been cursorily explored and their contents remain largely a mystery. The planets many cities are clustered at the equator with large populations centers gradually giving way to industry the closer one is to the poles. Jerando also lacks any axial tilt and therefore experiences no seasons.

Fauna & Flora

Which species are native to Jerando and which where transplanted by the Quilok is now knowledge lost to history as the Quilok themselves do not care and no other species have a record of the planet before it Quilok habitation. Popular speculation suggests that the planet may have been devoid of life upon its discovery but this is not supported by scientific analyses which suggest the planet has had an oxygen rich atmosphere for millions of years. This issue is further complicated by the Quilok's almost exclusive reliance on bio-technology as any native species they found remotely useful would have long ago been modified to serve there needs and the wild parts of the planet are as likely to be populated with escaped Quilok inventions then they are with native species. This former condition was likely the fate of the Ti-Yuk, a species of bony fish reminiscent of Earth's primordial Dunkleosteus that serve the Quilok typically as soldiers and enforcers and who are assumed by researchers to be natives of the planet though the Quilok have vested interest in keeping this from becoming common knowledge.
Another of the Quilok client species ubiquitous on Jerando is the Gilpa, small and clever cephalopods from the distant planet of Earth which they know as Mo-Qui Tok. Exphiditions to their home world introduce the gilpa into Jerando society over two centuries ago and since then have found a niche at almost every level of the planets society. The gilpa's role is something between that of a personal assistant, technological device, and pet. Many gilpa serve as spare hand for their masters and can understand and execute almost any verbal command all though they cannot speak themselves.

Natural Resources

Jerando's most important natural resource is its astrographic location along the crucial trade route between the Orion and Sagittarius arms of the galaxy in a narrow safe corridor between the W51 molecular cloud and a persistent, dangerous current of inter-solar wind coming out of the galactic core. This makes it the only option for ships that need to rest and resupply on that journey and Quilok security patrols guarantee that any who think they can skip the stop still pay there exacting tariff. The planets other crucial resource is geothermal power which is used to run the multiple cities and foundries on the planet especially because its star, is a red giant and gives off very little energy.

Alternative Name(s)

Je!ando, The Pearl of Worlds

Type

Planet