Chigon

Even in the vastness of interstellar space, some places are more remote than others.

Honey, you ain't seen nothing. This is a big galaxy, and there's some bizarre things in it.

Neva Genzi, human Q'dari radical and anarchist

System Position

Chigon is a star located in the first galactic quadrant near its border with the second galactic quadrant. It is within the main disc of the Milky way, but near the halo. In simpler terms, if you looked down on the Milky Way positioned so that Sol was directly south of the galactic center, Chigon would be dead west of Sol, nearly to the edge of the orbital paths of the spiral arms. It is, literally, on the edge of the galaxy.
There is a single charted FTL safe path to reach Chigon, and it departs from Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm, rather than the (relatively) closer Outer Arm. Chigon is not on the path to or from anywhere. Beings must make a deliberate choice to visit the Chigon system, and must spend years traveling through various way points to even get to the Chigon Path. For this reason, it is rarely visited.

Position of Chigon, showing the only charted FTL safe path

Position of Chigon, showing the only charted FTL safe path

Chigon IV

Chigon has only one planet of galactic interest. The fourth planet is home to two sophont species only recently introduced to the interstellar community. It's atmosphere appears violet to species with a light spectrum perception similar to humans, due to the bacteria in the atmosphere. This bacteria has been shown to be harmless to most species and dies soon after removed from Chigon IV's atmosphere. Clouds are plentiful.
Chigon IV has one ring of ice and iron rock, approximately 56,300 km across and 2,000 km thick. There are three moons. Kelek is approximately 410 km in diameter and has an orbit of around 4 local days. Kee-Ken is roughly 795 km in diameter and orbits every 15 local days. Ilentar completes an orbit every 61 days and is 1163 km in diameter.

Geography

Chigon IV is an unusually wet world. About a third of the planet's mass, clustered primarily near the equator, is swamp and and rain forest. A great deal of this is ecological engineering, as it is the climate to which both the mollugs and the fumuda are best adapted. Deliberately changing the climate has enabled both species to cover more area.
However, Chigon IV also has a very humid atmosphere. Oceans are shallow and the surface water on the planet covers nearly 90% of the planet. Marsh conditions are naturally plentiful on Chigon IV as a result.
Most of the mountainous regions of Chigon IV are to the north and south, pole-ward. These are settled as well, but very thinly. Research stations and political break off groups form most of the settlements outside the marshes.
Chigon IV is currently in the initial stages of an ice age. Beyond the equatorial region climates are cooling, driving the sophont inhabitants toward the equator. It is the need to find more land that spurred the recent advances that turned the mollugs and fumuda into space-faring species.

Fauna & Flora

In the swamps and low rainforests where the sophonts of Chigon IV live, there is a preponderance of mollusks and crustaceans.¹ Most of these animals are relatively small and could easily be held by a human in two, or even one, hand. Many are even smaller. Insects, too, tho in surprisingly low numbers, populate the marshes of Chigon IV
There are larger animals, however, such as the monster crab, which can grow five meters tall and half-again as wide. The monster crab has 2 sets of pinchers, (literal) eyes in the back of it's head, and 8 other legs that allow them to move with alarming speed. With their thick shells, they are difficult to kill without an airstrike. Because of this the mollugs consider monster crab an extreme delicacy.
Legged snakes, culligators, and frog-like arans are also present, but not in large numbers.
Away in the plains, temperate forests, and plains, other animal life proliferates, most notably a wide variety of flightless and partially flightless birds that could almost be termed dinosaurs. There is no cataloged mammal life native to Chigon IV
There are analogs to trees on Chigon IV as well, but these are mostly low. Few specimens grow more than 15 meters, and in the swamps 5 meters is a tall tree. These trees have broad branches, however, covering wide spaces individually. Vines and grasses are also common all over the world.
The most notable plant life on Chigon IV is a slimey plant similar to long moss. It grows both under and above the water line and is ubiquitous in humid biomes. It can also be found in dryer temperate climates all over the planet. This slime is actually very nutritious, and the natives value various varieties for their flavors.

Natural Resources

Chigon IV is not particularly mineral rich, but most of its metals are still in the ground, as mollugs use biological materials in their construction almost exclusively. It has very little that stands out from the mineral make up of hundreds of other inhabited worlds in the galaxy, other than cretianite. Cretianite is a reliable metal for use in space travel, but not remarkably so. Due to Chigon's remoteness from the rest of the galaxy, cretianite is expensive to use anywhere but the Chigon system. Cretianite is found primarily beneath bogs.

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footnote 1

It should always be noted that using earth classifications like "crustacean" or "mollusk" is a conceit that is used by xenobiologists as a shorthand, primarily for communicating with those outside their profession. So-called mollusks on Chigon IV bear less relation to an Earth snail than a stegosaurus. That is, Chigon IV mollusks will share superficial anatomical or behavioral traits with Earth mollusks, but do not share genetic similarities.

It is recommend, for the Forging Worlds with Tale Foundry challenge, to start with the summary article, and then read the articles in the navigation order at the bottom.

Important Sattelites

Chigon IV

Moons

3

Rings

1

Length of Year

200 local days (~335.4 earth days)

Length of Day

1d 16h 13m

Distance from Star

77.24 million mi

Gravity

10.1 m/s²

Axial Tilt

~11° - ~14°

Sophont Species

Mollugs, Fumuda

Alternative Name(s)

Nowhere, The Backside of Nowhere, A Million Light-Years from Anything

Type

Solar System

Included Locations

• Pickton Community

Visiting Species

Few embassies from other species exist on Chigon IV. Most prominent of those that do is the Earth League, representing humanity. Humans have a well-deserved reputation for establishing their presence on every planet they can -- to the point that some species call it an "infestation." However, the sophonts of Chigon IV have, thus far, welcomed the presence of humanity. The official Earth League embassy has a dozen residents, but a small colony of roughly a hundred humans has also been established.