#reyal

Map by @nexelart (twit)

Reyal - A World of Extremes

As per the previous post stated, Reyal is much like our own Earth in terms of biodiversity, as well as a few other traits. In this post, we'll explore Reyal's weather and biosphere a bit more!

Reyal's climate has shifted greatly during it's history. From the early start of life, it was a much hotter world; it's atmosphere used to contain much higher amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, making it a much more tropical world than it is today.

Nowadays, Reyal experiences a much colder climate than Earth, as it lost much of it's greenhouse gasses during its several billion year long evolution. On top of this, Reyal orbits a bit further out from Tenav's habitable zone than we do around our own Sol.

At the poles, including wind chill, temperatures drop down to -103c on average at the surface. At the equator, the highest you can expect is a balmy 27c. Weather can of course influence these temperatures, but thanks to Reyal's lack of seasons and relative climatic stability, these tend to be year-round temperatures.

Thanks to it's colder climate, most of the planet is dominated by humid continental biomes, as well taiga and tundra. Due to a lack of water compared to Earth, most of the equator tends to be dominated by savanna and desert, with only a few key areas near the equator bearing rainforests.

Life has taken a massive advantage of this stability, and as such, Reyal can be very well described as a garden planet. Flowers and fruiting plants tend to grow very rapidly, leading to an abundance of food and other biological resources.

This all works out perfectly for the Lyratet, however, as they have evolved to be more adapted to colder climates. Due to their thick fur, habitation near or on the equator is near impossible, lest they suffer from the effects of overheating. Only a few settlements exist in the equator, and are primarily underground. Despite the heat, some do inhabit the surface briefly during the night or Tenavset/rise.

Edit of @nexelart's map, showing the equator and northernmost/southernmost parts of the poles greyed out

As seen in the image above, this excludes a fairly large part of Reyal for habitation. Most of the equator is designated as a ecological reserve then, with very little being known about it. Scientists do mount expeditions to document flora and fauna, but more often than not, the region is left to itself.

This lack of habitability at the equator has greatly affected Lyratet history. For almost the entirety of the two hundred thousand years that they have first had cultures, they had no real means of accessing the northern hemisphere. As such, they were relegated to the south, and struggled to develop for much of their history. In what would be 1113 A.D. our calendar, two brave souls finally took it upon themselves to transfer through the mountain ranges that intersect with the Great Desert Rings, and set foot up north. This is a story for another time, though!

In the next post, we'll be exploring the origin land of the Lyratet; the Land of Tenav's Dawn.

Map by @nexelart (twit)

Welcome to Reyal, the second planet from Tenav!

Reyal is a planet much like our own Earth, in that it supports a wide array of life and boasts a large hydrosphere. On top of that, it's only 1.27x larger than Earth, and has an atmospheric composition fairly similar to our own, with Reyal having 26.71% oxygen content as compared to Earth's 20.95%.

There, however, is where the similarities end.

Reyal has an orbital period of only 3.27 months, as Tenav is only a K7V class star. As such, Reyal doesn't really experience any seasons as we do here on Earth. Any changes are barely noticeable as it speeds around Tenav, causing only minor temperature differences during their year.

On top of that, Reyal experiences much heavier tidal activity, as it has two decently sized moons, Ro and Velgae. In conjunction with Tenav, volcanism and ocean/lake tides tend to be a bit more on the extreme side of things when compared to Earth.

Life emerged on Reyal some 4.7bn years ago, only a few hundred million years after the formation of Ro. Life on Reyal has never had it easy; from asteroids, comets, heavy glacial and hothouse periods, life on Reyal has seen the edge of oblivion numerous time.

Despite all this, life has found a way, and has thrived and even flourished through the ages. No example is better than Reyal's own sapient race, the Lyratet.

Map by @nexelart (twit)

Therikine - Where Land Meets Sea

Therikine is one of the latest settled regions of Southern Reyal during their early history, but it was the most important prior to the discovery of the Yuniv-Semat Trail.

As a temperate island, deep in Alkanite territory, it was exploited for its remoteness and abundance of natural resources at first. As those who fled from South-Eastern Reyal during the Exodus didn't have many resources or much of value in terms of trade goods, Therikine was essentially a holy grail for them.

Following the first religious wars, The Alkanites had a very hard time regaining trust of the rest of the world. Those in Tyrateol and other cities refused to do business with them for almost thirty years, before one day a ship set sail from Therikine to Heryeg-Ta, a major Tenavite shipping center. There, they unloaded several tons of gifts, ranging from dried ajjen mix from Therikine, to a few major works of art from Gallak. This marked one of the first attempts of intercontinental unity and goodwill, even if it didn't last.

In the following centuries, Therikine became a massive hub for traders and civilians alike, drawing in traders all across Reyal. As things cooled down thanks to communication and treaties, Therikine became a symbol of unity; a place where anybody, regardless of their religion, could feel safe together.

Nowadays, Therikine's use in terms of ajjen production has fallen; it's still produced and exported, but in much smaller amounts. Most familial communes, no matter where they're located, have their own greenhouse dedicated to growing the plants needed for it. Instead, Therikine focuses more on its mineral wealth, and has built a few small factories with the GRC's aid to help produce and distribute household robotics.

LV-72

LV-72, or “Laren Vuuhet”, which stands for “Mining Site 72” in the local tongue, was one of the Global Resource Committee’s many prospecting regions in the area. Located in a canyon, the area was originally marked for exploitation due to its high levels of yttrium and iron. However, many were shocked to find the presence of some very well preserved fossils in the canyon walls, coming from just before the Second Reset.

The entire mining operation switched gears, focusing on locating more. As time passed, two junior specialists (Sav and Uutarb, who grew to be very respected in their fields) proposed using ground penetrating radar to see if there was anything else in the area.

They were proven right, and on one fateful cave dive, Uutarb and one of her compatriots discovered two incredibly well preserved fossils. Not from before the Second Reset, but the First. Due to the nature of the extinction events & Reyal’s resurfacing in the periods that followed, they only had a hazy idea of what life was like before these catastrophic events. These caves helped to change their understanding of not only their world, but of themselves.

As this discovery took place well over two hundred years ago, LV-72 has more or less become a tourist attraction. Most of the fossils in the area have already been uncovered, being sent to museums and universities across the globe.

Yuurat

Yuurat is the capital of the United Therikine Communes. Originally, Yuurat had just been a small farming community, forming shortly after the third Exodus wave. Settlers were those who disagreed with mainstream Alkanite beliefs back in Gallak, and set out to find a new land that had been untouched by anyone. After scouring the seas, they found Therikine; a beautiful green gem among the dark blue seas.

Initially, growth was slow. The only things they knew how to work with were the super abundant algae and seaweed that grew in the area, which they used to supplement their diet. After a little more exploration of the region, they discovered a few new fruit species, as well as some miscellaneous vegetables and herbs.

On one fateful day, a local doctor began experimenting with some of the herbs, and discovered that quite a few had some very stimulating properties. After drying some and blending them together, he made Reyal’s very first cup of ajjen; a beverage that would change the world.

Word quickly spread, and ajjen became a very important trade good for Therikine. It began to command trade deals with Gallak and other Alkanite cities, with ajjen being almost as expensive as gold as word of its properties and taste spread. However, as dry ajjen is nowhere near as potent as fresh, things began to die down as some got their hands on seeds to grow their own.

Yuurat’s population slowly declined for a few hundred years, before it had a second wave of exponential growth, thanks to the discovery of rare earth minerals.

Today, however, most mining and production has been moved off world, and Yuurat has become more of a general food producer and vacation town. With a population only a fraction of what it used to be, Yuurat barely holds the power it once did, but is still a bustling and thriving town.

GRC Therikine Outpost

The Global Resource Committee (GRC) can be very closely tied to Therikine, in more ways than one. Therikine has always been a major producer of rare and important minerals, and the GRC was a big player in the development of Therikine’s mining industry.

The GRC’s Therikine outpost was established a little over 250 years ago, initially to help scout for new deposits on one of the relatively uninhabited sections of the island. Mining was already a very important sector for Therikine, but with the aid of the GRC, production tripled. Before the push of mining into space, Therikine would be one of the GRC’s top donors of resources, and played an important role in helping to fund new projects, such as the Rev-Legaken Launch Facility.

The outpost also was a major training facility for the GRC; new recruits of various physical sciences would typically be sent here to get their bearings, before being sent out to other locations across Reyal. Calculating environmental impacts from mining and finding new deposits were fairly easy, so it was a very simple and easy first post for greenhorns.

With the discovery of numerous fossils in the region, mining was slowly toned down in the area, with its new focus becoming paleontology. This marked the slow end of the outpost, as new discoveries are eventually dried up. Choosing for the area to become a center of learning, it was converted to a museum and hotel just a few decades ago.

That’s it for this entry; thanks for your patience in waiting for this! It means a lot to me. Until next week, when we’ll be discussing the Great Central Desert Mountains! Take care!

Since the dawn of the space age on Reyal, it became abundantly clear that there were many challenges they'd have to face.

As a social species, they struggle with solitude; the first few missions were a nightmare, as the panic from being detached from friends and family became a big issue. However, that was manageable with therapy and much shorter solo missions.

Radiation was a much more pressing issue, and after the long-term health affects became clear from the relative lack of protection, major steps were taken to build suits that would withstand the harsh environs of space.

Reyal is a very unique world, in that its thick atmosphere and highly active core provided much more shielding from cosmic and solar radiation than our own Earth would. This led to pretty much every life form on Reyal being much more susceptible to radiation's harmful effects, which would prove to be a very difficult roadblock on their technological voyage.

There was much discussion as what type of suit would be better after regular flight suits were proven to be ineffective; hardshell, which was heavy and hard to maneuver in but gave incredible protection, or soft shell, which was a tiny bit easier to work in, but offered barely any protection.

After some research and development, a mix was approved for use; soft around the joints, with most of the rest of the body being hardshell. It wasn't ideal, but there was very little else that can be done to combat the lack of mobility.

Art by @bjekkergauken After years of development, hard work, and testing, the first deep space suits were approved for regular use. The above is a display model; showing heraldry only for the Global Resource Committee's Space Division, and crampons for a rocky or icy moon.

These used many new technologies and techniques to help protect the wearer, such as a camera based vision system. This not only helps protect the eyes, but can allow for a better understanding of the environment around the wearer, being able to cycle into different types of light wavelengths.

Some other useful features are the claw grabbers that replace the gloves, allowing for much easier mobility in the vacuum. Initial testing proved that softshell gloves were a nightmare to work with, causing many engineers to nearly quit out of frustration. A few late night brainstorming sessions later, they figured out that using a manipulator was much easier than anything else. This would become a mainstay for future suit design, and open up a massive world of possibilities for on-orbit construction and more.

Aside from that, the suit also boasts a data pad for easy communication & lookup, a jetpack for low-or-no gravity environments (fueled by pure nitrogen), and a hatchback for hooking up into vehicles for easy doffing and donning.

These suits were used en masse for many years, in a massive variety of situations; from low Reyal orbit and all the way out to Alkan and her twin, they saw very heavy use for the first few decades of the Lyratet's expansion into space.

However, as their needs expanded, the old generation of suits would prove to need an upgrade. Cameras failing while out, data pads falling off, life support issues, outdated technology, and more would be the sign that things had to change.

Art by @hellagator Five years before the launch of the First Extended Thrallit Expedition, the Global Resource Committee finally approved and released the latest design; the Modular Deep Space Maneuvering Unit, or the MDSMU for short. This would be a massive upgrade from the previous design, making up for most of its shortfalls.

With advances in material science and a better understanding of life and work in space, the MDSMU sported much better mobility, all without sacrificing any radiation protection. A thin layer of a lead alloy, alongside water ice, was added to help aid in deflecting any harmful radiation. Aside from this, most everything is the same.

The same applies for the new and improved helmet, which allows for both regular vision, alongside the original camera vision. The visor is made of a heavy layer of leaded titanium glass on the outside, followed by a thin layer of water ice, and finally a quantum dot display on the inside. While it's just as safe to use regular vision these days, many still opt to cover up the outside, and use only the camera.

Another major advancement is the modular ability of the suit; while the previous design was used in a variety of situations, it wasn't very practical for exploration out past Alkan, or in the inner system past Reyal. The suit has dozens of other parts that can be swapped out or added, ranging from underwater maneuvering addons for Alkan, to an extended heating system for cave diving on Lejag, the outermost planet.

The suit can also be very easily modified to suit any changes to the wearer’s body, or in a swapping of people wearing it, thanks to machine learning and a complex system of elastic and memory foam. The only thing that doesn't change is the horn armor; GRCSED standards have them set to a certain height, mainly for ease of access among their many bases and outposts, and the dangers that come with overgrowth.

The only thing that would change would be the fuel used over the centuries; originally, monomethylhydrazine was used for fuel as an improvement upon just raw nitrogen. However, as some spills occurred in a few bases, it was quickly replaced with nitrogen once more due to the toxicity of the prior.

Map by @nexelart (twit)

The Desert Rings - Oceanside Paradise

The Desert Rings are the second most densely populated location in Southern Reyal, outside of the Land of Tenav's Dawn. Here is the location where many Alkanites fled to during the early migrations of the then recently civilized Lyratet. Surprisingly, the area is very fitting for their beliefs, as Alkan itself is a fairly salty world!

Today, while still being heavily in Alkanite territory, much of the religion in the region has switched more towards those who believe Reyal has magical abilities, or just one of the many flavors of Tenavism. Religious tensions have died down with the rise of globalization, and it is now a much calmer, happier place than it used to be.

The Desert Rings are located around the Great Southern Ocean, which is Reyal's only ocean. While seemingly inhospitable at first, due to the Lyratet's love for smaller lakes and other bodies of water, they quickly adapted to the saltwater filled environment.

The rings formed as a result of colliding continental plates, and can be very easily compared to the Ring of Fire on Earth, albeit much more pronounced due to Reyal's heavier geological activity. The region is very prone to quakes and volcanic activity, although the Lyratet have come up with ways to deal with this.

To make matters more interesting, a few hundred million years ago, a large comet hit the northern half of the ocean, digging up enough soil to create a small island. This island is now known as Therikine, which is a fairly important hub in the region for trade, mining, and paleontology.

u'un Nea'terno

u'un Nea'terno, or the Primal Desert, is one of the most inhospitable places on Reyal for habitation. Due to the mountains in the region, moisture is constantly wicked away layer by layer, creating a desert that never sees any rain towards the center of the area. Temperatures can reach up to 29C with no cloud cover, and the average rainfall is less than half a centimeter per decade. There have been wet periods in the past, but they've been incredibly far and few between. During these times, however, the desert has come alive, sporting very unique lifeforms that take advantage of the temporary situation. They hibernate the rest of the time, sometimes for centuries. As such, the region is an amazing time capsule for life, and has been the heavy focus of paleontologists and biologists in recent years.

Therikine

Therikine is considered to be the holy grail of Lyratet life. During early settlement, the region was discovered to sport a very unique biosphere, due to being so isolated from the rest of the world; many new types of food were discovered, with the most important of them being the components for ajjen. Ajjen is a traditional herbal brew which contains several stimulating chemicals, much like coffee here on Earth. Since its discovery, it has spread through the world like wildfire, and is on par in terms of consumption with just regular water.

On top of this, Therikine has one of the largest known reserves of rare earth minerals that are easily extractable, and is home to a series of caves that house some incredibly well preserved fossils, which were discovered by a team of scientists and engineers from the Global Resource Committee much by accident. They were searching for new phosphorus deposits initially, but two scientists used some ground penetrating radar to discover the caves after finding some loose fossils on the surface.

Gallak

Gallak, meaning "Long Shore" in the native tongue of the region, is the capitol of the Gallak United Territories. The city is the most populated in the region by far, boasting around ~163 million people. Gallak is the Alkanite's equivalent to Tyrateol, albeit much smaller in comparison to the hulking giant. Founded by settlers during the third exodus of Alkanites from the Land of Tenav's Dawn, Gallak quickly grew, slowly absorbing surrounding villages, all before turning into what it is today.

As religious tensions died down heavily over the centuries since its founding, Gallak has become more of a tourist town for those who wish to bathe in the warm, sunny waters of the Great Southern Ocean. On top of this, Gallak is known for its algae based dyes, which are only able to be grown in this area. The byproducts from bleaching the algae are added to food, leading to a unique yet savory and nutritious style of food. That's it for this entry; thanks for reading! Next week, we'll cover Therikine in more detail! Until then!