Demartia
Demartia is a frigid world located just outside of the standard habitable zone from it’s mother sun in the Belerephron system. The slow rotational period coupled with it’s even slower orbital period and extreme axial tilt make for long seasons that last much longer that those on earth. While the hemisphere is facing towards the sun, temperatures can reach heights of 10 degrees Celsius (50F) during the summer months, but things take a plunge during the winter when the hemisphere is facing away from the sun to lows of -130 degrees Celsius (-200F) with raging winds and storms scouring the planet’s surface.
During the summer months, with the mild temperatures and abundance of sunlight, the planet’s surface is relatively forested with tough plants and trees anchored into the mineral rich soil. During the winter however the surface becomes nearly uninhabitable as harsh winds reaching upwards of 241 kilometers per hours (150 miles) wrack the frozen surface and turn it into a barren wasteland much like Antarctica of Earth.
Below the surface of the planet vast oceans of unfrozen water and rich mineral deposits exist in a system of caves that run throughout the entirety of the planet. These caves have provided refuge for the surface dwellers for millennia, and provide Demartia’s inhabitants with vital resources such as stone, metal and precious gems.
Population: 3.5 million
Orbital Distance: 30.1 AU
Orbital Period: 3.7 earth years (1,350 days)
Radius:
Day Length: 47 Earth hours
Atmospheric Pressure: 1.12 Earth Atmospheres
Surface Gravity: .9 G
The Myari
((I will upload a better picture when I finally have time to do so))
The Myari are mammalian humanoids that stand just short of 5 feet tall with large ears and tails. They are well suited for the environments of Demartia being that they are covered with a fine layer of fur that insulates their entire body, growing thicker on the head and neck much like a lion's mane. The fur ranges in color from white, pale blue and in rare cases greens with a lighter variant on their undersides. In addition each Myari has a unique pattern to their fur, ranging from minor whorls to striations much like predatory cats of Earth. They are predatory in nature, evident by their larger incisors and large, frontally located eyes. Their eyes and ears in turn are highly tuned to movement, allowing them to trail their prey from a distance without being noticed. Additionally they have developed claws to help them burrow through the ice and snow come the winter months while aiding them in their hunting come the summer. These adaptations have allowed the Myari to live on Demartia for eons despite the otherwise inhospitable conditions, living upwards of 120 years. However, due to their unique physiological adaptations, Myari travelling off world must wear special devices to help them regulate their temperatures lest they start to overheat.
Society
The Myari are a highly nomadic society broken down into several tribes scattered across the planet. As such, there are few permanent settlements due to the variances in the seasons making it exceedingly difficult to build anything on the surface. These permanent cities are primarily built underground and are powered by geothermal vents located deep below the surface. These cities serve as capitals for the Myari, allowing them to exchange news and goods during the winter months when doing such would hardly be possible on the surface. As of today, only 20 such cities exist.
There is no explicit set of laws that govern the Myari as each tribe adheres to it’s own set of rules. Despite this though, they all venerate a polytheistic religion dedicated to “The Five” with a strong emphasis on honoring their ancestors. Each tribe has it’s own cult of shamans who preach the words of their gods and hold a special place of honor within their respective tribes. Even in times of war, the shamans are highly protected and guarded by the one common law between all the tribes: “One does not slay the shaman, for doing so brings down upon them the five-fold wrath of the great spirits.”
The Myari language is fast paced with many monosyllabic words. It evolved this way due to the hunter/gatherer nature of the early Myari in an effort to conserve words on hunts. Over the years though, the language has evolved to become something more akin to Earth’s Hindi- stringing together many syllables in rapid succession.
Technology and Military
Myari technology is still viewed as “primitive” by other races. They still prefer the “ancient” weapons used by their ancestors such as bows and swords. Using the methods perfected by ancient Myari, they actually “grow” their weaponry out of the mineral rich caves below the frozen surface of Demartia. By planting a seed crystal into a bed of rich mineral growth, they then wait the many months as the crystallization process continues and the base crystal grows into the bladed edge of their weapon. During this growth process, the would-be smith crafts and hones specific tools to help shape the crystal once the process is complete. It takes years to create a finished weapon, but once done the weapon itself lasts for generations. It is only with the fairly recent advent of cross-world trading that their technology has seen a sharp spike in advancement. The act of creating and finishing a weapon in this manner is actually viewed as a right of passage into adulthood throughout the Myari culture.
Space travel is still a fairly recent development, reaching back within the past 700 years or so. Their ships are sleek and just as predatory looking as the Myari themselves and equipped with unique oscillating crystal laser cannons. In recent years, they have begun a colonization campaign that spans the galaxy in hopes of finding other worlds suitable to their unique biology.
