Aaspen

Planet A275478

Nicknamed (Aaspen), for the golden clouds reminded one of the researchers of Aspen wood from Earth.

Founded in redacted, by Research Ship 478, this planet is a Hycean-class ocean world — larger than Earth, with no solid continents, only endless ocean and atmosphere, and several gargantuan megafauna. This planet was successfully colonized and the colony has been named "Aaspen." They have not yet succeeded in connecting with main line of humanity yet.

Planet

• Radius: ~16,000 km (~2.5 Earth radii).
• Mass: ~7–8 Earth masses.
• Gravity: ~1.3–1.5g.
• Day Length: Fast rotation, ~14 hours

Atmosphere

Thick and multilayered. Defines the world more than land ever could.

• Upper Atmosphere: Thin. Aurora's are common here with streaks of glowing green and purple covering the sky. The magnetosphere of this planet is relatively strong and creates an environment prime for auroras at night.
• Middle Atmosphere: Dense, golden creamy white clouds of minerals (strong makeup of sulfates, silicates, and metal oxides). Filled with intense storms and fluffy golden hours.
• Lower Atmosphere: Nitrogen and Oxygen dominate creating a breathable environment for humanity.

Weather: Huge cyclones, thousands of miles wide and circle the planet following seasonal winds. From space they appear as golden spirals, sparkling with dots of lightning. Rain can come down into lower atmospheres and create golden mists and precipitation.

Hydrosphere

The ocean covers the entire planet. The water is unnaturally blue due to the extreme depth, light scattering off of silicate particles, and huge blooms of bioluminescent plankton.

As the water becomes deeper, pressure increases. The increasing pressure turns water into exotic high-pressure phases of ice. Like Ice VI and Ice VII.
This abyss can be characterized as a frozen underworld to any unfortunate soul that could theoretically reach it.

Strong currents from extremely large moons. Extremely strong upwards currents can move massive amounts of nutrients and creatures up to the surface which can cause huge surface blooms.

Geophysics

The core is a rocky metallic hybrid that is buried underneath an ice mantle.

Underwater cryovolcanoes erupt mineral-rich water, ammonia, and other chemicals into the ocean.

The metallic core creates an extremely strong magnetic field that protects the atmosphere and creates bright auroras.

Biosphere

Marine

In the marine world, ecosystems are reliant on bioluminescent plankton. This bioluminescent plankton is the basis for nearly all life. They thrive on the minerals and chemicals from underwater volcanoes. Upward currents can move masses of them to the surface where they often bloom into super masses.

Whale-like filter feeders with translucent bodies feed on plankton. There are also eel-like swarms of beings that hunt in coordinated bioluminescent pulses.

At the apex of the marine chain is the marine megafauna.

First are massive turtle-like leviathans with their backs encrusted with coral-like symbiotes, barnacle forests, and entire ecosystems of smaller creatures. They “swim” slowly, but their skin becomes moving terrain.

Second are their natural predators and the apex predator of the marine ecosystems. Gigantic serpentine predators that prowl the pressure depths. Their bodies are armored with mineral plating crystallized from hydrothermal vents. These abyssal serpents are incomprehensibly massive.

Surface

The turtle like megafauna at some point in their past were separated and split off with another species. This other species split off and now lives on the surface. These surface level megafauna turtles graze on the upwellings that the currents create. They migrate through convergence zones where those currents drag up nutrient-rich plankton blooms. Their mouths are cavernous, scooping entire “clouds” of plankton and smaller organisms. Their outer shell is flat and covered in soil-like accumulations of organic debris and symbiotic mats. Over centuries, floating flora colonize their backs. Some appear as true drifting islands.

The Sky

The sky is an entirely separate but extremely massive ecosystem just like the marine life.

The basis for life in the aerial environment is a form of sky-plankton. Microscopic, buoyant, photosynthetic organisms suspended in the atmosphere. Each cell forms a tiny bubble-like silica with gas vesicles, making them neutrally buoyant. They trap trace water vapor + minerals (pulled up by convection) to sustain themselves. During the day, they rise toward the sunlight and glow faintly green-gold as they photosynthesize. At night, they drift downward and cluster in denser “cloud blooms.”

There are also huge megafauna floating jellyfish with huge gas-bags that photosynthesize through the middle to upper atmosphere.

Swarms of insect-like creatures feed on this skyplankton.

Small silvery fish-like creatures with thin glider skin sift through the plankton and insect-like creatures as well.

Next are enormous megafauna manta-like filter feeders with massive wingspans feed on skyplankton.

There are also schools of colorful birds that hunt the swarms and flying fish,

Next are gargantuan megafauna whale-like creatures that feed on the floating jellyfish. These skywhales have adapted internal gas bladders that allow them to be buoyant enough to stay afloat at nearly any level. Their gigantic wing-like fins catch updrafts and convective storms to adjust altitude. Their thick dorsal ridges accumulate mineral dust and drifting spores to create symbiotic ecosystems on their backs. Entire mats of lightweight flora cling to their backs, forming aerial “gardens.” Some smaller flying creatures nest there, making each sky whale a flying island-ecosystem. They migrate seasonally, following convection belts. Storms don’t bother them; they ride hurricanes like rivers.

The apex predators are large aerial bird-raptor drake like creatures of colorful feathers that use coordinating hunting to take down mantas and sometimes even baby sky-whales.

Magic and Megafauna Continued...

The megafauna of Aaspen are not merely beasts but also ancient intelligences. They think slowly, like mountains dreaming, but with immense depth. Over millennia of contact, they have learned human language, not just words, but meaning. Their thoughts are so vast that communication is always telepathic, not spoken. Certain humans, chosen or stumbled upon, are marked by these encounters and given fragments of the megafauna’s power. The color of telekinesis/psychic energy reflects the origin of the bond.

Megafauna can grant power to humans as well.

Abyssal Serpents

Rarely “speak,” and only in dreams or near death moments. Their minds are so crushingly vast that most humans cannot handle them without fracturing.

Their voices are like whispered thoughts of unimaginable pressure. The voice is overwhelming and alien.

Gifts:

• Water shaping: pulling currents, crushing waves.
• Ice forming: condensing frozen forms from humid air.
• Psychic dominance: overwhelming weaker minds.
• Telekinesis manifests as blue.

Culture:

• Considered myth, legend, or taboo.
• Those who return from serpent-dreams often show mental scars: obsession, paranoia, “hearing the depths.”
• Cults form around these people often conspiratorial, revolutionary, or violent.

Underwater Turtles

Withdrawn, thoughtful, rarely interact. They see humans as small, flickering lives, rarely worth notice. But on occasion, they reach out to a lonely raft-dweller or desperate soul. Their voices are slow, measured, often single phrases of profound weight.

Gifts:

• Premonition/Foresight
• Dream Sharing/Manipulation
• Mental Shielding
• Telekinesis manifests as white.

Culture:

• Prophets, oracles, and mystics claim descent from Underwater Turtles.
• Their chosen are often solitary, feared, or revered as “Touched by the Silent.”
• Their gifts are cryptic, never direct. Humans often misinterpret them.

Surface Turtles

Constantly interact with humans, as they literally carry thousands of them. They are guides, teachers, and sometimes stern parents.

They are usually conversational, paternal, often giving advice, stories, or warnings.

Gifts:

• Healing: Others and Self
• Life Energies: Rapid growth of plants
• Communication with all creatures
• Telekinesis manifests as green

Culture:

• Seen as patrons of society. Each city on a turtle is in dialogue with its host.
• Speakers often become leaders, judges, or healers, part of the civic backbone.

Sky Whales

Open, curious, and wise. They frequently converse with humans, offering guidance like wandering philosophers. Their voices are gentle, expansive, poetic.

Gifts:

• Wind/Storm Manipulation
• Flight
• Improved Vision
• Telekinesis manifests as gold

Culture:

• Sky Whale speakers are visionaries, artists, and spiritual leaders.
• They are viewed as dreamers, able to channel the “song of the skies.”

Humanity (or what was)

A million years ago, the research vessel 478 established a small colony with access to a few core pieces of new-gen tech.

The colony developed relatively quickly and soon humans had made a footprint on nearly all parts of the planet.

The largest civilizations are posed atop the backs of the colossal surface turtles. Massive cities have been erected from the state-sized islands that lay on the backs of the turtles. All surface turtles in Aaspen have atleast some civilization atop them.

In the air, some groups of humans have created floating balloon cities tethered to the sky-whales. Sustaining off of the gardens atop the whales.

Some civilizations live atop artificial rafts. Some are successful but many fail in storms killing thousands.

All of the civilization generally believe in a major religion with seperation creating offshoots of it. The Great Cycle where central belief is that all life moves in migrations: turtles, whales, currents, storms, even stars. To resist movement is to deny life.

In art spirals, storms, and migration-paths dominate motifs. Songs and dances mimic the movements of whales, turtles, and storms.

The major civilizations wield fragments of the next-gen tech that were left by their forefathers thousands of years ago. This has allowed them to construct these massive cities.

Turtle City-States

Each great turtle supports a singular city. Cities are ruled by a council of "shell wardens" who track migration and weather.

Food is composed of gardens and some crops that have been warped by genetic inflow that were originally seeds given by the forefathers. Blue-peaches for example.

City-states have very collective cultures and often form disdain for others that don't live in their city-state. Wars between turtle states can happen.

Bone is an extremely valuable material and comes from a number of places. Turtle bone weapons, are given to high-class individuals and are very strong. Weapons compose of spears and shields primarily and leather clothing. Javelins and bows are also common. Especially with tall towers that rise to protect against hostile aerial fauna and hostile whale civilizations.

Some groups cultivate relationships with raptor-drakes, using them as living war-beasts.

Skiffs and ships with relatively short ranges are common among these city-states. Most battles between turtle states happen in naval combat.

Some turtle states have witnessed Abyssal Serpents consume turtles in history. This has become a myth. Abyssal serpents are seen as the “teeth of the planet,” destructive forces to be appeased with offerings of song, bioluminescent displays, and sometimes living sacrifices in extreme storms.

Architecture consists of coral, kelp, bone, and symbiotic mats woven into organic towers. On turtle-islands, cities resemble living reefs.

The Sky Whale Tribes

Led by a singular leader, often called a “Flightmother” or “Stormlord.” They control tethering rights to sky whales.

Their societies value freedom and movement; permanence is seen as weakness.

Sky-nomads revere their whales as literal gods, homes to “living heavens” where spirits dwell. Turtle-dwellers view this as heresy.

The golden clouds are divine; clothing and art emphasize yellows, creams, and metallic tones.

The floating cities are more akin to huge floating skiff-like zeppelins that cut through the air propelled by the whales.

Most tribes are relatively peaceful, but some tribes have found it profitable to tame raptor-drakes and raid turtle states below. Regardless, all tribes are armed with rope-tied arrows and harpoons, resources are precious in the sky, so losing an arrow or harpoon can be devastating to an individuals reputation.

The pirate-like tribes often carry harpoons and use them as lances riding large drakes.

Rafts

A small percentage of humans live on artificial rafts, usually outcasts of their respective societies. Most everyone else in the world looks down upon them and they usually have very little resources.

The main nickname for raft-dwellers is "ratfolk."