Thulestra
Capital of Zerethys. Crown jewel of terraforming.
The capital city of Zerethys. Crown jewel of terraforming.
Thulestra is perched on the southern coast of Velthorin, a lush continent among several deliberately terraformed zones on Zerethys. The beaches here are engineered, the climate is perfect, and the skyline is sharp enough to cut a diamond. It's a place people dream about.
Constructed during the planet's final phase of terraforming, the city was designed to inspire. Every tree, walkway, and skyline view serves a purpose. Thulestra isn't just the capital, it's a living advertisement for what Zerethys wants you to believe: unity, wealth, luxury, and possibility.
Thulestra doesn't choose who gets to live on Zerethys, but it reflects who does. As the capital, it attracts the planet's most powerful residents: trade magnates, politicians, entertainers, business moguls, and the well-connected elite. Most long-term citizens cleared the planetary vetting process long before they bought their first skybiew condo or strolled the Meridian gardens.
But Thulestra isn't just for the residents. It's a magnet for interstellar tourism and is one of the most visited cities in the sector. Travellers come for the climate, the luxury, and the illusion of elite living. The beaches shimmer, the nightlife thrives, and adventures range from deep-jungle eco-tours to orbital drift racing. If there's a spectacle to be had, you'll find it here.
The working class flows in on rotating contracts, supporting everything from hospitality to infrastructure. They live in outlying districts or housing hubs just beyond the city limits. Even if they're considered 'lower class', these hubs and quality of life are higher than many planets' elite living.
There's a distinct lack of pollution, poverty, or visible unrest. But nothing’s flawless, not even the most flawless city in the galaxy.
Thulestra is perched on the southern coast of Velthorin, a lush continent among several deliberately terraformed zones on Zerethys. The beaches here are engineered, the climate is perfect, and the skyline is sharp enough to cut a diamond. It's a place people dream about.
"I'll be rich enough to retire to Thulestra one day."
Constructed during the planet's final phase of terraforming, the city was designed to inspire. Every tree, walkway, and skyline view serves a purpose. Thulestra isn't just the capital, it's a living advertisement for what Zerethys wants you to believe: unity, wealth, luxury, and possibility.
Thulestra doesn't choose who gets to live on Zerethys, but it reflects who does. As the capital, it attracts the planet's most powerful residents: trade magnates, politicians, entertainers, business moguls, and the well-connected elite. Most long-term citizens cleared the planetary vetting process long before they bought their first skybiew condo or strolled the Meridian gardens.
But Thulestra isn't just for the residents. It's a magnet for interstellar tourism and is one of the most visited cities in the sector. Travellers come for the climate, the luxury, and the illusion of elite living. The beaches shimmer, the nightlife thrives, and adventures range from deep-jungle eco-tours to orbital drift racing. If there's a spectacle to be had, you'll find it here.
The working class flows in on rotating contracts, supporting everything from hospitality to infrastructure. They live in outlying districts or housing hubs just beyond the city limits. Even if they're considered 'lower class', these hubs and quality of life are higher than many planets' elite living.
There's a distinct lack of pollution, poverty, or visible unrest. But nothing’s flawless, not even the most flawless city in the galaxy.
Demographics
As the capital of Zerethys, this city draws citizens, workers, and tourists from across the galaxy, all filtered through a strict planetary migration system that evaluates each applicant's financial stability, legal standing, and professional contributions.
Species, culture, and origin are not barriers to access, and open discrimination is not tolerated.
Permanent residents, known as Zerethians, tend to fall into the upper socioeconomic tiers of galactic society: investors, executives, entertainers, politicians, and long-term contract holders. Most have lived on the planet for years, or use it as a holiday home location.
While many are wealthy, not all are famous. The city's elite are as likely to be quietly influential as they are high-profile.
The working class is drawn from dozens of systems and rotated in on structured contracts. They support hospitality, education, tech infrastructure, maintenance, and entertainment industries, often living in managed satellite districts just outside the core cities. While their stays are largely temporary, their presence is essential. Wages, healthcare, and living standards here outstrip those of most planetary cores.
A large portion of Thulestra's population, at any given time, consists of tourists and short-term visitors, most of whom are here for business, arts, recreation, or diplomatic reasons. Embassy zones and cultural districts support over a hundred systems, with full language support, adaptive services, and interspecies integration policies enforced at every level of public infrastructure.
Thulestra projects a clean, inclusive image that isn't just for show. The city operates on rules, not bias. Everyone follows the same procedures to enter, and those who violate the city's conduct codes, either socially or legally, are not tolerated for long.
Species, culture, and origin are not barriers to access, and open discrimination is not tolerated.
Permanent residents, known as Zerethians, tend to fall into the upper socioeconomic tiers of galactic society: investors, executives, entertainers, politicians, and long-term contract holders. Most have lived on the planet for years, or use it as a holiday home location.
While many are wealthy, not all are famous. The city's elite are as likely to be quietly influential as they are high-profile.
The working class is drawn from dozens of systems and rotated in on structured contracts. They support hospitality, education, tech infrastructure, maintenance, and entertainment industries, often living in managed satellite districts just outside the core cities. While their stays are largely temporary, their presence is essential. Wages, healthcare, and living standards here outstrip those of most planetary cores.
A large portion of Thulestra's population, at any given time, consists of tourists and short-term visitors, most of whom are here for business, arts, recreation, or diplomatic reasons. Embassy zones and cultural districts support over a hundred systems, with full language support, adaptive services, and interspecies integration policies enforced at every level of public infrastructure.
Thulestra projects a clean, inclusive image that isn't just for show. The city operates on rules, not bias. Everyone follows the same procedures to enter, and those who violate the city's conduct codes, either socially or legally, are not tolerated for long.
Defences
Thulesetra does not look like a defended city by design. There are no walls, turrets, or roaming patrols. Security is invisible, integrated, and effective. From biometric checkpoints and atmospheric sensors to drone monitoring and adaptive AI traffic systems. The city is built to detect threats before they become problems.
Planetary defence is centralised through Zerethys' orbital shield network and planetary surface grid, which includes a high-density interceptor array, satellite surveillance rings, and encrypted orbital traffic lanes. In the event of a large-scale external threat, Thulestra's airspace can be locked down in under thirty seconds, with civilian evacuations routed through underground transit corridors linked to off-site bunkers.
Internally, municipal security is handled by the Department of Civic Oversight — a civilian-facing agency that manages law enforcement, behavioural compliance, and interspecies conflict mediation. Officers are highly trained, unarmed by default, and supported by real-time data from the city’s integrated surveillance web.
Key Defense Features:
Planetary defence is centralised through Zerethys' orbital shield network and planetary surface grid, which includes a high-density interceptor array, satellite surveillance rings, and encrypted orbital traffic lanes. In the event of a large-scale external threat, Thulestra's airspace can be locked down in under thirty seconds, with civilian evacuations routed through underground transit corridors linked to off-site bunkers.
Internally, municipal security is handled by the Department of Civic Oversight — a civilian-facing agency that manages law enforcement, behavioural compliance, and interspecies conflict mediation. Officers are highly trained, unarmed by default, and supported by real-time data from the city’s integrated surveillance web.
Key Defense Features:
- Orbital shield grid tied to Zerethys-wide defence system
- Adaptive AI surveillance across all public zones
- Biometric and ID tracking for all registered individuals
- Low-visibility drone presence and autonomous threat interception
- Rapid lockdown protocols integrated into city infrastructure
- Civil security teams specialised in de-escalation, not combat
Industry & Trade
The city's primary industries revolve around luxury services, high-profile tourism, and interstellar trade negotiation. Business here happens in boardrooms, resort suites, private lounges, and high-security comm towers.
The city handles a massive volume of administrative and financial traffic tied to Zerethys' planetary output. Resource contracts, trade permits, immigration clearances, and investment portfolios all route through Thulestra's dense network of interlinked civic institutions and corporate satellites. From orbital import stations to encrypted stock servers in the Corax Spire, the city is a galaxy-spanning logistics machine disguised as a paradise.
Tourism is its most visible industry, and one of its most profitable. Visitors flock to Thulestra for biotech spas, curated wilderness adventures, combat showcases, fine arts festivals, and zero-G entertainment. The city's infrastructure is tuned for this: multilingual signage, high-speed maglevs, concierge AI, and entire districts designed to accommodate off-world physiology and cultural norms.
Thulestra also plays a key role in migration and labour logistics. While most long-term residency is granted at the planetary level, the city hosts the central processing hubs for contract workers, diplomatic visitors, and high-tier investment citizenship bids. The movement of people, temporary or otherwise, is one of its most tightly managed industries.
The city handles a massive volume of administrative and financial traffic tied to Zerethys' planetary output. Resource contracts, trade permits, immigration clearances, and investment portfolios all route through Thulestra's dense network of interlinked civic institutions and corporate satellites. From orbital import stations to encrypted stock servers in the Corax Spire, the city is a galaxy-spanning logistics machine disguised as a paradise.
Tourism is its most visible industry, and one of its most profitable. Visitors flock to Thulestra for biotech spas, curated wilderness adventures, combat showcases, fine arts festivals, and zero-G entertainment. The city's infrastructure is tuned for this: multilingual signage, high-speed maglevs, concierge AI, and entire districts designed to accommodate off-world physiology and cultural norms.
Thulestra also plays a key role in migration and labour logistics. While most long-term residency is granted at the planetary level, the city hosts the central processing hubs for contract workers, diplomatic visitors, and high-tier investment citizenship bids. The movement of people, temporary or otherwise, is one of its most tightly managed industries.
Infrastructure
Thulestra’s infrastructure is designed for elegance and scale.
The city is fully integrated into Zerethys’ planetary systems, but maintains its own high-performance grid for power, water, transit, and environmental control.
Transit is frictionless. An autonomous maglev network spans every major district, with multilingual, species-adaptive interface hubs. Aerial lanes support mid-range private and commercial skimmers, while sub-city routes handle service traffic, freight, and high-security diplomatic movement. Pedestrian zones dominate the central city, supported by shaded bio-pathways, kinetic floor grids, and cooling mist emitters in warmer zones.
Energy is drawn from a mix of orbital solar, geothermal, and atmospheric capacitors, managed by the city’s AI-run Sustenance Grid Authority. Power outages are unheard of; system lags are cause for investigation. Waste is vapour-separated at source points and redistributed through a closed-loop reclamation process, integrated into the broader terraforming ecology of Zerethys.
Water and air systems are monitored at the molecular level, with pollutant levels near-zero. Weather patterns are semi-controlled over city sectors to maintain comfort, airflow, and agricultural yields in green zones.
Accessibility is a citywide mandate. Public systems adapt to height, limb count, sensory range, and neuroprofile. Multi-species sanitation, rest, and transit facilities are the norm, not the exception. Even signage, seating, and ambient lighting adjust to the dominant biology of whoever’s present.
Security infrastructure is invisible but omnipresent. Facial and biometric ID systems are layered with behavioural AI tracking, cross-referenced in real time. Emergency response systems operate on sub-second loops, with drones, medical AI, and enforcement bots deployed automatically in high-risk events — often before citizens are aware of a threat.
The city is fully integrated into Zerethys’ planetary systems, but maintains its own high-performance grid for power, water, transit, and environmental control.
Transit is frictionless. An autonomous maglev network spans every major district, with multilingual, species-adaptive interface hubs. Aerial lanes support mid-range private and commercial skimmers, while sub-city routes handle service traffic, freight, and high-security diplomatic movement. Pedestrian zones dominate the central city, supported by shaded bio-pathways, kinetic floor grids, and cooling mist emitters in warmer zones.
Energy is drawn from a mix of orbital solar, geothermal, and atmospheric capacitors, managed by the city’s AI-run Sustenance Grid Authority. Power outages are unheard of; system lags are cause for investigation. Waste is vapour-separated at source points and redistributed through a closed-loop reclamation process, integrated into the broader terraforming ecology of Zerethys.
Water and air systems are monitored at the molecular level, with pollutant levels near-zero. Weather patterns are semi-controlled over city sectors to maintain comfort, airflow, and agricultural yields in green zones.
Accessibility is a citywide mandate. Public systems adapt to height, limb count, sensory range, and neuroprofile. Multi-species sanitation, rest, and transit facilities are the norm, not the exception. Even signage, seating, and ambient lighting adjust to the dominant biology of whoever’s present.
Security infrastructure is invisible but omnipresent. Facial and biometric ID systems are layered with behavioural AI tracking, cross-referenced in real time. Emergency response systems operate on sub-second loops, with drones, medical AI, and enforcement bots deployed automatically in high-risk events — often before citizens are aware of a threat.
