Zithir (Human perspective)

(The creatures I'm writing about belong in he same world as the planets cryolith, Behemoth, Cauldron, etc., hopefully for a future mod.  To make things a bit more interesting, I'll try and describe the three species involved from each other's point of view, although the "Human" perspective will be the most basic.)

First Glance

Scouting parties on Phobis Terra at first did not notice anything unusual about the Zithir.  With the wide diversity of life on Phobis Terra, the Zithir appeared to be nothing more than another stragne social animal when first spotted.  In addition, Zithir parties were quite good at sensing that people were approaching, and often hid or ran away before details could be noticed.

Zithir on Cryolith and Cauldron were far easier to spot, due to the lack of other life on those planets. Because of the protective materials they wore, however, those Zithir were often mistaken for other human groups, and it took some more close encounters, and many failed communication attempts, to realize that they were a different type of life form.

As contact became more common, Zithir gained a reputation for rapidly learning human mannerisms, and for being the less aggressive of the two alien species landed in this system.  Zithir seemed to be able to sense quite easily the fear and curiosity of human visitors, and to quickly figure out how to react in nonthreatening ways.  As contact increased, Zithir communication styles were worked out, more contact was established, and deatils of their society and biology were opened to human colonists.

Anatomy/Biology

Zithir, in a general sense, resemble humans.  They walk upright on two legs, have two arms, with hand like features at the end, and have a head at the top with eyes, most of the nervous system, and other sensory organs.  They are on average much smaller than humans, about half the weight and somewhat shorter, with a thin appearance.  Their most distinctive features are a set of two large, and several smaller, protrusions from their heads.  These features are extensions of their brains, housing structures responsible for their tremendous psychic and empathetic abilities.  The larger protrusions appear as a set of lumpy antlers, and contain numerous distinct nerve clusters, while the smaller protrusions resemble tentacles, and act as sensors.

The most astounding, and unusual, feature of the Zithir are their psychic and future sensing abilities.  All Zithir are born with a limited, but trainable, ability to sense emotions in any creatures around them, and an ability to sense events in both the past and future.  The discovery and acceptance of these abilities (As opposed to explanations such as strong intuition and/or unusual sensitivity similar to some Earth animals) was a long and difficult process, involving numerous experiments and alternative explanations, and scientists are still struggling to explain how exactly the Zithir do it, and what the implications are for the physical universe.  What is known is that these abilities mostly come from the Zithir's head appendages, with the smaller tentacle appendages involved in somehow sensing outside stimuli to reveal emotions, while the larger, lumpy antler protrusions are involved in time sensing through their numerous nerve clusters.  Zithir main brains, in addition to other functions, coordinate these processes, and make sense of the input.  These abilties, and their implications, are the greatest influence on how the Zithir form societies, and interact with the rest of the world.

Zithir biochemistry uses some materials in common with human biochemistry, but more colplex molecules and molecular building blocks are often different.   While humans can partially digest a small fraction of Zithir food, and vice versa, eating foods of another species is not recommended as the nutrients that can be extracted are poor and highly limited, with poisoning always a possibility.  Some Zithir soil organisms, bacteria, and non-moving life does combine well with human life for fertilizing soil, and crop rotation agreements are often established between Zithir and Human groups on good terms with each other.  Zithir phychic appendages require enormous amounts of energy to function, so despite their smaller size, Zithir typically require a larger amount of energy than an equivalent human would.  However, they require less building material nutrients (Equivalent to proteins, some minerals, etc.) to maintain their bodies.

Zithir bodies are known to be highly fragile, inujuring easily, healing much more slowly, and are highly sensitive to poisons.  It seems the Zithir future sensing abilities allow them to avoid danger more easily than other creatures might, and can as a result avoid injuries rather than having to take them.  Zithir bones are weak enough that simply falling down often fractures them, while cuts and bruises apart from the very smallest require Zithir to reduce activity significantly, and be careful to avoid further injury.  Because of this fragility, correctly managed physical training is a life or death issue for young Zithir and Zithir in physically demanding roles, as without it, day to day physical activity alone will cause life threatening fractures and injuries, let alone the more physically demanding roles Zithir may play.  Even with all these dangers, the most feared injury to almost all Zithir is the loss or damage to their head appendages.  Once functions of these appendages is lost, it never returns, even with practice and training, and Zithir who loose those abilities find themselves unable to interact with, and usually cut off from, society.  Zithir call them :unconnected".

Government/Social Organization

Zithir societies are the most close knit of the all three colonizing species in this system, due to the ability to directly sense emotions.  Individual crimes happen rarely enough to be strange stories, as criminals would sense the damage they do much more readily, and others would easily be able to figure out who did it after it occurred.  Zithir working groups rarely encounter interpersonal issues, for similar reasons, and small such groups work together very smoothly.  Groups of Zithir up to around 1000 or so can often manage a large number of day to day affairs without using more formal structures, simply relying on the basic emotional sensing most share.

Somewhat frustratingly for scientists or anyone who must communicate with a Zithir, the strong emotional connection seems to lead to Zithir communication being very bare bones, and hard to detect patterns in.  Since Zithir can sense emotions directly, face to face communication typically leaves out any signals, such as voice tones or body language, that is common in other species.  Although Zithir languages do have such words for longer term communication, they did not use these in the small groups originally studied by scientists, in in interactions with humans Zithir will often forget such signals unless very experienced already.

On larger scales, or for tasks where simple emotional sensing or direct communication is not enough, Zithir must organize more structure.  Three main structures are by far the most common, and large Zithir societies have all of them to some extent.  Religious authorities, in charge of preserving traditions, accumulate knowledge from past events, and often communicate with powerful Zithir individuals or groups from the past, and this information is used for present day purposes.  Zithir societies also organize training, and/or special events, where members can focus better on sensing emotions, and even direct thoughts, of other members of society. These gathering, often called "communes" by humans, allow the Zithir to coordinate much larger groups, and to rapidly share and put together large amounts of information from throughout the society.  Finally, certain Zithir within soceity are usually much more skilled at future sensing than others, and these Zithir, once they prove themselves, become what humans often call "prophets" or "demagogues", with widespread influence and are given heavy decision making responsibility.

Zithir Religion

Unlike for humans, all Zithir societies seem to follow the same religion.  furthermore, all descriptions of Zithir history suggest that their style of religion was established early, with only 1-2 consistent stories of ancient competing beliefs, no stories of enemy cultures that were defeated as a victory for their current system, and no schisms ever talked about in any form.  While some historians speculate that the Zithir societies at some point managed to forget memories of previous religions, the Zithir do not generally treat the rest of their history in this way, and evidence for the loss of records is consistently nonexistent.

Zithir religion mostly revolves around archives, and communications with powerful individuals or groups in the past.  Different sets of priests are in charge of these functions, but any Zithir within a particular group can commune with the past, and archives are typically open to anyone who wishes to read them.  From these sources, rules are made, and questions answered, for the present day (when the question was asked.)  Rules made in this way are not expected to be timeless or consistent, however, with most rapidly being discarded after a few months or so.  A few societal rules, however, have lasted through generations, and the ones who discovered them are highly celebrated by the Zithir.  However, even these rules are expected to be changed or lost at some point.

This communing method is also used to answer questions about how the universe works, how it was formed, and philosophically related questions.  The Zithir religion's answers to these sorts of questions, as with their laws, are often different from time to time, although some answers are broadly consistent over time.  Most Zithir do not think of the universe as being heavily controlled by particular gods, but think some being or beings have some influence/.  Some sort of afterlife is expected, but the exact form is unknown, and details change from time to time and group to group.

The exact method of communicating is not something scientists have determined, nor do the Zithir understand how it works.  The methods currently used have been built up over a long period of time, and appear to focus the Zithir's own ability to sense different points in time.  What is known from current day Zithir prophets/demagogues and strong groups are that questions do seem to be sensed from the future, but record keeping of such communications has shown that they are not enough to fully explain expected future communications.  Fakery or coincidence is expected at points, but the Zithir themselves do not show evidence of lying, and the information itself shows no differences in response from confirmed communication.

Zithir religion occasionally makes use of present day prophets/demagogues to answer these sorts of questions, and prophets from the past are by far the most common group that priests communicate with.  In the early days of the religion, such communication was far more common, but as archives and communication abilities increased, religion had much more to draw from, and present day communication became much more rare. 

Because present day profits, and large communes, are the main ways Zithir perform other functions such as science, engineering, craftsmanship, etc., Zithir religious archives and past communication are a vital part of these activities as well.  Through these, traditions and knowledge are preserved, and can be consulted, greatly assisting present day work.

The differences between Zithir and Human religions have contributed to numerous conflicts and diplomatic/trade incidents.  Human religious leaders, particularly monotheistic ones, view the Zithir rituals as Satan driven, highly resembling pagan rituals struggled against in the past.  Particularly unfortunate incidents have occurred where Zithir have attempted to communicate with important religious figures, such as Jesus or Buddha, or with an actual god, and have been unable to, angering members of those religions.  While others suspect that something special about Zithir only is what allows such communication, moods after these events are worsened.  Athiests, on the other hand, have struggled to explain or understand evidence of why particular Zithir religious rituals do seem ot work, even when evidence is otherwise lacking.  Zithir are often surprised at human tendencies to maintain laws for long periods of time, and have often broken relations with groups out of disagreements over this.

Zithir Science and Technology

While Zithir amaze with their psychic and communication abilities, they have enormous difficulty with the type of thinking needed for sciences, engineering, craftsmanship, or other such disciplines.  When isolated from other members of society, or sources of information, Zithir resort to blindly trying different methods to solve a problem, and do not seem to learn patterns from what does and does not work.  On a societal level, as a result, Zithir science, engineering, design, and other such processes are slow and painful, relying greatly on the use of religious archives, and requiring powerful prophets/demagogues to sense the future outcomes of any new designs.  Over time, these methods have accumulated a large body of knowledge and tools that the Zithir can call on, but new developments are always tricky for them.

Surprisingly, despite the Zithir need to directly copy designs, Zithir tools and equipment are generally less reliable than that from humans.  It seems, while Zithir try to copy a design exactly, they may miss important outside conditions, or important details, in why the design works, so attempts to replicate something without those details often go wrong.  Human tools are considered highly valuable among the Zithir for this reason.

The one advantage Zithir science and technology has over Human science and technology is the ability to retain information.  With Zithir communing as a way for society members to share information, and religious rituals allowing communication with the past, loosing knowledge is extraordinarily rare.  Examples are known throughout Zithir society, and major struggles have been undertaken to rediscover this knowledge.

Zithir lack of systematic thinking also shows itself in society organization.  Laws among the Zithir are not consistent and do not last long, nor are they expected to be, and Zithir almost never consider it until interacting wit humans.  Trade is largely done through barter, or by gifting, and large organizations are usually run informally, without specific rules or systems in place to organize them.  Zithir society organizations (Religion, communing, and prophets/demagogues), and ability to share emotions more generally, mean that these losses do not hurt Zithir society, and including such systems would actually interfere with the society.  However, interactions with, and understand of, human organizations are greatly impeded by these lacks.

Zithir Warfare

Like all groups who have settled this system, war has been common from early periods within Zithir society.  While conflict with Zithir scouting groups was uncommon, it did occur from time to time, and in those fights the Zithir proved formidable opponents.

Fighting among Zithir is almost unknown between small groups, but among larger groups, fighting becomes much more common.   When it does occur amongst the Zithir, warfare is frighteningly destructive, much more so than might be expected in human based warfare.  Because of the ways emotions within the Zithir spread and enhance themselves, any feelings of conflict or dislike that lead to a war can quickly spread throughout a society, than reinforce themselves to become feelings of extreme hatred. As a result, Zithir wars are far more intense than human wars, with what would be simple border disputes becoming large scale invasions, and large scale invasions becoming total wars.  Zithir who succeed in an attack are known to take no prisoners, and to utterly destroy what they are attacking.  Stopping wars requires heavy involvement and effort, either an overwhelming flood of emotion from victims, enough to stop the flood from attackers, a large amount of religious communications, or heavy involvement by third party peacekeepers can stop these wars.

Zithir history is filled with tales of such extreme fighting, either by disagreeing prophets, resource disputes, occasionally disputes religious laws, or simply large groups where some disagreement happened to build on itself.  Zithir themselves in communications with were amazed that the species had survived after hearing about the numerous wars in human history, only to be further surprised by how quickly some of them seem to have stopped.

Zithir armies do not have the equipment or organization that a human army might, but make up for it with their unique psychic abilities.  The Zithir ability to sense the future makes them dangerous enemies in fast moving, split second combat, where they can sense attacks coming and react much faster than other creatures or aliens might, and also easily find weak spots quickly on their own.  Soldiers are very good at sensing leaders within enemies, or enemies that others look up to, and targetting those first.  Though Zithir equipment is generally poor quality, they can compensate somewhat using a sense of the future.  Finally, the strong bonds within any Zithir group, and ability to read emotions, greatly assist in cohesion.


Explanation

Since this is a planned game mod, the three species within it need to be roughly equally power, but different, in order to be interesting.  For this reason, I'm having each of the three species within this system have a different strength:  Humans are the systematic thinkers, resulting in more effective engineering, science, lawmaking, and such, Zithir get the psychic abilities, and are better with religion, some types of social organization, and seeing some future actions, while the third is going to be biologically adaptable.

Within this particular universe, I'm assuming that the Zithir actually have the best grasp on how religion works, but with the assumption that human religion has been getting more accurate over time, so the religion itself, as I flesh it out, should "feel' more later human religions (Buddhists, the big monotheistic ones, etc.) than earlier ones (Polytheistic ones), but still quite different overall.

Frigis

(This moon is in the same universe as Cauldron, Cryolith, Phobis Terra, and Behemoth, but is not something I'd plan to make a main part of the actual mod, if it ever gets made.  This description is more for my own enjoyment, and hopefully yours.)

General Description

Frigis is the largest moon of Behemoth, made of about half ice, half rock, and is the farthest out of its three large moons.  It is inactive, although in the past had more activity.  The remnants of this activity includes a weak atmosphere, that is gradually getting worn away by Behemoth's magnetic field plasma.

Surface

The surface of Frigis is covered by a mixture of terrain types, mostly craters, ridges, plains, and small hill regions.  The craters form by impacts, while other other types are eroded remains of past internal activity.  The moon also has great color variation on different regions, going from icy white, to various reddish browns in parts, to large dark areas, formed by different surface ices and organics.

Crater plains, a mixture of flat terrain and large craters, are the most common type of terrain on the moon.  Most areas are partly enclosed by boundary regions of hill and ridge terrain, suggesting interior areas of an old tectonic system.  The craters themselves are in various states of erosion due to the thin atmosphere, and evaporation of ice deposits, with these processes supplying dust to be blown around by the atmosphere.  Smaller craters have either been eroded completely, or filled in by dust.

Ridge regions were previously either contracting or expanding areas in the ancient tectonic system.  Most surviving ridges are highly eroded, with some transitioning into hill belts.  The ridges themselves often appear striped from above, with alternating white and dark areas depending on slope.  Rock slides occur occasionally as well, due to various types of erosion.

Hills come in two general formations, some in belts that often blend into ridge belts, others in clumps within plains.  Both types of hills come from eroded remains of previous formations, the clumps from craters, and the belts from ridges or other tectonic features.  Hills may be colored a number of different ways, but darker areas iun general are more eroded than lighter areas.

Erosion on Frigis takes place largely in two ways: wind, and ice evaporation.  Though the atmosphere is thin, it generates strong winds the move dust, and sometimes etches the surface.  Ice evaporation occurs due to light absorption.  When exposed to light, water and carbon dioxide ice at the surface evaporates, leaving behind organic and dust deposits.

A combination of these two processes often leaves stripe like features on hills and ridges.  Where wind deposits dust, more light is absorbed, evaporating ice.  This evaporation leaves the surface darker, causing more evaporation.  Areas with less wind stay lighter and cooler, and more ice deposits, further lightening the area continuing the cycle.  This process results in light and dark zebra stripes on ridges, and hill clusters that are all white facing one direction, and dark facing another.   On plains, similar processes may occur, but the difference is much less pronounced, due to a much smaller difference in dust erosion and deposition, and to the ease that wind can move ice or dust from one region to another, canceling out the color differences.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Frigis is extremely thin, about 1,000 times less dense than Earth's, on average.  It is mostly made of nitrogen and carbon compounds, and is a remnant of gases released during a more active period.

Though thin, the atmosphere transports dust around the surface of Frigis, smoothing plains regions and contributing to color differences between light and dark areas.  Winds also assist in evaporating ice and erosion, but blown dust and evaporated material away.

Clouds, though rare, do occur occasionally on this moon.  When they do firm, clouds resemble a thin ice fog near the surface, composed of water ice or carbon dioxide ice particles.  Dust clouds also occasionally appear, usually when unusually strong winds or vortexes form that can concentrate the dust.

The outer atmosphere is being swept away by Behemoth's magnetospheric plasma.  contributing a small amount of material to Behemoth's magnetic field.  This process will eventually remove all of Frigis's atmosphere.


Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not a geologist, planetary scientist, or any other similar sort of scientist, just someone who finds planetary science interesting.  As a result, a lot of these ideas may be impossible, or at least unrealistic.  This probably applies more to these moons than it does to the previous four planets I've written about.  Any mental anguish, property damage, or other negative consequences from reading this blog post are the responsibility of the reader.)

This moon is meant to combine features of Ganymede, Callisto, some other inactive icy moons, and features of Mars's atmosphere.  The old tectonics are based off of ganymede, while the ice evaporation process is largely based off Callisto.  The Atmosphere is mostly Mars based, and added again to make the moon more interesting.

Doppel

(This moon is in the same universe as Cauldron, Cryolith, Phobis Terra, and Behemoth, but is not something I'd plan to make a main part of the actual mod, if it ever gets made.  This description is more for my own enjoyment, and hopefully yours.)


General Description

The second large moon from Behemoth, Doppel is a roughly Ganymede sized moon, made of about 2/5 ice, the rest rock, with rock, water, and metal separated into different layers.  The moon is named for its surprising similarity to Earth like planets, but with different materials.  Energy from tidal heating powers tectonics and volcanoes, a thick atmosphere generates similar types of weather, and surface rivers and lakes forms a similar surface.

Interior

Tidal heating, and radioactive heating, within Doppel create a water layer within the upper ice layer of the moon.   Movement and heating within this water layer drives tectonics at the surface, and occasionally independent water volcanoes.  The surface ice itself varies in thickness, but all crust is roughly tens of miles thick.  At the surface, tectonic motions are visible in large valleys and rift areas, usually filled by organic oceans, as well as mountain belts.  Rifting areas allow water to reach the surface, where lower pressures release gas, driving the water outward.  Isolated volcanoes form in a similar way, as water seeps through weaknesses in ice, and as the lower pressures release gas, the water is further carried upward to the surface.

Surface

Erosion by wind and organics, as well as organic rain, turns much of the surface of Doppel into a paste of mixed organics and ice particles.   A few drier areas contain looser particles, and dunes or desert like features can form in these regions.  This paste becomes harder in colder areas, much like a permafrost, allowing similar features.  The organic material within the paste never form a fixed composition, and temperature changes or leeching can sometimes change the properties of the paste by removing or adding components, sometimes causing mudslides.

Most low altitude areas of the moon are filled with organic liquids, either in small lakes, or in long "oceans", formed over rifts.  The floors of these oceans usually contain "cliffs", dropping from the level of dry terrain to a much lower level on the ocean floor, but slumping ice, and deposits of eroded ice from land usually smooth out these features somewhat.

Mountains,  although not nearly as tall as on Earth, are still rugged and difficult to traverse.  They interact with the atmosphere in a similar way, creating organic rains, and deflecting winds somewhat.  Fewer rivers have their origin in mountains than on Earth like planets, but enough do to give a similar appearance, and erode the mountains.

Isolated  volcanoes are usually visible as small hills or mountains surrounded by a flat landscape.  These structures are usually inactive, only releasing small amounts of gas over time, but occasionally release large amounts of gaseous water. 

Rivers, Seas, lakes, and Rain

Possibly the most unusual feature of Doppel are the large organic lakes, oceans, and rivers found throughout the moon.  The liquid in these features is a mixture of materials, mostly methane and formaldehyde, but with other simple organics such as methanol, ethane, methylamine, carbon dioxide, and such in small amounts as well.  Methane, formaldehyde, and carbon dioxide largely come from ice volcanoes or rifts, while other organic materials are largely formed in the atmosphere from photochemical reactions.

Depending on temperature, liquid areas may have different compositions, and slightly different erosion and flow properties as a result.  Rivers, in particular, may leech material from surrounding paste as their temperature changes, sometimes leading to mudslides, and eroding shores faster than would otherwise occur.  The composition of rain may also change from regions to region, effecting the physical properties of the resulting paste.

Where rivers meet lakes or seas, large deltas form.  Mostly, these are formed of ice particles, but may also contain solid organics or paste if conditions are right.  This material will eventually fill lakes, and in rifts, the structure will often stretch close to the central volcanic zone.  Currents carry this material throughout the sea, coating the floor with a padding of loose particles/

Within lakes and seas, sluggish currents form, supported by winds and, in oceans, by heat from below.  Ocean currents largely flow linearly, along the rifts, as the small width of these features allows less side to side movement.  Deltas also obstruct movement, and the constricted currents often shave off the tip of the delta somewhat.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere or Doppel is formed by gases released from volcanoes, and from reactions of those gases.   It is mostly made of nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide, with small amounts of formaldehyde, ammonia, and other trace gases.   It has a density about the same as Earth's atmosphere.

Ice Volcanoes and Rifts on Doppel largely release carbon dioxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, and methane, though other material emerge as well.  Released ammonia either freezes to ice, or escapes to the atmosphere, where it is largely broken down to nitrogen.  Formaldehyde, methane, and carbon dioxide released in seas or lakes usually liquify and join the lake or sea.  When released onto a land surface, they either join the atmosphere or contribute to organic paste on the surface.  in the atmosphere, gas may either condense into clouds, or react photochemically, producing further organics.

Winds in the atmosphere follow a simple pattern, surface winds largely flow to the a warmer pole, upper level winds to a colder pole.  These winds are disrupted by mountains, or by unusually cold or warm areas.

Clouds and Rain on Doppel are largely formed by organic material, whether formed high in the atmosphere, or from evaporated surface material.  Clouds, and the rain formed from them, have different compositions depending on temperature and the source of the air feeding them, resulting sometimes in unusual colors.  Rain as well may change composition as it falls through the air, also sometimes changing color as it falls if the right materials are mixed.  Even without large clouds, organic haze is common in the upper atmosphere, and material slowly falling from this haze feeds some lower level clouds, or creates dust that eventually joins the paste at the surface.

In the upper atmosphere, material is swept into the larger magnetic field of Behemoth, and auroras occur, though these are hard to spot.

Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not a geologist, planetary scientist, or any other similar sort of scientist, just someone who finds planetary science interesting.  As a result, a lot of these ideas may be impossible, or at least unrealistic.  This probably applies more to these moons than it does to the previous four planets I've written about.  Any mental anguish, property damage, or other negative consequences from reading this blog post are the responsibility of the reader.)

This moon is mostly based on Titan, although a titan with much more volcanic activity than it currently has.  The composition of materials is also different, to stay consistent with Fumarole loosing carbon dioxide, Doppel should likely also release oxygen contain materials in addition to methane.  Otherwise, tectonic features were based somewhat on Europa.

In the atmosphere, I assume that the extra gas release from volcanoes compensates for gas lost to the magnetosphere, although (like most ideas I have for these moons) I'm not sure if the numbers would actually work out.

Fumarole

(This moon is in the same universe as Cauldron, Cryolith, Phobis Terra, and Behemoth, but is not something I'd plan to make a main part of the actual mod, if it ever gets made.  This description is more for my own enjoyment, and hopefully yours.)

General Description

Fumarole is the innermost large moon of Behemoth.  It is about the size of ganymede, and made of about 1/6 water, 3/4 rock, and the rest metal, with these materials separated into layers.  The moon is heavily tidally heated, and highly active.  Gases escaping from the moon create a surprisingly thick atmosphere, creating some unusual weather patterns, and the atmosphere feeds most of the material found in the magnetic field of Behemoth.

Geology

The tidal heating from behemoth effects both the water layer, and magma chambers within the rock layer.  Activity within the rock layer creates hydrothermal vents and underwater volcanoes, as well as releasing gases and rock dust into the water layer.

Within the water layer, only the top few miles of material is solid, with the rest being a fast convecting liquid ocean.  This ocean also flattens the moon's surface significantly; any bulges from the upper ice layer are quickly eroded by the currents, and mountains cannot support themselves for long. 

At the surface, the most obvious features are numerous geysers, throwing out large amounts of water and gases, often miles above the surface.  These geysers appear to be generated by plumes of hot water from hydrothermal vents at the rock layer.  As these heated plumes reach the upper ice layer, they melt the ice, allowing passage to the surface.  These plumes also carry gas released by the vents below, and lower pressures near the surface release this gas, powering the geyser's eruption.  Depending o the conditions of the geyser, the water may remain liquid for some distance after the eruption.

The immediate area surrounding the geyser is usually darker than normal, due to rock dust, while farther out, terrain is slightly lighter from falling and frosting ice.  Geysers build hills around themselves as well, with slopes getting shallower farther away from the main hole.  Eruptions of geysers create clouds in the atmosphere for several days, and light snowfall is common, lighetning areas downwind from the geyser.

Water volcanoes are also common on the surface of this moon.  These are usually formed where some weakness in the ice allows watery material to push through closer to the surface.  As the pressure decreases, gases within the water escape, and create further cracks in the ice while pulling the water upward, where it eventually breaks through the the surface.  Though the formation process is broadly similar to geysers, these volcanoes lack the energy and extra gas from a hydrothermal plume, and as a result are much less violent.

Most water volcanoes have a number of different outlets, resulting in a large, flat hill, formation, usually with some ridges or bumps where the water escapes.  Some of the larger formations maintain water lakes in the middle, while others only release water occasionally.  All formation release gas, with water lakes usually bubbling, and other water volcanoes releasing vapor streams.

Convection currents also create a plate tectonic system on the surface ice.  This system moves much faster than Earth's system, with speed of several feet a year seem in some places.  Splitting occurs at "ice faults", forming large crack and valley systems within the ice.  Some of these cracks, as with ice volcanoes, fill with liquid water.

At collisions between ice plates, so called "rough terrain" forms.  Large forces within the ice cause it to bulge and buckle, sometimes with one section oversliding another.  Ice that juts down into the water below is quickly eroded, and the resulting terrain forms a jumbled collection of peaks, landslides, and cracks.  Water, and gases absorbed into the ice, are recycled into the ocean layer at these areas.

Despite the activity of this moon, quakes are are rare, and not particularly powerful.  The ice of tis moon is soft compared to rock, and breaks and smooths easily, and water lubricates a lot of the motion of ice plates as well.  Smaller events and landslides do occur, however, and can be dangerous.

Atmosphere

Most of the atmosphere of this moon is nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with small amounts of sulfur gases, water vapor, organic compounds, oxygen, and other such gases.  Most gases are released directly from ice volcanoes, while nitrogen forms from ammonia.  Gases are lost by being absorbed by ice or frozen at the poles and transported into the water layer, and by being stripped by material in Behemoth's magnetic field.  The atmosphere overall has a density at the surface of about 1/15 Earth's.

Winds in the atmosphere mainly travel towards the poles, where carbon dioxide snows and freezes out.  These winds create streaks on the plains, transport ice particles, and erode the surface.

Ice clouds can form throughout the atmosphere, though are more common near ice volcanoes and geysers.  These clouds get much more common after geyser eruptions feed water into the atmosphere.  Ice particles and snow fall from these clouds, and create snow streaks towards the poles from volcanoes and geysers.

Towards the poles, carbon dioxide ice clouds form as the air gets cool enough.  These clouds also create snow, and this material helps recycle carbon dioxide into the liguid water layer of the moon.

The upper atmosphere is the main source of material for Behemoth's magnetic field.  This field also creates auroras near the poles of the moon, which can be seem during unusually dark periods.

Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not a geologist, planetary scientist, or any other similar sort of scientist, just someone who finds planetary science interesting.  As a result, a lot of these ideas may be impossible, or at least unrealistic.  This probably applies more to these moons than it does to the previous four planets I've written about.  Any mental anguish, property damage, or other negative consequences from reading this blog post are the responsibility of the reader.)

This moon is meant to combine interesting features of a number of outer planet moons  (Europa, Io, Enceladus, and Triton mainly.)  I don't know if any other the numbers I've written actually make sense (Since i don't have access to, or knowledge of, ways to make geological models), so am even less sure of this world than of the planets I've created in previous posts.  Most of these ideas, though, are based on actual models or things that have been seen.

The geysers are meant to resemble a combination of Io and Enceladus's plumes.  Their power source (hydrothermal vents creating water plumes) comes from a section of a paper i read about for a model of Europa, suggesting an explanation for water pockets within the ice shell of that moon.  Ice faults and collision areas are based off a combination of Europa terrain, and Earth plate tectonics.  Ice volcanoes aren't based off anything in particular, apart from the general idea of what a "cryovolcano" might be like.

The atmosphere is mostly added to make the moon cooler, although without any weather models, or good estimation methods, it's the part of the moon I'm least sure of.  (I know very little about how quickly certain reactions might occur, how much and what material would actually be released by volcanoes, how much material would get stripped, and what temperature the atmosphere would be, determining which parts might freeze out.  All of this would significantly effect what this moon might have if it somehow existed.)  The atmosphere would, however, create enough pressure to allow liquid in the surface.  (Assuming a gravity about the same as Io or Ganymede, and assuming I looked up and calculated everything right.)

The Europa paper I mentioned earlier suggested that most of its ocean would be at about freezing, although I'm not sure of large amounts of extra heat might change this.  As a result, I'm not sure whether liquid water could be kept warm on a moon like this, though for coolness purposes I have it written in.

Behemoth

(This world idea is for a sci-fi mod for some sort of civilization type game, hopefully one with multiple map abilities.  I'm not sure if this will happen, but have come up with some general ideas for the mechanics and worlds for it.)

General Description

This roughly Jupiter sized planet is the next planet out after Cryolith.  Like Jupiter, it consists largely of Hydrogen and Helium, with trace other compounds, and is covered in jets, eddies, and storms.  Also like Jupiter, a large collection of moons surrounds the planet, including three large ones considered at one point for colonization.  However, the strangest feature of the planet is a collection of large, high tech platforms floating in the atmosphere.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Behemoth resembles Jupiter in the large details, with strong bands of winds at different latitudes, and different cyclones forming within the bands, moving around the planet, and either dissipating or merging.  The atmosphere even has several large cyclones approaching the size of Jupiter's red spots and large white ovals.

Moons and Magnetic Field

Like the Sun's outer planets, Behemoth has a large number of orbiting moons, with small inner moons interacting with rings, irregular outer moons, and large middle moons.  The three middle moons, Fumarole, Doppel,  and Frigis, were all considered as possible colonization sites, and have their own unique features.

Like Jupiter, Behemoth has a strong and large magnetic field.  Fumarole, and Doppel to a lesser extent, produce gases that fill a similar role to emissions from Io, generating plasma that interacts with the magnetic field and contributes to materials within it.

Platforms

The strangest features of Behemoth are a series of platforms floating within the planet's atmosphere.  From the surface, most platforms are buried, but a few can be spotted by radar, or occasionally when cloud features change.  They remained a mystery for a long time after initial settlement, but over time, scientists managed to determine a number of properties.

The platform appear to be made of mainly solidified hydrogen and helium, with a thin layer of organic material covering the top, either a form of life or some sort of building material.  Examination has uncovered apparent caverns, spires, conduits, and other formations that suggest the platforms were once energized, and possibly lived in.  The exact details of how the platforms were made, or how they stayed stable, as are whether the platforms were built by one of the civilizations that colonized Phobis Terra.

The platforms appear to have little effect on the large scale weather of Behemoth, partly due to their small size, and possibly due to networks that allow gases to flow freely.  There have been some slight temperature changes over the platforms, more obvious in rising areas, and lightning storms are much more common near the edges, while being less common over the interiors.  Vortexes also seem less common.

Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not in fact any sort of geologist, atmospheric scientist, planetary scientist, or anything related.  While I do occasionally attempt to read some papers, and more complex books, about planets for fun, I'm nowhere near an expert on any of this, and am making up these planets to have interesting characteristics, whether or not they would be be possible, and the resulting attempts at planets will read appropriately.  If any one of the above types of scientists is reading this and pulling their hair out, I understand completely.  :)  )

This world is meant to be like Nona from the Civilization 2: Test of time Sci-fi game.  Like that game, this planet is meant to be an end game area, and will reveal things within the mod's story that I don't want written out on a post like this (And, actually, haven't made up when the post was written.  :)  ), so there isn't much I can describe about the platforms.  Otherwise, I don't imagine the planet being unusual enough compared to Jupiter to have much description in this post.  However, the moons will get their own descriptions in future posts.

Phobis Terra

(This world idea is for a sci-fi mod for some sort of civilization type game, hopefully one with multiple map abilities.  I'm not sure if this will happen, but have come up with some general ideas for the mechanics and worlds for it.)

General Description

Phobis Terra is an Earth-like planet, with a broadly similar size, surface, orbit, and other such characteristics.  On smaller scales, though, the planet has a number of unexpected features, some of which may come from previous settlements.

The name of the planet was originally a joke amongst human colonists.  Humans had expanded to other places within the solar system by this point.  Compared to solar system colony worlds, Cryolith and Cauldron would be relatively simple to build colonies on, and some colonists thought that the risk of running into a civilization, infections, poisons, or other dangerous life was not worth the benefit of a more earth like planet.  Others made fun of this idea, joking about the "terraphobes", scared of "phobes terra".  When these colonists landed, the fears of others turned out to not be far off the mark, with very aggressive predators and strong diseases greeting the first colonists, and crime and piracy being harder to control as well as the colonies developed.  Phobis Terra still proved a good place to settle, but the name proved appropriate, and has continued to this day.

Large Scale Geology

Phobis Terra has a mix of water oceans and continents, formed by plate tectonic features, similar to Earth.  Other surfaces processes (glaciers, soil formation, rivers) are also immediately recognizable as well.  Soil and rock chemistry is slightly different, due to the different direction of life forms.

Atmosphere

The weather and atmospheric composition of Phobis Terra are largely similar to Earth.  The atmosphere is slightly more dense than Earth's, with a slightly higher oxygen concentration, allowing for more aggressive creatures, and also helps with human colonization.  Trace gases are also found in different concentrations than Earth, due to different life forms, but carbon dioxide and water vapor fractions are both similar enough toallow for the weather and safe colonization.

Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes

While bodies of water on Phobis Terra largely act similarly to those on earth, bodies of water from a distance often have a slightly darker and redder color, due to different photosynthetic chemicals being common on the planet.

Many rivers and lakes are also slightly more acidic, with higher metal concentrations, due to old mines and buildings leaching into the water.   Due to either the amount of time passed since the ruins have developed, and possible pollution control measures, this effect is only detectable by instruments, but does not appear to interfere with life or colonization on the planet.

Life

Phobis Terra's life comes in a surprising variety, with an much larger array of general body types than expected from Earth.  More surprisingly for scientists, while most life shares a similar type of genetic/information storage method, large subgroups of apparently native life use different systems.  Microbes in particular seem to be quite diverse, with the largest cluster of similar forms of life only making up about 1/3 of the total amount of microbes found on the planet.  While larger life is more consistent, large fractions of some types of organisms are still structured differently than the most common life form on Phobis Terra.

Even within the largest bloc of life found on the planet, many organisms are more dangerous and aggressive than found on other planets.  Predatory organisms give hunters, and even small organized military and hunting groups, great difficulty, prey organisms are themselves dangerous combatants, and even most stationary organisms have developed some sort of poison or spikes to protect themselves.   Diseases and microbes, however, have proven the most dangerous, due to the wide variety that exist on the planet.  Gangrene like sickness is a great concern, unlucky or lax colonists can attract microbes that eat into almost any material, and a few more standard infectious diseases and fast adapters exist that little immunity exists for.

Despite these differences, life on Phobis Terra has largely similar effects as life on Earth does.  It creates a similar atmospheric composition, influences erosion, and moves materials in a largely similar way to Earth's life.

Ruins and Previous Settlement

While no large civilizations were found on Phobis Terra, strange formations were seem throughout the surface of the planet that appeared to be artificially created.  Stubs, tall columns, geometric shapes, made of materials such as plastic, unusual rocks (similar to concrete), brick-like shapes, and corroded metal are found all throughout the planet.  In addition, unusual chemicals, such as mine drainages, and leaks of organic halides are found in other locations, which point more towards settlement than toward natrual causes.

After examining the different types of ruins, occasional symbols on ruins, and examining the different varieties of genetic bloc of life on Phobis Terra, scientists and archeologists proposed that this world had been settled at least 11 times, by beings from outside the planet, who either left or died off.  These beings would have brought different types of microbes, and other creatures, accidentally, and likely would have brought domesticated organisms as well.   These organisms would have gone feral as the settlers died or left, eventually integrating completely into the ecosystem of Phobis Terra.  Some scientists theorize that genetic engineering may have taken place as well, to explain the aggressiveness and danger of the organisms on the planet.

While the origin of these possible previous settlers is unknown, they did not attempt to settle Cryolith or Cauldron to the same degree, or were not as successful.  Those two planets have almost no ruins, and life on both Cryolith and Cauldron has the same genetic structure and organization all across the planet.

Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not in fact any sort of geologist, atmospheric scientist, planetary scientist, or anything related.  While I do occasionally attempt to read some papers, and more complex books, about planets for fun, I'm nowhere near an expert on any of this, and am making up these planets to have interesting characteristics, whether or not they would be be possible, and the resulting attempts at planets will read appropriately.  If any one of the above types of scientists is reading this and pulling their hair out, I understand completely.  :)  )

This world is meant to be the "Earth-like" starting world, as in a lot of space colonization based computer games.  In the game, I plan to have Cryolith be the most straightforward to settle, but also the most resource poor, Phobis Terra be resource rich bit requiring more defenses against wild animals, diseases, and various pirate, rebel, criminal, etc. groups.  Cauldron would also be risky, but in a way based more on the terrain itself, and with some sort of different gameplay response required.  In addition, I also have some backstory in mind that this system is being used as a "testing ground" in some way, attracting different groups of aliens to it over some time, although the exact details are not something I've fully worked out.

Cryolith

(This world idea is for a sci-fi mod for some sort of civilization type game, hopefully one with multiple map abilities.  I'm not sure if this will happen, but have come up with some general ideas for the mechanics and worlds for it.)

General Description

Cryolith is a roughly earth sized planet, but orbiting farther out from its star than earth does.  It has a moon about the size of Europa, and itself is largely similar in composition to Earth, though with a larger fraction of water, ammonia, and other such materials.   The planet rotates about once every 30 hours.

As the name suggests, Cryolith is split between ice and rock as the main terrain.  The planet is split between rocky areas (resembling continents on Earth, but covering a relatively smaller area), and areas of solid ice, which have their own mountains, plains, valleys, and other such terrain.  Though the planet is colder than needed to freeze pure water, odd chemical processes produce large amounts of ammonia, that mixes with water to form large oceans (Though not as large as Earth's oceans).

Large Scale Geology

Cryolith's rocky areas form a plate tectonic system very much like Earth.  Ocean ridge equivalents exist underneath icy areas, forming large basins where ices and liquids accumulate.  Volcano arcs and mountain ranges are visible, either within larger rocky areas, or rising from beneath ice.  Sliding boundaries are visible at points on the rocky continents, but are  harder to see underneath icy areas.

The Icy parts of cryolith have their own tectonic systems, formed from a combination of surface processes and heat from volcanic activity in the rocks below.  Above mid ocean ridges, depressions often occur in the ice, created as volcanic heat melts the bottom ice, which than flows downwards, away from the ridge.  These depressions, if warm enough, fill with ammonia-water oceans, which further erode and dissolve the ice, increasing the size of the depression.  This water eventually cools and freezes some distance away from the ridge, accumulating ice that slowly makes its way to the surface, to be eroded again.

Ice also builds up at the edges of rocky continents, forming a similar structure as a continental shelf on earth.  This ice flows from its weight downwards through the depression.  Unlike on Earth, where the ice flows until it eventually melts, ice on Cryolith flows until it is stopped by more ice.  These "colission areas" between different ice flows can sometimes produce tall mountains.

Soil and Smaller Scales

In addition to the large ice basins, smaller areas of ice fill lake basins, and form glaciers on high mountains of cryolith.  These ice areas act more like traditional earth glaciers, digging valleys and acting as a source for rivers, although they can flow for much longer before being eroded or melted.  This ice has greatly eroded the rocky part of the surface of cryolith, and much of the rocky planet is covered in a deep permafrost, though with less organic material than is found on Earth permafrosts.  the soil is easily carried by winds, and surface ice in some areas is colored grayish or brownish due to deposits of this soil.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Cryolith mostly contains Nitrogen, with about 10% oxygen, and about 2% carbon dioxide, with traces of various other gases, and a pressure about the same as Earth's pressure.  Temperatures on the equator are around -40 Celsius, temperatures at the poles get to about -80.

Clouds on Cryolith air made of either water ice, or ammonia and water mixtures in a small number of areas.  Snow from these clouds feeds glaciers, rivers, and ice flows throughout the surface.  Ice particles are also directly eroded from some regions and transported through the atmosphere, acting as an additional source of water vapor, and are also transported in a similar way to soil, to different locations on the planet.

Winds on Cryolith are an average faster than those on Earth, but storms are not nearly as common, due to the lack of vapor to form clouds.  The most common types of severe weather on the planets are blinding snow or dust storms, where fast winds pick up ice or rock particules and blow them around.  Some of these resemble dust devils, but most resemble the clouds of material familiar from Earth.

Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes

Cryolith's oceans, lakes, and rivers are formed from a water/ammonia mixture.  These rivers start in glaciers or permafrost patches, where ammonia generated by bacteria concentrates enough to liquify ice.  The rivers of cryolith can change significantly as they flow, depending on temperature, flow rate, and the amount of bacteria in surrounding regions.  Rivers flowing to colder areas, or through areas with little life, will loose ammonia to evaporation, and will freeze out water.  Larger rivers will freeze water in their surfaces or on the body of the river, sometimes forming pack ice, or clouds of ice dust within the river.  Rivers slowing through warmer areas, or areas with a lot of nearby life, will accumulate ammonia, and dissolve ice from surrounding terrain if it is available.  these types of rivers often carry soil released from ice, and have a dirty appearance, and expand greatly during their travels.

Cryolith lakes and rivers are more stable the rivers, as they contain colonies of bacteria that generate ammonia.  The production and evaporation of ammonia can influence convection within the oceans, in addition to wind generated and temperature generated currents.  Differences in ammonia concentration can also cause Oceans and Lakes to freeze out, or erode, the surrounding terrain, though these processes take place more slowly than those in rivers.

Life

Only bacteria life exists on cryolith, but these bacteria have an enormous effect on the terrain of the planet.  Bacterial colonies can be found in most places, but are most common in oceans, permafrost, or border areas between rock and ice.

Most bacteria are photosynthetic, using carbon dioxide and water in a similar manner as earth life.  their most important reactions for Cryolith's surface, though, is one that converts nitrogen and water to ammonia and oxygen.  The ammonia produced by this reaction seems to mainly be used as antifreeze, with bacteria in colder regions usually producing more ammonia, though some bacteria can use it as a fuel if energy is short.  The ammonia generated by this process either diffuses from bacteria, or is released when the bacteria die, and feeds the rivers and oceans on the planet.  While some ammonia is consumed by other types of bacteria, most evaporates, and is broken down within a few days in the atmosphere.

Most photosynthetic ammonia forming bacteria create a number of different pigments, which powers the two main photosynthetic reactions, and makes use of the limited sunlight, making most bacteria colonies appear a black or brown color.  However, a few bacteria in warmer areas use fewer numbers of pigments, resulting in more colorful colonies in some ocean areas near the equator.

Hydrothermal bacteria also exist, mostly isolated from those on the surface, due to ice layers existing over most under ice volcanic areas. Non-photosynthetic predatory bacteria are rare, though some photosynthetic bacteria will eat when nutrients are scarce or sunlight is weak for long periods of time.  Bacteria that can internally generate nitrogen very quickly adapt to photosynthesize organic materials as well, while pure non-photosynthetic bacteria can absorb too much environmental ammonia, and freeze themselves if no outside sources exist nearby.  Well mixed oceans or lakes are better able to support predatory bacteria, though even here, the colder conditions limit the amount of material available to support predatory bacteria.

Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not in fact any sort of geologist, atmospheric scientist, planetary scientist, or anything related.  While I do occasionally attempt to read some papers, and more complex books, about planets for fun, I'm nowhere near an expert on any of this, and am making up these planets to have interesting characteristics, whether or not they would be be possible, and the resulting attempts at planets will read appropriately.  If any one of the above types of scientists is reading this and pulling their hair out, I understand completely.  :)  )

This world is being created to combine features of Mars and some icy moons with some (hopefully cool) ideas of my own, and is also based somewhat off Naumachia from the Test of Time Sci-fi game.  The plan for the mod also leads to me wanting some sort of water like oceans on the planet.  This planet , along with Cauldron and Phobis Terra (will link to future posts), will be starting planets.  I'm planning on having sea technology, but in order to be useful on other planets, and still make sense, a water like ocean terrain will be needed.  I do know that ammonia/water mixtures can freeze at a lower temperature, and is something that is theorizerd to exist on some outer planet moons, but have also read that ammonia breaks down very quickly in an atmosphere.  The Life is added partly to make the planet more interesting, but also to explain what might be generating the ammonia for the oceans.

Apart from the cold, unusual life, and extra ice, the description assumes the planet is mostly earthlike, simply to keep the description simpler (and easier to work out.)  Weather, or upper atmospheric chemistry, is left out and left vague, as I'm not as sure of how these things might work as i am of the changes here.

Cauldron

(This world idea is for a sci-fi mod for some sort of civilization type game, hopefully one with multiple map abilities.  I'm not sure if this will happen, but have come up with some general ideas for the mechanics and worlds for it.)



General Description

Cauldron is about the size of earth, though is in orbit closer to its star.  It is similar in composition and mass, with some smallish moons nearby.  (One about pluto size, one about charon size.)  The tilt is about 10 degrees, with a day of about 17 hours.

The planet itself is named for its high temperatures, ranging from hot earth desert temperatures at the poles to higher than the boiling point of water near the equator.  Though not as hot as planets like Venus, the planet has its own dangers from radiation, a corrosive atmosphere and lakes, and large areas of active volcanoes.


Surface Features

From far away, Caldron has appears to have a system of continents and oceans, much like earth, although the oceans are somewhat smaller than those on earth.  The oceans are a mixture of Sulfuric acid and water, with small amounts of other dissolved materials, allowing the oceans to remain liquid under conditions that evaporate pure water.  The oceans themselves have large numbers of island arcs, some in long lines, some independent, though with larger islands on average than equivalents on earth.  Occasional spots of green and orange can be seem in the oceans, which appear to be clusters of acid dwelling bacteria that cluster in nutrient rich areas.

The continents, like earth's, have large regions of mountains and plains, although the mountains are mostly steeper and more jagged than comparable ones on earth.  These mountains have considerably more volcanoes than those seem on earth.  The terrain in these areas changes rapidly from year to year, as lava tunnels and channels continually form and collapse, explosive eruptions regularly coat and erode large areas, and the shifts in the ground can change the terrain on their own and trigger landslides.

On less mountainous areas, lava flows are still common, with volcanic "bulge provinces" often hosting lava fields and  their own ragged terrain.  Outside the volcanic areas, the terrain is filled with highly pulverized material, much like soil or sand.  In wetter areas, bacterial patches can be found, coloring the ground different shades of red, orange, and green.

The most unusual features on the continental plains are irridiated areas.  These area seem to be found on older, less eroded volcanic sites.  The radiation in these sites can get highly concentrated, enough in some areas to cause sicknesses in unshielded people, but is mostly more diffused, and more dangerous over time. Travel in these areas can be dangerous both due to radiation damgage, and to the ruggedness of the terrain, plus corrosion and electrical problems increased by radiation.


Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Cauldron is composed of Mostly nitrogen, with about 15% Carbon Dioxide, 10% oxygen, and small amounts of trace gases.  It has a pressure of about 1.5x that of earth's atmosphere.

Throughout the lower atmoshere, large patches of Sulfuric acid clouds block views of the surface, covering about 2/3 of the surface at a time.  Depending on weather patterns, the clouds may be composed of anything from pure acid to slightly acidic water.  In a few areas (With mediumly strong updrafts and large amounts of water), pure water or ice clouds appear high in the atmosphere.  Rain and Virga fall from these clouds, with virga more common underneath diluted clouds, high temperature areas, and low altitudes.

The winds on Caldron are slower, on average, than winds on earth, although the large scale patterns are similar.  On smaller scales, higher level acid clouds cool the surface significantly, resulting in constantly changing surface wind patterns.  The oceans and lakes themselves create winds as well, in a similar manner as earth.

Oceans/Rivers/Lakes

Similar to Earth's water system, the oceans on Cauldron are fed by a series of rivers and lakes, many starting in mountainous areas of the planet, ultimately fed by mainly by rain.   Depending on the weather, the fraction of sulfuric acid within small rivers can change significantly from day to day, with some drying up when too little sulfuric acid flows through them.  In general, higher altitude rivers are less acidic, both due to water evaporation at higher temperatures, and by being fed by rain with a higher percentage of water on average.

The water cycle of Cauldron works similarly to that of earth, with water evaporting mainly from oceans and lakes, feeding clouds, than raining out, and flowing back into surface water again.  However, far less life exists that can influence the cycle, and no water ice exists on Cauldron apart from a few very high clouds.

Sulfur operates on a much longer cycle on the planet.  Sulfur in the atmosphere mostly comes from Volcanoes, with a small amount coming from bacteria.  Once rained out, the sulfur is absorbed into rocks, and into the oceans, and subducted back to the interior to be erupted again.

Ocean currents operate on a similar system as on earth, with both a wind driven and temperature system in action.

Life

Some life does exist on cauldron, throughout most of the planet are high temperature, acid loving bacteria.  Clusters of such bacteria form on wetter areas of land, and in areas of the ocean with more concentrated nutrients.  Most of these bacteria are identified by color, with green, orange, and red the most common.

Photosynthetic bacteria, and eaters of photosynthetic bacteria, are the most common.  Most of these bacteria can photosynthesize carbon dioxide and water to oxygen and other material, as earth bacteria do, but use different chemical pathway so do so.  Volcanic energy is the next most common source of energy, with bacterial colonies commonly found near hydrothermal areas, and land based volcanoes.  Radiation serves as a source of energy for underground bacteria, and bacteria near irradiated areas,  but these areas are often dryer than other areas, usually limiting their growth.

Most oxygen in the atmiosphere is generated and used by bacteria.  Sulfur is also moved from one area to another by bacteria, with bacteria in dry areas generating acid to help conserve water, while bacteria in wet areas often use the acid as an oxidant, releasing sulfur dioxide to the air.

Explanation

(Disclaimer:  I am not in fact any sort of geologist, atmospheric scientist, planetary scientist, or anything related.  While I do occasionally attempt to read some papers, and more complex books, about planets for fun, I'm nowhere near an expert on any of this, and am making up these planets to have interesting characteristics, whether or not they would be be possible, and the resulting attempts at planets will read appropriately.  If any one of the above types of scientists is reading this and pulling their hair out, I understand completely.  :)  )

This world is being created to combine features of Venus and Io, as well as more generic "hot and dangerous" worlds (radioactive, barren deserts, volcanic, etc.)  The plan for the mod also leads to me wanting some sort of water like oceans on the planet.  This planet , along with Cryolith and Phobis Terra (will link to future posts), will be starting planets.  I'm planning on having sea technology, but in order to be useful on other planets, and still make sense, a water like ocean terrain will be needed (I figure a sulfuric acid/water mixture would need different materials, but would otherwise be similar enough to a water ocean so that the same technology and types of boats would make sense for both.)

The starting explanation for this planet's geology would be the planet having a much larger amount of radioactive elements than earth does.  This would lead to greater volcanic activity in general, and some of this activity I imagine as concentrating radioactive elements in particular areas.  (This is how I think pitchblende is formed, and a lot of ores seems to be formed this way, but is not something I know about in detail.)  The increased activity would also speed up tectonics, which I think would create less smooth terran.  The oceans would, though, give tectonics similar to earth.

The orbit I imagine would be farther out than venus's (I imagine these planets orbiting a sun like star), but still closer than earth, allowing the temperature to get higher while still sloowing the water/sulfuric acid mixture.  The increased volcanoes would put out more sulfur to form the clouds (based off of Venus mainly), and these clouds would help keep the planet cooler.  The sulfuric acid is also a way to allow water based oceans to exist on a hotter planet than otherwise would be the case.  Weather is something that feels harder to simulate or guess at in detail, so I've left the details vague.

The life is added mainly to make the planet more interesting.  Other characteristics, like the moons, magnetic field, or upper atmosphere, are things I'm not as sure of what might happen, so these I'm either making similar to earth, or just ignoring.

Introduction/Contents

This blog is a collection of ideas for game mods, stories, or just cool (hopefully) ideas for worlds that I take the time to write down.  Should serve as  place for me to store ideas, and will hopefully be entertaining for anyone who stumbles across it.

 The links below link to posts based on which worlds/universes I consider them a part of, while the post labels/categories on the side organize the ideas by type across several universes.


Selkirk System: A system (much like Earth's solar system) where intelligent species colonists end up.  Started as an idea for a possible civilization type game mod, which may or may not actually be produced.  Describes the intelligent species as well as planets.

Titan exploration of the solar system:  Creatures from Saturn's moon Titan explore the system.  Since titan is quite different from Earth, these creatures naturally have a very different view than we humans do.