Fount of Varuna

From KneeQuickie

The Fount of Varuna is a planet in Neek's sci-fi series. The planet is approximately the same size as Earth, mass, and diameter. It has a similar core composition, and a similar atmospheric composition. Like nearly all planets that the gates connect to, it is habitable for human life with little conditioning.

History of colonization

The planet is considered to be a Step 2 planet, the only one known so far; by that, it means one has to cross through the Earth gate to Chalcedon (Step 1), and then cross through the Chalcedonian gate to Fount of Varuna. The planet was discovered by the United Kingdom when the Zeiger Plate was discovered on Chalcedonian's smallest moon in the year 287 PE. It was decoded and it provided instructions for another gate. In 295 PE, the new gate was completed by a joint venture between two corporations: Korean electronics manufacturer, LG, and Thales Alenia Space, along with two governments: the New England Union and the United Kingdom.

The gate was folded to the coordinates the Zeiger Plate detailed. When the first feed started, it was found that the location was beneath a terrible storm. The location was given the codename of New Pacifica. The first man to step foot on the site was U.K. astronaut, Ananta John Aiyer. His first sight was the darkening clouds smothering a setting sun, and breaking apart to show the debris of the moon. In the official conference following, he called the planet Varuna, after the Hindu god of storms and oceans. It was decided that the name should stick, and that Hindu names would be used in naming the newfound planet.

The U.K. acted in haste, constructing a launch site for satellites within two years. After mapping the world, they were disappointed to discover that it had very little usable land--there were minimal ice caps, and only a single continent. No other landmasses were discovered.

History of the planet

The planet was created approximately 4 billion years ago. It formed in the planetary disk of the star Aditya, and was the fourth planet from the sun. The planet progressed as earth, developing single-celled life, then multicellular life in a similar time frame. The knowledge of surface life is minimal, considering that the majority of life was wiped out and buried under the oceans.

Approximately 300,000 years ago, the moon IVb's orbit destabilized and its orbit began to converge with Aditya IVa. A resulting collision shattered both objects to rubble. There exist approximately 7 major pieces of the moons that are identifiable during the night. The remaining rocks created an unsteady ring around the planet. The collision caused a shift in tectonic forces, creating massive upheavals of dust and ash. As well, impacting fragments worsened the problem. A mass global warming regularized the temperature, and the ice caps melted--both of which were resting on land. Except for a small portion the size of our Australia, the remaining land was flooded over. The ice caps are getting larger as the CO₂ levels are being reduced, and there's no sign of any harmful dust in the atmosphere. The global warming is stabilizing itself--but a bit too late.

Geography

The only continent is Borealia. Its coastal areas are teaming with life, while the interior is too mountainous to tresspass. There are large expanses of deserts, but those are being destroyed by a spread of forests. The northernmost tip of the continent expands into the geographic northpole.