Silva

Silva
Astrography
Star	Vorto system
Type	Tidally locked jungle planet
Satellites	Silva A, Silva B, Silva C, Silva D
Gravity	0.7G
Orbital distance	0.09 AU
Day length	22.1 days
Year length	22.1 days
Diameter	14,060 km
Axial tilt	12.3°
Temperature
Average	75° F
Minimum	-118° F
Maximum	142° F
Atmosphere
Composition	72% nitrogen, 25% oxygen, 2% xenon, 1% other gases
Surface pressure	1.1 atm
Demographics
Population	0

Silva is a planet orbiting a red dwarf star in the Vorto system. It located in the Frontier Worlds in Anarsaur territory.

Orbit

Like most habitable planets that orbit a red dwarf star, Silva is tidally locked to its star. Therefore, the same side always faces the sun. The planet also has a thick set of rings as a result of a large planet-sized object colliding with its former moon. The resulting debris also created four large asteroids which have sustained a stable orbit. Silva A at 24 km, Silva B at 35 km, Silva C at 52 km and Silva D at 18 km.

Geography

The day side of Silva consists of an unending hurricane, while the night side consists of a frozen wasteland. The runoff from the hurricane creates a pleasantly temperate, yet humid area in between filled with jungles and bogs. As a result, the sun never appears to move while on Silva.

Silva's soil is deficient of nitrogen and has high acidity with few nutrients. As a result, the vast majority of plants evolved to be carnivorous, to catch the more mobile life forms which instead rely on photosynthesis.

Vorto, being a red dwarf star, has a tendency to frequently blast the planet with radiation. The native life has adapted a variety of ways to overcome this problem. The flora begins secreting a protective, oily sap, while the fauna takes cover in either burrows or behind boulders.

Continents

Silva has several continents. The largest one is the entirety of the night side which consists of a frozen, uninhabitable ice desert. There are two other smaller continents which cover areas within the life zone. One particular region is found around the equator, which is covered in bogs and forests. The other continent is within the giant hurricane on the dayside and receives never-ending downpours and unbearable winds.

Ecosystem

Silva has an unusual ecosystem. The roles of flora and fauna are reversed resulting in some very strange creatures. Animals tend to be slow moving, some taking advantage of the wind to move around. The flora tends to be stationary, yet carnivorous.

The sound of the beating hearts of plants is commonly heard throughout the forests, because plant-life needs them to be able to pump sugars throughout their bodies.

While the flora often relies on being carnivorous, fauna competes for both sunlight and soil patches rich with nutrients.

Flora

• Cutroot - A plant buried underground except for several pairs of mandible-like appendages. When an animal steps on it, these appendages snap shut, then proceed to use needle-like points to extract fluids from the creature. As the cutroot does not let go until all available fluid has been extracted, creatures like the Roveflower can escape by sacrificing one of its limbs.
• Tentatree - A tall tree-like plant whose sticky branches are capable of moving. When a creature gets too close, it grabs it with its sticky tentacles then brings it to the inside of its canopy. At the center of the canopy is a primitive, mouth-like structure capable of digesting prey on the outside.
• Pothole - A plant with a thin, filamentous skin hidden with leaves and dirt. When an unfortunate creature steps on it, it falls inside a chamber where poisonous needles promptly pierce it.
• Tetraleaf - A tree distinguishable for its four leaves pointing upwards. On the front of the tree, it has a "mouth", which inside contains a chemical which imitates the scent of nutrient rich soil. Once an animal is lured inside, the mouth closes down, trapping the creature inside. During radiation blasts, it must close its mouth.
• Thrileaf - A relative of the Tetraleaf, but it appears as a turquoise, bush-like creature. It has a similar "mouth" structure as the Tetraleaf.
• Zukuud - A vine-like plant that steals food from other plants. It spreads itself in the form of vines that infest the feeding regions of the other plants.

Fauna

• Roveflower - A large, slow-moving creature which uses its roots as legs. It has flower-like appendages which capture sunlight. Then, it uses its primitive heart to pump sugars to allow movement.
• Drifter - A floating plant-animal that lives closer to the dayside where the eternal hurricane persists. It harvests both sunlight and water.
• Greenworm - A mobile, centipede-like creature that basks in the sunlight to gather energy.
• Krallrock - A creature with a protective outer surface much like a boulder making it immune to the sun's radiation blasts. It moves using its many legs, and it gathers nutrients using a long burrowing appendage root that drills deep into the ground. It migrates from place to place to seek out more soil nutrients. Many other animals use the Krallrock to hide behind in the event of a radiation blast.
• Swimleaf - A macroscopic plankton-like creature that inhabits the bogs. It photosynthesizes, and also has some flagella to move around to avoid the predatory flora.
• Roddish - An animal with legs which serve as roots. It has a small set of roots which can help it determine where the richest soil is, then it will proceed to plant itself in the ground, absorbing all it can, then moving on to another patch.
• Soilsnake - One of the few true animals on Silva. The soilsnake is a worm-like creature that feeds primarily on soil nutrients and the roots of the carnivorous plants. When it kills the plants above, the soil gets saturated with nutrients allowing other animals to feed via planting their own roots.

---