Novarckas

Novarckas is an enormous artificial world constructed out of a Dyson sphere built around a red dwarf binary to another similar star. The opposite star is known as Igniculus.

History

Novarckas was crafted by the Empire of Arckas to serve as a hub for intergalactic politics. This Empire extended across several galaxies. It was built as a megastructure surrounding a star binary to another red dwarf. Overtime, it was padded with rocks and soil, and a thick gassy atmosphere developed attracting dust particles, debris and other objects. This planet and its moons soon prospered, becoming a major capital.

The word itself can be translated to "New Arckas" in the Aeliph's language. It was the final creation of Arckas before he departed for another universe and left Na'zrah in charge of the empire.

Today, Novarckas remains an area of scientific interest, and many secret experiments are performed here. Notably, it was studied by the Omni Empire, jumpstarting their technology to remarkable levels in a short a period of time. However, it was later destroyed by LUCIS who attempted to purge all Na'zrah nodes so that LUCIS could remain unopposed. The surface today is barren metal and rock, covered in the fossilized remains of the titanic creatures that once inhabited it.

Physical characteristics

Novarckas has a gigantic atmosphere of a stable mixture of nitrogen and oxygen held together via artificial machines. It appears as a gas giant binary to its star. It is likely that Igniculus was artificially adjusted through unknown means to be set at an appropriate distance from Novarckas.

Some irregularly shaped moons have come so close to Novarckas, that overtime, they have evolved their own ecosystems. Though technically still moons, such objects are referred to as floating continents. Some life forms, such as those at the core, were genetically engineered long ago, eventually evolving to massive proportions. The Arckasian Great Tree for example stands at ten miles high and can live for millions of years.

The core receives little sunlight in comparison to its moons, because the sunlight has to penetrate thousands of miles of atmosphere. During the day, the core is about the brightness of twilight, and cold at night. However, artificial convection currents keep the planet relatively warm: 70 F on the day side and 20 F on the night side. As a result, snowfall is common during the night.

Points of interest

Arckadium

At the solid core is a massive mountain called Mt. Arterius, the tallest known mountain in the Crucible Galaxy. It towers at 14,000 kilometers, and a massive city known as Arckadium exists both within and on the outside of the mountain. A broken portal, presumed to have been a smaller scale Stone Ring, appears at the mountain's base. When the city was functional, this is where citizens would have entered the city.

A powerful magnetic force near the mountain creates a comfortable 1.1 G. How this magnetic force works still remains a scientific mystery, although it has begun to fall into disrepair.

Today the city remains abandoned and in disarray. Na'zrah could once be found in the Communion Hall, the largest room in the entire city as a manager of the systems. Balconies circle the room for 100 stories.

Great Colossi

These are enormous carvings built into the side of Mt. Arterius. Each statue depicts one of the founding Arckasian races that lived in the city of Arckadium. Strangely, one of them is an Omni, indicating that the Omni Empire had tampered with the original architecture.

Ecosystem

The ecosystem of Novarckas is highly varied. The creatures can grow to enormous proportions.

Flora

• Arckasian Great Tree - A tree that grows to ten miles high. Their seeds, the size of mansions, drift away into the atmosphere.

Fauna

• Godfish - A massive, toothless fish with a mouth that can open up to swallow 1,000 acres of material. In fact, entire sub ecosystems exist within the bowels of the massive creature.
• Titans' Lapdog - A giant canine creature, the largest land predator on Novarckas. It has eight muscular legs.
• Magnus Eagle - Large bird-like creatures. These giant birds can fly between Novarckas's moons that lie within its atmosphere. As a result, the creature can carry other life forms between moons.
• Jonahias - An enormous whale-like creature 40 times bigger than a Godfish. They dwell near the ocean's surface and are sometimes mistaken as continents.

Moons

Novarckas has thousands of large moons. Many of their original names were lost to the ages, and thus, they were given new designations by the Second Galactic Senate.

66 Brimsta

A volcanic moon that orbits Igniculus, the star. 66 Brimsta is home to a strange, non-corporeal life forms that are nicknamed ghasts. They devour anyone that is unprepared, vaporizing them by touching them. To top it all off, ghasts emit high-pitched screeches that disrupt electronics - essentially causing them to shut off. This may effectively disable spaceships, leaving the crew stranded.

Ghasts, as dangerous as they are, have rarely been seen outside of 66 Brimsta. The intense heat and energy are what they live on and is much more ideal place to inhabit. Being in space for too long will cause them to disappear into nothingness as they cannot tolerate the extremely cold temperatures.

The moon, approximately 13,000 km, has large pillar shaped formations as well as many volcanoes. Hidden on the surface is a Stone Ring that leads to the Gehenna Galaxy which is likely where the ghasts originate from.

201 Fortress

A large, rocky moon approximately 1 AU from Novarckas. As the name suggests, the moon was believed to have been an ancient fortress. It was used to defend the planet from intruders such as the Collective. Hundreds of giant dormant laser cannons, capable of firing giant streams of molten iron, can be found dotting the moon.

42 Ortus

A moon within Novarckas's atmosphere about 12,800 km. It is tidally locked to the planet, but its gravity remains at a comfortable 1.2 G. It has its own unique ecosystem from the rest of the planet, though much of Novarckas's flying life forms can travel between moons. Currently, it serves as a research outpost for the Karnasians. Though the moon regularly undergoes long periods of nighttime, the brightness of the stars nearby keeps the planet well-lit even at night.

83 Fell Temple

A terrestrial moon with a gravity of 0.95G. It is closer than most other moons to Novarckas' surface. Notable for the whole of the moon's ecosystem to be of swamps and wetland, it's well known for the massive temple that has been built upon it. Many don't even consider it just a temple but an interconnected temple city, as the structure is so large it circles upon itself. Researchers aren't sure whether the temple was used to worship the god machines or to imprison dangerous enemies of the empire, though some suggest both. The moon is a dangerous place to go to and explore, as both wildlife and eons old traps still lay dormant in the temple waiting for intruders to prey on.

47 Eidyna

Retroactively named after a location in a popular holonovel series, this moon is roughly 7,000 km in diameter. It is a varied world home to many life-forms, as well as the ruins of a destroyed civilization. The builders of the ruins remain unknown. 47 Eidyna is considered to be a Karalian research base.

362 Pythein

362 Pythein is a distant moon, cold and covered in ice. Deep underground is a sanctum that was once home to the Oracle Antocula before it was indoctrinated by LUCIS and later destroyed. The frozen environment was ideal for a large computational device to prevent overheating.

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