System:Issia

Issia is a medium-sized yellow star and part of the Issia system, which includes four other planets and their satellites.

Phili
Phili is the first planet from Issia. It is a scorched hostile body, featureless but for the irregular mountains that surround it. The planet's surface is ravaged by lava flows as a result of its high level of geologic activity. Volcanoes belch immense amounts of gases (including carbon dioxide), ash, and green spice into the atmosphere, much of which is ignited and explodes in air due to the planet's oppressive heat, creating large fireballs rising for miles into the atmosphere. However, much of these atmospheric components end up escaping the planet because of its low gravitational pull and the proximity of the star.

Hyperzephyreans took some scientific interest in Phili early in their exploration of space, particularly due to the presence of valuable green spice in its composition. Originally though, extracting this spice proved to be impossible. When Hyperzephyrean technology advanced far enough to make harvesting spice in hostile planets possible, interest dwindled in Phili, whose constraints would have made it economically unfeasible anyway, particularly at a time when the empire was expanding its influence in the galaxy and investing in other more practical sources of spice.

Porbin
The second planet in order after Phili, Porbin is a serene T1 planet with a predominance of purplish-blue soil and scattered oceans. It supports an ecosystem entirely of seemingly autotrophic sessile plants, making it a subject of intense interest for ecologists seeking to unravel the mechanics of such an unusual ecosystem. The two classes of plant identified on its surface thus far are Crullinsk and Pregelfuns. The atmosphere of Porbin is extremely dense as a result of the carbon dioxide exhaled by its plant life not being recycled back into the ecosystem. The biochemical processes of plants on Porbin seem to run in reverse of that of Earth's (and Sequoia IV's) plants, as they breath in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The planet is sweltering hot because of it. Above the surface of Porbin, thunderstorms rage constantly across the globe, often setting into motion large wildfires that consume entire continents. Rain rarely falls on Porbin's surface, as it most often evaporates before reaching it. Plants have adapted to condensing the water vapor in the atmosphere, and most plant life lives near the oceans.

Porbin was not always this way. But a few million years ago, it was a temperate planet with diverse climates across its surface and large oceans. There was a diverse array of plant life, as well — from sessile autotrophs, to animal-like semi-heterotrophs that swam in the oceans and crawled on land, and large trees that are nonexistent in modern times. Some kingdoms of life breathed oxygen, and others carbon-dioxide. But at some time in the planet's history, something happened that led to the extinction of all CO2-breathing plant life. The leading theory is some type of fatal solar flare that ravaged life on the planet, forever altering the course of natural history on Porbin. The planet's biosphere is extremely unstable as of now and researchers estimate that in a few hundred thousand years, the planet will become inhospitable and dry; though life may afterwards spring up once again, perhaps in a more stable form.

A government-funded attempt at terraforming Porbin has been going on for nearly a decade, though it has been met with great opposition from other empires as well as some Hyperzephyrean states. This attempt involves introducing large-scale machines onto the planet that replicate the process of oxygen-synthesis in plants by converting carbon dioxide. A major part of opposition to the project comes from protesters who argue that terraforming Porbin would forever ruin the planet's natural beauty.

Porbin is indeed known as the "jewel of Issia" by Hyperzephyreans and other empires. One notable visitor from the Flixxel Empire years ago went as far as to call it "the most beautiful object in the ten parsecs that surround it." Though its form of beauty is obviously not appreciated by all sentient species, it has been found that visually-oriented, carbon-based beings originating from low-gravity planets tend to find the features of the planet most appealing to their instinctual sense of aesthetics. Most noted is the thick purple haze that envelops the planet, stretching from the ground to the clouds above, thought to be in actuality a reflection of the color of the ground below. Spectacular meteorological phenomenon like incessant thunderstorms, ball lightning, and gorgeous white streaks in the clouds also contribute to Porbin's beauty. Hyperzephyreans on Sequoia IV advertise Porbin as a tourist destination, attracting visitors from nearby empires and generating revenue for the empire. Porbin contains no spice nodes anywhere on or beneath its surface.

Sequoia IV

 * For more information, see Content:Sequoia IV.

Sequoia IV is a life-bearing planet third in sequence from Issia. It is home to an incredibly diverse array of life, and is the home planet of the Hyperzephyrean race. Its moon is Walmon.