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The planet Publicanos is the seat of government of the Ecumene. The planet itself is a large, densely populated garden world with a wildly diverse climate. Publicanos is has no axial tilt relative to it's home star, Arachosia, and thus experiences no seasons. This results in a wildly energetic atmosphere with massive hurricanes around the equator and expansive glaciers near the poles. In spite of these hazards, the planet hosts a diverse biosphere including all manner of vegetation, plentiful animal life on land and sea, and a massive population of sapient Triffids, who are the dominant native form of life.
Publicanos is very unique among planets in that it exhibits a horseshoe orbit in concert with the similarly habitable planet, Phaethon. This peculiar gravitational influence resulted in the gradual loss of the planet's obliquity (or axial tilt) over the last few billion years and has generally prevented any inner-solar-system asteroids from affecting the biospheres of either planet.
Natural History
Formation
Publicanos' home star, Arachosia, was likely formed as a result of star-forming activity that followed the Phradox Galaxy's collision with another, currently unnamed, galaxy. This collision resulted in the creation of the Great Ecliptic, and sent a large amount of star-forming gas into the intergalactic void. This gas, over the next few billion years, gradually coalesced into an open cluster of stars that has roughly settled into orbit around the center of mass of the Xonexi group. A few neighboring stars formed out of the same diffuse gas cloud and have been gradually drifting away from Arachosia on diverging orbits over the last few billion years.
The precise circumstances of Publicanos' formation are uncertain. It likely formed naturally within Arachosia's habitable zone, and later captured the other four bodies with which it is co-orbital as they were either flung in from the outer solar system or had been previously rogue planets captured by the star as it flew through intergalactic space. It formed probably around 2 billion years ago and developed life shortly thereafter.
Publicanos formed out of mostly iron, nickel, and silicon, with trace amounts of platinum, aluminum, magnesium, and lithium. The water on its surface was likely delivered by collisions with icy comets during the early days of its formation. It is estimated that, when the planet formed, it probably had an axial tilt somewhere between 50 and 60 degrees above the plane of its orbit. However, gravitational interaction with its moon, Aerilon, and it's co-orbital planet, Phaethon, gradually eroded its tilt such that its modern axis of rotation is nearly exactly 90 degrees above the plane of its orbit.
Primordial History
Multicellular Life
Development of Sapient Life
Characteristics
Physical Characteristics
Celestial Characteristics
Biosphere
History
Present Day
- The following section is organized by climatic macro-regions.
Scaldarion
Temperate Zone (North)
Temperate Zone (South)
Poles and Polar Steppes
Oceans
Notable Locations
Cities
Natural Phenomena
Notes
Quotes
Gallery
Trivia
- The original name of the planet (Publicanus) was derived from the classical Latin word for "tax collector".
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