The planet of Kos (often known by its political name, Ksreskézo) was a metal-rich world slightly smaller than Earth. Overall surface temperature and atmospheric composition fell within similar ranges to Earth, but an abundance of naturally-occurring fluorocarbon gasses prevented the formation of a stable ozone layer, and the planet's surface was normally bathed in harsh ultraviolet light from its yellow dwarf sun, Sabta. Above water, Kos's surface was sparsely colonized by organisms, being mainly desert and near-desert conditions except for permafrost tundras near the poles, where ultraviolet intrusion was generally lower. The pH of soil and water were both extremely inconsistent, with most river basins being either highly alkaline or highly acidic due to mineral run-off, and many saltwater ecosystems forming inland as a result.
Organisms native to Kos were noted for their unusual cellular biology, featuring triple-helix nucleic acids with uncommon pairings, tetrahedral and triangular cell shapes, highly rigid extracellular and intracellular matrices, and an unparalleled reliance on metals as a structural material. Dozens of species native to Kos survived the destruction of the Ksreskézaian brane as a result of actions by former subjects of the Ksreskézai, including regwai (stonestem weeds), kandzhrai (Oksian silkworms), úravinthai (secret-bug), crystal shrubs, havintai (often called tigvai or Oksian bats), tsikladai (Oksian tripod crab), and several types of TMF scintillators not found elsewhere.
For all its recorded history, Kos was dominated by two supercontinents, Kelgwa ("Great Horizon") and Teva (of uncertain etymology).
Kelgwa was the native home of the Oksi, and the site of most of their prehistory, as well as the eastern capitol of Wemno. Its constituents landmasses were the northern Ghanegwa, the central Fzelgwa, and the southern area, which was once called simply Teva. After the discovery of the southern supercontinent, the name Teva was transferred, and the southern reaches of Kelgwa became known as Teva Ghana ("North Teva"), Dashra Regwa ("Dashro-occupied Kelgwa"), or Lizí Tevo ("Little Teva".)
The southern island continent of Teva was home to the city of Tévopío, which was the dominant political centre, and the origin of most Lilitai. It was also home to the Dashro Oasis civilization, an enigmatic non-Oksi culture that ruled the planet during a period called the Seventh Empire (fl. 7200–8809) amid a prolonged interregnum in Wemno. The largest landmass of the Teva archipelago is thus called Keldashro, with constituent regions called the Plains of Tévopío, the Dashro Basin, and so forth; the eastern partition is called Tkezga.
Kos was an Earth-like terrestrial rocky world. At the equator the average daily temperature was 28° C, year-round, with low humidity content and an air pressure close to 100 kPa. The atmosphere was 58% nitrogen, 30% oxygen, 6% argon, and 8% miscellaneous trace gasses. Its orbit and tilt were similar to that of Earth's, yielding rainy seasons near the equator and winters beyond ±45° latitude.
It is believed Kos had a period of extreme volcanic activity only a few thousand years before the start of historical records. Throughout the era of Ksreskézo, the atmosphere still retained high levels of potent greenhouse gasses, despite few recorded eruptions, and most autotrophs were predominantly chemotrophic, with phototrophy playing an auxiliary role if it was present at all. This was culturally attested, as well; many early orally-transmitted myths described a milieu of constant darkness and near-starvation, with the birth of the sun transpiring only after many other important events had already occurred, including the discovery of fire.
Life scarcely shaped the surface of Ksreskézo. Most rocks on the surface were of a volcanic or sedimentary nature, and soil in most regions consists predominantly of sand and clays, worn down only by atmospheric and oceanic erosion. There were glaciers at the north pole, where temperatures could reach as low as –70° C during the winter and rarely rose above the freezing point of pure water, but elsewhere nearly all water on the planet was heavily contaminated with various solutes and would not freeze unless it was much colder.
Few fossils were ever found on Kos, as the chemical processes of fossilization tended to erode the metal-rich non-crystalline carapaces of most larger organisms.
(Sotaní Oksirapho: kñ-aʳda). Relative of the tsiklada; lives in shallows and hunts smaller tripods. When it is ready to reproduce, it ingests reeds, including stonestem, and expels a pulp used to build a nest for its infants, which it then buries. The nest can be recovered by farmers, dried, and spun like cotton. Some of the other species in the Oksi genius could do this very efficiently using simple tools that were shaped for their non-vestigial midlimbs. The technology was cumbersome for the Oksi, however, and weaving became work for Rotomemi slaves once they entered the economy.
There were many species of tripod that wove nest-cocoons in this manner, and various drying techniques used to treat the cocoons prior to weaving. These variables could have drastic effects on the quality, abundance, and density of the resulting fibres.
Organisms native to Kos were noted for their unusual cellular biology, featuring triple-helix nucleic acids with uncommon pairings, tetrahedral and triangular cell shapes, highly rigid extracellular and intracellular matrices, and an unparalleled reliance on metals as a structural material. Dozens of species native to Kos survived the destruction of the Ksreskézaian brane as a result of actions by former subjects of the Ksreskézai, including regwai (stonestem weeds), kandzhrai (Oksian silkworms), úravinthai (secret-bug), crystal shrubs, havintai (often called tigvai or Oksian bats), tsikladai (Oksian tripod crab), and several types of TMF scintillators not found elsewhere.
Geography
For all its recorded history, Kos was dominated by two supercontinents, Kelgwa ("Great Horizon") and Teva (of uncertain etymology).
Kelgwa was the native home of the Oksi, and the site of most of their prehistory, as well as the eastern capitol of Wemno. Its constituents landmasses were the northern Ghanegwa, the central Fzelgwa, and the southern area, which was once called simply Teva. After the discovery of the southern supercontinent, the name Teva was transferred, and the southern reaches of Kelgwa became known as Teva Ghana ("North Teva"), Dashra Regwa ("Dashro-occupied Kelgwa"), or Lizí Tevo ("Little Teva".)
The southern island continent of Teva was home to the city of Tévopío, which was the dominant political centre, and the origin of most Lilitai. It was also home to the Dashro Oasis civilization, an enigmatic non-Oksi culture that ruled the planet during a period called the Seventh Empire (fl. 7200–8809) amid a prolonged interregnum in Wemno. The largest landmass of the Teva archipelago is thus called Keldashro, with constituent regions called the Plains of Tévopío, the Dashro Basin, and so forth; the eastern partition is called Tkezga.
Climate
Kos was an Earth-like terrestrial rocky world. At the equator the average daily temperature was 28° C, year-round, with low humidity content and an air pressure close to 100 kPa. The atmosphere was 58% nitrogen, 30% oxygen, 6% argon, and 8% miscellaneous trace gasses. Its orbit and tilt were similar to that of Earth's, yielding rainy seasons near the equator and winters beyond ±45° latitude.
It is believed Kos had a period of extreme volcanic activity only a few thousand years before the start of historical records. Throughout the era of Ksreskézo, the atmosphere still retained high levels of potent greenhouse gasses, despite few recorded eruptions, and most autotrophs were predominantly chemotrophic, with phototrophy playing an auxiliary role if it was present at all. This was culturally attested, as well; many early orally-transmitted myths described a milieu of constant darkness and near-starvation, with the birth of the sun transpiring only after many other important events had already occurred, including the discovery of fire.
Life scarcely shaped the surface of Ksreskézo. Most rocks on the surface were of a volcanic or sedimentary nature, and soil in most regions consists predominantly of sand and clays, worn down only by atmospheric and oceanic erosion. There were glaciers at the north pole, where temperatures could reach as low as –70° C during the winter and rarely rose above the freezing point of pure water, but elsewhere nearly all water on the planet was heavily contaminated with various solutes and would not freeze unless it was much colder.
Few fossils were ever found on Kos, as the chemical processes of fossilization tended to erode the metal-rich non-crystalline carapaces of most larger organisms.
Cellular biology
Taxonomy
- Phylum Hitnoclecica (hitnoklekika): Simple unicellular organisms; mostly autotrophs similar to a cyanobacterium.
- Phylum Tolsentipa (tolsentipa): Simple aquatic colonial organisms; autotrophic and similar to a biofilm.
- Phylum Zipoudeba (zípúdeba): Heterotrophic organisms with simple organelles; unicellular, similar to protists.
- Phylum Zargenezza (zargenyôtza): Multicellular, aquatic organisms with radial symmetry and a well-organised body plan; motile.
- Phylum Chlogaba (khlofgaba): Unicellular heterotrophs with more advanced organelles than degniksa or zípúdeba.
- Phylum Zandasta (zandasta): Multicellular organisms descendant from the khlofgaba; highly motile with well-organized two-fold or three-fold body plans; likened to the Terran class Bilateria.
- Order Scaoca (skaoka): Tripodal or hexopodal zandasta; most similar to arthropods on Earth.
- Family Xiclada (ksiklada): Three-legged skaoka, disk-shaped, stubby limbs, 4-5" diameter at maturity.
- Order Tigva (tigva): Higher zandasta, uniformly with a bilateral body plan and six limbs.
- Family Chablinta (khablínta or havínta): Flying tigva similar to a bat; some species grow up to 17" in length.
- Family Zeltigva (fzeltigva): Hexapodal tigva similar to an armadillo; direct ancestors of the okso.
- Genus Cresceizo (Ksreskézo): Large, highly-developed tigvi with sophisticated nervous systems.
- Species Oxeus (okso): Ksreskézaian.
- Order Scaoca (skaoka): Tripodal or hexopodal zandasta; most similar to arthropods on Earth.
- Phylum Toldebipa (toldebipa): Autotrophic organisms with simple organelles; multicellular, similar to rudimentary plants, mostly found on land.
- Order Enschabra (ekñedshabra): Any of a variety of crystalline toldebipa, including all types of regwa such as kútikshúdzna.
- Class Regua (regwa): Grass or weed.
- Genus Cutixa (kútikshúdzna): Stonestem regwa; a popular source of tough fabric, a type of ekñedshabra.
- Class Regua (regwa): Grass or weed.
- Order Enschabra (ekñedshabra): Any of a variety of crystalline toldebipa, including all types of regwa such as kútikshúdzna.
- Phylum Glinatsa (glingenyôtza): Multicellular aquatic organisms with no distinct body plan, but locomotion.
- Order Degnixa (degniksa): Detritovores, multicellular with unusual organelles, motile; some have body plans.
- Phylum Tilinca (twikliñta): Thermotrophs and chemotrophs without distinct organelles, single-celled, usually found in high-pressure environments.
Profiles of select taxa
Okso
Regwa
Tsiklada
Kandzhra
(Sotaní Oksirapho: kñ-aʳda). Relative of the tsiklada; lives in shallows and hunts smaller tripods. When it is ready to reproduce, it ingests reeds, including stonestem, and expels a pulp used to build a nest for its infants, which it then buries. The nest can be recovered by farmers, dried, and spun like cotton. Some of the other species in the Oksi genius could do this very efficiently using simple tools that were shaped for their non-vestigial midlimbs. The technology was cumbersome for the Oksi, however, and weaving became work for Rotomemi slaves once they entered the economy.
There were many species of tripod that wove nest-cocoons in this manner, and various drying techniques used to treat the cocoons prior to weaving. These variables could have drastic effects on the quality, abundance, and density of the resulting fibres.
Úravintha
Crystal shrub
Havinta
Scintillator
- test
