Nybian Pharaohnate Planets

Lazula: Home to Nyb, a Basalt Desert Planet with sparse seas and wide rivers, fed from massive volcanic mountain ranges. Large, ferrous masses can be seen to move across the desert, which are actually magnetically charged collections of magnetite. Home to the Nybian Royal Legion, Nybian Medjay, and Holy Knights of Amun-Khepr. All flora is found in the canyons and by the seas. No contiguous bodies of water exist on Nyb, each one isolated from the next by wide stretches of dunes. Most elements on the planet are the heavier ones, with lighter elements only found on the badly strip-mined moons. The native population have taken advantage of the unique properties of the magnetosphere to modify hover tanks to 'ride' magnetic currents, turning some into impromptu WiGE craft, while some have created massive super-carriers that levitate through riding the powerful fields. The populace, descended from north African cultures, have embraced a "Neo Egyptian" culture that bridges several developed differences between the main ethnic groups; the Meryt, who live predominantly in cities by the Canyons and Seas, the Medjay, who dwell in the mountains and foothills, and the Shusa, who are found almost exclusively in the desert. These groups have descending levels of sedentary culture to each, but are united in a constructed "unifying culture" that re-imagines Ancient Egypt as something that all three people might draw heritage from.

Nyb is deceptively industrialized, having focused on sustainability and secrecy for its industry. Its capital, Starest, being the re-engineered husk of a scuttled YardShip from the Amaris Civil War. Because of this, and many other advanced factories, Nyb has a higher quality of life than some successor states. WorkMechs are prevalent, with some technologies surpassing anything the great houses have accomplished on their own. Such advancements are limited however, and Pharonic complacency with the status quo has led to a distinct lack of expansionism. Native life on Nyb is largely invertebrate, with the Dune Duck and Sand Clam being common sources of meat and animal products. The Dune Duck especially is prized and cherished by the Nybians; this Bipedal reptilian creature has a long mouth suited for digging Sand Clams from the desert, and a keen mind. The Dune Duck, if tamed by a firm but gentle hand, is incredibly intelligent and loyal. They are considered the superior choice for anyone wishing to ride into battle. Most cars are hence replaced with either Dune Ducks or desert horses. The last highly notable form of fauna is the Skybax, named thus for resembling the Pterosaur and being tamable, bringing to mind children's novels of just such events. Nybian Sky Rangers will usually sail thermals for days to ensure the safety of their Pharaohnate.

Second from the blue star, with two moons, and shares the system with Akh (1st, Martian), Sur (3rd Gas Giant), and Urun and its belt (4th Gas Giant). Akh is functionally uninhabitable thanks to having too weak of a magnetosphere to resist the intense radiation, solar wind, and light that would otherwise be manageable with it. As it stands, approaching the star past Nyb is hazardous for DropShips and impossible for JumpShips due to solar disruption. Nyb is uniquely capable of hosting life however. Its overactive magnetosphere turns what ought be life-scouring radiation and solar flares into brilliant displays of light in the form of a constant, if in flux, aurora. During the night, ultraviolet light from the star is released from the black sands, casting the dunes in an eerie purple glow for several hours.

Geb: Home to Sara, 5th from the red giant, which is a tidally locked brown dwarf planet. Most populations live on its moon, Saraka, which is dominated by a super continent with a highly active super-volcano. Saraka uses maglev rails extensively due to most population centers being built either in natural Valleys or along coastal cliffs. Otherwise, hovercraft or VTOLs are commonplace, due to the frequency of marshland and floodplains. Shares the system of Nut (Terran, 1st), Ursu (Barren, 2nd), Meph and its rings (Gas giant, 3rd), and Locu ( Rogue Planetoid, 4th or 6th)

Hazlar's Star: Home to Hazlar's Stone, the sole Gas giant in the system with 5 moons. Only Ifrit is heavily developed, the others being too small to sustain an atmosphere and thus are mined actively, or too young in colonization to yet provide substantially. Ifrit is notable for having a dozen super-islands with expansive, Arid highland deserts, and tropical coastlines that are dry and fertile. Maglev rails cross the deserts while submarine trams crawl the sea floor. Ifrit is the breadbasket of the Pharaohnate, cultivating extensively Sea Wheat, a genetically modified form of sea weed. Ifritii ships and hovercraft are larger than most, and large tracked vehicles are common in the highlands. Volcanic and tectonic activity is intense on Ifrit, but it is otherwise an idyllic climate. Notably has only an 81 day year and a 44 hour day, with rain almost constant during the 40 day "winter".

Bale: Thugrim, Mirguht
Home to the twin planets Thugrim and Mirguht, two arid Planetoids that orbit Biggor. Both have sources of water in the form of massive storms that constantly rage across the planet's surface, as the water stands briefly before evaporating. Bi-monthly, one planet will eclipse the other for two days, resulting in torrential downpours that create standing bodies of water for a month. Most settlements are build beneath the sands or within large rock formations to avoid the deadly winds and rain, though the use of wind traps provides both power and water to sustain the communities. Most economic activity lies in prospecting the massive asteroid cluster that lies between the planetoids and Bale. Resources extracted from those asteroids are brought to the planetoids to be processed, and then shipped out for profit. The populace are notable for also engaging in storm-chasing as a sport, stemming from the original need to track storms and record vital climate data to calibrate wind traps. The only other planets are Biggor and Smollor, both gas giants, Smollor having a sizable ice ring around it. Thick asteroid fields further populate the space around Bale.


Euphratis: Nova Urush, Babylon
Nova Urush and Babylon are the 4th and 7th planets respectively, and are fairly temperate. Nova Urush has a large body of water that takes approximately 60% of the planets surface, while the two super-continents are fairly diverse and without notable oddity that distinguishes them from Earth. The largest source of concern for colonists comes from the violence of the ocean, which frequently floods the shores with little warning. All arable land is then found in the highlands, near the mountain ranges, where super-lakes have formed over millions of years. These freshwater lakes are the only place where civilization has taken root, though the massive salt-ravaged dunes are home to significant resources. The populace are well-versed in using exo-suits and IndustrialArmor for labor in this toxic zones.

Babylon is notably different as it is significantly colder, with the almost reverse true for it from Nova Urush. Babylon is covered in mountains choked with snow and alien flora capable of surviving in the extreme cold. Resembling pine trees, the Babylonian Palm will auto-ignite as a means of thawing the ground enough for its seedlings to take root. This process happens every few years, and is a massive driver in local weather patterns. Most habitation is around the oceans, which are usually fed by snow-melt rivers that ebb and grow with the cycles of forest fires and storms. The climate is fairly stable on the oceans, and while the coasts are where most of the population dwell, the volcanic islands likewise provide habitable and arable land. Aquaculture and alpine hunting are supplements to a staple of "winter" agriculture.

The system is further populated by Gobekle (1st, Mercurial), Karahan (2nd, Martian), Catal (3rd, Gas Giant),  (5th, Gas Giant), Ghazal (6th, Dwarf), Knossos (8th, Dwarf), and That One (9th, Planetoid)

Choex: Hunahpu, Xbalanque
Both Hunahpu and Xbalanque are heavily covered in rain-forests of alien flora, and populated by alien fauna, requiring careful human habitation. On Hunahpu, the planets usually clear skies are host to unpredictable storms as well as a mega-hurricane that has been raging for over six thousand years. The flora evolved in this environment to resist the extreme wind force, which can lift a full-grown human into the air without assistance. Because of this, the human settlements on Hunahpu are located mostly in the barrier peaks, a super-chain of mountains with heavy erosion. Vault-like cities are built into the natural caves with limited surface construction to avoid the devastating storms. What farmland that exists is ironically dependent on the cover and structure provided by the flora. Vertical farms and villages populate the massive rain-forests, usually contending with alien fauna via securityMechs and advanced dissuasion methods. The native life can be as dangerous as the storms, the heavy-set creatures designed to survive sudden bursts of wind when the storms pass through the trees. Curiously, they bear passing resemblance to ancient earth Dinosaurs, though it isn't a complete match.

Xbalanque is almost entirely different from its twin. The thick atmosphere stops most light from reaching the surface, and usually roils with storms. Lightning strikes and rainstorms are a common sight, with flooding usually sweeping down from the highlands into lowland valleys, and filling the massive seas. The dominant form of life on the planet is a mushroom-like fungal colony that spans each of the eight continents, each one a unique organism with several subspecies coexisting within each colony. Human life usually digs beneath the mushrooms,  where natural cave systems bored through by generations of fungal creep and flash flooding expand into thriving canyon ecosystems. The Fauna are highly dangerous to the unaware, but are not a significant threat to human habitats. Smoke Eagles and Skull Bats usually form the base to any altercations between native life and humans, though the more rare Moon Panther has been known to stalk small groups or individuals. Xbalanque is also home to the Instituto de Ciencias Choex (ICC), the premier and highest place of learning in the Pharaohnate. It was founded by Rim Worlds scientists that wisely kept their head down when the Star League tore down the Republic. Those same original scientists were the colonists that sparked the planetary population, and helped organize it into what it is today. Of its leadership today, three "Noble Houses" organize and direct the planets various city-communes, that being the Brotherhood of the Panther, the Skullbat Family, and the Eagle Clan. These houses are descendants of the original resistance cells that resisted the Pharaohnate when it originally attempted to take the planet and bring it into its fold. As part of talks to incorporate the planet, the three remaining cells were acknowledged as the ruling entities that would then submit to Pharaohnate oversight with strictly limited interference. Later economic exchange grew the support of their union, before cultural assimilation began in earnest.

Xbalanque is notably away from Hunahpu, yet often will be eclipsed by the other planet when their orbits cross, usually for three to four months. This event occurs every eight years. Other planets include Oaxaca (Martian, 1st), Dakota (2nd, Mercurial), Niña Dorada (Gas giant, 5th), and Buena Esperanza (Anomalous Gas Giant, 6th). Buena Esperanza has been the subject of research since the Rim Worlds Republic due to strange structures on the 5th moon, its extensive rubble belt, and deadly levels of radiation permeating its atmosphere. Magnetic fluctuations from the planet likewise attract study, with efforts underway by the Pharaohnate to develop a probe to scout its upper atmosphere.