Oe
Oe (pronounced /ˈoʊ.i/) is a gas giant in the outer Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, claimed by the Second Konabian Empire. While Oe has no known native life, it has been heavily colonized by the SKE, such that more than 62% of its surface is covered by cities and urbanized shees suspended in its cloudy atmosphere. Although many historians believe that Oe was the first gas giant to be settled by the Empire, there's little direct evidence that this is the case.
The adjective to refer to things and people of Oe is "Oean" (/ˈɔɪ.ən/).
Geography
Like most gas giants, Oe is made up mainly of hydrogen and helium, with traces of other elements. It has no differentiated core, although its components do grow denser towards the center of the planet. Oe has a radius of about 62 megameters and a mass of about 5.7·1026 kilograms; its surface temperature and gravitational acceleration (to the extent that Oe has a "surface") are both within terrestrial levels, though its chemical composition is not. The outer layers of Oe are dominated by clouds of water, tinted yellow by sulfurous impurities; the planet as a whole, therefore, what can be seen of it through its extensive urbanization, shows bands of varying shades of off-white, yellow, and gold.
The bands of color that stripe the surface of Oe are given their own names, and are referred to for navigation. In addition to these features, the surface of Oe bears a number of persistent vortices, the two largest being, coincidentally, almost directly opposite each other. These two storms, both slightly greenish in color (due to a dilution of the sulfurous clouds and an uprising of methane from below), are called the Northern and Southern Eyes. Other prominent vortices include the white Pearl, Alphus, and Tymbradel and the deep yellow Mustard Stain. The permanence of these vortices is disputed; many planetologists believe that some of them have already lasted longer than they should have naturally, and that they may have been artificially stabilized by the constructions there—or perhaps previously by the same Manus Divina responsible for the propagation of humanity through the galaxy, or by like preimperial forces.
Oe has eighty-three known moons, but most of them are very small. Only six of the moons are large enough for gravitational collapse to have given them an ellipsoidal shape. The three largest moons, Zerane, Naanor, and Tiu, are also fairly densely inhabited, the first two by many of the same races that have settled on Oe but the last by . Also noteworthy is Iora, one of the smaller moons, not so much for its inhabitants as for an unusual phenomenon called the Glier that exists on its surface.
Taladan, the star Oe orbits, is a white Class A star with a mass of about 3.6·1030 kilograms. The presence of Oe in its star system has inhibited the formation of other planets in a large band extending from just inside Oe's orbit to roughly. There is in this range a band of small bodies called the Fess, but their shape—far more spherical than their small mass should justify—and their oddly smooth texture and unusual composition bespeak an unnatural origin. There is at least one rocky planet closer to the sun, a molten body called Amestrand, and five planets out beyond Oe, two more gas giants (albeit smaller than Oe) and three gas giants. The outer limits of the Taladan system are also plentifully supplied with dwarf planets of various descriptions.
Inhabitants
The floating cities of Oe are inhabited by human and other terrestrial races, including thubani, fedelines, dombars, and cyfycs. To accommodate the aerobic nature of most of these races, just over half of the cities and shees of Oe are surrounded by fields or membrances that hold in oxygen-bearing air, and keep out the sulfurous gases and other poisonous chemicals that teem on the planet. Some members of these races, however, have been modified to breathe these sulfurous compounds and thrive on the parts of the planet that are open to the surrounding atmosphere. Some naturally sulfurophilic races such as mowters and netches also dwell in this sulfur-permeated areas.
Much of the planet's area not covered by floating cities has also been colonized, by races native to other gas giants, most notably funches and krambils. Large areas of the unurbanized parts of the planet have also been set apart as reservations of sorts for shismes.
Despite Oe's lack of truly native life, some (alogous) organisms introduced from elsewhere have begun to thrive there. Some have been intentionally introduced, such as the scribble grass some strains of which are grown as a foodstuff for certain races, the oilmelons that form one of the planet's notable exports, and the brubles that were first brought to Oe as pets but later throve in the wild. Others, like skymold and embals, were introduced accidentally, inadvertently carried to the planet by visitors or immigrants.
Society
Nominally, all of Oe (save a few places set apart such as the shismes reservations) is under the leadership of a single governing body, the Imperitamus, which comprises a Superior Council of three members and an Inferior Council of thirty. In practice, the reach of the Imperitamus over the vastness of the gas giant is limited, and it really has control over only the relatively small area of a district called Touta. The rest of the planet is fractured into a number of effectively independent states, some of which pay lip service to the Imperitamus and some of which don't even do that but are tolerated as long as they don't actually initiate hostilities against it (especially since the Imperitamus doesn't have the power to put these wayward states firmly under its thumb even if it tried).
In most areas of Oe, there is a distinct social stratification that mirrors the physical layering of the planet's shees. Those who live at higher altitudes, closer to the edge of the atmosphere, tend to be the wealthy and influential, those who don't have to make the journey into the planet's interior and who can afford to live where they have a view of the skies less impeded by clouds (and by higher layers of shees). Those who live closer to the planet's core tend to be the lower classes, the poor and the proletarian. This tendency is widespread throughout Oe, but may be more obvious in some places than others; in some places, the change in the structures and people as one physically descends is quite pronounced indeed.
Aside from the social difference within an area, there tends to be some level of mutual distrust and contempt between the inhabitants of the aerobic areas of the planet and those open to Oe's sulfurous atmosphere. The former tend to think of the latter as primitive and uncivilized, the latter of the former as weak and unadaptable. Those few who have been modified to tolerate sulfur but not require it and to be comfortable in both environments often act as go-betweens and traders, and can make a good living that way, but attitudes toward them are mixed. Some see them favorably as having made an effort to fit in with all societies, while others see them as unnatural parasites.
Economy
Oe's main exports are chemical and industrial. The former category includes unusual chemicals harvested from deep within the planet's interior, and retrieved in some areas by remote-controlled drones, in others by seins specially designed to withstand the high pressure and temperature and the unusual chemical makeup, and in still others by the planet's organic inhabitants, either protected by high-tech suits or vehicles or modified to survive in those environments. The chemicals are then brought to somewhat more hospitable areas for processing. Directlyretrieving the chemicals from the planet's interior is not generally considered a desirable job, but it's one that many people end up doing anyway to make a living. Those who retrieve the chemicals remotely have an easier time of it, though they may not be paid as well.
The industrial facilities are little better; the reason that industry is so important in Oe is because it can take advantage of the conditions in the planet's interior that are hostile to most life but may be useful for certain reactions and processes. This means the industrial work must actually go on deep in the planet's interior, and is subject to similar considerations as retrieving the chemicals in the first place. Many of Oe's blue-collar inhabitants make long and unpleasant commutes from the habitable shees above to industrial facilities deep within the planet. While the interiors of these facilities are generally livable without the need for special suits, the actual processing taking place outside them but controllable from within, accidents do happen, and sometimes it's necessary to venture outside the relatively congenial interiors of the facilities to repair some broken apparatus or to carry out a part of the process that requires more direct supervision.
Not all of Oe's exports require venturing so deep within the world. As already noted, oilmelons are exported to other worlds, as are certain other sulfurophilic crops. Furthermore, some parts of Oe are specialized in certain technical or service needs; Oe holds some of the Empire's most notable robotics facilities, and also is home to cutting-edge nanotechnology and research on improving means of interstellar travel. A number of respected universities are found on Oe, of which the University of Charpeal is perhaps the most notable.
Oe is able to provide more or less for most of its own basic needs, synthesizing food from processed chemicals. It does, however, need to import significant quantities of metals and other raw materials not found on the planet.