Araxis

Araxis

Designations
Alternative names	The Riven World, The Planet of a Thousand Wounds

Araxis is medium-sized terrestrial planet located in the Tampina Arm of the Talin Galaxy, the principal planet of its star system. It is the homeworld of the Swarmfolk, also commonly known as the Araxians. Surrounding the planet are several rocky rings and two small moons. The planet's surface is uninhabitable, left scarred and barren from warfare and natural disaster. What lies beneath the rocky surface is yet unknown to any but the Swarmfolk.

Description

Overview

Situated within the outer limits of what is known to the Galactic Union, Araxis has only rarely been visited or documented. Based upon what is known from the telling of Swarmfolk scholars, a massive celestial body collided with the planet many billions of years before life evolved upon it, forming the set of rings and satellites that orbit it, as well as the massive impact scars. As weather cycles began, life flourished on the planet, which formerly bore striking red landmasses and methane seas. The Swarmfolk rose to become the dominant species of the planet, whereupon an eventual golden age was reached. Araxis's diverse flora and fauna were spread to its nearby moons via terraforming practices, as well as nearby planets in its local star system. At the end of this golden age, Swarmfolk society fractured, leading to centuries of turmoil and warfare that scarred the planet and drained it of its natural resources. The constant tumult ravaged the planet's surface, leaving it greyed and barren, and poisoning the air, land, and sea, rendering the planet inhospitable to complex forms of life. The two moons of Araxis, though themselves scarred by warfare, bear the last vestiges of what pre-disaster Araxis may have looked like, with some hardy flora surviving on their surfaces. Thick, acidic thunderstorms cover large swatches of Araxis's surface, making it difficult to safely land upon and survey. Hostile activity within the sector has halted further exploration.