Planet Idea
Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted any of my ideas, but I figured that today was as good of a day as any to post a new idea for a planet that’s a part of a setting I’ve been working on. Detrius, also known as the Forsaken Keystone Planet and the World Without Life, if you go by actual land, is a relatively small planet, the size of some of the other Keystone Planet’s moons. However, the fact that every other Keystone planet uses it as a dumping ground for their more hazardous materials and projects means it’s got a layer of junk on top of the land, like an extra layer of mantle, making it the biggest of the eight Keystone planets. It is believed to be uninhabited by most, even though no one has been able to go to the surface to verify.
See, due to all the toxic junk piling on the planet, the entire atmosphere of Detrius is composed of thick, purple smog, samples of which have been proven so toxic that they melt analysis equipment before a proper composition can be identified. In addition, many Leigongan space probes have been sent there to scout the planet, and as is usual for Leigongan probes, have exploded catastrophically on landing, showering the planet with the remains of the projects on board, as well as a good amount of rocket fuel. However, unknown to the other Keystone Planets, Detrius has it’s own life forms beneath the atmosphere, and even some societies, though the harsh environment means their numbers are always low.
The planet is full of creatures that seem to have bonded with the metals saturating the surface of the planet to become an odd example of symbiosis, such as the Quicksilver Screamers, bat like creatures who sustain themselves by sucking mercury from the ground, as well as the Lead Diggers, who live mostly underground, burrowing through the toxic land to make their dens. In addition, the Yellowcake Crawlers are a pest to all other living things, creating a dead zone where no life can exist in the short area around where they live. The people, however, are used to dealing with the harsh environment, and live in several tribes scattered across Detrius, each clad in a handmade hazard suit complete with breathing apparatus and radiation protection, all made thanks to their almost universal capability with Synth Magic! (Magic types will be explained in a later post.) Their ultimate goal is to get a member off their planet (which is hard, since any engine strong enough to get them into orbit has a severe risk of lighting the whole atmosphere on fire) and establish trade with the other Keystone planets, as well as stopping Leigong from launching any more rockets their way. One of the Greenglass tribe members, Three-moons, is currently the closest to that goal, working on a way to get him to the neighboring planet of Perihelion without fatal injury. He refuses to risk any of his fellow Detrian’s lives on his math, however, so progress is slow, as he only uses his own body to test his craft.
Detrius is only considered a Keystone planet by virtue of Symbosa having no true opposite within the magic system, leading many to theorize that Detrius had it’s own unique type of magic, though the presumed lack of life means it will likely never be discovered.