Raekjavik

Raekjavik (RAKE-jah-vick) is a small, low gravity planet that is a single giant rainforest. It is home to some of the largest lifeforms in the galaxy, all of which are lithium based instead of carbon based, so they can withstand more chemical punishment. The atmosphere is 70% carbon monoxide, so any carbon based lifeforms would die in minutes without a mask. While the entire planet is forest, there are swampier areas and mountainous areas with cliff faces reaching above the canopy. There are technically oceans, but trees still grow from the ocean floor in all but the deepest trenches and are tall enough to breach the surface.

The dominant (land-growing) trees on the planet are consistently around 2000 m tall, and are intelligent and communicate via a neural network in their roots. Other intelligent animals have tapped into this network via computers and can also communicate, with trees able to send messages across the planet in a matter of minutes. The trees can control where and how they grow, which is of infinite use to the communities that live in them, especially since the fastest-growing trees can grow just barely fast enough to be noticeable, though more average is about a meter every month (which is about 20 Earth days). Without much else to do besides growing, the trees just talk to each other. And since they’re trees, their topics of conversation aren’t usually of interest to us, but there are usually a few trees curious about animal affairs for other species to talk to. Other plant life on the planet must grow high up on these trees, since little or no light reaches the true surface. Some such plants are a type of semi-intelligent ambush carnivorous plant, and there is a plant-like yet ambulatory fungus that scavenges on the forest floor and is bioluminescent.

G’raken lizards are seven-meter-long reptiles that are able to run nimbly through the mid- and upper levels of the forest. They are largely domesticated by the humanoid communities and used for transportation. Some Raekjavikian dragons live deeper in the forest and hide in caves or hollow portions of tree roots, while others live in caves closer to the canopy in the mountainous regions. The floor dragons have no wings, but the mountain dragons can sometimes be seen flying over the trees in search of prey. Specimens in both locales vary in their friendliness to intelligent humanoids.

The true giants of Raekjavik are the Borgad. They can reach 400 meters in height, and they resemble something between an elephant, a gorilla, and a MUTO. Borgad are typically solitary with the exception of a parent raising a child, and live for hundreds of years. They typically graze in the less dense parts of the forest where they can see above the trees, eating mostly the new growth and tender branches, though they are opportunistic carnivores if anything is unfortunate enough to wander within reach. Borgad are nomadic, following a circuit of feeding grounds and leaving a wake of destruction. Their paths vary, but the stopping points and timing are remarkably consistent and unique to each individual: some traverse five glades each year, others travel an entire continent every thirteen years. When a Borgad raises a child, the child's path is usually only different from the parent's by one or two stops. This generational consistency has allowed some tree-dwelling cultures to mark their calendars by the Borgad migration, since they are usually accurate to the day.

Apart from the trees, the only intelligent life on Raekjavik is a humanoid species with four arms and opposable toes, who are otherwise quite standard humanoids despite their lithium-based chemistry. They carry swords with hooks on the end that they use for swinging through the forest, and have built vast cities of treehouses connected by bridges, ladders, and ziplines. Other inhabitants on Raekjavik are colonists from off-world, and in fact the planet was named by an Earth explorer who had clearly no idea of the climate, spelling, or pronunciation of the Icelandic city of Reykjavik. Still, colonists have been welcomed by the local communities of both trees and tree-dwellers, and their technological ability to communicate more explicitly with the trees has had immense benefits for the harmony of life on the planet. Since the atmosphere is so toxic to carbon-based life, most colonists live in airtight cities centered around groups of large glass domes.