The Planet Dura

## Geography

Dura is the largest planet in the Alo (アロ) solar system in the Khovai (失われた) galaxy, and is home to the most species. It shares a sun with the planets Secioto, Taru, Toi, Onara, Katsu, and Kokyun. Kokyun, Secioto, Toi, and Onara are unable to support life for various reasons such as lack of life-sustaining elements, toxic air, and lack of the carbon dioxide needed to support Alo’s life.

Dura is the fourth planet from the sun, and has a bluish atmosphere that makes the planet itself appear solid blue with wavering streams of other colors, but in reality, the planet is mottled with the different rikuchi (land areas), such as Firodu (フィロドゥ), a large, green expanse of grass, trees, and mountains. Firodu is where most male graduates go for work farming or caring for the wildlife if appointed to a certain job. This rikuchi is not densely populated, although on the southeast corner of the rikuchi is the main town where there are many homes. The Tunnel, Worship, Ground, and Farm districts are all mostly located in this area. Sukaipuresu (スカイイプレス), the “Sky Place”, is heavily mountained and has the largest cave system on Dura. The Sekitsui mountain ridge is also the longest mountain ridge on Dura, with mountains running from Sukaipuresu, through Ichiba, Sefuhebun, and Narejjirando, and ending at the largest rikuchi- Gin no Machi, or the City of Silver, or more commonly known as “silvertown”. Sukaipuresu makes up most of the Flight, Battle, and Sky districts. Ichiba is another rikuchi, that houses the habitable oceans of Dura; oceans outside of this rikuchi are much too toxic to support the life already thriving on this planet. Ichiba (いちば) has one of the largest market centers on Dura, so it has much diversity between species. The Sea, Shine, Hospital, and Snow districts are all located in Ichiba. Sefuhebun is the “safe haven” on Dura, and often considered as one of the most diverse rikuchi. Sefuhebun (セフヘブン)  is the second most populated and large rikuchi, just behind the City of Silver, because it is the main housing and calm district. Sefuhebun, however, is home to the most children in one district, so the people are generally kinder and more lax than in other rikuchi. Sefuhebun houses most parts of the School, Love, Trust, Warmth, and Care districts. Narejjirando (ナレジランド) is the city rikuchi, and has many “new age” buildings and structures. Often referred to as the “Place of Neon Lights”, this rikuchi does have many bright and blinding lights. Nerejjirando has a population that mostly consists of Sechixes and Kino, but of course there are Desbouxes and Tsuiwanes as well, although in a smaller number. Most technology and crafting happens in Narejjirando, and citizens usually have more high-tech items at the same price in toredo as other rikuchi. Districts of Neon, Technology, and Machine make up Narejjirando. Ansabasho is the smallest rikuchi, and holds less than a quarter of Dura’s jungles. The rikuchi holds a half of the planet’s non-intelligent animals, although it mostly holds vunanpaia and “darkstalkers”.  The City of Silver is a rikuchi in itself, and consists of districts of Freedom, Wealth, and Life. The City of Silver is the biggest rikuchi, directly in the center of the main (only) continent on Dura. In geography classes, the rikuchi is described to children as a “giant fish in the middle of small fish”. This means to tell younglings that the rikuchi of the City of Silver is shaped roughly like a fish, and the “small fish” are the other rikuchi surrounding it. The City of Silver, or “silvertown”, has many large “subcities” that surround the main one- the Silver Diamond. There are two other smaller main cities above and below it, the one to the north of the Silver Diamond is called the Gold Diamond, and the one south of the Silver Diamond is called the Bronze Diamond. The Bronze Diamond is the third-class city, the Gold Diamond the second-class city, and the Silver Diamond is the first-class, with skyscrapers in beautiful, gleaming shapes that tower over any other structure in any city on Dura. Silver, Gold, and Bronze Diamond residents, even the children of the cities, all have access to the height in technological advancements on Dura, and own the most first-class and efficient items and necessities on the planet. Extremely rare items such as carbongivers for younglings still developing breathing skills would be available in almost every shop, while in other rikuchi, they are quite rare and very expensive.

## Language and Measurements of Time

On Dura, years are measured in Durain years, which amount to 275 Earth days each.

The Duran language is a mostly altered Japanese, the language brought to the extremely distant universe by the Aloian god Thenkorei, the god of creation and life. Based on ancient legends, this god roamed the vast expanse of the Khovai universe when the ancestors of all Khovaian creatures roamed the planets and spoke the Old Language of Kinvaxin, the language that their species was named after. The god soon departed on great travels across galaxies and universes until he came upon the Milky Way, a truly fascinating universe with a rather odd solar system buried in the depths of stars and rocks and planets. In this solar system was Earth, a small green-and-blue planet that housed billions over trillions of creatures and one main species- humans. These humans had every language a being could use to communicate. There was one language, though, that sounded so beautiful to the mighty god’s ears that he disguised himself as a child of these people and began to learn the language himself, hoping to pass it on to other universes, galaxies and planets to teach the other beings of this way of speech. The mighty god soon departed once more from small Earth and spread the language of Japanese to the universe.

According to this Duran myth, the Thenkorei Temple in Aro no Sento, Seikatsu chiku (Aro’s Spire, District of life), is a temple built where the first ancestors of the current species first received the language from Thenkorei themself, and is regularly worshipped and given precious items to by the local beings.

## Districts

The “districts” (or could be related to states on Earth) are sections of land that have Capitols and multiple cities and towns. The districts are as following-

Seikatsu chiku, nōjō no chiku, chikyū no chiku, mashīn chiku, umi no chiku, byōin no chiku, sora no chiku, gakku, sentō chiku, dōbutsu no chiku, shokubutsu chiku, shinrin chiku, gijutsu chiku, sūhai no chiku, kagayaki no chiku, atataka-sa no chiku, yuki no chiku, jiyū no chiku, kea chiku, hikō chiku, ton'neru chiku, ai no chiku, and shintaku chiku.

Or, in English-

District of Life (City of Silver),

District of Farm (Firodu),

District of Ground (Firodu),

District of Machine (Narejjirando),

District of Sea (Ichiba),

District of Hospital (Ichiba),

District of Sky (Sukaipuresu),

District of School (Sefuhebun),

District of Battle (Sukaipuresu),

District of Animal (Ansabasho),

District of Plant (Ansabasho),

District of Forest(Ansabasho),

District of Technology (Narejjirando),

District of Worship (Firodu),

District of Neon (Narejjirando),

District of Warmth (Sefuhebun),

District of Snow (Ichiba),

District of Freedom (City of Silver),

District of Care (Sefuhebun),

District of Flight (Sukaipuresu),

District of Tunnel (Firodu),

District of Love (Sefuhebun),

District of Trust (Sefuhebun),

District of Shine (Ichiba),

District of Wealth (City of Silver)

## Important Figures

The most imposing, important, and commanding person on Dura currently is the Kino Losi. Losi is referred to as “The Losi” or “Losi Keyan”.

## Games

In cities with many roundhouses, or “neighborhoods”, there will most likely be many younglings of various species. Sometimes, these children play Bakuran, a common game amongst children. The game starts out with a “ball”, usually a guron husk or lenuko crest, placed in the middle of a group of younglings. Every child holds a long rod with a rounded tip, usually made out of kyodaina bone. One of the children (usually the child who started the game)  calls out “Suro!”. When “Suro” is called, the younglings pick up their rods and position them over their left shoulder while holding it with their left hand. The rods must always be pointed slightly upwards, and never directly at the ball. The game leader then yells “Uchiage!” and jumps in the air. The children playing the game will then launch their rods in the air and aim to impale the ball. If two or more of the younglings impale it, then the leader yells “Tatakai!”. When this is said, the younglings who impaled the ball turn to face each other and the remaining younglings spread out in a large circle to surround them. Most of the time, a chant of “Bakuran! Bakuran! Bakuran! Bakuran!” arizes. Then the younglings in the middle will throw themselves at each other in an attempt to grab their rod and claim it as their own. When one of the children is in possession of the other younglings’ rods, they are the victor. Sometimes, this fight can go on for days if the fight contestants are stronger or smarter. If only one child impales the ball, they are immediately crowned victor and another round starts. If nobody impales the ball, they keep throwing until someone does. Occasionally the game ends in a few bruises and sometimes blood, but the species on Dura have evolved to heal quickly, so it is never a big deal.

## Cuisine

(This is not the full information. To view it ALL, visit the Duran Cuisine page here )

A common food on Dura is shifuodo, a small wrap made of saltweed, an altered form of seaweed, subu, a type of grain harvested in the Sun season, okoro, one of the many vegetables harvested in the Atani jungle, and bakumu, a hearty cream made from milk, fish, ajini, and bitame. When wrapped together in the saltweed, the food tastes like an entire meal, and can feed a child for days if eaten carefully. This food is popular amongst farmers and poorer people, as it is easy to make, uses only the cheapest materials, and is very filling. Richer people, however, tend to enjoy the larger meals of the City of Silver. A few examples of the meals are Konota and Okutok. Konota is a meaty meal made from Konumani meat, usually the meat from around the ribs. The meat is fried in Duraoil, then cooked even more in a special sauce made of sweet Duran tomatoes, grated and melted cheese, and sweet treemilk, a type of rare sap from a bursaagat iru tree. After both of the cooking processes, the now-flavored meat is transferred onto a platter, where it is then seasoned with an herb and carefully covered with leaf-thin slices of yellow suitoshu, a fruit, until the meat is covered in a delicate fishscale pattern. Usually this food is served at fancier restaurants closer to the Grand Capitol, such as Kin Koyen and Kamiashi,and less so at restaurants such as YattoYatto or Nikih.

## Clothing

Common clothing in areas such as Sefuhebun and Firodu are loose garments that are simply pulled over the person’s head. The “shirts” have longer arm coverings for seasons such as the Sun season, the Flame season, and the Burn season to avoid deadly sunburns, and they would have shorter arm coverings in the Moon season, the Wind season, and the Diamond season. The pants would be just trousers secured with a belt for the females, and thinner, longer pants for boys that widen at the bottom to cover feet or hooves, although the child or person can choose what to wear, of course. Shirts would be made out of colored darkstalker’s leather, or the thin skin covering a vunanpaia. They would be embroidered with strands of plant fiber, and occasionally indented with patterns. Belts would be the flexible strips of core bark from a baina tree, and girls’ trousers would be hand-sewn out of the soft but tough huroikat wool. Boys’ pants would be made out of the same material, but with added insulating leaf strips from the baina tree. Clothing in the City of Silver or in the Silver, Gold, or Bronze Diamonds, however, is much fancier.

## Plant Life

Plants on Dura are peculiarly different from Earth’s plants in various ways- Plants do not have roots, and instead “float” centimeters above ground level. Because the plants have no roots, there is no need for chlorophyll, and instead thrive in a rather different way: by feeding off of floating microorganisms in the air with microscopic “spines” on the leaves or tentacles of the plant. This makes the plants slightly more like Earth’s anemones or corals.

## Wild Species

A list of the most well- known Duran species are as following (grouped by category: mammalian creatures, reptilian creatures, avian creatures, aquatic creatures, etc.).

Mammalian Creatures-

Vunanpaia

Jeler

Ghepheri

Black-eared Ghepheri

Red-tailed Ghepheri

Buzz-tailed Ghepheri

## Duran Intelligent Species

Sechix

Kino

Tsuiwan

Desboux