Volatara (Pre Suicide War)

*"From the shadow of the gas giant, rendered unseen to my old eyes by the glare of Her star, emerged a world. A small world, but a world nonetheless. I had unwittingly approached at some form of timeless equatorial plane, and from there, I could see two halves of a world, so brightly highlighted in the binary stars. From Her, I could feel a presence; one unlike any other. Volatara, the Unchallenged Patron Goddess of the Ann'mui... She is real. Very, very much real.*

*~First Galactus High Admiral Karav'ta'rado*

## The Mysterious Dwarf

Volatara is an ancient world, whose history is kept an extremely close-guarded secret by the Ann'mui. The two incredibly diverse halves came around from the planet being tidally locked, though the Dark Side is still dimly lit by a pulsar.Classified as a Living World, with a strong connection to the Force, the planet possesses some form of sentience, capable of liking and/or disliking specific things, and reacting accordingly. Referred to as a female, "She" is the closest thing to a deity that the Ann'mui truly worship. However, this little rock's uniqueness goes further. Despite being a dwarf planet, She is able to retain an incredibly thick atmosphere; Oxygen-rich, and rings of pure water ice. Very, very few offworlders are allowed to land, per Her standards. Should someone undesirable attempt to land on the surface, She creates turbulence, storms, anything She can to annihilate them, and, if they miraculously survive, She considers them a worthy being, and allows them to stay until they either leave, or lose Her favour and are promptly killed. Almost all life on the planet is lethally poisonous to consume, including the Ann'mui.

## Solar System

The entire system itself is strange. Neither the gas giant, nor Volatara Herself, should be in orbit, let alone the latter host life, as the binary parent stars are both unstable, and dangerous in and of themselves. It orbits the Galactic Core counter-clockwise, at an unbelievable distance, well, *well*  beyond the Outer Rim, making it almost impossible to locate, and, to make things worse, frequently ascends above the relative planes of the arms of the Galaxy, then dives down, goes underneath, then returns to it's typical orbit. There is no known set period to the diving and ascending, making it seem almost intentional.

### Volatara

Volatara is in a binary orbit with a nearby gas giant, visible as a bright "Star" from a clear part of the Dark Side. A yellow giant star illuminates the Light Side. The star itself is in a binary orbit with a pulsar, both facing opposite ends of the planet at any given moment. There is no true night on Volatara, only an eerie twilight zone between the Dark and Light halves. It is an *extremely* small world, only about two hundred twenty eight kilometers (141 miles) across at the equator; Just over fifty six six times smaller than the Earth, and nearly eleven times smaller than Pluto.

### Carinae Alpha

The Yellow Giant star that dominates the Light Half of Volatara is known on a star map only as Carinae Alpha. The reports of it's system on the maps are negligible, only mentioning briefly the two planets in the system. It is near the beginning of it's life; Far younger than the Volatara, further solidifying the theory that small world is not native to the Carinae system.

### Carinae Beta

The pulsar is angled to rotate in such a way that it never touches Volatara with it's ionizing beams of radiation, though the leftovers can occasionally find their way to the world in planetwide auroras. Any light from it that reaches the planet's surface has long since cooled, making it more a "Nighttime moon", rather than another light-producing star in the sky.

### C'ei C'etten Es-ven

The emerald green gas giant, to which Volatara acts as an obscenely distant moon, is seen by the Ann'mui as a great protector. The orbit is perfectly aligned with the parent stars, periodically causing month-long eclipses that disturb the weather patterns of Volatara enough to bring monsoons of epic proportions to even the driest places, and shields the planet from Carinae Beta's violent, bimonthly ionic flares. The copper and boron components in the gaseous clouds of the giant, when struck with the roasting beams of the pulsar, *ignites,* which gives it it's beautiful, vibrantly emerald green colouration. The world is literally a colossal, green ball of fire. Surrounding the fiery gas giant are a colossal array of moons, and, surprisingly, ten of which possess atmospheres and liquid water, with livable temperatures.

## Atmosphere

### Content

The atmosphere itself is dense and extremely heavy, giving the dwarf planet near-Earth gravity (Only about 3% less than 1G at sea level). It is oxygen rich, to the point of most species requiring a breathing apparatus to survive, and that almost solely is why the life on the planet reaches the sizes they do. The bulleted list below is a rough estimation of the atmospheric content.

* 46% Oxygen
* 14% Carbon Dioxide
* 17% Nitrogen
* 20% Water Vapour
* 3% Others

### Layers (Listing primary components)

1. Low Density, High Altitude Pure Oxygen
2. Medium Density, Medium Altitude Pure Oxygen
3. Oxygen-Nitrogen
4. Low Density, Oxy-Nit-CDio-WVap
5. Medium Density, Oxy-Nit-CDio-WVap
6. High Density, Oxy-Nit-CDio-WVap
7. Extremely High Density, Oxy-Nit-CDio-WVap

## Seas

Despite the planet's extremely small size, the oceans that take up the majority of the world's surface are immensely deep. On Earth, the deepest points of the sea are roughly ten kilometers down, but on Volatara, they can be in excess of thirty, due to the brightness of the yellow giant illuminating the Light Side of the planet.

### Light Sea

Connected to the Dark Sea, the Light Sea is considerably more tropical, good for swimming, if it weren't for the kraken-like sea beasts. The Light Sea is the shallowest of Volatara's oceans, and the most life-filled. The top one-to-two hundred feet are mostly occupied by a dense canopy of kelp, and below that, lie immense colonies of bioluminescent microbes, giving off enough light to keep the next fifty-ish feet lit.

0 - 16,000 Meters

80° - 95° F

### Dark Sea

Connected to the Light Sea, the Dark Sea is a cold, bleak, dark ocean, the deepest on the planet. Similar to the Light Sea, the Dark Sea is dominated by titanic kelp stalks. However, unlike the Light Sea, the canopies of the kelp go down about seven hundred feet, the plants each warring with each other for the most sunlight possible under the clouded sky of the Dark Side. Nothing in these seas are bioluminescent, other than the superpredators. The only hope for survival is to be as dark as the sea around you.

0 - 36,000 Meters

40° - 65° F

### Ring's Shadow Sea

A (Relatively) thin strip of shadow, cast by Volatara's ring system. The seas beneath it are frigid, regardless of which side of the planet they're on, and, unlike the other seas, are devoid of kelp forests. They're the closest thing on Volatara to polar seas, and within them, are creatures beyond imagination.

0 - 30,000 Meters

20° - 30° F

### Hellfire Sea

A broiling sea, surrounding Hellfire Ridge for about a mile and a half. The sulfuric deposits and gases released from the volcano render these seas inhospitable to only the most extremophilic of life. Ironically, this sea is the center of the Ann'mui's fishing market, as the fish that do manage to live there are in extremely high numbers, and, relative to the other fish on the planet, are some of, if not THE least toxic.

0 - 5,000 Meters

130° - 150° F

### Twilight Sea

On the far side of the planet, opposite to the mainland and hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest land, is a thin strip of ocean not quite touched by either the yellow giant or the pulsar. It is neither cold, nor warm, but extremely dark. The titanic kelp forests of the Light and Dark seas don't grow there, as the darkness is too intense.

0 - 20,000 Meters

70° - 85° F

### Sublight Sea

The Sublight Seas are vastly different from the rest, as the kelp down there are merely incredibly thick trunks, many hundreds of feet in diameter. Very few creatures can survive the pressure and chill, and the sea floor is littered with skeletons, fossils, and ships. Too deep for ocean currents to disturb the sand, some of them date back millennia. Nothing is known about how the photosynthesizing kelp grew down there, other than that at some point in Volatara's history, the seas were much shallower, making the kelp possibly billions of years old. Ironically, this is likely the safest place on the planet, as none of Volatara's sea superpredators are capable of surviving at that depth. However, it is still unsafe, as it's proximity to the planet's core heats the water to near boiling.

10,000 - 36,000 Meters

130° - 175° F

## Regions- Light Side

### C'ei Lodoi Iriz'a-la

The Great Ridges are a colossal mountain range located at the joint of the Volataran Grand Plains and the Ic'civi Jungle. Throughout the mountains run a single, massive, joined cave system, littered with skeletons of animal and Ann'mui alike. Facing due East is the Eastern Spire, a mountain rising miles and miles into the sky, probing into the lower atmosphere. In the core of this skyscraping peak is a Volataran Crystal, bright turquoise in colour, and eighty miles in diameter, dubbed "C'ei Xerei lan'to c'ei Iriz", or "The Heart of the Mountain". It is constantly growing, and, in times of conflict in the Force, glows like another star.

### C'ei Ve'lo Kahar'le

The Glowing Caverns are a winding cave system within the Great Ridges, all connected to the cavern housing the Heart of the Mountain. The caves are lit entirely by natural Volataran Crystals, and hold a deep, cultural standing within the Ann'mui that likely will remain unknown to the Galaxy at large for the rest of time.

### Volatara'zhe Lo'ha Ki-rivia

The Volataran Grand Plains are deserts of unbelievable size, weaving across the Mainland. The dryness being fed by both the heat of the Light half of the planet, as well as the Great Ridges, which cut off the majority of the winds that could cool it off enough to warrant significant cloud coverage. In the center of the desert, of unknown origins, lies an oasis about four miles across. The oasis, throughout the entirety of the Grand Plains, is the only place where water and shade in any usable form can be found, though it is wild and untamed. The deserts are ruled by the Ka'zii, which are scorpions averaging around ten feet in length with their tail down. Save for the outskirts, the deserts are too hot to support any Ann'mui Axi.

### C'ei Kakavao Imiawa'ta

The Green Wall is a rainforest, with undergrowth akin to that of a jungle. The trees are tall and thick, almost forming a wall, which gives the rainforest it's name. The Green Wall is vastly unexplored by extrasolar travelers, as it's violently defended by the Ann'mui inhabiting it. It remains the only wilderness on Volatara that the Ann'mui exercise their dominance upon, with multiple Axi every hundred miles or so.

### Te-anan Ice Fields

Inhabited solely by the Te-ana E'olofaxi, the Ice Fields, near the South Pole, were once a solid land bridge, before a war broke out between the Ta-oras and Te-anas, ending with the shattering of the frozen bridge, turning it into a sea of icebergs and warning the world of the power of the Ta-oras.

## Regions- Dark Side

### C'ei Ve'lo Lahaar

The Glowing Forest dominates the dark half of the Mainland. The trees within it have no canopy, instead feeding on insects and small animals that are lured to their crimson, bioluminescent fruit pods. The fruit is edible, and, in fact, is the main market on the Dark Side of the planet. The trees' only natural predators are the Ann'mui and Chainmouth Worms, which can grow to about fifty feet in length, and have eighty replaceable rows of rotating, razor-sharp teeth.

### Kaxai Imiawa'ta

The Storm Wall is where the dense civilizations of the Ann'mui come to an abrupt stop. Beyond it, very little can survive, besides low, deep-rooted, amphibious undergrowth. From storm surges to colossal tornadoes, the Storm Wall makes life considerably more difficult for anything and everything above the water.

### The Ta-oran Cliff City

Being the origin of the First Galactus, the Ta-ora E'olofaxi is the dominant force on Volatara, and along the southern side of Hellfire Ridge, their city thrives, despite being possibly one of the most dangerously-placed civilizations on the planet. Extending deep into the mountain, the city houses over three thousand Ann'mui, and even some offworlders. They control the fishing, mining, and forging markets, producing from the latter the most common form of currency on Volatara, the I'cci-bao (Eechie-bow). They have, sheltered from any pyroclastic flows or lava, the only spaceport on the planet; large enough to fit a small Star Destroyer. From there came the majority of the Ann'mui steel used in the *Dark Lance'*s construction.

## Continents

### Vafara dul Ann'mui

Translating to "Land of Ann'mui", it is more often referred to as the Mainland, where 99% of the Ann'mui populous lives. It is home to dense forests and jungles, alongside colossal deserts where no water flows and no shade is found.

### Tirvahal Iriz'a

Translating to "Hellfire Ridge", this monstrous volcano can be seen from orbit. The heat given off by it is so intense that the cloud cover around it evaporates, leaving it in a tumultuous state of pressure differences, causing torrential winds and mini cyclones.

### Ice Caps

The ice caps of Volatara consist of water ice near the water, having frozen onto the original structure, and the remainder being composed entirely of dry ice. It is theorized that this is all that remains of the dwarf planet's original life as an extrasolar body, floating aimlessly, cold, and alone, through space.

## Unique Resources

Certain materials found on Volatara cannot be found anywhere elsewhere in the known Galaxy. The origins of certain materials, such as Ann'mui Steel, are so limited to Volatara that some of their molecular and atomic components do not exist in the Galaxy, suggesting the Living World has extragalactic origins.

### Ann'mui Steel

An extremely conductive metal, originating from Hellfire Ridge. It takes the fires of the volcano itself to smelt it, as it's melting point is over five thousand kelvin. Despite the absurd melting point, however, it's molecular structure makes it relatively easily fractured along very specific points with relative ease; the denser the sheet, the more precision and power needed to shatter it. The vast majority of Ann'mui use it in their lightsabers for it's resistance to other sabers and the conductive properties.

### Hellfire Obsidian

Also originating from Hellfire Ridge, the glistening, purplish volcanic glass is the single most sought-after item on the planet, ranging from two to three hundred thousand I'cci-bao, or approximately two to three billion Galactic Credits. The rock, if cut into thin strips about half an inch thick, is transparent, revealing a geode-like core in the shape of a spiral galaxy.

### Volataran Jade

An extremely rare, beautiful, green gemstone, covered in zebra-like striping of varying shades of green. They're extremely fragile, despite their small size and density; A minor upset could crack the interior permanently. However, in the hands of someone with a damaged consciousness who cares for it, the gem will harden, changing into a near-unbreakable gleaming crystal. The change in it's structure forces out a constantly-regenerating, calming chemical, as if it were trying to return the favour of being saved from such a fragile state. Of all the resources on Volatara, it is the rarest, and priceless in worth.

### Volataran Topaz

Far rarer than the aforementioned jade, Volataran Topaz is a reddish-orange in colour, often with pale white highlights to ridges and angles. When first hewn from the mountain, it is extremely strong; Nearly as much so as Ann'mui Steel itself, but, depending on the environment in which it is placed, it can soften into something like an uninfluenced jade. Often, after it softens, the exterior becomes transparent, and, through internal cracks or lack thereof, its past trauma can be seen clearly. While it is considered more valuable when transparent, in either form, it is likely the most valuable resource from Volatara; The thing making the Volataran Jade more prevalent on the markets is that, while still exceedingly rare, it can reasonably be mined for. The surface of the stone is extremely smooth, resulting in it often sliding or slipping through one's grasp and shattering on the floor. While it cannot be carved into something more linear, or aesthetically pleasing, the stone, when transparent, produces a faint, faint light that amplifies in response to emotions in the air surrounding it.

### Volataran Crystals

Similar to the Kyber Crystals found on Ilum, the conductive crystals within the Great Caverns are used to power lightsabers, though the power output is noticeably weaker. They come in a multitude of colours, and with those colours, almost every possible shade. Some variants are noticeably rarer, such as purple and pink, while some are more common, like orange. The list below covers the variant rarity, one being the rarest, eight being the most common.

1. White
2. Pink
3. Purple
4. Crimson
5. Blue
6. Green
7. Yellow
8. Orange

### Py'xalos Gas

Found only in the Great Caverns, Py'xalos is emitted from the purple variant of Volataran Crystals. It's highly inflammable, thick, and heavy, being physically visible to the naked eye as a low-hanging purple fog. The fog itself releases chemicals that trigger endorphins, giving a sense of peace, happiness, and hope to anyone or anything that inhales it. It is an excellent fuel source, as, if one can manage to ignite it with extreme enough heat, it will burn for days, weeks, months, or even years, depending on the amount present. When lit, it produces an extreme heat, rivaling that of even Hellfire Ridge's lava. From this heat, Py'xalos can easily power thermal generators, and with such a long burn time, it's rarity is virtually nullified. It is one of the few things on Volatara that WON'T kill you without provocation.

### Ion Fluid

A self-replicating, clearish-purple liquid, only ever found in the deepest parts of Hellfire Ridge's caves. It is unknown where it comes from, only that it is comprised of ion-born microbes that feed off heat. They dwell in vast pools, hundreds of feet deep and many hundreds of tons in weight. The First Galactus figured out a way to combine them with Py'xalos to generate a near-infinite, incredibly powerful fuel source, though combining them is only necessary for larger constructs like Star Destroyers. On a smaller scale, such as the Ion Batteries in Ar-i Ta-ora's lightsaber, the energy they give off naturally is enough. What's more, it's difficult to run them out of power, as, again, they self-replicate. If combined with Yekovisarvaraal, they begin replicating it, and as a side-effect, it becomes a sort of super powerful healing liquid, capable of regrowing even lost limbs. However, the two extreme side-effects of the healing liquid, those being the body building up a resistance to it, and halting physical aging (Internal aging still continues), make the use of it detrimental in the long run.

### Abra'xait

Found only in the depths of C'ei Lodoi Iriz'a-la, underneath and around the murderous E'ensava Arka, Abra'xait is a benevolent, hardened version of the goo, with extremely unique properties. While technically being some form of stone, this odd, faintly-gold-glowing rock seems to completely defy physics, with shock and impact resistance and shear tolerance surpassing even the legendary strength of Ann'mui Steel (Despite having far weaker puncture and yet weaker heat resistance, to the point of rendering it useless as armour,) and can seem to drastically lessen the overall mass of surrounding materials, though not quote making them hover. Such material has been used in the Py'xalos-Ion-Fusion Drive Cores of First Galactus Dreadnoughts, most notably in the *Dark Lance*, *Warhammer*, and *Monolith* for its mass-lowering properties alone.

## Flora

### Dominant

#### Glowroot

A bioluminescent, dense, vine-like, and semi-parasitic plant that can grow virtually anywhere, though it stays mostly within the Green Wall and Glowing Forest. It feeds off anything and everything biological (Save for the Ann'mui and Chainmouth Worms, which are both far too poisonous), but in return, it is capable of extending the life of the host to unfathomable proportions. It is amphibious, and found everywhere on Volatara except the ice caps. Despite their general small size, however, of all the flora and fauna on Volatara, the Glowroot has the highest total population, weighing in at over three thousand tons for every fifty feet of ground in their densest places.

#### Glowpod Trees

A distant cousin to the Glowroot, the Glowpod Trees grow only on the Dark half of the Mainland. Reaching up to fifty feet in height, they have no branches; Instead feeding off flying arthropods attracted to the glowing fruit they produce in their winding trunks. The fruit itself is covered in a thin, sticky, acidic film, which dissolves the prey and transfers the nutrients to the tree. The roots and trunks of the trees are almost always intertwined, forming the forest into a single superorganism.

#### Volataran Kelp

Measuring in at an average of two and a half miles in diameter at the base, Volataran Kelp is completely untouchable. Taking root on the sea floor, many untold miles down, and growing all the way to the surface, the kelp dominates the Volataran oceans. One kelp, located in the center of the Light Sea, has roots so unspeakably vast, Ann'mui miners in Hellfire Ridge will occasionally have to saw through them to continue their delving. The three-mile wide canopies are often draped in Glowroot, the kelp and parasite forming a symbiotic relationship that is the most likely cause for their hypothesized age of billions of years.

#### Aettelvaar

Aettelvaar, or "Brick" trees make up the majority of the Green Wall's vegetation, their canopies winding around each other to sustain their own weight. Reaching over four hundred fifty feet into the sky, and weighing over thirty thousand tons individually, they are some of the largest single organisms on the planet. Their branches start to grow about ten feet off the ground, almost completely engulfing the forest in green, hence it's name.

#### Scii'wii

The most common kind of grass on the planet's surface, it changes colour depending on environmental factors. While on the Light half, exposed to incessant, excessive sunlight, it is a bright, bright green; Nearly neon in shade, whereas on the Dark half, with the only real light coming from the cold and dead-feeling pulsar, it is a dead black, gathering nutrients and other necessities through the biomass-heavy soil, rather than photosynthesis. Much like everything else on Volatara, it is an extremely resilient species, often classifying as a weed for its tendencies to overrun farmland and leech every last bit of nutrients from the soil.

### Others

#### Tirapar

Bearing one of the few Ann'mui names that have no known translation in Basic, the Tirapar are colossal, predatory plants that grow in the thickest, darkest parts of the Green Wall. With lifespans averaging over ten thousand years, they can reach up to fifty feet in height, and weigh several tons. Over their entire lives, they only ever grow three leaves, which are cupped and serrated on the edges. The interior is extremely slick and slatted downwards, meant to keep anything and everything in. But, despite being so large and well-adapted to capturing prey, they would not live as long as they do without the assistance of colossal colonies of bioluminescent microorganisms that, together, produce mesmerizing patterns of light that entice prey into the plant's mouth and their subsequent doom. The more vibrant the Tirapar's colony, the healthier the plant itself is. In Ann'mui legend, it is said that if one were to survive the acidic enzymes in the plant's stomach, they would be granted immortality.

#### Yekovisarvaraal Maraie

A now-extinct fruit that once grew in the Te-anan Grand Plains, the stalk stood about five feet tall, and the fruit itself, another five. Despite being both delicious and nontoxic, the plant was nearly inedible, due to the extreme heat of it's juices (Roughly 150° F). Even before it's extinction, it was extremely rare, and believed to be a gift directly from Volatara Herself. Because of the rarity, abnormality, and extreme heat of the syrupy juices, it was believed to hold the blood of the gods, hence it's name translating to "Godfire Fruit". The plant took one hundred years to reach maturity, and another three hundred for the fruit to be considered edible. It only ever produced one fruit before it began to wither. They frequently grew sterile, making domesticating the plant yet more difficult.

## Fauna

### Dominant

#### Ann'mui

A sentient, humanoid species that have somehow managed to both survive and thrive in the hellish conditions of their home planet. Though it can be difficult to identify them as the same species, the come in two variations; One, which they call "Pure", resembling a human, the differences being of unnaturally-coloured hair and eyes. The other, "Impure", resembling a Twi'lek. Their culture, social traditions, and origins are vastly unknown, as they keep it an extremely close-guarded secret. Other than the Chainmouth Worms, they have no natural predators.

#### Chainmouth Worm

Weighing in at an average of ten tons, and stretching about seventy feet in length, the Chainmouth Worms are terrifying both in concept, and in person. Their mouth, which gives them their name, is a gaping hole of rapidly vibrating serrated, inward-slanted teeth, extending about a third of their body. The teeth rings do not grow as the animal ages; It instead grows a larger ring with every year of its life, similar to a tree, making the oldest ones almost entirely mouth. They are poisonous to the point of being immediately lethal, if consumed, with highly corrosive blood, and, because of both these and their unusual ferocity, they have no predators besides themselves and the Ann'mui. With two hundred pairs of legs, the thunderous buzzing that is the sound of them moving is enough to repel anything from the immediate area. The legs themselves are sharp, muscular, and scythe like, for use as a melee weapon if the situation gets dire, or as a climbing tool. From the strength of their spiked legs, Chainmouth Worms can traverse any terrain at around forty miles per hour, making them almost impossible to escape from.

#### Ka'zzhi-Kodo

Translating directly to "Leviathan", these eel-like giants live within the canopies of the Volataran Kelp, preying upon literally anything that comes their way. Their mouths have three joints that open fast enough to create a vacuum that sucks prey in. Surrounding the mouth are two pairs of axially aligned mandibles, which operate like a mantis' front legs; Grabbing and pinning the prey while the beaks tear into it. Averaging around one and a half thousand feet long and weighing thousands of tons, these behemoths dominate all but the Sublight Seas of Volatara. While visibly and functionally less terrifying than the Chainmouth Worm, due to the animals' sheer size and power, and the depth at which they live, no Ann'mui has ever been able to kill one. Parties have been sent, and they either never returned, or came back to live the rest of their days with post-traumatic stress disorder.

#### Kei'jiar

Dominating the water ice shores of the planet's poles, and even some of the Te-anan Ice Field's icebergs, "Walkers" are spindly, sixteen-legged, crab-like creatures. Similar to crabs, sets of legs are dedicated to grabbing and manipulating their surroundings, though there are two sets, each facing the "Front" and "Back" of the animal, and are composed of three, flexible tentacles, with small hooks on the tips. While they do not have an exoskeleton, the flesh over their bones is extremely tight, thin, and pale, giving them a frightening and skeletal appearance. The legs themselves have five joints, and are hinged laterally, allowing for omnidirectional movement. The final joint, which is the smallest of the leg, are dedicated wholly to long, sharp spikes of hardened bone, which are strong enough to support the full weight of the animal while suspended upside-down underwater. On the top of the main body is a single, retractable eyestalk that gives it full three hundred sixty degree vision. Beneath it is a stubby beak, which, while not very effective for defending itself, is strong enough to chew clean through bone.

#### Stellaas Arka

Within the caves of Tirvahal Iriz'a, live an intelligent, sentient species of lanky humanoids. Covered in completely black fur, they're nearly invisible in the darkness of the caves, but certain oils in the fur, when mixed, produce a chemical reaction that generates twinkling lights of white, red, and yellow, which resemble a starry night. It is this that gave them their name within the Ann'mui, which translates directly to "Stellar Ones". They have no audible communication, instead, interacting with one another with chemical trails. These trails are so potent that, even if another being were to walk into one, whatever emotion being communicated from the Stellas Arka would be felt with enough intensity to drive them into madness. Because of this, it is believed that the Stellas Arka are extremely emotionally sensitive; Possibly even perceptive enough to sense the faintest of emotion in other beings. The trails themselves, while only lasting about a day, only lose their crippling potency in the last hour or so of being present. The more intense the emotion, the longer the trail lasts. The mining tunnels of the Cliff City are cut short by the colonies of Stellas Arka, and the paths into the villages are cut off by thick, gas-impermeable walls, which were the Ann'mui's "Peace offering" to them.

#### Seibin

The Seibin are flying, omnivorous, birdlike animals that gather in massive flocks of well over two hundred individuals to both graze and hunt in relative safety. Due to the obscene density of Volatara's atmosphere, the three pairs of wings of the Seibin are thin at the base, and extremely wide and frond-like at the ends. In order to fly, the wings don't exactly "flap", but rather, rotate in a motion akin to swimming. They have long, whip-like tails, along which run a dorsal set of fronds like those on the wings, which it uses as a rudder to steer and roll.

### Others

#### C'ei E'ensava Arka

Accurately named "The Insidious One", it, at first, appears to be a harmless, thick, dark grey liquid that's usually in small pools near Volataran Crystals deep underground. However, this bacterial superorganism is likely the most dangerous thing on Volatara. Growing from, specifically, green crystals, C'ei E'ensava Arka consumes the cells of anything it touches, replacing each one with it's own like a cancer until the host, within seconds, melts into the pool and expands it. Thankfully, it's only ever seen in the deepest depths of C'ei Ve'lo Kahar'le, but if it were to somehow escape to the surface, it would consume the entire world within days. It is highly corrosive to anything but the dense, superheated stone that it typically rests on, and it's molecular chain is so thin, it slips through even the grasp of the Force. In Ann'mui culture, it is seen not just as a looming threat, but as the incarnation of suffering and evil itself, waiting to gather it's strength and unleash itself. The only known method of keep it at bay is with extreme heat.

## The Great Ta-oran/Te-anan Civil War

As the First Galactus rose to power, the Te-anan E'olofaxi, who had always opposed the Ta-oras, challenged Ar-i Ta-ora and his men, claiming the First Galactus was "Unnecessary"; That Volatara and the Ann'mui were in an acceptable state as they were. This, understandably, angered Ar-i, and war was declared on the Te-anas. The "Frozen Warlords" fought hard, but the overwhelming power, technology, and support of the First Galactus and the Ta-oras eventually annihilated the Ice Fields and Crescent Isles that belonged to the Te-anas with an orbital bombardment with the newly-developed *Ka'zzhi-*class Star Defenders in a final release of pent-up tension between the two E'olofaxi. The bombardment was the beginning of the First Galactus' true rise to power, and forever marred the surface of the tiny world.

### Pre-War Landmasses/Histories

#### Te-anan Grand Plains

The flattest expanse on the planet, the Te-anan Grand Plains were snow-covered icy fields stretching from the planet's South pole, all the way to Vafara dul Ann'mui. While technically classifying as a "Land-bridge", and at constant risk of melting away, the Te-anas had turned it into a bunker-laden no-man's-land by the time of bombardment. It offered no cover, and the strong longbows of the Te-anas made it nigh-impenetrable, even before the war. Little vegetation ever grew there, save for a now-extinct kind of fruit that's juices were composed entirely of Yekovisarvaraal, the Burning Blue Blood of the Gods.

#### Crescent Isles

With a stronghold spanning the entirety of each of the seven islands, the Crescent Isles were the central supply hub of the Te-anas. With the fishing, fruit, and arms markets all under their thumb from these seven islands, they were a high-priority target. Regardless of the Ta-oras' technological advantages, however, the honour and raw ability of the Te-anas held out until the bombardment annihilated both the Isles and C'ei Lodoi Me'qerial, leaving little, if any trace of the landmass having ever existed in the first place.

## Inevitable Apocalyptic Events

The planet itself seems to be constantly on the edge of perishing. Countless deadlines are set for the planet; Multiple "Doomsday Clock Midnight" instances, if you will. Regardless of the instability, the planet has remained inconceivably lucky, but Her luck will, inevitably, run thin, and when it does, the result will be spectacular. This list analyzes the scientific side of the Ann'mui event dubbed "Kakov'yaka", as well as some others.

### Kakov'yaka and Preludes

#### Carinae System Collapse

The planetary system itself, composed of the yellow giant and pulsar, is extremely unstable, and slowly collapsing in on itself. Within a few billion years, the stars will collide, and, if the collision miraculously didn't destroy the planet, the resulting hypernova undoubtedly would.

Estimated "Midnight": 100-200 billion years

#### C'ei C'etten Es-ven's Annihilation

The emerald-green gas giant that shields Volatara from the pulsar's ionizing, radioactive polar ejections, in doing so, is slowly being whittled away. Eventually, all that will be left is the core, and at that point, it will be too small to effectively shield the small world. The radioactive beams would make the Dark Side of the planet a radioactive wasteland, and carve away at the ozone layer to let the extreme ultraviolet radiation of C'ei Ai'vari Na-zari roast the other half. This is the point when, officially, the Ann'mui on the planet and any hope for their civilization continuing will have vanished.

Estimated "Midnight": 100-200 billion years

#### The Insidious One Evolves

The superorganism the Ann'mui deemed "The Insidious One" finally evolves the ability to reproduce asexually at a speed great enough to not stagnate in size, and begins slowly expanding; Deepening until it slowly reaches a cave exit and runs down the Great Ridges in a grey river. The moment a single molecule touches the grass, it sets off a chain reaction that slowly envelops the planet in the superorganism until the only place that remains safe is Tirvahal Iriz'a. However, over time, as The Insidious One begins to overtake the oceans, it will slowly creep onto the volcanic island and flood the Cliff City, ending any and all life on Volatara with it.

Estimated "Midnight": 100 - 150 billion years

### Other Potential Apocalypses

#### #HumanityFirst

After the violent takeover of the First Galactus, the Republic and Humanity as a whole may decide that the Ann'mui are too dangerous to be kept alive, and subsequently launches a search-and-destroy mission against Volatara. It would likely be an extremely costly and difficult operation, but the Ann'mui on the planet, with their only defenses being the *Ka'zzhi-*Class Star Defenders in orbit, would be overwhelmed and promptly destroyed under the power of the Republic.

Estimated "Midnight": 0 - 200 years

#### Second Great Te-anan/Ta-oran Civil War

The dominant E'olofaxi on each side of the planet have always disliked each other, but with the technology both possess as of the fall of the First Galactus, if they were to spark another civil war, the Light and Dark halves of the planet would clash, and it would end in total annihilation of the Ann'mui people, as well as the eradication of most of the planet's landscapes.

Estimated "Midnight": 0 - 150 billion years

## Trivia

### Did you know?

* While the names of the continents, trees, and such are all picked from the top of my head, certain inspirations from Earthly languages can still be heard in names such as "Aettelvaar", which, if said correctly, sounds slightly Norse.
* The planet's landscape and lifeforms are based entirely off nightmares I've had in the past, with the exception of the Ann'mui. That's where the detail comes from for things such as the Chainmouth Worms, Kei'jiar, and Glowpod Trees. Every time something creepy haunts my dreams, if it's good enough, it shows up here. Yes, this does mean Volatara is a literal nightmarescape.
* In the very first draft of the planet's description, it was listed as a "Sister World" to Yuuzhan'tar, as both planets share the traits of being mystery-shrouded, sentient planets home to extremely powerful species. This idea was later scrapped, as I couldn't figure out a way to meld the stories. However, the suggestions of the planet being extragalactic remain.
* The size of Volatara, while I can't come up with a good, solid number, can still be described as "The size of a large asteroid". The explanation for the spherical shape, atmosphere, and large ring system is simple: Volatara does what She pleases, whether physics agree with it or not. Scientifically, it could be hypothesized that the planet is composed of supermassive materials, but that would only conflict with the near-Earthlike gravity given by the combination of the currently present gravity and the atmospheric pressure. TL;DR, just accept that Volatara will be Volatara if you don't want a migraine.
* I couldn't figure out how to scientifically explain the orbit of the planet around the parent stars, so, similar to the gravitational properties, I've left it as "Volatara will be Volatara".

### References

* C'ei E'ensava Arka and Arka Aeterna are both references to the Creeper World games, with "C'ei E'ensava Arka" translating to "The Insidious One", and behaving exactly like and sharing almost the same name as The Insidious Creeper, and Arka Aeterna being a play on the subtitle of Creeper World Three.
* "#HumanityFirst" is a reference to the YouTube channel Generation Tech.
* The name "Carinae Beta" is a reference to Beta Carinae, a character from my animations.
* The name "Volatara" is, in itself, a tribute to Surpremevoltage, as he's the one who coined the name, "Ann'mui". Without him, neither Volatara nor the species itself would likely be known.
* "Too dangerous to be kept alive" is a reference to both Emperor Palpatine and Mace Windu in the Star Wars Prequels.