Venoa

Venoa is the second planet from the sun in the Emissary System, and origin of the MSR. 91% of its surface is covered with liquid water. It is an important trade hub and pleasure world for the human race.

## Geography

Venoa has a single continent covering approximately 8 million km2 known by locals as Lido. A secondary large volcanic island chain called Poveglia is the only other land-based population center on the planet. Lido's main trade hub is Insmuth, which serves as the unofficial capitol of the southern hemisphere.

Most of the population on Venoa lives on sea-borne cities: floating collections of barges known as "sandolis" (singular "sandolo") which provide all needed resources for the population. Sandolis are traditionally built up from organic mats of dried and growing sea plants, which are condensed into concrete-like buoyant structures with living reefs underneath. Most sandolis free float around the planet, using solar or wind energy to keep themselves around the warmer equatorial zones. The barges are very biodiverse and provide an ecosystem for many creatures in the biosphere.

Venoa is also unique in its several thriving submerged cities, known as "reeves" or "reefs" to the local populace. These reeves exist in the more shallow areas of the planets seas.

## Ecology

Sentient populations are mostly endemic to the Sol System, and include various humans and various cetaceans. It is a popular place to visit for nephrops due to a similar home planet climate, though permanent populations of nephrops are disputed. Other populations tend to be temporary or based in the space-faring trades. Venoans, a genetically modified subspecies of humans, are native to this planet and are the main concentration of sentients in reeve cities.

The biosphere of the planet is a mixture of a small number of endemic species and a great number of endangered marine species from the Sol System, including the sentient cetaceans. Most the shallow seas of Venoa are a great coral reef.

## History

Venoa began as a small outpost and research station based around the local jump gates. A previous, unknown human empire seeded the planet with a similar biosphere from planet Earth in the Sol System, though the lack of land had prevented further colonization. One of it's moons, Plave, was given a human-level atmosphere at this time while the other moon, Plo, functioned as a base of operations for jump gate administrators and mechanics in its sector of space. Plo maintained a small fleet of jump-drive capable ships used previously for exploration in the at-the-time unknown sector.

Post-Scream, the administration on Plo reorganized itself into a council and sent most of the living staff down to the planet's research base, where the council endured from the resource abundant environment. In the century that followed, Venoa's government reorganized into a Republic and began establishing trade and contact with the other worlds in the Emissary System. With the help of the population on Carolingia, the MSR was established and began to organize the sector in the lack of overarching government, mainly by providing trade and jump capable ships.

Venoa's population experienced a large boom following the reestablishment of interstellar trade. The government of the planet is a subset of the MSR itself, and is generally split five ways: Plo, Plave, Lido, Sandolo, and Reeve to accommodate the needs of both moons, the continent, and the underwater cities. Following the volcanic disaster in 3188 and subsequent rebellion, Poveglia is considered a different branch of the MSR.