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Aemaq is an Elyran frontier world with a population hovering around five-hundred million permanent residents, making it one of the less populated worlds in the Republic itself. The planet is located in the al-Wakwak system, and dwells fairly close to the system’s star - resulting in a quite hot, hard to inhabit environment on a planet dominated by vast chemical seas that cover upwards of ninety-five percent of the planet’s surface. The oceans of Ameaq are home to a vast amount of valuable chemicals and exotic maritime life, leading to the planet being fairly wealthy (if hazardous) and prosperous. The cities of Aemaq are built aboard hovering anti-gravity magpulse platforms that hold them above the chemical seas, and they are shielded from the chemicals in the air by use of massive energy domes that protect the floating cities. Below these floating cities is an ocean teeming with life despite the chemicals, some of which can grow to titanic sizes. However, the oceanic life of Aemaq is remarkably docile towards humanity, with floating cities and massive sea creatures living side-by-side in the oceans.

The Aemaqian capital of Rumaidair houses nearly forty million inhabitants in its massive floating city, which has come to be viewed as the premier example of floating cities on the planet in the Republic of Elyra and beyond. Utilizing magpulse drives similar to those found on Medina, Rumaidair floats a comfortable hundred meters above the Aemaqian Seas as it travels around the planet. The city itself is renowned throughout the Orion Spur as a key area for the chemical industry, with it being able to produce extremely rare chemicals in numbers unreachable elsewhere due to massive chemical “scoops” that draw materials from the seas themselves. All cities are like Rumaidair, with hundreds of magpulse plates holding them aloft above the ocean - each plate steadily pulsing and readjusting itself as the ocean swells below it.

Aemaq lacks any natural satellites, and has an odd appearance when viewed from orbit - light reflecting off of the planet’s oceans leads to the world appearing to be a dark bluish-purple hue.

History

While sometimes considered the sister planet of Medina, the formal exploitation and colonization of Aemaq began several years later in the mid 2350s, following the discovery of obscene amounts of rare and valuable chemicals in its massive chemical seas. However these same seas made the planet essentially impossible to colonize in the traditional manner: there was almost no land, the environment was remarkably prone to rapid temperature changes, and building standing platforms was impractical due to the highly-chemical nature of the Aemaqian Seas. Some daring entrepreneurs launched “sea scoop” vessels that would enter Aemaq’s atmosphere, suck up chemicals from its oceans, then travel to an orbital refinery but this was found to be too expensive to be practical - even when AI-controlled fliers were used. It would be several more years before practical colonization was viable.

In 2374 the first magpulse drives were tested on Aemaq, following their success on Medina. The more advanced magpulse drives used in the planetary capital of Rumaidair compared to the initial magpulse drives of 2360 resulted in a smoother first settling than on Medina, and the planet rapidly became a hotbed of colonial industry and development.

By 2378 individuals from across the Republic of Elyra - and even the Coalition of Colonies - were migrating to Aemaq to join its booming chemical industries. The planet has only grown wealthier since then and, with zero recorded failures, the magpulse systems of Aemaq remain a gold standard for the effectiveness of Elyran technology throughout the Orion Spur.

An image of Medina from orbit, displaying its rather dull features from a glance.

Environment

The environment on Aemaq is a challenging one for human habitation due to its massive chemical seas. While the air is safely breathable for humans without long-term consequences, the natural rainfall on the planet is extremely caustic and hazardous. Most cities have large energy shields for the express purpose of stopping rainfall rather than the air. Temperatures on Aemaq vary wildly due to the massive seas: while it is typically cool and breezy (which can be seen in Aemaqian fashion), the temperature can rapidly increase when the planet’s typical cloud cover breaks. Even worse the increase in temperature from cloud breaks often agitate chemicals in the water, and fires are not uncommon at times.

The waters of Aemaq are extremely hazardous to enter without proper protection, and swallowing even a cup of seawater can lead to severe consequences if not immediately treated. Some exceptionally caustic areas of the constantly-shifting chemical desposits that make up the Aemaqian Seas have been known to eat through plasteel hulls. As a result, all officially authorized vessels on Aemaq must be fitted with magpulse drives similar to the cities - if on a smaller scale.

The Leviathans of Aemaq

Fauna on Aemaq are extremely fascinating: engorged on the chemicals present in the planet's seas, many creatures have grown to absolutely leviathan sizes. Some of Aemaq's so-called "sea leviathans" can range to be as long as a kilometer, with the largest specimen ever recorded being officially registered as 2,108 meters in length. While these leviathans have opted to coexist peacefully with humanity since the colonization of Aemaq, they remain a constant presence in the minds of many colonists. The roars of larger leviathans can be heard for hundreds of kilometers in either direction, and fights between leviathans are both an awe-inspiring and terrifying sight, in addition to a major source of tourism for the planet and revenue for its entertainment industries. A genre of so-called “Leviathan Films” has formed around dramatizations of fights between Aemaq’s leviathans, and prominent films from the genre have found success throughout the Orion Spur.

The leviathans of Aemaq are an extremely diverse category of species, and feature a variety of adaptations to excel in their chosen chemical environments. Due to the ever-shifting nature of Aemaq’s oceans, this means that these leviathans are typically migratory and gradually make their way across the planet’s ocean as they live their lives. Studies conducted on the leviathans have however revealed a common trait amongst them: they are remarkably intelligent. The leviathans of Aemaq are capable of communicating with one another, and some smaller leviathans have been observed using tools to gain an advantage over larger competitors. Interactions with humanity by the leviathans has been fairly limited, with most seemingly willing to stand back and observe humanity from afar. To what end this observation is intended is uncertain However, there have been some instances of leviathans interacting with humanity. Most famous amongst these is the 2454 M.V. Qishlah incident, in which a kilometer-long leviathan prevented the Qishlah from sinking following a swamping by holding it out of the water. The leviathan disappeared back below the chemical waves of the Aemaqian Sea as soon as the Qishlah was able to move under its own power, and has not been officially seen since. However, sailors in the region near where the Qishlah nearly sunk report that they sometimes feel as if a large presence is following them from below the water.

Life on Aemaq

The floating cities of Aemaq live and die by the chemical ocean they float upon, and life is centered around the sarcastically-named "water industry" of extracting chemicals from the ocean. Its cities are generally quite diverse due to the length of time the colony has been established for, its relative wealth, and the cosmopolitan nature of the Republic of Elyra's position on the human frontier. Humans and nonhumans from all walks of life can be found in the floating cities, but off-world humans tend to be rare due to the planet's gravity being equal to that of Earth.

The majority of immigrants to Medina intend to become involved in its lucrative chemical industry in a variety of fields - and all kinds of people can be found in the field - or they intend to become involved with the growing scientific community centered around the planet’s leviathans. Natives of the planet tend to be born to middle-class or upper middle-class families, as is typical of the residents of the Republic of Elyra. Many longer-term residents of the planet are wary of the growing scientific community surrounding the Aemaqian Sea’s leviathans, instead believing that a “live and let live” approach should be adopted with the leviathans.

The chemical niche that Aemaq fills in the broader economy of the Republic of Elyra, combined with the already-fantastic living standards of Elyra, has resulted in the planet being incredibly prosperous. As such, natives of the planet often find themselves on a relatively equal economic footing with one another and the planet is, contrary to other locations in the Orion Spur, dominated by a burgeoning middle class.

Clothing on Aemaq tends to be thicker and heavier than most other planets in the Republic of Elyra as a result of its colder climate. Some clothing is made using the aquatic “fur” of a non-leviathan sea fauna referred to as a sumaik-furwi typically found in the northern seas that is often kept as a form of aquatic livestock. The sumaik-furwi can be shaved of its “fur” safely as long as it is released into hotter water afterwards, which has led to a remarkably sustainable product that has come to be desired across the Republic of Elyra and beyond.