Biesel
Biesel was one of the first habitable exoplanets to be discovered by early extrastellar exploration. It was first colonised 2147, seventeen years after the development of the Warp Drive. Since it’s colonisation, Biesel has been among the largest of the colonies, and most importantly, the richest and most influential. The Federal Republic of Biesel and the Tau Ceti System was formed as a semi-independent state within the Sol Alliance, roughly one hundred and fifty years after it’s colonisation, alongside similar states around other major garden worlds; such as the Eridani Federation, containing Akhet and Isis. It is run by the Tau Ceti Assembly and State Senate in Mendell City.
Description
The planet itself holds three major continents, along with a multitude of smaller islands. The continents all display violent geographical features; such as mountain ranges and extinct volcanoes, this is unusual, as Biesel has a very low amount of tectonic activity; the general theory among leading geologists is that the features were caused by a significant asteroidal impact earlier in the life of Biesel, which is likely also the reason for the lack of sentient life on the planet.
Biesel has a population approaching three billion sapients; most of which are human. This population is primarily spread out over the continents; with very little of the population going offshore to the islands. There are a total of seven cities; including the capital, Mendell City; which is situated on the northernmost of the continents, Bisten; and is the largest city on that continent, while Phoenixport is the largest on the western continent, Glavir; and Kasri is the leading city of Quensi, the southernmost continent.
Mendell City contains the largest starport ever constructed, second only to the starports of Earth’s more prosperous superstates. This large facility is vital to the survival of the city, many megacorporations and small companies have situated their main offices in the city, taking advantage of the low taxation and cheap transportation.
Phoenixport is well-known across Biesel for it’s wondrous construction projects, replicating man-made wonders from old earth, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or the Taj Mahal.
Where Mendell is the heart of Biesel’s transport industry, Kasri is it’s production centre; skilled workers labour in immense manufactories, churning out luxury goods to be sold across Biesel and beyond.
Continents
Astraeus
Despite being the smallest of the three continents of Biesel; small being a relative term when applied to landmass of comparable size to terrestrial Asia; Astraeus is the most affluent of Biesel’s continents and is home to the capital, Mendell City.
Astraeus is the northernmost continent and was the first to be inhabited by humans. It is the most heavily populated even four hundred years later; it possesses immense, rich plains that were easily colonised by early stations. These homesteads grew into towns, then cities; leaving Astraeus dotted with countless cities across it’s plains.
Selene
Selene is the southernmost continent of Biesel, roughly ten percent larger in land-area than Astraeus.
Selene has the lowest population of the three continents; sitting close to three billion and rising; most of this population reside in large cities along the coast, avoiding the long equatorial desert that crosses the continent.
Eos
Eos is the largest, and westernmost continent, with a population just exceeding three billion; it surpasses Astreus in land area by roughly twenty five percent.
Eos is the most heavily industrialised of the three Bieselian continents; with a large amount of coastal flatlands, supplied by the rugged inlands, rich with minerals and resources of all varieties; it is the industrial centre of Biesel.
Bodies of Water
Oceans
Much of Biesel’s internal trade is done by immense freight carriers, travelling between the three continents; shifting massive loads of goods and materials from place to place; this is most easily seen in the large central ocean, known as Severson’s Rift; named for the captain of the first landing on Biesel’s surface, Nigel Severson.
The oceans of Biesel are majoritively benign; with the almost non-existant tectonic activity, there is little risk of Tsunamis; tropical storms are also known to form with a similar regularity to Earth, though with the smaller amount of landmass, the tropical storms can be significantly stronger, they are, however, unlikely to harm a super-carrier; the colossal vessels are floating cities in their own right, stretching over dozens of square kilometres, they are impossible to capsize, and can easily weather the storms.
Lakes
Biesel has many lakes across it’s surface, ranging in size from just a few hundred metres square, to over seventy five thousand square kilometres.
Rivers
Unusually, for a planet of it’s size, Biesel has few rivers, and only seven that can truly be called major rivers, spread over the three continents; however, it has a large number of smaller rivers and streams, ensuring the land does not turn barren. Geologists theorise that the reason these rivers do not combine to form larger flows is due to the prevalent uneven landscape, leaving many ways of reaching the oceans and lakes.
Geographical Features
Biesel has a unique series of geographical features, centred in expanding waves around Severson's Rift; an immense crater formed by an asteroidal impact long on Biesel's past; the likely reason for the lack of sentient life on the planet.
With Biesel's low tectonic activity, the impact formations have remained relatively unchanged, apart from erosion by other natural phenomena effects.
It is theorised that originally, Astraeus, Selene and Eos were originally one supercontinent; named Agrenem, that was subsequently shattered by the asteroid impact.
Mountains
Biesel has numerous mountain ranges; however, nine stand out as the most prominent, they are listed below by continent.
Astraeus
Astraeus possess two major mountain ranges, the Grattle range, across the centre of the continent; and the Uratines along it’s eastern coast. The Grattle range holds the tallest mountain on Biesel, at 8243m, is Mount Turvin. The Grattle range is also well known for it’s numerous snow slopes; leading to a boom of wealth at the start of each ski season; as people the world over book holidays in the more prestigious resorts.
Selene
Selene has four primary mountain ranges, however, they are significantly less hospitable than those on Astraeus; sheer cliffs and crumbling walls are iconic of these ranges, making any sort of climbing an arduous and dangerous affair. The mountain ranges, from east to west, are; the Ridgerun, the Split-range, The Azreks, and the Forepoints.
Eos
Eos has three major mountain ranges, two running vertically, and one singular outcropping. The easternmost mountain range, the Latra range, is the closest to Kasri, has been heavily mined, and much of the land belongs to private mine owners; the northern mountain range, the Sevul range, has suffered significantly less attention, and hosts several winter events, including a planet wide winter sports tournament. The southernmost mountain range, the Rasthins is the smallest and lowest across the planet, has also suffered significant excavation. Deliberate collapses and excavations have brought it’s highest peak down to just 2543m above sea level.
Cities
Mendell City
Mendell City is the capital of Biesel, and of Tau Ceti as a whole; stretching over forty thousand square kilometres; it houses a total of seventy eight million people, situated on the south-western coast of the northernmost continent. Due to the low-tax system; many corporations and mega-corporations, such as Nanotrasen and Einstein Engines, have their head offices in the cities business sector. The city itself contains a mix of structures, ranging from kilometre high skyscrapers covering a dozen city blocks to almost serene suburbs, wrapped in the city’s urban sprawl.
Mendell City is the hub of trade throughout the system; trillions of credits flowing through the electronic stock markets in the business sector; whether in private transactions, or on the trade floor itself. It is said that you can buy anything in Mendell city; given enough money and time; however, this is not always true; given that walth attracts crime, the largest part of the city budget goes towards a very well-armed, organised and trained police force; keeping crime well-below acceptable levels. The training is so indepth, that several Paramilitary Companies recruit almost exclusively from the police force; giving them a very lucrative reputation.
Though Mendell City is relatively well-developed; it, like many other cities, has it's poorer districts, with significantly higher crime rates than the more affluent areas. Though Mendell City's well funded police force is able to restrict much of the illegal activity to these areas; they are hard-pressed to prevent sporadic outbreaks of gang-related crime in specific areas.
Mendell City attracts vast numbers of tourists, whether for the numerous festivals that the city holds, or for simple sight-seeing; however, after recent heavy riots caused by the far right Apotheosis party; after many high-ranking members were arrested for various criminal charges in 2451; tourism has dropped off in recent years; leading the City council to increase investment in attractions such as festivals, while cracking down on the more extreme political parties.
Phoenixport
Selene’s continental capital is Phoenixport, situated, much like Mendell City, on the inner coast of of it's continent, adjacent to Severson’s Rift. Over the past few decades, the governing council of Phoenixport, and the Tau Ceti assembly as a whole have constructed replicas of many old-earth architectural wonders; such as the Eiffel Tower, or the Parthenon. This construction scheme has done much to improve the city as a whole, attracting vast swarms of tourists, eager to see these wonders rebuilt away from the population, pollution and decay of Earth.
Kasri
Though Eos is surpassed by New Gibson for sheer bulk production, it produces a great quantity of luxury goods; most of which are transported across the oceans in Biesel’s signature supercarriers; along with other goods, such as livestock and advanced electronics.
It is in Eos' capital, Kasri, where much of this production occurs. Kasri is situated on the closest point on Eos to Mendell City, so as to have the shortest route for the frequent voyages between the cities.
Kasri itself is a hive of industrial plants, orbited by satellite dormitory cities and refining facilities. The city itself is surprisingly pollution free, primarily due to strict pollution controls put in place by the Tau Ceti Assembly, determined to prevent another case of severe climate change, as occured on Earth.