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Terranova is a world of stark, defined beauty that borders upon harsh, unsurvivable barrenness. Life on this cool, dry world tends to live in very low altitude areas. Because the planet possesses roughly a third of the gravity and mass of Earth, the atmosphere grows quickly inhospitable to life the higher one goes. At altitudes exceeding 9,000 feet, Terranova really has no breathable or tangible atmosphere. Nearing 3,000 feet in altitude, there is roughly half the oxygen at sea level. As a comparision, the same event happens on Earth at 14,000 feet. Because there is so little gravity when compared to Earth, life on the planet tends to be very large but comparatively fragile. Tree sized plant life may be supported by a trunk made of fern-like stems instead of woody bark. Tree-like organisms may stretch as high as a terrestrial Sequoia but be no thicker than an Aspen. Life on Terranova is still comparatively primitive, but not as primitive as one would expect. Within the swampy zones and in the shallow seas live advanced forms of corals, mollusks, radiates, arthropods and simple fishes. Land life is more primitive. The vast majority of the already limited life on land is primarily plants. When one does encounter animal land life, it is most often in the form of worms, small crustaceans, insects, mollusks and the occasional highly primitive proto-amphibian. Of course all of this life is merely comparable to the terrestrial terms. For the most part, the alien life is just that- alien. The dominant life form both above and below the water is clearly the mollusk analogs (squid and octopus like). |
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As planets go, Terranova is fairly dry and seldom if ever receives anything equatable to rain. Instead, condensation tends to stay low on the surface, forming as cold, damp fogs. In the winter a coating, sleet-like fog which freezes to anything it touches is the norm. Temperatures fluctuate greatly even within the seasons. Winter nights are highly unpleasant and require colonists to bundle up and protect themselves or die quickly of hypothermia. On summer nights, it tends to get close to freezing. Thus, life, while fragile in appearance, tends to be hardy and resistant to cold. While there is fresh water on Terranova, it takes very strange forms. The majority of fresh water comes in the form of the floating mists. Most of the water on Terranova contains high levels of both salt and iron, making it undrinkable to anyone without a salt tolerance Biomod. However, the most unusual feature of water on Terranova is that it is carbonated! The water is not unlike nonfavored seltzer. This indicates that at one time, Terranova had a primarily carbon dioxide atmosphere. The appearance of the Terranovan surface is alien but beautiful. The ground tends to be pulverized rock to such a point that it is like walking through reddish-brown flour. Even stepping on a bare patch of the earth tends to kick up a metallic tasting dust. The skies are absolutely beautiful to behold, as they have a near-constant glow of the golden hour on them. At the surface, the sky is a hazy pink-red. As one gradually ascends the skyline, the color is replaced by shades of purple and into a deep, dark blue that resembles dusk. Glowing through this mixture is a reddish-orange sun that is only minutely smaller than how Earthers see their sun on their world. Clear during most of the day are the twin moons, which are asteroidal in appearance. Only occasionally does an icy, wispy cloud mar the sky. Clinging to higher, more barren ground are mists which never completely lift off the surface. They descend over the ground at night, creating a thick, wispy, wet fog- then retreat upwards during the day. Below the fog line, the planet tends to be surprisingly lush for such a dry world. Tree-like analogs stretch dozens of meters into the sky, yet are not much thicker than your average aspen. Almost all of these analogs possess long, flexible coniferous-like needles that are often covered in minute hairs or fuzz. This gives the terrain the appearance of a cold-weather, temperate rain forest. The ground is often covered not in thick grasses, but moss-like coverings and simple although very large plants. |
