Moghes

The planet Moghes is the home of the Unathi, located in the Uuoea-Esa system. The planet is dominated by arid, harsh environments, littered with remnants of a long-dead Precursor civilization. Millenia ago, Moghes was a lush world filled with a complex, thriving ecosystem, with jungles and savannas dominating the land surface. The planet is roughly the size of Earth, and the only sun is close enough to make it uncomfortable for non-natives. Despite the doomsday event that evaporated a large portion of water on the planet, Moghes came back, becoming home to new lifeforms.

Overview

Estimated population is just under three billion. Moghes does not have a centralized government in place – the power is divided in a feudal manner between a large number of independent clans and clan alliances. Most populated areas are rural in nature, although urban centers exist as well. Among those, fifteen city-states stand out, each controlled by a coalition of powerful clans, with outlying settlements of varying sizes looking to these capitals for protection and trade, paying tribute in resources or military assistance. The largest of these city states is Mumbak, the Gateway to Moghes and the unofficial capital of the planet. Nearly thirty different clans form its ruling elite, and the city itself is a sprawling network of favelas, markets, rusty ports and even rustier vehicles.

The Star System

• Star/Sun: Uueoa-Esa, often translated as "The Mother of Fire".
• Moghes: the current home of the Unathi species.
• Ouere (Oh-erie): Second closest planet to Uueoa-Esa, somewhat close to Moghes – a strange smaller planet with an ecosystem of its own, rich with flora but scarce on animal life. The surface is uncofortably wet, covered with fog and rainforests, insects and predator plants galore. The planet itself is suspected to have been terraformed by the Precursors. Since the discovery of the Gateways connecting two habitable planets, a great wave of migration to Ouere from Moghes has begun to take place.
• Yeora: A large blue gas giant with a trio of moons that's suspected to account for it's larger distance from the other 3 bodies. Some energy corporations speculated the possibility of harvesting the planet for valuable gasses, but the project itself seems far-fetched.
• Yoos: A tiny (1/8th the size of Moghes) frozen planet at the very edge of the Uueoa-Esa system of very little note.

Geography

Main Article: Regions of Moghes

Moghes possesses a single, vast continent with five distinct regions Moghes, including the Poles. Outside this continent is the World Sea, a saltwater ocean home to the Yeosa'Unathi.

• The Poles: The tropical lands of the far north and south, the Poles are the trade capitals of the planet. Most off-worlders are likely to land here first, even if they wish to travel into the deeper interior of the planet. The city-states in these areas are easily the largest settlements on Moghes, with Mumbak taking the trophy as the most populous.
• The Savannas: The Savannas are made up of great swathes of relatively fertile flatlands surrounding Moghes' Poles. Largely agrarian, Savanna clans boast strong economic and cultural ties with the polar city-states and provide the bulk of their food.
• The Great Desert: The largest region of Moghes, the Great Desert covers most of the planet's sole continent. Sparsely populated, the desert's scorching heat, sandstorms, and pockets of radiation make it a hazardous and inhospitable place, though numerous desert clans call the region home.
• The Salt Swamps: Sitting on the margins of the World Sea, the Salt Swamps are lush with flora and abundant with fauna, yet filled with dangers. Despite the irradiated waters, poisoned earth, and hostile wildlife endemic to the region, several self-sufficient colonies and hamlets thrive here, navigating the swamps' many rivers in their boats and floating cities.
• The Diamond Peaks: Though the Diamond Peaks lie along Moghes' equator, their elevation makes their climate comparatively tolerable (though less so than the humid, moderate tropical poles). The Diamond Peaks are home to many mining operations owing to their rich mineral reserves, but tend to be rather insular – Peak clans are a harsher culture and are generally less open to off-worlders coming to their lands.

Flora

The majority of plants in the Deserts are hardy, tough, and not really much to look at. Most are bushes with thick, waxy leaves and tough grasses that sprout in unexpected places. Arid, waterless areas do produce plants. These are very hardy, do not require much water to be kept alive, and are about as pleasant to eat as fake ferns in an office. However, those that grow near the water-rich soil of oases are another matter entirely. These may bear fruits or flowers that are used in Unathi cuisine and are brightly colored to attract herbivores. Many of these fruits taste sour and juicy or are milky like coconuts. The great trees of the Savannas are massive, and their canopies very, very vast, resembling football fields in size across the sky. The Poles are very similar to rainforests and have everything from massive trees to vines across the ground, and man-eating traps. The Swamps are even more mysterious and dangerous but brightly colored with many different hues due to the poisonous variety of the flora that exists there. The Diamond Peaks have almost nothing besides hardy, leafless trees.

Fauna

Furred animals are rare on Moghes. Most are either scaled, covered in sharp quills, or feathered. Threshbeasts are one of such creatures. They resemble large canines and come in at around 1.4 meters tall, with an average weight of about 160 pounds. They are quadrupedal and are entirely covered in sharp, poisonous quills, which is what makes them so desirable as cavalry. Threshbeasts follow a pack mentality and are predators by nature, though they can be domesticated given enough patience and time.

Another animal native to Moghes is the Suerohsi, a medium-sized, pale-colored centipede-like creature. Roughly the size of a large dog, Suerohsis favour hibernating in the desert sands. Almost completely blind, they slumber until they wake to mate, wish to move their position, or if a nearby creature disturbs the area around them, at which point they snatch them up in a quick lunge before returning to their sleep. They are often hunted by Unathi for their meat, who will usually track them by gathering threshbeast puppies, or by letting those brave enough stomp around outside dunes. When the creature lunges out of the sand, it is met with a hail of bullets or javelins.

Sissalik are large, gecko-like creatures that serve as the workhorses of Unathi society. They are used as cavalry mounts, and while not as dangerous as threshbeasts they are far quicker on their feet. Their main use, however, is much like that of oxen to humans. They are often used as transportation as well as animals to pull caravan wagons or simply domestically raised and then slaughtered for their meat.

Ogashes are great beasts, somewhere around the size of half a football field. They have great, outer shells, somewhat like turtles, and the rough, hairless skin of a furless mammal. Their eight-eyed heads with giant maws are a sight to behold, and their ability to cover great tracts of land with great weight on their backs is an ample aid to the nomadic tribes of Moghes. Though rare, there are as many as 500 Ogashes domesticated by clans. The killing of Ogashes is completely forbidden by all Clans, as they are such an important part of some Unathi culture, that their deaths would be like burning a Clan's skein. Ogashes themselves live for around 300 Earth Years, and are often called "Giant Spider Turtles" by Human Tourists.

Stoks are a small species of reptile native to Moghes. Ranging from two to three feet tall with colorful scales and feathers adorning their heads, Stok have short arms and stand on two digitigrade legs. They keep to oases due to their colors, which provide camouflage from predators such as duneworms. Stok live and hunt in packs – when they are threatened, they will swarm an attacker and take it down through sheer numbers. They're an omnivorous species, feeding on both oasis fruits and unlucky predators. They are occasionally kept as pets by both Unathi on Moghes, and by members of other species with a taste for exotic animals.

Doraks are a species from the Salt Swamps – they resemble Earth's jaguars, if a jaguar had six legs, no fur, and a bone cap on its head. They range from three to five feet tall and are around six or seven feet in length, their six legs causing much of this length. The split tail on the back is usually a variety of colors, and is a common sign of being in heat. They're solitary animals, but pups can often be seen with their mothers. They're carnivorous as well, feeding on other animals in the Swamps.

Gnars are a hardy animal of the Deserts, usually found around Glass Dunes. They're similar to centipedes in shape, but in size they're nearly three feet long, and much thinner. Often, clans will capture them and use them for ritual ceremonies, as they are a delectable meal. They are scrap animals mostly, going after decaying carcasses more than anything else.

Losseks come from the Diamond Peaks entirely, never venturing far out. They somewhat resemble gorillas in shape and size, but their fur is far thicker, and their face makes you think more of a spider than an ape. The giant, red beasts are known to live in caves in small groups of six or seven, and are very, very aggressive to non-Losseks. They're omnivores, and are keen to eat unwary adventurers.

Yuums would be comparable to a hairless, sand-colored monkey, whose tail is more like a scorpions, and whose body is about the size of a large dog. Often in packs of 10-30, Yuums thrive in the industrial waste, and trash of Mumbak, running across rooftops, occasionally killing off-worlders with their dangerous tails, and causing a ruckus among the markets.

City-States

Vast cities filled with a variety of different clans dot across the landscape, 15 of these esteemed capitals exist. The largest of them is Mumbak, currently controlled by the Skalwa Clan, and it houses dozens if not hundreds of different Clans inside of it, or near its borders. The city itself is a sprawling thing, covering a great swathe of land. Old style factories sit in the city, filling the air with smog, shipyards and docks filled with rusted old things and brand new merchant vessels from off-world lay in the city. Favelas filled with the homes of millions of Unathi sit next to the great markets where off-worlders trade with Unathi merchants, and travelers can rest and recover. This is common for each of the polar city states, as they offer relatively the same services but with different clans and even things for sale. The city states of the interior of the planet, such as the great Boating City Wasgaelli, the Diamond Peak Fortress of Durzakrag, the Bunker Town of Lo, or the Thriving Moving Cities of the Savannas atop their great Ogashes. The 15 City States are as Follow:

• Mumbak
• Si'gek Nel'sthar
• Instha
• No'lesk City
• Durzakrag Fortress
• Bunker Town of Lo
• Morr Bunker Town
• Pak Bunker
• The Moving City of Barra Gei
• The Moving City of Lemo
• Saris Nirz Fortress
• Wasgaelli
• Gaza'lor
• Sen Uuma Fortress
• Koja

Mumbak, Si'gek Nels'thar, Instha, and No'lesk City all exist in the Poles, each great trading ports for off-worlders (though none as big as Mumbak in terms of Inter-regional, Moghesian Trade).

Durzakrag, Sen Uuma, and Saris Nirz are the City States of the Diamond Peaks, the largest settlements of the region. Often resembling great castles due to their sturdy, defensive walls. They're described as fortresses by off-worlders.

Lo, Morr, and Pak are Precursor Bunkers which are now home to Desert Clan City States. The vast, empty bunkers are filled with homes, shops, and escape from the harsh surface above.

Wasgaelli and Gaza'lor are both Floating Cities of the Swamps. Everything in them is built on great boats or platforms or rafts, anything, and rarely land. They could be compared to rinky-dink versions of Venice, but much more heavily defended.

Koja is the sole standing City State of the Savannas, built out of one of the Great Trees. Koja is surrounded by farmland and ranches whose meat and agriculture are brought to market in Koja or in the Poles for sale.

Barra Gei and Lemo are nomadic settlements, the largest of their kind, each with nearly 100 Ogashes of their own. They travel throughout the Savannas, Poles and Deserts, living from place to place and rarely being in the same place twice.

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