Type: Terrestrial Jovian Moon Gravity: 0.29 g Diameter: 5000 km Atmospheric Pressure: 3.12 atm Atmospheric Composition: 64.3% Nitrogen, 31.4% Oxygen, 1.9% Argon, 1.1% CO2, 0.4% Xenon, 0.9% various trace gases Hydrosphere: 75% Surface Temperature (Min/Mean/Max): -4 C / 26 C / 47 C Day Length: 472.1 hours (Tidally locked to planet) Satellite Of: Bluebell System Primary: Class K2V; Designation: Turq Colony Established: 7 AF Colony Size: 2,720 egos Affiliation: Autonomist Alliance (Argonaut/Anarchist)

A small moon with a dense atmosphere, orbiting a warm Jovian class planet, which in turn orbits an orange dwarf. Situated somewhat beyond the extreme outer edge of the primary's habitable zone, Vicorica is kept warm by an extremely high carbon dioxide content in its thick atmosphere. Due to tidal heating, the moon has considerable volcanism, with at least four presently active volcanoes contributing to the CO2 content of the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide, in turn, helps fuel an extremely intense ecology. Due to the low gravity and high CO2 content, Vicorica's forests grow fast and intense, with a dozen species competing for light and height; in some places, the latticework of tree-like organisms rises over a kilometer off of the surface of the moon. However, these areas rarely last for extended lengths of time; due to the high oxygen content, large wildfires are commonplace, with at least one large region of the moon in flames at any given time, adding additional CO2 to the atmosphere. Numerous species depend on the fires to clear away old growth and open up new areas for colonization. The wildfires themselves are widespread, with typically 3,000-10,000 square kilometers of the moon's roughly 19,600,000 square kilometers of terrestrial surface area on fire at any given time. However, as convection currents are a function of gravity and density, Vicorica's forest fires do not have the same intense convection currents that fueled Earth's forest fires to such great intensities during the century before the Fall. Quite simply, the convection winds are just not as intense, even accounting for the moon's greater atmospheric density. A raging crown fire will still burn a forest down to the soil level, but the conditions to create such a massive clearing are not as common as one would think. Thanks to the low gravity, high atmospheric density and high oxygen content, flight is a common means of mobility for the local animal species, with an entire aerial ecology in place, consisting of plankton-analogues floating on internal bladders and streamers, and a number of airborne herbivorous species that feed on them. At the peak of many of the local food chains are an order of eusocial arthropods, which utilize social intelligence to great effect and lethality. Interactions with these eusocial species are presently the number one cause of transhuman death and injury on the exomoon. The Vicorica Gate is located underground, in an extensive limestone cave system, approximately 40 km from the location of the primary settlement (atop and into a local mountain that is mostly clear of the moon's heavy plant growth). Many side chambers of the cave system have been colonized by eusocial arthropod hives, rendering exploration extremely risky. The local colony is presently at a population of nearly 3,000 individuals, a little under half sleeved in variant biomorphs adapted for the local environment (Exalts with Enhanced Respiration (Planet Specific), Medichines, Enhanced Vision and Radiation Tolerance). Most of the population (roughly 1,800 individuals) resides in a single habitat, called Raqiya, built onto and into a local mountain peak (summit 12 km above local sea level, with the external structure of the habitat itself extending an additional kilometer above that) approximately 40 km from the Pandora Gate. The remaining population is spread out across various smaller bases, mostly on the same hemisphere as the main habitat. Most of these smaller bases are ecological research stations, but there are also a fair number of geological research stations and resource extraction locations, as well as one site atop a distant mountain range that is being used as a drydock for constructing aerostats. That last site is currently under construction itself, and is projected to be finished and then commence with aerostat construction in the next 8-11 months. The colony is presently nearly 3 years old, with Raqiya being finished to its current state last year. The Raqiya habitat structure, extending a kilometer above the summit of the mountain that it is built into, and more than four kilometers into the mountain itself, has space and support capacity for over 150,000 biomorphs, and has an extensive exo-womb plant deep within the structure producing nearly 10 Vicorica exalts per day, with more capacity coming on line over the course of the next year; the recent disappearances have made a considerable dent in their mature morph stocks. (There are still sufficient morphs, however, to allow for resleeving PCs or NPC losses, including many other morphs "traded in" by the locals in exchange for the Vicorica exalts, meaning that any losses are not limited to resleeving in Vicorican Exalts). The present plan was to finish resleeving as much of the current population in Vicorican Exalts as desired, produce additional morphs beyond that point, and then open mass immigration for infomorphs from the Sol system over the next year, in blocks of 500 egos, as the morphs became available. The colony produces many commodities for export to other colonies in trade, including oxygen and other gases, various foodstuffs made from local materials, and extraneous morphs no longer in use by locals who have resleeved in the Vicorican Exalt variant. Vicorica itself is the largest moon of a Warm Jovian-class gas giant in orbit around an K2V star; there are five other planets in the system, and 16 other moons around the gas giant.

Flora:

• Zen Pools; Tree-like plant; creates large networks of forest that mutually supports themselves as they grow in height; can create large networks of woody regions that reach nearly a kilometer in height and hundreds of square kilometers in extent; rather than pump water up from their roots, they create large pools up at the canopy level to capture rainwater.
• Balloon Bombs; disaster flora; colonizes an area very quickly after a fire. Propagates by creating a floating seed pod filled with hydrogen, which pop quickly in the presence of heat, scattering the seeds on the fresh ashes.
• Aerial plankton: an umbrella term for thousands of plant and animal species that stay aloft on winds and using air bladders. All of the species are highly mobile, and use various strategies to use the storms and fires to their benefit.
• Fire Caps; a type of creeping vine that is rich in flammable oils. It requires fire to open its seed pods, which resemble small dark mushrooms or umbrellas approximately 5 cm across; these float away on the updrafts to colonize new areas. With proper filtering and treatment, the oil is edible by transhumans, and has a rich, smoky flavor when used in cooking.

Fauna:

• Skywhales; the largest flying animal on the moon, these animals resemble a large flying catfish, increased in size to roughly 900-1000 kilograms, with an 8 meter wingspan and internal air bladders. They are herbivorous, and feed on aerial plankton.
• JellyKites: large (5+ meter) flying animals; resembling a cross between a jellyfish and a stingray, these animals feed off of the water of the Zen Pools and the animals that colonize them in a symbiotic relationship with the Pools. Lacking true flight, they fly in the constant wind of the dense atmosphere by anchoring themselves to the canopy with their tendrils and acting as a kite, and move from place to place essentially by crawling tendril over tendril. In high winds, they simply release their hold and let the wind take them away, maintaining enough control to avoid being ripped to pieces. They are expert gliders.
• Eusocial arthropods: with over 500 species currently identified, the eusocial arthropod species are the apex predators on the moon, and are almost universally aggressive, lethal and hostile, and identify biomorphs as potential prey; a number of species belonging to the order are herbivorous, and some engage in farming behaviors but even these are still highly dangerous and territorial. Many of these species have a mean body size of over 15 cm in length, and use pheromones and acids to great effect.
• Stiletto wasps; one of the largest families, both in number of species and size of individual members, these arthropods are bilaterally similar, with two sets of small wings, an exquisitely well adapted set of senses for smell, hearing and sight, a suite of pheromones for marking territory, prey and threats, and a stinger at the end of the highly flexible thorax that is long, thin, capable of punching through the armor of other arthropods, averages 10+ cm in length across all identified species, and delivers a toxin that is an acidic paralytic to native species, and triggers a lethal allergic reaction in transhuman biologies, in addition to the damage from the acidic nature of the sting.
• Switchblade hornets; a successful genus of the stiletto wasp family that merits attention; similar to most of the rest of the family in major respects, this genus features an impressively nasty stinger deployment mechanism. The stinger is kept within the thorax, protecting it from day to day damage, and can be extended with significant force via muscle action, granting additional penetrative power to their attacks.
• Dragnet spiders; these arthropods take cooperative aerial hunting in an unusual direction, aided by the dense air and low gravity. These spiders (so named for their propensity for spinning silk) will spin nets between branches, as a frame, and then detach the net from its moorings to take it "fishing"; anywhere between 6 to three dozen spiders will grab hold of the net and fly through the air, capturing smaller airgoing prey in the net, which is then brought back to the nest for consumption. It is suspected that these predators use either highly successful scouts to mark potential prey items, or that they are potentially engaging in some form of herding behavior. Powerful flyers, they have extremely high lifting capacities. There have not (yet) been confirmed attempts at biomorph capture by these species.
• Piranha beetles; a smaller but still very successful family of species, these arthropods (which resemble Earth beetles with two extra sets of limbs in a wonderful display of convergent evolution) don't bother with toxins or venoms for taking down their prey, instead preferring to flock in numbers of a hundred or more, swarming a target, and chewing it to pieces. The beetles eat their fill, and then carve up the remainder of the corpse for transport back to the nest. Extremely aggressive, persistent, and thus far resistant to most repulsive methods of deterrence from eating transhuman biomorphs. Individuals range in size from 4 to 40 cm in length, and feature a set of jaws capable of inflicting serious harm on most morphs not armored for heavy combat.
• Shiv bees; a successful family, and one that has numerous herbivorous families that gather nectar and produce a honey-analogue (heavy with glucose and other such products, it is an impressive example of convergent evolution with Earth's bees and honey). The shiv bees themselves have very sharp secondary limbs, as opposed to a single stinger, which they use to great effect in defense. These limbs have large venom reservoirs, and are frequently left in the body of the target--the bee can regenerate these limbs, given sufficient time and food.
• Marine ants; one of the largest varieties, these are of sufficient size that they typically reserve flight only for scouts and for evacuation away from fires. They are vicious, nasty, and one of the few varieties that can and will destroy armored vehicles through a combination of acid attacks and strong jaws. Some varieties can reach over two meters in length for their soldier castes, although such individuals are rare, due to the time it takes to grow to such size.

(Yes, I will admit to inspirations and the occasional outright theft from various works of television and literature. I prefer to think of them as homages. ^_^ )