The planet Aethra, more formally known as Æthrahenna, is the seat or power of the Ordo Caelara and the planet of origin for the Caelaran faith.

The planet is populated by a mix of Humans and Highmonians

Climate and Geography

Aethra is an ice world with a high degree of volcanic activity, creating three major landscapes along the surface: tundra, ice planes and volcanic 'hot zones'.

The volcanic hot zones are characterized by ranges of volcano's belching up flows of lava which form rivers flowing downhill towards deep crevices where it is cycled back towards the mantle. Lava lakes are not an uncommon feature in these regions, and temperatures can reach extreme heights.

Along with magma, these volcano's also spew up large clouds of toxic gasses which fill most of the planets atmosphere, blocking much of the suns visible light from reaching the surface and causing acidic rains to fall from the sky in the more arid regions.

The ice planes by contrast have far lower temperatures, below freezing, and feature large glaciers and ice caves, as well as frozen lakes and rivers and waterfalls that only melt during short periods of the year.

Around the equator, and along the borders between ice planes and volcanic zones lie large tundra's, some stretching for thousands of kilometers. These colourful zones feature a large amount of flora tuned to the infrared that penetrates the cloud cover, piercing into the volcanic zones where possible due to the fertile conditions there.

Though it lacks proper oceans, Aethra features [five] large seas, including one permanently frozen at the northern pole.

Most of the planets population lives in the so called cloud cities, elevated high above the surface on tall spires, where they are elevated above the toxic clouds most of the time. These cities have full access to sunlight and are generally far more pleasant than the surface.

Due to it's history, many parts of the planet feature ancient ruins of civilization from before the time of chaos, most often in the form of metal pillars that once formed the foundation of larger structures that have since been otherwise destroyed.

World History

A trade hub with hundreds of billions of inhabitants before the Times of Chaos, Aethra has seen significantly better times.

At the start of the Times of Chaos, the world's government and society suffered a complete and total collapse, with the vast majority of the planets population dying from famine, disease and war.

The planet's current climate is likely at least in part the result of the failure of terraformation processes being interrupted around that time, though religious history speaks of an event called Star Fall being responsible. This description, which details that "all the stars in heaven fell to the surface", is likely not an entirely accurate scientific description of what happened.

Another major event in the planets history is the Rise of Caelara, a series of conflicts and wars eventually led to the Ordo Caelara taking control of the planet.