Vyiranga

Planetary type: Rocky-ocean world.
Region: Traverse.
Age
: 6.5 billion years
Parent star
: Binary K-M star. One satellite.
Surface gravity: 0.86 Earth gravities
Atmosphere
: 0.89 Earth pressures, fully breathable.
Average temperature
: 280k.
Ecosystem classification
: carbon-based.
Solar revolution length: 400 days.
Day length: 29 hours.
Settlement Type
: Local civilisation.
Settlement age
: 52 years.
Population: 20 million.
Allegiance
: Eloran Ekumen (qith Talasea).
Distance to Earth: 570 lightyears

Starports: Dream Shard Station, Vyiranga Trade Hub. 

1 - Mediterranea

Vyiranga is one of the most pleasant Traverse worlds. It is a small rocky planet, mostly covered in water with all continents but one below sea level. Vyiranga is classified by the Starmoth Initiative as a "Mediterranean World", a subclass of rocky planets characterized by a high solar influx, average precipitations and small, scattered landmasses. Life on the planet is mostly vegetal with a prevalence of complex lifeforms made of hardened cells capable of chlorophyll-based photosynthesis. Animal life is limited to coral-adjacent creatures though the limit between animal and vegetal lifeforms is blurry on Vyiranga. For instance, newcomers are often surprised to learn that the white-winged creatures that gleam in the planet's skies are in fact complex flowers capable of crossing continents when carried by equatorial winds. With a negligible axial tilt, Vyiranga doesn't have planetary seasons, however, the orbital mechanics of its binary stars create "meta-seasons" that can last for millennia and induce several degrees Celsius of variation between "stellar summers" and "stellar winters."

2 - Golden Lichen

Vyirangan life is considered innocuous in that local microbes are not capable of infecting human bodies. It is however capable of interfering with the nervous system: Vyirangan pollens and toxins are known to trigger hallucinations and sudden bouts of euphoria or sadness. Such reactions can be countered with antibodies and breathing masks though the local inhabitants have learned to make do with them.

One Vyirangan species, in particular, is extremely potent: a lichen-like symbiote known as the Vyirangan Golden Lichen (Caloplaca Vyirangana) or Dream Lichen. This species is capable of communication among its kind with vegetal synapses. When ingested or inhaled these synapses trigger lucid dreams in human subjects. Caloplaca Vyirangana is most often used to create dream-initiated lucid dreams by consuming lichens during sleep: in this case, the dream trigger is often reported to be a golden object appearing at the very moment the dreamer becomes aware of their dream. High concentrations of Caloplaca Vyirangana can even be used to trigger wake-induced lucid dreams where the dreamer transitions from waking to dreaming with no loss of awareness. This may make evening seaside strolls rather peculiar.

3 - Dreamworld

Caloplaca Vyirangana is an invaluable tool for research and entertainment as well as Vyiranga's main export. The Dream Lichen only grows on the planet and has created an entire culture and economy centred around lucid dreams. Caloplaca Vyirangana is only an enabler: it does not create content for dreams, it only enables the user to start a lucid dream. The "Oniric Economy" of Vyiranga aims at bridging this gap by providing or triggering content for lucid dreams. Sounds, lights, local drugs or meditation techniques are used to direct lucid dreams in a specific direction or set an overall ambience. Thousands of people visit Vyiranga each year, seeking the oniric pleasures of the planet.

Caloplaca Vyirangana isn't a drug though overuse can send users in a state of constant wake-induced lucid dreaming called "Oniric Tunnel". This state doesn't seem to cause brain or nerve damage but reversing it has proven complex if not impossible, leaving the overdosed subject alternating between lucid dreaming and regular awareness without transition. This is the main reason why Caloplaca Vyirangana is considered as a rare good only tradeable by Solar Envoys.

Interestingly enough deep space navigators have reported a much rarer state dubbed "Oniric Theater" triggered by consuming Caloplaca Vyirangana during a geometry drive translation. The subject is thrown in a strange shared lucid dream that is eerily reminiscent of what can be experienced when walking the Pale Path. This effect always subsides when the jump ends and the drive comes offline. No scientific explanation exists. 

Illustration from the Wootha Public Domain Release.

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