Vyiranga

Planetary type: Rocky ocean world.
Region: Traverse.
Age
: 6.5 billion years
Parent star
: Binary K-M. 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: Oneiroi Station, Vyiranga Trade Hub. 

1 - Mediterranea

Vyiranga is one of the most pleasant Traverse worlds. A small rocky planet, it is mostly covered in shallow oceans and its continents have sunk below sea level following the end of the previous ice age. 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 diminutive landmasses taking the shape of scattered archipelagos. Vyirangan life is mostly vegetal with a prevalence of complex carbon-based lifeforms capable of chlorophyll photosynthesis. Animal life is limited to coral-adjacent creatures, capable of flight and underwater movement. With a negligible axial tilt, Vyiranga doesn't have planetary seasons, however, the orbital patterns to of its binary stars create "meta-seasons" that can last for millennia and result in ice ages. 

2 - Golden Lichen

A peculiar property of Vyirangan life is that, though physically innocuous, it is capable of interfering with the human 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, but the local inhabitants have mostly learned to make do with them.

One Vyirangan species, in particular, is extremely potent: a pseudolichen 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 consistent and complex lucid dreams in human subjects. Caloplaca Vyirangana is most often used to create dream-initiated lucid dreams by consuming lichens just before sleep: in this case, the oneiric trigger is often reported to be a golden object appearing at the very moment the dreamer becomes aware of their own dream. High concentrations of Caloplaca Vyirangana can even be used to trigger wake-induced lucid dreams where the dreamer transitions from full consciousness to dreaming with no loss of awareness. Such concentrations can be reached naturally in the lichen-rich seas of the equator, which may turn evening seaside strolls into a peculiar experience.

3 - Dreamworld

Caloplaca Vyirangana is an invaluable tool for research and entertainment as well as Vyiranga's main export. The Dream Lichen is endemic to the planet (no acclimatation efforts on other Traverse worlds have ever succeeded) and has created an entire culture and economy centred around lucid dreamsfor Caloplaca Vyirangana is only an enabler: it does not create content for dreams, it only enables the user to start a lucid dream. The "Oneiric economy" of Vyiranga aims at bridging this gap by providing or triggering content for lucid dreams. Sounds, lights, drugs or meditation techniques are used to direct lucid dreams in a specific direction or set an overall ambience in dream houses. Thousands of people visit Vyiranga each year, seeking the oneiric pleasures of the planet.

It should be noted that Caloplaca Vyirangana isn't technically a drug itself, though overuse can send users in a state of constant wake-induced lucid dreaming called "Oneiric 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. Such side-effects are the main reason why Caloplaca Vyirangana is considered as a rare good only tradeable by Solar Envoysand its consumption heavily regulated beyond Vyiranga.

Interestingly enough, deep space navigators have reported a much rarer state dubbed "Oneiric Theater" triggered by the consumption of Caloplaca Vyirangana during a geometry drive translation, which causes the subject to be thrown in a 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. It remains a scientific mystery.

Illustration from the Wootha Public Domain Release.

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