SkunkyArt | kefkorr — Clovik System: A Rehash of Specbio Tropes

The Clovik system is home to eight planets, six of them within the core system whereas the two distant planets, Larcasol (h) and Katrike (i) are in eccentric orbits. The name Clovik is derived from a human explorer who was part of a very long manned mission towards that star. Before that, it was simply called SCHON 1355 (but you know, HIP/Hipparcos and Kepler are a thing, maybe Webb would come as well). Most of the names of worlds informally used by humans were directly named after what the locals call these worlds but are still formally designated under generic names that's typically given out to exoplanets, i.e. Mesu is Clovik f or SCHON 1355 f. As of note, Clovik being at 0.88 solar masses, has a rough lifespan of 14 billion years, so life on Mesu would've developed to be complex and have possibly undergone multiple close instances of species gaining sapience, the latest being the isutti (mesuan).

Clovik is about 927.2 light years away from Sol. For reference, Rigel (a real star) and Clovik are just 77 light years away from each other while Rigel's distance from Sol is 864.3 light years.

There are three worlds with life, Roc (d), Mesu (f) and Bavek (h ii). While Roc and Mesu are related in terms of biochemistry, Bavek has no relation. All three worlds have carbon-based lifeforms. But because of its supposed fertile ground of extraterrestrial life, it has been a major point of interest for humans to support theories of a more lusher galaxy than once thought.

Blanon (b) and Sarta (c) are the first two planets in Clovik. Unfortunately, they are less interesting, whereas Sarta could've held life akin to that of early Venus in its early life but it had been sterilised billions of years ago as it was effectively tidally locked (same with Blanon).

Roc is an interesting subject, it is an ice giant, yet its size is closer to that of Earth's instead of something larger than Earth. Of course, there are other worlds that are similar to Roc across the Milky Way thanks to centuries of surveys to improving telescopes to their maximum potential back in Sol, so such situation is possible. It is home to aerial lifeforms that float in the sky, albeit it is also home to large predators. Functionally, the environment works similarly to Earth's oceans and has been a point of interest in isuttite/mesuan science prior to first contact for the 'missing link'.

Hermis (e) on the other hand, is a giant superoceanic rocky planet larger than Mesu. It is driven by strong winds and storms in an otherwise tepid, warm ocean that would've been easy to swim or sail had it not have an atmospheric composition that has a large percentage of carbon dioxide.

Mesu is home to the isutti or by official designation from the United Nations [1], mesuans, as they were the inhabitants of Mesu upon initial contact and collection of data. It is a dry and slightly cool world that has been so for the last 400 million years, cooling in the long term. It is also further evidenced by slowing geological activity, which led to the drop in temperature and the cessation of tectonic plates. One could travel across the planet without needing a boat. It still spins approximately 15 hours a day, maintaining a decent magnetic field for billions of years, thanks to Kyrr and Mesu being perfectly synced by its barycentre. The wildlife has been depleted thanks to the isutti industrialising and exploiting wildlife for their own infrastructure, but otherwise, the planet is a mix of tundra, grasslands and desert with large seas. With an axial tilt that's slightly similar to Earth's, seasons exist on the planet and this can lead to long-lasting blizzards, hence heaters are ubiquitous, whereas summers barely reach around 20 °C (68 °F) in the hottest, equatorial regions.

The two natural satellites of Mesu are Kyrr and Kull. Kyrr is similar to Earth's moon and has been colonised by the isutti prior to the first contact, as it is a resource-rich world whereas Kull is a captured asteroid. Kyrr has been a major subject of multiple isutti cultures.

Tyrpa (g) is the Martian analogue and is also home to isutti colonies, although rather than a rocky world, the planet is similar to Europa or Enceladus than to Mars. Much of the planet's information is mundane to the human eye.

Larcasol is the largest planet in the Clovik system, but it is ultimately distant from the eyes of the isutti early on until telescopes begin to uncover its existence alongside its moons. It has a lot more moons than shown and possesses a large ring, but only seven are listed, including three of its only moons that are round, which are Bavek, Dronok (h iii) and Giscorn (h iv). It is likely that this planet alongside a few previous ones born in the system could have been ejected from the system early on from chaotic orbits, leaving its eccentric orbit behind as a shadow of such causes.

The only moon from Larcasol that is relevant is Bavek. Underneath the crust is a rich underground ocean that's active thanks to its orbiting planet, Larcasol providing the pull to create the right conditions of life, rather than relying on the star to provide warmth and conditions. this leads to the planet releasing plumes of water into space at times, while having a molten mantle that keeps the oceans warm and create conditions for life. Much like the deep oceans of Earth, life on Bavek is as alien as anything from the midnight or abyssal zones, devoid of light and thus haven't developed much of an advanced 'sight'. Much of the organisms there rely on heat and sensing of surroundings to navigate.

Katrike is the furthest planet within the confines of the Clovik system, with an orbit not so similar to that of Sedna and a system similar to Pluto, having a smaller body orbiting in a barycentre, Dishur (i i). However, its orbit crosses Larcasol, though there's a minimal chance of collision even for the last few billions of years. It is rumoured to be either a captured rogue planet or an ejected world from formation, though evidence is pointing more towards the former.

Humans only arrived at the Clovik system in 4509 after a very long trip [2] of a large research vessel. By that point, the isutti only had just reached development and technology akin to that of late 21st century humanity, whereas humans have already become a type 2 civilisation [3] with multiple systems colonised and controlled by them alongside a few protectorates under the loose banner of the United Nations.

Before the 4th millennium where manned exploration outside of their core systems began, humans would send automated probes with basic instruments and equipment to investigate systems beyond the 100 light year radius, where Clovik was one of those systems surveyed.

Humans would be initially accepted by the isutti and a UN embassy was established to accomodate human researchers and future colonists into the system. At first, the knowledge of other systems including humanity's was beneficial towards the eyes of the isutti although when the UN began to take hold over the last few decades to increase the human population in their own settlements, there was strong resistance towards being integrated into human civilisation as the population grew from cloning and genetically manipulating the existing genome database to make way for long-term survival of the human population in Clovik.

This led to the formation of the organisation Sovereignty for Mesu, which had been a headache for the United Nations and their relations with existing states of Mesu. Founded by traditionalists and anti-human groups that opposed human-isutti relations (or the human-mesuan relation) that involved direct intervention in their lives, they have been responsible for a multitude of terrorist attacks upon the Embassy and its assets.

Today, there's growing urnest among ordinary isutti who see their leaders becoming more complacent to humanity influencing their way of life, although reactionary/isolationist revolutions could take place soon if the UN were to not handle the situation of the organisation Sovereignty for Mesu properly. Technology-wise, the isutti have advanced beyond the 22nd century from the onset of rapid modernisation (from a human viewpoint), but some of the technologies (esp. military) held by humans were kept out of the hands of the isutti until they prove themselves to be loyal. Currently, there's strong civilian resistance.