Fen

Rokhandan Lore Pages
Species Lore Pages		Rokhandan
Planet and System Pages		Fen
Governments and Organizations Pages		Ruzkahni Directorate

Fen is the largest planet in the Rokh System and is the capital planet of the Rokhandian Directorate.

General Information

System: Rokh System

Moon(s): Fen II, Fen III

Development level: Extremely High

Capital: The Protogen Arcology

Population (Planetside): 7,170,000,000 (approx.)

Fen is the officially recognized home-world of the Rokhandian species. It is an arid planet with an abundance of rocky mountain ranges, sweeping savannas and towering plateaus and mesas. Most Rokhandian cities are built into the sides of cliffs or mountains, as the many deep canyons that pockmark the planet's surface can stretch down hundreds of meters into the planet's crust. Fen has the advantage of being rich with heavy metals, but for most of Rokhandian life plants were difficult to come by. It took careful agricultural innovation and hundreds of years of cultivation for greenery to more easily populate the planet's surface. Nowadays, Rokhandian cities have hydroponics labs and plant farms built in to their architecture to more easily provide for the average citizen.

The absence of large bodies of water on Fen's surface necessitated a life of subterranean expansion. Rokhandians became experts at designing efficient irrigation systems and creating dowsing equipment; a vast majority of Rokhandian cities are still subterranean to this day, living in massive carved out caverns with moisture vaporators on the overworld helping supplement the underground springs they draw water from. As such, from space Fen might be mistaken for a lifeless dustball. The Rokhandans only build above ground when necessary, and messes of anntenaes, vaporators and hangar doors help pinpoint where large cities are hidden underground.

Equally, Fen has quite a few orbital stations to handle traffic control, act as research facilities or homes for Rokhandians whose jobs necessitate them being in space. These traffic control stations help incoming shuttles actually locate cities that might be hidden by the planet's arid surface, effectively coordinating both alien and Rokhandian vessels. The largest of these stations acts as a cargo hub between Fen and other colonies in the surrounding systems, filling the role as sort of a mini trade-hub where denizens from Fen's surface can freely travel to peruse a selection of imported and exotic goods.

Society

Rokhandan society is built upon the sciences. The capital city, known as the Protogen Arcology, is one of the few above ground structures that can be seen from space. Its defining feature is a massive pyramid-shaped building that slices through Fen's surface and rises high into the air, covered in an assortment of greenery and vines. The walls of this pyramid are a thick glass; it is a sort of giant greenhouse that has a mini forest built into the base. A single elevator rises to the top of this pyramid, and this is where the Director and the Council regularly meet to debate issues facing the Rokhandan race or handle basic governmental disputes.

The many think tank corporations and science labs that dot the surface of Fen are the entities that vote for individual Councilors. Each sector of Fen and its surrounding colonies are allotted to send a single nominee to the Council. These nominees campaign heavily amongst their peers, and the more famous your scientific career is the higher the chances you'll likely be elected to represent your sector on the Council. Then, these Councilors elect to nominate someone to the chair of Director, giving them penultimate authority over the government and State-run research centers. A high emphasis is put on being forward thinking, curious, and intelligent. Most, if not all Rokhandan children are encouraged by their parents to aspire to become renowned scientists, biologists, geologists and more, though not all actually manage to accomplish this feat.

Education is entirely State-run and is heavily invested in by both the Directorate and third-party corporations. Think tanks regularly send talent scouts to Rokhandan institutions in an effort to search for the next bright young mind, and lucrative scholarships are in the cards for students who manage to impress these scouts. Those who do not earn the backing of these corporations typically do not make it to university level education and instead are used to fill more menial jobs that are a necessity for Rokhandan society, from cargo technicians to miners to law enforcement. They are not looked down upon by their fellow citizens, per se, but it is not unusual for parents to be disappointed if their child does not attract the attention of these large science corporations.