Vannaheimr and Stornu.
Overview[]
Vannaheimr is a temperate terra located in the Yggdrasil Nebula and governed by the Vanir Norse church. Upon its discovery in 3046 Vannaheimr was on the edge of human habitability. Its temperature was cold, very cold. It was a staggering -20 degrees Celsius during the ecliptic winter and just below freezing during the summer. Its air was thin at 0.52 atm. Precipitation such as snow sublimed rapidly in the thin air causing large cloud-fronts. The seasons are extreme. The Ecliptic orbit means the south hemisphere has very extreme seasons while the northern hemisphere has much more temperate seasons.
Nevertheless the planet was quickly colonized by the Vanir church just five years after its initial discovery and exploration. The Vanir church, wanting to leave the crowded core worlds, declared Vannaheimr as their new seat. The Vanir recruited the aid of the Norse run terraforming company known as Heimur Kynslo Co. to make the planet more hospitable and introduce an ecosystem that wouldn't damage the algae already present in the worlds oceans. Terraforming of the planet was completed by the year 3145, almost 100 years after its discovery.
The new conditions were much more favorable. The planet's average temperature varied between -5 degrees to 10 degrees Celsius and it had an atmospheric pressure pf 0.7atm. Due to the increased air pressure snow began to collect lowering the snow level and the Ice caps grew larger. Today, though the planet looks colder it is actually much warmer than when it was first discovered.
Even with the inhospitable conditions at first the Vanir Officials began construction of a mega-structure called the Kirkju Sjo, or Sea Temple in English. Sefjir practitioners flocked to the Yggdrasil Nebula moving to Vannaheimr and other habitable worlds, such as Valhalla, in the nebula. Tensions between the Vanir and Aesir populations began to grow due to close proximity within the Nebula and the differences between the two Norse denominations.
The Kirkju Sjo was completed in the year 3103. In 3104 the Aesir launched an attack on Dokk Skogar and annexed the colony for three years. The attack triggered a violent and bloody war between the two Norse factions known as the Vanir-Aesir War. It took eleven years before the Confederacy of Borealis could quell the war and enforce peace.
For 1400 years after the war Vannaheimr grew to be an economic powerhouse. They became masters at ship design, starship and terrestrial, and had a booming marine economy. All the while suffering infrequent attacks from Aesir raiding bands.
In 4532 a Neoxian warfleet entered the Nebula. The fleet pillaged and burned countless minor colonies that supported Vannaheimr and sent terrorist attack after terrorist attack at the Vanir homeworld. This was later known as the Norse-Neoxia war. It forced the Vanir to work with the Aesir and culminated into a large battle over Vannaheimr where the Neoxian fleet was decimated and forced to retreat. Since the Unifying Norse-Neoxia war Vannaheimr has worked closely with Valhalla innovating Starship design and growing rich off of marine exports.
Culture[]
View of the Vannaheimr summer sunsrise.
Vannaheim was settled by a people who identify themselves as Vanir. Vanir is a denomination of the Sefjir religion. The Vanir people tend to be anti-urbanistic and very seafaring. Their culture is based off of the traditional Norse culture. Use of technology varies depending on area, however Vanir people tend to not use advanced technology in their daily life unless it has a clear advantage over traditional practices. Sefjir people in general search for worlds that have large, cool oceans that will be perfect for Earth arctic fish such as Halibut or Cod. This then becomes their main livelihood. Vanir controlled worlds produce some of the finest pearls and shell jewelry in the galaxy. They also produce more fish and marine food exports than any other culture in the Confederacy.
Vanir share the Vanir-Norse religion, where they acknowledge the existence of all Norse gods, yet only worship the Vanir gods Njord and his children Freyr and Freyja. Vannaheimr is the capital world of the Vannaheimr Kingdom. The Vannaheimr Kingdom is governed by a caste system of a King, Jarls and Karls. The high King is generally decided by a council of Jarls, sometimes its the Kings son, but most of the time its not, it depends on family politics and which candidate is proven able. The Jarls then each govern one of the ten Vanir worlds, Vannaheimr is governed by the King and three Jarls. The Jarls appoint city or town officials, also known as Godi. The Godi are also generally heads of the local church and enforce the laws placed by the Jarls and the King.
Vanir people are generally a peaceful, agrarian society. If the need arises they will defend their homeworlds against Raiders, but they rarely begin conflicts. The main philosophy behind their religion and lifestyle is to maintain above all else the peace and prosperity of the sea, yet also demonstrate the wrath and vengeance of the sea when it is threatened.
Population[]
Vannaheimr is a major world in the Yggdrasil Nebula, however, due to the agrarian Norse culture that is prevalent on Vannaheimr large cities or population centers are kept small and are generally not very dense. The population in 10000 is just under 11 billion people.
Minor Colonies[]
The Vannaheimr Kingdom rules Vannaheimr as well as nine colonies of lesser power. These minor colonies provide support, services and enhancements to the markets, shipyards and star-ports of Vannaheimr.
A map of the Yggdrasil Nebula, Vannaheimr Kingdom worlds shown in blue, Valhallan Kingdom worlds shown in red. To give clarification, Valhalla is behind and to the left of Vannaheimr when looking at the nebula from earth.
Climate[]
Global map of Vannaheimr
Vannaheimr started as a very cold world. during the ecliptic summer the planets average temperature was just below freezing. During the winter the temperature dropped all the way to -20 degrees. Compounded to the low temperatures the planet also had an atmosphere that was on the edge of what humans can generally breath. It was only 0.52 atm. Thanks to Heimur Kynslo Co. however the planet is much more temperate and habitablehabitabble.
The terraforming company used powerful orbital Warp Field emitters, based off of warp drive technology, to contract or expand space in the vicinity of Vannaheimr altering its orbit. The orbit was brought slightly closer and was made slightly more circular. Today the average temperature for the planet ranges from -4 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius. This is close to the same temperature as the Earth country Norway of Sweden. The air was also made thicker by crashing nearby comets into the atmosphere which also increased the amount of snow and ice on the planet.
Today the entire planets climate closely resembles that of either Earth Norway or Earth Sweden. its a cold place filled with snow, ice yet also has beautiful pine forests and seas teeming with Earth arctic fish.
Seasons[]
The planet has two types of "seasons" it has the conventional anual seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall. However, due to the fact that Vannaheimr is in a binary star system is also has a long season cycle that describes the position of the sister star in the sky. This long season cycle is 226 years long.
Every 113 years there's a 10 year period when the planet orbits at a 90 degree inclination to the further star Stornu. This means that in the northern summer the suns rise together and set together, but during the northern winter the further sun rises just as the close sun sets creating an endless day.
For the 113 years before this period then the far sun is over the southern hemisphere and circles in the sky in the south, never setting. It generally moves southward away from the close star throughout the year and it will always set if you're closer to the equator. For 113 years after then the far sun is above the northern hemisphere.