Zeth, Benuvian Moon

Image: Blue Cloud Planet 2.0 by Fragile-stock

Zeth is a windswept moon that orbits Benu. It was formed out of the detritus from it's larger host planet and later became fortified with heavy metals from meteors. Eons later the planet would be mined for its rich ore complement to the point of being riddled with deep shafts and sinkholes.

The Winds of Zeth

When Benu and Zeth had grown old and the solar winds stirred up the climate of both bodies, Zeth's gale-force gusts began to pulverize what was left. With so much material in the air, lifeforms on the surface had little chance of survival. What did remain retreated to the sinkholes, canyons, and subterranean caverns or under the pillowed dunes.

Life On-Planet

Zeth's atmosphere is filled with particulate (dust, etc.) and air-breathing lifeforms native to the world have evolved special lungs lined with filters to extrude dangerous matter. (visitors require artificial means to breath.) The winds also carve anything and everything, breaking solid objects down with the passage of time, adding all matter to the winds' mighty rending will. Special precautions must be taken in order to venture out into the wilderness by natives and visitors alike.

Fauna on the planet is especially hardy and distempered. The Nikac is a native species to Zeth.

Cultural Impact

Zeth is named for the daughter of the great creators Oduz and Erul. In Benuvian lore, she was the first sired princess and Queen of Secrets. During the high season, when the moon is full, her reflection is said to reveal all betrayers. The moonlight from Zeth bathes Benu in silver twillight during these periods--during day and night--making the ambient sky much brighter than ususual. Runes written while Zeth is full can only be read on other full moons--regardless of the method of rendering.

Astronomics

When Zeth and Benu are in alignment with their parent star, the winds die down on the surface and great celebrations occur across the orb. The entire surface of the moon appears transparent--as a ghost--during an eclipse. Seers, astralmongers and cosmotographers have been known to peer into the eclipse, and auto-scribe starmaps, calendars, and witness other strange visions. Ships looking to land on Zeth during these times find the moon has quite simply disappeared.

 Rumors

• Some say that Zeth was once the shipyard that built the great tetratic "colony" ships (a cross between a warship and planetary seed engine) and the discus-shaped escort fleets. The planet's rich iron core is mixed with other unknown metals made it a favorite source for magical weapons, shields, and starship hulls.
• Either due to it's geologic makeup or for other unknown reasons, the moon is a bright source of psionic energy, which has affected everything from sentient culture development to the lifeforms in residence.
•  Zeth still has great cities, buried beneath the dunes and embedded inside abandoned mines.
•  A great war was once fought between Zethian slaves and their Benuvian masters. While the rebellion was eventually put down by Benu, several space vessels, crafted in secret, made it off-moon. It's rumored that their descendants began their own empires elsewhere and are among many reasons why Benu has fallen from its former glory.