Larqvia is a dual planetary nation in the Zur star system, System 139 of the Devart Sector of space, in the Nebulosa of Ots. The nation is noted for its diversity as it was founded as an 'Ark Project' with the intention of restoring lost peoples and creatures to viability from DNA stocks. On Larqvia, this beginning ideal was virtually deified as a purpose of the world. The name of the world being taken from the Ark Ship that brought and built the nascent colony.
Planets[]
Larqvia is unusual in that it is a dual planet system. That is, a planetary orbit around the sun with two planets, (bodies of planetary size, having comparable masses) sharing the orbit, acting as a moon to the other. The two planets are an 'Aiers-type' planet and a lifeless 'heavy mineral' type planet of somewhat smaller size and mass.
L'Arq[]
The Aiers-Type planet. It has land masses on the poles with considerable glaciation and an equatorial super-continent with a vast interior desert. Areas of green and productivity are found at the edges of the super continent, and many sub-continents and peninsulas. Storms between the two broad ocean straits between the super-continent and the poles are very common.
L'Arq is a planet of extremes. It's an ice planet, a desert planet, of both hot and cold deserts, and yet one of well watered temperate zones.
Volcanoes are a threat in the super-continent center, but a magma based geo-power tap provides much power on L'Arq, including the orbital elevator.
Sometimes L'Arq is informally referred to as a 'Donut World' or 'Ring World' for its areas of vibrant life and habitation surrounding the perimeter of the super-continent with its great desert center.
Venn[]
The Heavy Mineral-Type planet. Lifeless, smaller and of less gravity than L'Arq, but of good density and of an active, molten core. Has a poisonous, thin atmosphere, most surface water found in a sea formed in the center of an immense crater basin.
Peoples[]
Humans[]
Larqvia is made up mostly of humans derived from Regult clones in various points in its history. Both in the founding of the nation, and more recently. With recent pushes in development, Jako Shiks have also become very popular and numerous, especially on the world of Venn, and on various space ships and the Larqvia merchant fleet.
Over the generations, natural born humans have become more populous much like in other colonies. However, Larqvia had its growth somewhat restrained despite its early founding, so humans did not grow greatly beyond the combined and relative levels of the other non-human races. However, the importation of shiks in recent decades has altered this situation. To address it, Aenian 'artificial elves' have been imported or grown on Larqvia to re-balance the population.
The early culture was essentially Degolandic, but multiple human sub-races were included as gene-stocks for the cloned colonists, along with some basis of specific cultural programming.
Artificial Humans[]
Artificially Conceived Colonists[]
Various artificial humans--clones--have always been a part of Larqvia. Like most all human based colonies, very heavy use of Regult "Shiks" were used as the population of the first colonists along with the natural born humans. As Larqvia was an Ark Project, other clones of other peoples than humans were heavily included right from the beginning. As the planet's biosphere was reshaped and seeded, further races would be cloned from gene stocks.
Larqvia's beginnings were very much like other early colonies, but perhaps for a greater emphasis and adherence to goals of the Ark Project that spawned it. As the colony became a nation, diversity was maintained with some difficulties.
Shiks[]
With the later expansion of the nation's industrial development and economy, bioengineered artificial humans known as Shiks became extremely popular in the effort to expand space based capabilities and develop Venn.
Shiks, mostly Jakos as is usual, but also common use of industrial Albertonians, and also rather widespread use of the Dreselandeses in various capacities have been noted. Higher grade Dreselandeses being used as usual as officers, administrators, managers, and scientists as they are on other worlds. Few worlds, however, make as much use of low-grade Dreselandes in such common capacities as soldiers, aids, supervisors and technicians than Larqvia. The nation makes up much of the interstellar shik market for low grade Dreselandes shiks.
Individualized Bioengineered Children[]
Many natural humans with the ability to do so sometimes have their children artificially created following the Dreselandes template to ensure that they would have considerable skills and intellect.
Likewise, it has also become popular so as such children might also be genetically engineered with elf traits.
Yak Yak[]
Generally considered humans, the 'giant' humans known as Yak Yak were also cloned and stocked on the planet L'Arq in some numbers. Due to their size, they are sometimes considered something 'other' than human. But mostly due to how they stand out and the need to accommodate their size in an industrialized society.
Having a niche as powerful workers in construction and such, they are somewhat at odds with the increasing use of industrial Albertonian shiks that have become quite popular in the growing industrial base. Ironically, the presence of Yak Yak scaled facilities, tools and products helped make the integration of large Albertonians in great numbers more feasible.
Elves[]
Often called, somewhat erroneously, the 'Elf World', Larqvia has a large percentage of its population being elves of various races. Sometimes "Elf World" is meant derisively, both internally and externally to Larqvia itself, as elves collectively have maintained great bargaining power in the government, are commonly seen in important capacities and, most recently, even some humans bioengineer their children to be 'elves'.
Several other worlds actually have more elves living on them; but Larqvia is noted for having large numbers of Dark Elfs living there, albeit, at least the planet of Negeé (colonized by the Underdark Technologies Inc. corporation) has more dark elves. But Larqvia has perhaps the greatest population of Zuleis dark elves than any other world. It also has a great diversity of dark elves living in various zones. Ice elves and snow elves in glaciated or colder areas, or having immigrated elsewhere, or to work on Venn or in space. Likewise, Drow also live commonly in subterranean environments on both L'Arq and Venn, and also in space stations due to their comfort with enclosed spaces.
The arrival and rapid growth in the use of Jako shiks in space made certain groups of elves feel threatened by the competition of artificial humans in markets and jobs that elves had done much to make their own--which led to later waves of Aenian clones (bioengineered elves) being used instead to 'rebalance' the numbers.
Loranor[]
It also has a percentage of Loranor in its population. Mostly of Katztes, but also of other Loranor subraces as well.
Drak Harg[]
Dragon folk live in various regions, but are noted for being a common race in the Great Central Desert.
Other Races[]
Many minor races were also cloned by the Ark Project that spawned the original colonists of the planet. Although they were often created many years after the initial colonization work began.
There are populations of K'nir, Hattak, Harpy, and Minotaurs. Mostly these populations were included due to the initial and long running concern for Ark Project goals of promoting diversity on new worlds. Many live primitive lives.
Other races might be present as well. Many due to some immigration or small scale stocking of the planet. Vampires are widely believed to be present in small numbers.
Cultures[]
Government[]
Economy[]
Military[]
History[]
Founding[]
Since its origin, Larqvia was a large scale colonisation project organised by private enterprises in the RFC (then, one of the dual Federal Republics of the RFB-RFC, commonly simply themed as the RFB) in the Chechoslovernia Star System, that had gained access to the genetic reservoir of one of the Ark Ships of the RFC.
While the RFB was largely made up of descendants and clones from human Islamic nations from Zarhuy, Aels and Hieyoks, the RFC was made up of descendants and clones of humans from human Christian nations of Aels and Zean, with small non-human populations.
As was reached the population goals of the RFB-RFC set as their bases by the Federal governments thanks to extensive cloning programs that permitted a quick expansion, began to become louder and louder the ideological and religious complaints and protests against the continued cloning of population.
There was a group of very vocal activists that proposed to continue with the cloning, but as well to be more ambitious and make more extensive use of the DNA present in the Ark Ships of the RFB and RFC, and rather than just replicate as regult clone population the samples, respecting the proportions of the historic aierian populations, that proposed to recreated, recover and clone in greater numbers non-human populations, which was rejected, fearing it would upset the "natural balance" the RFB-RFC federal governments had used from population data of Aiers before the Fourth Aiers World War.
As cloning was progressively phased out in the RFB and the RFC, and with the continued rejections to recreate disappeared peoples due technological or ideological grounds, will began a program to acquire one of the now unused Ark Ships and their genetic samples of Aierian population unaltered stock, to then begin a large scale experiment, to be done in a new nation, beyond the borders and the laws of the RFB-RFC.
In the decade of the 3380s, finally would be bought the Ark Ship "L'Arq", and a suitable world was found for settling, that hadn't been claimed by any of the major powers of the nebula of Ots.