Marion Prime

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A smaller Ironwood City Tree on Marion Prime

Marion Prime is the homeworld of the Marioni species and a part of the Solstern Empire. It is a lush forest planet known for the massive trees covering the planet.

Geography[edit | edit source]

Marion Prime is almost completely temperate, save for tropical regions in its equator and arctic regions at its poles. It is a giant landmass with no oceans, but full of rivers, great lakes and underground aquifers. The planet has a pseudo ocean directly running across its equator, however, this pseudo ocean is actually made out of freshwater and not salt water. The poles are frozen and have no water above ground, one can simply walk over to the arctic shelf of the planet.

The planet itself is covered with specific kinds of trees, which have come to be known as "Ironwood". These massive, skyscraper sized trees are made of wood tough enough to support their size and hardier than most metals. This unique tree only grows on Marion Prime, due to its conditions of low gravity and highly oxygen rich atmosphere. It is impossible to grow them anywhere else. Ironwood products are the main export of Marion Prime.

The planet defies conventional geography as every single tree serves as its own city, with each "ring" its own district. As such, the tallest and oldest tree on the planet, also known as the "Core Tree" (as according to Marioni beliefs its roots reach all the way down into the planet's core) is considered the capitol.

Society[edit | edit source]

The Marioni are not native to Marion Prime, and were in fact brought there by the Solsterns. Since the fall of the First Solstern Empire, they have been left to determine their own fate in the New Solstern Empire. Being free for the first time since they were enslaved by the Solsterns, the Marioni society evolved into a natural meritocracy.

The Marioni believe in remaining balanced with their world, and have embraced their home as part of their identity. As such, they rarely if at all use any electrical device, or take part in any polluting activities, they have created a sort of symbiotic relationship with the planet's native species, a squirrel like sentient species called the Scoi, which is similar to the relationship between the Salamandra and the Innox.

Though they have no buildings per se, the Marioni architectural creativity is expressed in intricate carvings of the outer layer of bark on their trees, having picked up the Innox gothic style and applied it to their own natural world, creating stunning city trees with captivating engravings, carvings and mosaics.

Inside their trees, their architectural style is very utilitarian, there are rarely any elevators, as the low gravity allows both the squirrels and the moths to simply glide down, or pick an air current up the tree, and are only there for disabled individuals. The center of a tree is usually hollowed out, making circular rings serve as streets that overlook the traffic in the middle.

The trees themselves and all vital fluid pathways in them are carefully preserved and rarely disturbed, so all the trees are very much alive, even when inhabited. There are rarely any stoves in Marioni household and no open flames. Most Marioni on the planet, omnivores, feed on nectar, insects and fruit from the tree. None of which require cooking with heat to consume.

Tourism is not allowed on Marion Prime, and it is one of the only planets in the Empire trusted to exist without an Innox Embassy manned by Innox, though they occasionally visit as needed. As such, Marion Prime can be considered one of the most autonomous planets in the Empire.