Shan-Sent
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Shan-Sent (Capital Ishu: Xààn Seŋx [ʃɑ̀ːn sɛ́ŋʃ]) is an inhabited planet in the Coalition of Allied Star Systems. It is known for its vast grasslands, floodplains, and arid stretches of desert. It is represented in the Coalition of Allied Star Systems by the Harmonious Dominion of Shan-Sent.
Geography
Pre-Great Seeding
Shan-Sent is much less tectonically-active than worlds like Heva or Artashia, being around 8.3 billion years old. Years of erosion from wind and rain has mostly eroded much of the previous mountain ranges, leaving only stretches of smooth rolling hills, with most barely reaching a kilometer in height, across much of the planet's surface. Being a rather dry world, most of the world's water is stored in its thousands of seas, lakes, and rivers.
Archaeological evidence points to the fact that the planet once contained life, but the world became sterile after a mass extinction event around 3.1 billion years ago.
Post-Great Seeding
The rather flat planetary surface formed from reduced tectonic activity, along with the ENAHU terraforming pod, created large swaths of grassland, floodplains, steppes, and deserts on Shan-Sent. The only trees on Shan-Sent exists near a strip of land near Olnoch Sea, the largest body of water on the planet.
Ecology
Fauna
- Silky elephant (Loxodonta serica)
- Highhorse (Equus macrotrachelus)
- Shaihol bison (Bison bison shaiholi)
- Ered pond buffalo (Bubalus palustris)
Culture
Shan-Sent is inhabited by the Shan-Senti, a semi-nomadic civilization sharing a similar ancestry to the Huai. The Shan-Senti subsist mostly through pastoral means, herding Shan-Senti geofauna like the silky elephant and the Ered pod buffalo.
The Sky-Supporting Pillar, formed from the cooled core of a deade volcano, is a central location of worship for many Shan-Senti. Climbing it is strictly forbidden except for several dozens of high shamans, who scale the mountain at least once in their lives in order to deepen their spiritual awareness.