After Tymon and Michael left us, I pushed Avarice away from me, and then he, Za'Fia, and I left the room we were in in the Royal Palace.
With everything going on and lots of places I needed to familiarize myself with, I didn't want to waste any time getting started, so we headed for the exit. On the way there, in what I guess could be referred to as the lobby, we came across some pamphlets.
"Brochures?" Za'Fia commented as she picked one up.
"Oh, cool, we can use that as we travel," I remarked excitedly as I snatched one from its stand. Though physical, when I opened it, the information inside was digital.
"Explains why they're so small," Avarice said, flipping through his.
On the first page was information about Cindar itself. It was a class-5 planet, being a planet native to a Celestial, which apparently warranted extreme risks to the Neutral Corp, who maintained peace throughout the quadrant.
According to Viraa, the planetary class system was:
Class 1: unaffiliated planets whose natives are low-level threats. (Viraa specifically mentioned Earth would fall under this category)
Class 2: unaffiliated planets whose natives are moderate threats
Class 3: unaffiliated planets whose natives are powerful and warrant caution
Class 4: affiliated planets under the protection of a Celestial
Class 5: planets native to a Celestial, warranting extreme risks. Typically associated with Apex Worlds.
Speaking of Apex Worlds, the brochure also read that Cindar was ranked fifth of all 5 confirmed Apex Worlds, each associated with a Celestial.
"Only fifth? I assumed pneumarians were the most powerful race," Avarice commented, seemingly disappointed. "How is it that this is only the fifth most dangerous world?"
The Neutral Corp ranks the Apex Worlds based on their overall threat presence in case of an emergency, Viraa replied. Due to the Neutral Corp and the Celestials possessing the power to destroy even Apex Worlds, the presence of beings such as pneumarians alone poses no threat should we make ourselves an enemy of intergalactic peace.
"So should pneumarians decide they want to go conquer worlds again," Za'Fia clarified, bluntly.
Correct. That is not to say that pneumarian, and even klevonian presence, here contributes nothing at all, but the Neutral Corp primarily focuses on the residing Celestial's direct forces, which consist of the Celestial themselves and their Tenshu – or celestial guards, if you will. Cindar is ranked last due to two contributing factors. The most significant factor is that our Celestial is the only one to vanish for long stretches of time. The other factor is the simple fact that, unlike most other Apex Worlds, Cindar only has one being who has been powerful enough to rise to the status of Tenshu: Aeric. His presence keeps most pillagers away from Cindar.
"The zasshu. I figured he was powerful, but I didn't expect him to be that powerful...," Avarice muttered to himself, tapping his chin in thought. Knowing him, he'd likely read up on everything he could in the archive while I was in a coma. I'd have to get him to share some of that information later.
Continuing through Cindar's information, we saw that the planet was appraised to be worth 26.7 trillion spendil in total, which would be around $72 trillion.
"No wonder it'd be a target for pillaging," Za'Fia remarked.
Its overall population was about 3.4 billion, but only 19,000 of that were pneumarians, and 23,207 were klevonian.
We also learned a little more about the permanent weather condition that my amulet revealed to me. Cindar didn't experience seasons like many other planets. Instead, it had several permanent biomes that were greatly influenced by the cindarians that reside in a given area. Apparently, in Old Pneuma City, crest members were more dispersed, which didn't provide much room for new biomes to form. However, in the current Pneuma City and in Forgeton, cindarians mainly migrated to those with the same elements, creating dense biomes that varied depending on the crest.
Near the exit, we saw a sort of pay station with a machine inside. On the machine read: Flight Passes. After Viraa explained what they were to us, we purchased the version that would cover each district for a whole UST year. Apparently, due to the high price tag of 998,400 for national coverage, most opted for resident passes, but I didn't want us to have to stop by a pay station each time we entered a new district.
After leaving the palace and skipping across the lake it sat in, we flew for a few minutes until the scenery changed from lush, blue-greenery with clouds scattered overhead to sand-covered ground as far as the average eye could see. And not a cloud in sight. It was definitely warmer there, but the temperatures weren't as high as they felt in the Phoenix District when we first arrived. The key difference there was the total dryness in the air.
Stopping, I took a look at the map. So, the Royal Palace was built in the center of Pneuma City. It was situated in an oasis surrounded by something called the Sicare Ring – a vast sand desert region that served as a network of highways, allowing for faster travel to the other districts that were formed around its outskirts.
I flipped until I found the section for the Sicare Ring. According to the brochure, the Sicare Ring was the Graboid Crest's district where they provided safe travel through the frequent sandstorms using desert ships that travel the highways. There was a dry port located somewhere along the borders of each district that connected with the Sicare Ring.
Underneath a section labeled 'Know Your Host' was information about the crest itself and additional details about the district.
For example, the district's official city, Sicare, was run with a particular 'glutton governing'. For the most part, everything operated with upholding the nation's Golden Laws in mind, but there, the Crest Head was willing to show favor and cooperate with officials who offered him delicious food that he'd never tasted before.
Viraa laughed.
The problem is, there is not much that he has not tried by now. He has spent most of his life inviting chefs from all over the quadrant and paying them to create the finest cuisines for him.
The district's sacred guardian was a large graboid that tended to sleep beneath the sand, but its descendants still roamed about.
Sicare itself had a civilian population of about 70,000, but the Graboid Crest housed one pneumarian – that being the Crest Head himself. Viraa said the Graboid bloodline had always struggled the most to produce more pneumarians naturally. As for the klevonians, there were seventy-five of them, and most of the crest had an element of sand, meaning most of them inherited the Suna eutierric cintracy.
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