Epsilon

Epsilon is a highly urbanized world that is almost entirely dominated by cities that have grown and merged to the point that they are now only distinguished by name, culture, and government. It is thought that every intelligent species on Epsilon arrived as colonists in the deep past well before the Ancient Space Age, but no one has any idea who has been there the longest, so the name "Epsilonian" simply refers to a number of species that has inhabited Epsilon as long as anyone can remember. The name Epsilon comes from a planet-naming convention based on the Greek alphabet used during the Ancient Space Age, a system that has been all but abandoned everywhere else.

Geology and Ecology
There used to be some mildly interesting geology on Epsilon, but the original colonists must have decided it wasn’t worth preserving when it came to urbanization (and the limited archaeology of the planet suggests that was probably about right). Preservationists through the ages have ensured survival for what is probably the most important of the native animal and plant species, mostly in enormous zoos so large and exquisitely engineered that they might be called wildlife preserves. There are no oceans on Epsilon, but a good number of lakes provide fresh water and hide beneath city sectors supported by large beams extending to solid ground below. The atmospheric balance of Epsilon is maintained by widespread algae roofing, personal gardens, and vertical farms, and strategically placed forests of genetically engineered trees that consume, convert, and/or store surprisingly large quantities of industrial by-products. There are also city parks that can rival the size of some cities on other planets, and many suburban areas that are more green than gray.

Civilization
Epsilon is home to an unclear number of "native" species, including several that have clearly come from offworld (such as the Vannu and one species possibly from ancient Arnost), but have been a part of Epsilon for its entire cultural history. In the course of that history, genetic science has allowed for some amount of inter-species breeding-- some more successful and more ancient than others. As a result, there is little use drawing clear lines between one Epsilonian species and another. They are all called "Epsilonian" as if it were a species, and when medical or other biological questions arise, it is often easier to do a full genetic sequence than to trace the subtleties of an individual's lineage.

The long-term diversity of Epsilon has led to even more interesting cultural phenomena. While there is a tremendous fluidity of people from one city to another, and no subgroup is completely impermeable, Epsilon has given birth to a staggering number of subcultures and communities of a staggering variety of compositions. Many are dominated by a single species and language, many are completely diverse with translation and accommodation being the norm. But there are also communities with exactly two species with clearly defined cultural roles, or societies of one species that have almost entirely adopted the lifestyle of a very different species, or communities that have taken a single element of culture and created an entire culture centered around that. Religions, languages, cuisines, fashion, arts, music, and all other aspects of culture are constantly evolving, splitting, recombining, and otherwise producing every manner of new form on Epsilon. Nothing can take over everything else because everything else is arleady everywhere. What the rain forests of Tolb are for biological life, Epsilon is for cultural life.

Epsilon hosts the governing council of the Galactic Armada and is usually the first place a new civilization puts an interstellar embassy, making Epsilon the de facto capital of the independent galaxy.