Caelphineas Prime

Caelphineas Prime is a planet whose landmass forms a ring around its equator (and is thus mostly tropical rainforest), with much of the rest of the planet being ocean. One notable feature of the planet is a giant sandstorm that is a perpetual vortex in its southern hemisphere, similar to Jupiter's red spot. The day length is roughly 12 hours, but the gravity is strong enough to counteract centripetal force and result in one G of net acceleration on the surface.

The planet is home to a technologically advanced species of tall, thin humanoids whose ancesters were semi-aquatic and whose skin coloration ranges through the turquoise group with pink to purple markings. They are the classic aliens of conspiracy theories and Atlantis speculation, whose architecture is a blend of megaliths, pyramids, cryptic symbols, embedded technology, and semi-mystical energy sources. It is well known that they had spacefaring capabilities at least ten thousand years ago, and that they have indeed interfered in the development of civilization on other planets for their own secret purposes. However, it is also known that they could not have interfered in very many, and they refuse to tell anyone which planets they did or did not visit in their ancient meddlings. They have obviously left some clues, and there is some hope in piecing together their current motives and extrapolating which planets may have fit with their past motives, but they are also quick to remind others that pyrimads might also just be the best way to pile a bunch of rocks really tall, and don't necessarily mean anything. Calephinean society is a welcome place for merchants and visitors, but there is a clear limit to how well an outsider can integrate into the culture, or how much they can learn about the inner workings of the society. There is a fairly steady stream of truth-seekers trying to uncover the mysteries of Caelphineas Prime, and a fairly steady stream of interesting but not necessarily groundbreaking discoveries. Many treasure-hunters believe that there is something hidden in the planet's great sandstorm, or that the sandstorm might even have been created to conceal it. However, no expedition has found anything that couldn't also just be noise-- or if they have, they didn't make it back out of the storm.

Today, Caelphineas Prime is most notable as a significant spaceport along many shipping routes, known for its cheap fuel and energy. In the current galactic stage, they are a fairly typical advanced society, but are not major players in interplanetary politics. Their chief exports are in the energy sector, including power itself and various (sometimes mysterious) ways of generating and storing it. Their chief imports are cultural products, including many exotic (to them) foods, music, pets, and servants. They are particularly fond of Earth-style sushi, Ventian jazz, and the latest species from Tolb.