Venus
The second planet of the Solar System is Venus. Beneath its constant shroud of clouds, Venus is a swamp world drenched with nearly continuous rainfall and withering heat. Venus is almost everywhere covered with water, but the average depth is less than 10 feet. The world-swamp is appropriate for this planet, for it is now in the Mesozoic Age of dinosaurs, and vast areas are the domain of lumbering reptiles. Although expeditions were sent to Venus as early as 1873 (using British-made Armstrong Flyers), the first one to return was the German-backed Heidelberg expedition of 1879-80. It was discovered that the peculiar nature of the Venusian magnetic field interacts with the ether in an unknown fashion which casues radically accelerated liftwood decay on that world. Germany, unable to obtain large quantities of liftwood because of its lack of a viable Martian colony (at least initially), was forced to make use of dirigibles as the lifting means for their ether flyers. When a German ether dirigible carrying the Heidelberg expedition landed at what came to be called the Kaiser Wilhelm Plateau, they found the last few survivors of the earlier expeditions, severely reduced in number due to the attacks of multiple dinosaurs and groups of hostile Lizard-men. Germany has dominated the exploration and exploitation of Venus since that time, although Russian, Italian, British, and American settlements or trade enclaves are also present. Although not as heavily colonized as Mars, Venus presents almost equal economic potential.
Geography: Venus is a younger world than the Earth and is still in an early, chaotic stage of its development. Its landforms, like its life forms, are therefore not as varied as those of Earth.
The
Mountains of Venus are believed to be of relatively recent origin geologically. This surmise is necessary in order to account for the fact that the mountains have not yet eroded away under almost perpetual rainfall. Some are volcanic in origin, including the Kaiser Wilhelm range. Mount Maxwell is thought to have been active as recently as 5000 years ago, but there do not seem to have been any eruptions since then. The Aphrodite Mountains, on the other hand, seem to have resulted from some form of geological uplift similar to that which produced most mountains on Earth. n the mountains, it is not uncommon to find outcroppings of the native bedrock, especially in areas where the slope is extreme and the native plants can find no purchase. Humans often exploit these outcroppings for building material.
The
Highlands of Venus receive more light from the sun, and the planet life of the highland jungles tends to resemble that of Earth in similar locations. Tree-like plants are encountered more frequently than in the lower altitudes.
The
Lowlands receive less light and tend to produce plants with less energetic requirements than those of the higher altitudes. There are very few flowering plants; cycads and ferns tend to be the most common. The soil of the bogs consists of a thick paste of organic material through which the planets of the bog send shoots and tendrils seeking nutrients. The bogs of VEnus are very much like the peat bogs found in northern Europe, consisting of a thick sponge of organic matter (mostly decaying bogweed) and water. In some cases the upper layer of plant material is solid enough to walk on; in others a person will sink out of sight in seconds (bogs 60 feet or more in depth are not uncommon in the lowlands). Humans on Venus took a leaf from the Lizardfolk's book and devised a type of footgear called the bogshoe. Bogshoes are broad, flat, circular contraptions (similar to snowshoes), usually made of an open mesh to permit water to drain off. They spread the wearer's weight over a wider area and make it possible to walk atop the bogs with little danger of sinking. Quaking bogs are areas where a dense layer of bogweed lies atop a pool of less dense muck. When walked upon, the ground begins to resonate with each step, like a trampoline. If the person walking on the surface tries to go too fast, the resonations are amplified until the surface of the bogweed splits open, swallows the unfortunate victim, and closes over again, leaving an almost imperceptible seam. Quick action is necessary lest the victim perish. Within hours, the rupture will repair itself and will be as strong as before. Experienced travelers on Venus soon learn to recognize these quaking bogs. The bogs of Venus hold water like a sponge and release it gradually to trickle downhill to the oceans. For this reason, there are no small streams and few rivers on Venus, and those that do exist tend to shift position at irregular intervals, appearing and vanishing within a few weeks.
The
Marshes and Shallow Seas are what bogs turn into as the planet material of the bogs thins gradually. A marsh contains mostly water, whereas a bog contains a majority of solid matter. The marshes of Venus resemble the Everglades of the American state of Florida, consisting of large expanses of slow-moving shallow water interspersed with temporary islands where eddies and currents deposit mounds of muck. Some of these islands grow their own colonies of ferns and cycads and become permanent fixtures of the marsh; others are washed away again within a few months of their creation. The marshes of Venus fade gradually into shallow seas less than a few hundred yards in depth but still permeated with growths of plant material resembling terrestrial seaweed, which extends from the bottom to the surface in some areas, and can inhibit seagoing craft in some places. These areas are sometimes nicknamed "Sargassos," after the Sargasso Sea on Earth.
The
Oceans are at the centers of the larger Venusian maritime regions, called the Nordmeer (North Sea) and the Sudmeer (South Sea). Except for the cloud cover, the deep oceans are quite like the oceans of Earth and would seem familiar to almost any mariner. Surface travel is quite rare, however, because of the difficulties of navigation and the hazards presented by monstrous creatures which inhabit these depths.
Weather: The climate of Venus can be summed up very easily: hot and wet. On Venus, it is always either raining or about to rain, regardless of location (and a good thing it is, because it helps to keep the temperature down). Lightning often accompanies the heavier storms, but high winds are rare. Temperatures are lowest in the high mountain plateaus (middle to upper 90s F) and highest in the lowland areas and the surface of the seas (where the temperature averages over 110 F). Humidity is always between 95 to 100 percent, regardless of altitude. In the lowlands and on the seas, visibility ranges from less than 10 feet up to a few hundred yards, depending on local weather conditions. Higher up the fog is often thinner, but intervening terrain features usually limit visibility to about the same distance. On the upper slopes of Mount Maxwell, however, visibility is often in excess of a mile (that is, airships can be spotted at this distance - there are no other mountains near Mount Maxwell to be seen).
The Russian Enclave: Czar Alexander III has never been overly enamored of colonial ventures, but the expedition sponsored by his father in 1880 laid claim to territories on Venus and discovered a number of plants of economic significance (including the cotton tree and the aephodilia). The Russian settlements are primarily small, heavily fortified trading posts in the Aphrodite Mountain region.
The British Enclave: Because of their early exploration efforts, the British have a claim to a portion of Venus and maintain a small settlement on the Victoria Plateau, incorporating several small plantations and a number of small trading stations. The British settlements are each self-governing, but the magistrate of Fort Collingswood is considered to be in overall charge. A military bureaucracy is also present, separate from and nominally independent of the civilian one. But in practice, the magistrate and the ranking British officer cooperate in all important matters. The slopes leading up to the Victoria Plateau are steep enough to keep out the largest and most dangerous dinosaurs, but British soldiers are nevertheless stationed on Venus for the protection of the more remote British trading stations.
The American Presence: On Venus, the Americans have concentrated their efforts on developing mercantile posts rather than territorial claims, campaigning for what they call an "open door" policy of trade. American merchants have a near-monopoly on the import of one luxury item: ice. Shipped in insulated holds and stored in sealed warehouses under several feet of insulating sawdust, ice commands a high price on VEnus for obvious reasons (American merchants say it is easier to transport ice to Venus than to Calcutta). In addition, interplanetary ether flyers of American registry carry the larger part of civilian cargo to and from Venus, especially for the Italian and Russian settlements. The Americans maintain no troops on Venus, but their mercantile parties customarily travel heavily armed.
The Italian Enclave: The Italian expedition of 1880-81 made no important botanical or zoological discoveries, but it did manage to map an unexplored portion of the equatorial region of Venus. The Kingdom of Italy maintains no major military presence on Venus but has laid claim to several territories on the Sappho Plateau, where it maintains a few trading posts and plantations and keeps a few hundred troops for their defense.
The German Colony: The German colony on Venus occupies the western slopes of the Kaiser WIlhelm Mountains and has a population of about 8000 humans and an estimated 200,000 Lizardfolk. The area claimed by the colony amounts to just under 140,000 square miles, but only a minute percentage of this area has been settled by humans. Most of the population is contained in the four major cities, and in a dozen or so small trading posts and the villages that have grown up around them. The capital and seat of government of the German Venus Kolonie is the city of Venusstadt. The governor and his staff are civil servants are are part of the normal German colonial administration. A military contingent is present, consisting of two regiments of Schutztruppen. There are a few units of Lizardfolk, commanded by human officers and NCOs, but the governor does not completely trust them and insists that none of them be allowed inside the capital. Venusstadt and the other cities are protected from marauding dinosaurs by natural terrain features (steep slopes and cliffs). Most of the plantations and outlying trading posts must rely on man-made fortifications and weapons for defense against the monstrous dinosaurs. Outlying settlements must also defend themselves against the occasional bands of marauding Lizardfolk who manage to evade the overworked Schutztruppen patrols.
Lizardfolk: The name "Lizardfolk" was applied to the aboriginal inhabitants of Venus by the first humans to arrive on that world because of the creatures' reptilian appearance. Although the first groups encountered were uniformly hostile, it was soon discovered that there were many tribes of Lizardfolk who could be friendly to humans. Indeed, in 1887 James MacKenzie, the lone survivor of an 1873 expedition, was discovered living with a friendly remote tribe, having gone completely native (it was he who revealed the translation of the Lizardfolk's name for humans, Bolu Popimayama: "pale as a dead fish").
Physical Description: The Lizardfolk of Venus are upright bipeds, although when speed is desired, they will often slither along their bellies in a manner similar to a terrestrial otter sliding down a riverbank. Their feet are broad, flat, three-toed appendages, with a thick webbing between the toes which serves as a secondary means of propulsion in the water and prevents them from sinking into the much when they walk on land. Their tail is their primary propulsive organ when swimming and also serves as a portable support when they stand upright (much like the Australian kangaroo). Their arms are thin and spindly, but surprisingly strong, and end in hands which are quite human-like but for missing a digit (what a human would call the little finger). When sliding or swimming, these arms are held flat against the sides and are used in steering or braking. The head of a Lizardfolk is his most reptilian characteristic, somewhat resembling that of a terrestrial monitor lizard, but with large, batrachian eyes (presumably because of the world's dim light). Male Lizardfolk have a small horn-like projection on the nose, which they do not seem to use as a weapon except in their ritual mate selection duels. The eyes seem to protrude slightly from the face, but this is an illusion created by the thick brow ridges. There are two sets of eyelids, a transparent inner lid (which is closed to protect the eyes when swimming in relatively clear water), and a thicker outer lid, which is closed when burrowing through the mires and bogs of the Venusian lowlands. The nostrils are relatively large but can be closed by means of a sphincter muscle when burrowing through the muck. They use their nostrils underwater to "smell" prey and to locate others of their species. Lizardfolk breathe using lungs, btu recent investigations have revealed a hitherto unsuspected ability: Lizardfolk can supplement their lungs underwater by absorbing oxygen and respiring carbon dioxide through their belly skin (their back skin is too thick for this process). This process is not enough to keep them alive, but it can extend their time underwater by a sizable margin and makes possible immersions of up to an hour. Subsurface navigation is accomplished by smell and by means of echo location.
Cultures and Socities: Most Lizardfolk live in an appallingly primitive state, wandering the lowlands (or swimming in the shallow seas) in nomadic, small family and clan groups, carrying their meager possessions in net bags woven of vines and creepers. Some Lizardfolk, however, have begun to ascend the path of civilization, although they are still savage primitives in most respects. Even before the coming of humanity, there were a few tribes of Lizardfolk which had developed a primitive agriculture (or aquaculture, since they are equally at home on land and in water), and were beginning to lead a more sedentary lifestyle than their nomadic neighbors. Family and clan groups coalesced under a chief or council of elders into a village, and soon villages began to combine into tribes. Agricultural surpluses accumulated and permitted specialized occupations such as warrior, shaman, priest, and so on. With the arrival of humans, some of these tribes were absorbed into the colonies. Here, they work on the giant plantations of the jungle-covered plateaus, tending plants and protecting them from the local animal life in return for food and protection (from the elements, from dinosaurs, and from the deprivations of their marauding brethren). Other tribes near the settled plateaus have prospered greatly from trade. The Lizardfolk, who are acclimatized to the hot, wet lowlands, gather the plants and other materials which humans find valuable. These they trade for various human goods at hundreds of small trade stations located throughout the lowlands.
Oma Jolima (Mother of Weapons) is a reed-like plant of the Venusian lowlands. Although relatively supple when alive, the stem hardens after harvesting, becoming an extremely tough but slightly springy substance, approximating ebony in hardness, but without the excessive weight of that hardwood, and with the flexibility of horn. By shaping the plant immediately after harvesting and allowing it to harden, the Lizardfolk make most of their weapons. Young shoots are used for arrows; slightly older shoots are used for javelins, harpoons, and spears. War clubs, axes, and maces can be made by braiding together lengths of the supple shoots and allowing them to harden. Sharp bits of bone or chipped stone are often woven into the ends of these weapons, making them quite deadly. Helmets, shields, breastplates, and other armor can also be constructed from the plant by weaving the thin shoots into the shape desired, like wicker. Since the planet hardens within an hour of harvest, great speed and dexterity are needed in order to complete the more complicated items. Before the arrival of humans, these missiles were quite light and had little penetrative power, and were therefore usually tipped with deadly poison from one of the numerous toxins available to the Lizardfolk. (Fortunately, these poisons have proven somewhat less lethal to humans than to Lizardfolk, and generally cause severe fever but seldom death.) Metal points obtained from human traders give their missiles more weight and sufficient penetration to be deadly without this barbaric and cruel accessory. The warriors of the tribes close to human settlement have given up the practice, but the more remote savages retain it.
Biology of Life on Venus: In general, life on Venus is simpler, more primitive, and less well-developed than on Earth. There are no higher forms such as mammals or birds, and there are few flowering plants. The dominant fauna on Venus are collectively referred to as dinosaurs, because of their close resemblance to the extinct terrestrial life form of the same name. Since the dinosaurs of Earth are extinct, it is impossible to determine the exact relationship (if any) between the dinosaurs of Venus and those of Earth. Many of the larger dinosaurs are very difficult to kill with weapons smaller than light artillery, and these present a danger to all travelers. Hundreds of varieties have been cataloged. Some of the most common are brontosaurus, tyrannosaurus, ceratopsians, stegosaurus, and hadrosaurs, but this is by no means a comprehensive list. The highland jungles are home to numerous small lizards of every sort. One variety, the pacyosaurus, has been domesticated by several of the more advanced tribes of Lizardfolk as a draft animal and mount. In addition to these land fauna, there are also sea creatures including plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and a variety of primitive fish (and many other types - again this is not a comprehensive list). There are small flying creatures such as insects, but there are no birds and bats. Aside from the insect-like creatures mentioned, flight on Venus is the sole province of a few reptilian creatures similar to the pterodactyls of Earth's bygone ages. The largest of these has a wingspan of three yards and weights just under 35 pounds. The smallest is the size of an Earth pigeon.
Life on Venus: Visitors to Venus will find a number of interesting and amusing aspects to the world. Their clothing (leather goods in particular) will grow a thin coating of green slime unless sprayed with carbolic acid every day or so. Though rubberized clothing is resistant to the climate, it is also quite heavy and hot, while most conventional clothing soon becomes rotten and reduced to rags. Iron and steel which are not properly cared for will soon turn to useless lumps of rust. Wood must be treated with creosote, carbolic acid, or some other chemical preservative or it will rot away within weeks. The humidity will turn the stiffest of starched collars to a sodden rag within minutes (the new celluloid collars are a must for any gentleman on Venus). Anyone who ventures outside must decide whether it is worse to be drenched in the open air or remain drier but hotter inside a rubberized canvas sou'wester. Travel is mostly by airship, and long-distance journeys are usually made above the cloud layer to lessen navigational difficulties. Travelers on foot will need special footgear in the bogs. Weapons are essential. Travelers in the lowlands must be prepared to defend themselves from the attacks of giant dinosaurs, and travelers outside settlements must be prepared for the attacks of hostile Lizardfolk.
