Wandering Dark / Lantern Chasms
Rogoboo
A planet with no sun, going nowhere in particular.
A rogue world drifting between stars. Its frozen surface is black and silent, but deep chasms open onto geothermal caves glowing with luminous life and lantern-lit cities.
Nobody knows where Rogoboo came from, or exactly where it is going. Which is a problem, because its gravity tugs on whatever it passes.
Rogoboo has no sun. It drifts alone between the stars, a dark, cold world wandering the galaxy. On the surface, the sky is black and the ground is frozen solid.
But under the ice, the planet's own heat keeps vast caverns warm. The chasms glow with bioluminescent life, and whole towns live down there in the soft blue light, perfectly happy never to see a sky.
Atmosphere
Dark above, warm and glowing below.
Local quirk
Directions here are given as 'down, then warmer'.
Regions · proposed names, not locked canon
Lantern Chasms
Bioluminescent caves and underground towns.
The Frost Crust
The dark, icy surface. Silent, starlit and empty, except for the odd lost explorer.
Glowmarket
The biggest cave town, lit by glowing fungi the size of trees.
Hazards
- ▲Frozen surfaceDeadly cold, no light and nothing to navigate by.
- ▲Tunnel collapsesThe burrow-moles are good diggers, not careful ones.
Visitor tips
- ✦Land at the marked shafts.
- ✦Don't lift the Lid in conversation.
- ✦Bring a light, but you won't need it below.
Local life
- ●Chasm-dwellers
- ●Glow-fungus forests
A day on Rogoboo
Down in the chasms, 'day' starts when the glow-fungi brighten and ends when they dim. Nobody minds that it isn't the sun.
The towns are full of music, warm springs and long conversations, because there's always time for one more.
Locals & customs
Lamplighter Ub
Tends the glow-fungi and knows every tunnel by heart. He has never been to the surface and doesn't plan to.
Burrow-moles
Soft, glowing diggers that make new tunnels. Towns follow wherever they go.
- ◆The surface is called 'the Lid'. Going up is called 'lifting the Lid', and it is considered very rude.
- ◆Every newborn gets a tiny glowing fungus to grow with them.
Legends & history
The Lost Sun
Rogoboans say their planet once had a sun but wandered away from it, curious about the rest of the galaxy.
They say it's still wandering, still curious. They seem proud of it.
Crew log
“A whole planet with no sun. And it's cosier than my cabin.”
“Warm caves. Glowing mushrooms. I'd stay.”
Story seed · in development
Where Are You Going?
Rogoboo's path is drifting toward a populated system near Earth's lanes. The crew have to find out who, or what, is steering it.
Rogoboo is drifting toward a busy shipping lane near Earth's corner of the galaxy, and someone has to convince it, gently, to change course.
Earthward stakes
A wandering gravity field could unsettle orbits in systems Earth relies on.
Onobo packs
Science inspiration
Rogue (free-floating) planets are real. The biosphere and cities are fiction.
NASA: exoplanets