Atanoah

Atanoah is an world covered mostly in water and, for most of its history, by a black Cloud of exotic matter. The only places life can exist are small regions where the cloud is kept at bay by pillars of fire that burn back segments of it.

The world contains a vast range of cultures of different technological levels, from sword-wealding practitioners of ancient arts in isolated regions to bounty-hunters in orbit-capable ships and armed with electromagnetic rail guns. 

Quick Facts about Atanoah

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  The name means "World of Fires."
• It has 8 continents (determined more by political importance than geographical size), three of them being part of a chain of very large islands that circles the globe.
• Over 70% of the surface is ocean.
• Over 90% of the surface is covered by the Great Cloud, which resembles nuclear fall-out.
• The Cloud interferes with electrical operations, radio transmissions, and can cause severe psychological and physiological effects after prolonged exposure.
• There are approximately 125 Elements, or Core Fires, around the world that give Atanoah its name.
• Each Element burns off a radius of anywhere from 100 to 250 kilometers (65-160 miles) of the Cloud. Most are found in groups of three to seven, resulting in much larger openings in the Cloud (which is what accounts for the ~10% of the surface that’s habitable). These habitable areas are called Light Regions.
• There are 9 major nation states, some in political control of others. They are all located in Light Regions.
• To facilitate transportation between Light Regions, an orbital network was built, called the Sky Highway.
• The Highway is made up of a network of over 30 "nodes" (massive, city-sized space-stations in orbit), all connected to each other by "Bridgeway cables," some many thousands of kilometers long. 
• Unlike objects in normal orbit, the nodes of the Highway have near-normal gravity, due to a clever mechanical arrangement of how they are suspended in orbit.