Albion is a terrestrial planet located in the Aleph Cluster. Albion and its orbit are home to several billion people, making the majority of the Cluster's population under the Kingdom of Albion. The predominant species is human, but other humanoid alien species are known to intermingle and move freely through the planet.
Albion is also home to the orbital object 'Null', a multi-levelled, railgun-like space elevator used for facilitating trade and travel within the Aleph Cluster and beyond. Albion's economy is highly reliant on trade, as its natural resources are on a razor's edge.
Albion's land mass comprises of three major 'continents' divided into three sectors each by a 'Capital' sector rising from the ocean. Each sector is home to one of the nine great city states of Albion, ruled by a democratically elected governor responsible for the wellbeing of the entire sector, with a team of elected public servants. The governors congregate at the Capital Sector once every three months to share their plans with each other, talk about trade, diplomacy, and their collective future.
The climate and conditions run the gamut from balmy around the equator to frozen at the ice caps, with a pair of temperate bands between each. The cities of Albion are designed differently to adapt to their surroundings, but they all stretch high into the air, with strata connecting many sets of buildings together into living spaces, leaving enough room for aerospace traffic.
The Capital Sector of Albion is situated in an ocean between Wace and Appolyn. Built on a small land mass to serve as an intermediate point for vessels, the Monarch Gavin the Younger deemed Regum their domain in PA 0 - as they could see every continent of Albion from the skies here. As time went on, the island was artificially expanded as the needs of the society grew. Regum is the land's capital city-state, where the Rulership of Albion resides. The weather is artificially controlled here; Defying windy, wet, tropical patterns.
The ruler of Regum is the de-facto King or Queen of Albion, with the ability to appoint and sack a governors with the approval of a majority of the others. This makes competition for the ruler of Regum and the rest of Albion a highly contentious and risky endeavour, with many figures vying for the position with their families, businesses, and other assets on the line to win at any cost.
Wace is the northeastern continent of Albion. Up in the northmost sector of White, Wace is broken into a chilly archipelago, with frost at the northernmost points of Wace and stretching to the north pole. The frigid city-state of Poyning is located in a hollowed mountain overlooking on the northern shores. In the centre of the continent is temperate savannah sector Red, dotted with dry forests, rocky hills, and canyons.
The river Halstead flows from White's mountains into Red and splits just south of the city-state of Myrddin. Beneath Myrddin is the Purple sector, following the largest offshoot river of the Halstead: the Granger. It stretches south-east into the continent, closest to the equator and home to muggy rainforests and treacherous waves. The trading city of Vulgate is located at the edges of the rainforest, following the Granger down to the shores and a direct trade route from Regum.
The cities of Wace incorporate constructions from older times seamlessly into their cities, preserving and building around archaic façades. Their general politics embrace the feudal roots of Albion's inception, with a strong reverence to the Rulership's monarchical power structure.
Nalbin is a curved continent stretching along the central ocean and south-western, forming a shape broken by a sizeable strait between Nalbin's northern mass, and the south-eastern mass possessing a sunswept sea in its centre. The Grey sector is a boreal taiga, and sleety winds in the south-western portion of the land. Its bastion of comfort amid a sea of pine forest is York, under a series of domes to shield it from the wind and weather.
Surrounding the inland sea and shot through a peninsula is the Gold sector, named for its beaches and vibrant ocean. Here, the city of Pendragon rests at the base of a long stretch of land leading into the ocean and breaking into small islands. To the west and east are the straits which separate the northern part of Nalbin from the south, home to the Orange sector, where a vast and sandy, rocky desert rests. Rising from the ruins of a destroyed city is Iwerddon, the beacon of the desert.
Nalbin's political philosophy embodies reverence for the family unit, with traditional views. However, this is often perceived as stubbornness in the face of an ever-changing world, and there are some rumblings of a counter-culture rebellion to embrace new ideas through the continent.
Appolyn is the continent residing between Wace and Nalbin, due south of Regum and stretching towards the southern pole. The shape of this continent is an irregular trio of distinct landmasses, separated by straits and a large basin between them. The portion closest to the equator is Green sector, an agricultural and industrial centre responsible for exporting food and vegetable products all over Albion. The City-State of Caledonia is on the northern coast, facing Regum with network of trade spaceports.
To the southeast of Green and broken into a chain of numerous islands is the deciduous Blue sector, with many artificial structures connecting them together. Resting on the largest of them just off-centre is Insulae, overshadowing a nearby volcano. The final piece of the continent Black Sector is caught under the south pole of the planet, ensuring six months of light and six months of darkness each throughout the year. Its sole beacon of light in the dark months is Longuyon, a mining and extraction state.
People of Appolyn value action over words, embracing the self-determination of a person to live their life as they see fit. They are keen on sharing their ideas of freedom and liberty, but often find themselves mired by those who'd take advantage of it, seeing the openness and generosity as a weakness.
The following are notable people born in, or living in Albion.
The following are members of the ruling seat of Regum.
Constructed atop the remains of a sheoul blast-deposit excavated from Thunderhead, the orbital object ‘Null’ is a hybrid electromagnetic railgun/space compression mass-driver. Colloquially known as ‘The Shooter’ by residents, its purpose is to provide extended travel throughout Aleph.
Null serves as a space-gate: a colony, dry-dock, manufacturing and exchange location though the nature of its high sheoul deposits make it unsafe for extended stay, meaning the majority of Null is automated and those who stay usually either only do so briefly or become attuned to living there under the neurally disruptive conditions. As such those who live there are often eccentric.