Icara

''This page refers to the planet Icara and its people. For information on the Rejuve setting in which the planet is based, go to Icaran Setting''

Icara is a major colony on the outskirts of known space. It appears in the Chronicles of Vaahn as one of the major planets of the setting.

Founding
Icara was established by a deep space colonial mission known as "The Icaran Program". A massive generational ship, Icarus, was dispatched to seek out and establish a new world apart from the rest of the Federation. Icara was chosen due to its considerable similarities to Earth in terms of gravity, atmospheric content, day cycles and available environments. Following the settling of the colony, a Warp Gate was established (though where it leads has yet to be confirmed) and within a few years the second phase of the colonisation had begun.

The Icaran Program initially planned to colonise twenty more worlds, though to date less than a dozen have been established.

Geography
Icara contains numerous environments, ranging from scorching deserts at the equator to frozen tundra on the poles. The planet has a single super-continent, with countless smaller islands breaking off toward the west. Icara is found to contain examples of almost all environments found on earth, though most of the planet's civilization is placed in temperate or medeterranian style climates.

Culture
Icara has no one culture of its own. The initial colony ship collected people from many different worlds and backgrounds, and many aliens also chose to join the program. The majority of Humans (about 50%) trace their origins to various European nations, albeit often by way of other colonies. Only about 30% of the Icaran program's volunteers were actually born on Earth.

Despite this cultural melting pot, Icara generally follows the same beliefs as the rest of the Federation, albeit somewhat modified due to their isolated nature. Icarans typically value self sufficiency, encourage exploration and have a love of 'old fashioned' ways of doing things. Even though Icara is now an extremely sophisticated and long established colony, its people still like to believe they possess a greater 'frontier spirit' than other members of the Federation. Offworlders often claim, unflatteringly, that Icarans have a highly self-righteous and arrogant outlook on life.

As of their last official census, Icara has a population of 300 million.

Interactions with other races
Icara's relations with local species has been less than ideal. Many of the species encountered were so utterly alien that establishing any meaningful relationship proved almost impossible, whilst others, the Kyyreni in particular, proved overtly hostile.

These hostilities blossomed into the Icaran War - a conflict that raged intermittantly for over a decate between a united Kyyreni people and their allies versus Icara and her sister colonies. The war claimed countless lives on both sides, though it did bring a peace of sorts at its conclusion. In the long years that followed, Icara was able to establish a more peaceful relationship with the nearest Kyyreni colonies, and tentative trade began. It took some time for Urokon's major powers to accept this new state of affairs, but in time the pirate raiders ceased to terrorise the outer Federation planets. Though both sides have officially opened their borders to the other, very little in the way of migration or vacation takes place between the Federation and the Kyyreni peoples.

Sister Colonies
Icara acts as a hub world, looking after the interest of almost a dozen other planets. Some of the worlds established by the Icaran Program include:

Maribahl - One of the larger colonies, Maribahl is a relatively small planet with only a narrow band along the equator deemed readily fit for habitation. Most of the planet is very cold, and is thus avoided. Maribahl was lost, and subsequently recaptured, during the Icaran War. The people of Maribahl carry the scars of the war to this day, and there are many monuments erected in memory of those who suffered at the hands of the Daysiders.

Pracea - A highly toxic planet, Pracea was nevertheless colonised, initially by scientific survey teams seeking to use the chemical atmosphre. It currently has a population of almost a million people, living in specially built habitation domes. Praceans have a reputation for being very easy going and carefree, or downright mad, depending on who you ask.

Nova Terra - Nova Terra is a hot, mostly barren world. It has a population of just twenty thousand.

New Order - New Order was an Independent Colony, with an initial population of three thousand. There were only ever two communications to the wider galaxy made by New Order; one to announce successful colonisation, and the other a desperate cry for aid before it was conquered by the Kyyreni Nightsiders.

Whiteslanding - Despite being highly inhospitable, Whiteslanding was picked for colonisation. The colony ship never arrived, and the world remains uninhabited.

Brocknell - Brocknell was a minor colony, established primarily because of the rare mineral deposits found during geological surveys. It was lost during the Icaran War, and is now a Dawnsider colony.

Godsfield - Godsfield was an Independent Colony, established by a deeply religious movement. The planet was attacked by the Empire of the Day, and its entire population, over six thousand people, were crucified "in honour of their God." Godsfield remained a Daysider colony until it was invaded by other Kyyreni. Its current status is unknown, though it is known to be a politically unstable planet.