Venus (WOD)

The planet Venus is the second planet of the solar system, linked to the Shade Realm of Life. In the physical world, Venus is a hot, smothering, sterile world with a crushing atmosphere tainted by sulfuric acid. However, unlike most planets, it has a Penumbra which may reflect an earlier phase of its history. Penumbral Venus is covered in lush tropical jungles and shallow, marshy oceans. Its connection to the Sphere of Life means the environment is rich in every kind of living thing: explorers are at risk of being colonized by moss or fungi if they stand still for too long, and may need to regularly clean and sterilize equipment to prevent mold contamination.

Accessing Venus from Earth is relatively easy for mages, though best done from the Penumbra or the Shade Realm of Life. The Gauntlet on Venus is uniformly and thick, and the surface is so inhospitable that accessing the Penumbra from there is rather pointless.

To the annoyance of Verbena, the International Astronomical Union has named the surface features of Venus, and their names mostly stuck. One the bright side, except for the Maxwell Mons supervolcano, all the features are named after goddesses and women of myth.