Allman B

The second planet in the Allman system, Allman B is a world which is host to a massive biosphere considering its barren conditions. Thought to have once been a rather mars like world with a thicker atmosphere, it is thought to have been hit by a large asteroid or comet in it's past, resulting in the large crater on its western side, full of water. This astral body, is also thought to be the catalyst for life on this world, bringing water to it's barren surface. This planet is a sort of planetary nature reserve, being monitored by both Emr, and Human scientists.

Location and Physics
Allman B, is the second of 4 planets orbiting the star Allman. It orbits a class A star, around 8 light-years away from Earth. Orbiting an A class star has resulted in the photosynthetic life of Allman B, to take on a blueish purple colouration, although the sun seems white from the surface of the world. It has also resulted in the planet being bombarded with rather intense UV radiation, which has in turn resulted in the native fauna developing complex cellular regeneration.

The extensive land surface of Allman B has resulted the land life adapting to their environment around the warm air currents that circulate the surface, in a similar way that sea life has developed here on Earth. An example of this is the Forest Cloud, that is very similar to clouds of phytoplankton on Earth being effected by the Conveyor current in Earth's oceans. An interesting thing to note, is that on Allman B, Forest Cloud, seems to be the start of the food chain on land on this planet, the same way Phytoplankton is on Earth's oceans.

Most of Allman B's surface is completely covered by land with around 8% being covered by water. Most of the photosynthetic life on the land is a microbe, named colloquially as the "Forest Cloud", due to the way it appears as a large cloud. These move around with the planets air currents, and are the start of the planets food chain. Other common plant life is a strange cactus like life form, named the Xenospike, and a form of lichen which covers miles of land outside of waterside forests. These forests are the only plant based terrain that is comparable to that on Earth, due to its rare proximity to water.

Water
As previously stated, most of the planet is covered in land, apart from a few lakes. Most of the planets water however, is located in a crater on the exact opposite side of the planet of the Misty Canyon. This small ocean is known as the Single Sea, and is thought to have arrived to the planet on some sort of comet or asteroid. Around this ocean is the planets largest collection of complex plant life on land. It is a vast purple and blue forest of strange and exotic organisms. One of the more strange plants in this forest is the "Gas Sac". A plant that resembles a bubble, and releases large Oxygen from a large sac.

Ecology
Allman B Ecology Allman B's plains are mostly empty, apart from some plants like the Cloud Forest, Allmanese Lichen and the Xenospike. Most of the life on Allman B's plains live in the skies, however on the ground, there exists descent biosphere. Feeding on the lichen and Xenospike, using specialised mouth parts are the Scuttles. An incredibly fast, 6 legged animal covered in a calcium exoskeleton. These creaturs become prey to the Dartsnouts, and the Skinmelters. In the tundra regions, there are Arctic Fin, which borough through the snow, at a speed that makes them seem to an outsider, as though they are swimming. In the forests there is an extensive ecosystem, with millions of plant species, as well as millions of animal species. A notable animal in these regions is the Dirkfang, an insect like creature that has an incredibly potent neurotoxin in it's sharp beak like mouth, capable of bringing down an adult Lumberjack within an hour.

In the skies, life is as diverse as life on Earth's oceans, which have developed a complex relationship with the warm air currents, that circulate the atmosphere. It starts with the frequently mentioned Forest Cloud, which travels along these air currents. The largest creature in the sky, the Swooper is Allman B's answer to a whale, which swoops through the forest clouds which a large sticky tongue, covered in digestive enzymes.These and many of the other large aerial creatures on Allman use helium filled Sky Bladders to stay aloft. It is common for these creatures to be accompanied by Flat Skineaters which cling to the underbelly of the Swooper, eating parasites. This is an example of a symbiotic relationship. The Skineater gains protection and feeding opportunities, and the Swooper is cleaned of parasites.

Further along the current above the plains, live shoals of Gluewings, which become prey to Spearfins, who use their pointed tails to impale the Gluewings, inject a nuerotoxin, then swoop down on their corpses in order to digest them from the inside. Above the clouds, are Gannet Jochacc, which with their thermal vision, capable of peering through the clouds, wait for unsuspecting Spearfins below the clouds, and attack by diving and then at the last minute, extending their sharp spikes on their bodies.

Further still we get to the Misty Canyon. A large plate boundary 6 times deeper than the Grand canyon on Earth, being forced apart by plate tectonics, unable to move further due to something undiscovered, preventing tectonic movement from occurring (which is lucky, considering if it continued to expand, it would eventually rip the planet apart). At the bottom of this deep canyon is a river of lava, where some extremophiles dare to make home, such as the Vent Shell, which through its mouth on the bottom, it sucks at the river bank, feeding of minerals and dead animals that have fell to the bottom. It gained it's name due to the shell on it's back, which it blasts hot air out of the top to keep cool so close to lava.

Above the river flows a canopy of mist, that collects from the water vapour that evaporated on the opposite side of the planet in the Single Sea, and was blown along the air currents to here, where it cloaks the river below. Occasionally, a jet of lava shoots above the mist, which could catch any Screechers offguard, while they are hunting some of the insect-like species, such as the Cliff Gau, which take advantage of the moisture near the mist. These screechers, which are Allman B's analogue to wolves or velociraptors on Earth, also often hunt larger animals, such as the Canyon Hopper, which cling to the canyon sides in herds, grazing off lichen that grow on the cliff edge. These creatures are swift flyers, able to dart around to avoid predators, and stay on the safely horizontal summit of the canyon, during mating season. (see Reproduction)

The only sapient life on Allman B, is the M-Sapien, which are still awaiting a name. The "M" stands for "minor", as the M-Sapiens are very primitive in their sapience. Just able to make primitive tools and reason, they are considered just slightly more intelligent than Earth's great apes, such as chimpanzees, and orangutans. The fly around on a relatively small wingspan, and use their intricate mouth parts, in the same way humans use fingers for precise manipulation of objects.