Mercury

"'The capital of Mercury, Tyche, is a seaside jewel layered with spires. It sprawls across a wide swath of land. Crop land borders to the east, and the Hesperides Mountains run all the way from the city to Heliopolis. Tyche’s wharfs jut out to the glistening ocean in the south, and elegant high rises shoot up in the business district of the north. The Water Colossus of Master Maker Archimedes towers over the rest of the city, glorious and defiant.'"Mercury (pronounced / mur-kyr-ee /), is the first planet in the Solar System, and one of the largest producers of metals and valuable elements, rivalled only by the Asteroid Belt. It houses the Mercurian Institute, and, like Mars and Venus, boasts it's own fleet, the Classis Mercurii. The planet is currently controlled by the Society Remnant, and the current ArchGovernor is Marcellus au Votum.

Geography
The geography and climate of Mercury is warmer than that of Earth, but otherwise fairly similar, with freezing poles, temperate forests, mountain ranges. One feature of note is the Waste of Ladon, a wide band of hostile barren desert which rings the planet around the equator. The Caliban Sea covers roughly 40% of the Southern Hemisphere.

Features
Mercury is well-known throughout the Society as a forge-world, and the main source of precious metals and materials for the Society's military. It has many mines, staffed mainly by lowReds working to extract the metals of Mercury's dense core.

Mercury has a population of roughly 950 million assorted Colours.

House Votum
The largest and most powerful house on Mercury, the mining and metal magnates of House Votum are one of the most powerful houses in the Society, wielding industrial and military power alike to great effect.

House Trigii
House Trigii is the current secondmost powerful house on Mercury. With vast agricultural territories and a significant military arm, they serve as rivals and foils both for the ruling Votum.

House Icelos
House Icelos is an independent Mercurian house which produced Nova au Icelos and Ezra au Icelos.

House Laos
House Laos is an independent house known for exports of aquatic products - largely livestock. The former Primus defected to the Solar Republic, leading his siblings to denounce him as a traitor.

House Solaris
House Solaris were rivals to House Votum. They were annihilated in a coup in 742 PCE, whereupon House Votum and House Trigii seized most of their resources.

History
The Storm Gods and Lovelock Engines were used to terraform Mercury shortly after the Conquering. It is assumed the methods used were similar to those used on Venus or Mars.

In exchange for the warm, temperate regions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the Storm Gods were used to create the Waste of Ladon desert, which helps regulate temperatures and climate in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.