Welcome to Hyperborea

Hyperborea is the exonym assigned to the homeworld of the birgs. It refers to the mythological concept of a temperate land at earth's North Pole, for the poles of Hyperborea the planet do not remain frozen due to extreme seasonal shifts in temperature. In fact, the high axial tilt of this world (approximately 60 degrees) are such that the equator is on average colder than the poles, and some two thirds(?) of its surface experiences extended periods of night and day around the solstice phases.

The terrestrial zones of hyperborea are populated by several phyla of macroorganism, most notably the [pseudovertebrates], of which the native sophonts are members, the ["yellow-feather-trees"], commonly known as feathervanes, ["crystal flora"], referred to as glass cacti or spicule plants, and the [leglings], which tend to fill terran arthropod-like niches. All life on Hyperborea is adapted to extreme variations in climate; as some regions may span a tempurature range as wide as [metric].

A single sophont species, referred to as birdbugs or "birgs", populate the more forgiving climate zones (See Natural Philosphy -> Climate and Biomes) and express diverse appearances and cultures. While many observed ethnic groups still operate in relatively small, matriarchal tribal groups, several cultures endemic to the milder coastal regions have managed to build sprawling empires with technologies roughly comparable to those found on Earth circa mid-19th century.