
  PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
  
   Lewis is a small world with a diameter of approximately 6400
   kilometers, a very thin, tainted atmosphere, and large salty oceans
   covering three-quarters of the surface of the planet. A young world,
   Lewis is one of several satellites of Zenthra, the only gas giant in
   the system.
   
   The night sky as seem from Lewis is one of the wonders of the
   Imperium, First the gas giant Zenthra has gorgeous multicolored bands.
   The ring of Zenthra has been described as "A ring of diamonds." The
   other four satellites of Zenthra are uninhabited, but they are bright
   in the night sky, which adds to the beauty of the night sky. Finally
   the magnetic fields of Zenthra send charged particles into the upper
   atmosphere of Lewis, creating striking auroras almost every night.
   
   The planet itself is equally beautiful. It has large peaceful oceans
   which come ashore onto sandy beaches. The land is covered by a huge
   variety of plants. The weather on Lewis is fairly mild. There is
   almost no axial tilt, yielding one constant season. One of the few
   drawbacks to the planet is the Yabba Tree. The Yabba Tree is not
   really a tree, but as it is a tall (3-5 meters) leafy plant,most
   people call it a tree. The tree and its 23 subspecies are the
   mostprolific species on the planet, and are found on all 6 continents.
   While the Yabba has huge flowers, that are extremely attractive, they
   release huge amounts of pollen. Unfortunately humans are highly
   allergic to this pollen. Vargr and other species derived from Terran
   stock also react to the pollen. The pollen accounts for the tainted
   atmosphere in the UPP. People who breath the pollen have a severe
   allergic reaction, resulting in trouble breathing, hives and an
   accelerated pulse. This proves fatal about half of the time,unless
   treated. The treatment is fairly routine, but involves a fairly
   extensive series of injections. After several years of being on planet
   ninety percent of the people become used to the pollen, and no longer
   have to wear filter masks. The remaining ten percent of the population
   never becomes used to it, and is forced to continue wearing the masks.
   For this reason, all buildings have extensive filtration systems. The
   planet's atmosphere is very thin and requires the use of compression
   masks.
   
