A photo of the Earth Day cards.
The Earth Day 2014 trading cards are a series of limited collectible trading cards created by 343 Industries and released for employees of the studio in celebration of Earth Day, 2014. The cards were made from recycled paper (in keeping with the day's theme), with one random card given to each developer at the studio.[1] The cards consist of small fact files on several species homeworlds from the Halo universe including:
The graphics used on the cards are predominantly taken from those originally created for Halo 3's "Bestiarum" booklet, with the exception of Earth (taken from the skybox of the level Midnight) and Requiem (taken from Halo 4's terminals).
| EARTH
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Front:
- EARTH
Earth is a world first introduced in the game Halo 2, though it would later appear in Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4. Earth is the cradle world of the human species and the center of their governance.
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Sol III (Erde Tyrene)
- STAR: Sol
- SATELLITE(S): Luna
- DIAMETER: 7,926 miles (12,756km)
- GRAVITY: 1.0 G
- ATMOSPHERE: 1.0 atm (N2, O2, Ar)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: -4°F to 104°F (-20°C to 40°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 24 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 365.2 days
- DESCRIPTION
The homeworld of the human species and the center of UNSC power, Earth's survival at this point is nothing short of incredible. In 2552, the Covenant would at last assault this world after nearly thirty years of devastation in the colonies. Though it would be scarred by battle, Earth would somehow prevail only to encounter yet another enemy in 2557—the Forerunner known as the Didact, who would be narrowly thwarted by the Master Chief. With the bristling of civil unrest, the fomenting of another Covenant, and the possibility of the Didact's survival, Earth's future still hangs precariously in the balance.
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Sanghelios[edit]
| SANGHELIOS
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Front:
- SANGHELIOS (ELITE HOMEWORLD)
Sanghelios is the cradle world of the Sangheili species, known to humans as 'Elites,' and currently the site of their largest population and governing control.
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Urs IV
- STAR: Urs-Fied-Joori
- SATELLITE(S): Qikost, Suban
- DIAMETER: 9,344 miles (15,038km)
- GRAVITY: 1.375 G
- ATMOSPHERE: .9 atm (N2, O2, Ar)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 23°F to 204.8°F (-5°C to 96°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 29.5 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 583.3 days
- GEOGRAPHY
The planet of Sanghelios is largely composed of water. Rather than clumps of continents created by an ancient pangeaic breakage of a singular mass like Earth’s, Sanghelios has latitudinal swaths of land that sweeps across the equatorial plane, generally attributed as the aftereffect of a worldwide flood 3.8 to 4.1 million years ago. Open and landlocked water is in found in significant volumes, with large desert regions that stretch across the deepest interior portions of the continents. These factors have forced the vast majority of Sanghelios' populations to live on the coasts and islands, locations which are usually girded by steep mountain ranges or rocky tombolo drifts and provide substantial protection during the planet’s harrowing rain season.
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| DOISAC
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Front:
- DOISAC (BRUTE HOMEWORLD)
Doisac is the homeworld of the Jiralhanae species, previously in service to the Covenant and known to humans as 'Brutes.'
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Oth Sonin IV
- STAR: Oth Sonin
- SATELLITE(S): Warial, Soirapt, Teash
- DIAMETER: 15,491 km (24,930 km)
- GRAVITY: 2.1 G
- ATMOSPHERE: 1.3 atm (N2, O2, Ar)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 5°F to 125.6°F (-15°C to 52°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 27.1 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 294.9 days
- GEOGRAPHY
The hulking world of Doisac is larger than Earth, comprised of twelve distinct continents, and has significantly less water coverage. Three of these land masses (Rleod, Fotg, and L'Gesh) have become the most heavily populated following the wake of the Jiralhanae's integration into the Covenant, with two (Gfolos and Rheolith) still suffering from the chemical miasma left over from an inter-clan nuclear war waged several hundred years earlier. Although these polluted areas are considered quarantined and off-limits, all continents are occupied by Jiralhanae populations of varying numbers.
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| EAYN
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Front:
- EAYN (JACKAL HOMEWORLD)
Eayn is the homeworld of the Kig-Yar species, currently in service to the Covenant and known to humans as both 'Jackals' and 'Skirmishers.'
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Y'Deio III
- STAR: Y'Deio
- SATELLITE(S): N/A
- DIAMETER: 2,674 miles (4,303km)
- GRAVITY: .875 G
- ATMOSPHERE: .9 atm, (N2, O2, Ar)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 0.4°F to 113°F (-18°C to 45°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 20.6 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 739.5 days
- GEOGRAPHY
Eayn's surface is comprised of a single equatorial ocean known as Czaalo with two supercontinents: Ah'lomet in the northern hemisphere and Ruuht in the southern hemisphere; as well as three lesser continents known as Sintoh, Ibie'sh, and Prien'sh. This natural evolutionary bifurcation that this type of geographical division engendered intensified distinctions between subspecies that were (in some cases) bound to millions of years of segregated genetic alignment.
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Palamok[edit]
| PALAMOK
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Front:
- PALAMOK (DRONE HOMEWORLD)
Palamok is the homeworld of the Yanme'e species, previously in service to the Covenant and known to humans as 'Drones'.
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Napret III
- STAR: Napret
- SATELLITE(S): Naxook, Oquiu, Ka'amoti
- DIAMETER: 15,704 miles (25,273km)
- GRAVITY: 2.0 G
- ATMOSPHERE: 0.9 atm (CO2, O2, Ar)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 84.2°F to 107.6°F (29°C to 42°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 34.2 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 261.5 days
- GEOGRAPHY
Palamok is only 37% covered in water, making its biosphere remarkably unique. This single landmass that represents the bulk of Palamok’s surface is called Quet'ot. Its two major oceans are Xalasst and Kez'shaet, and although these are large by Earth-standards, they are relatively small on the surface of Palamok, both being completely surrounded by land. One unique feature of Palamok is that the entire planet is remarkably flat and featureless from a geological perspective, with very little tectonic or volcanic activity.
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| BALAHO
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Front:
- BALAHO (GRUNT HOMEWORLD)
Balaho is the homeworld of the Unggoy species, previously in service to the Covenant and known to humans as 'Grunts.'
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Tala IV
- STAR: Tala
- SATELLITE(S): Buwan, Padpad
- DIAMETER: 1,888 miles (3,038km)
- GRAVITY: .709 G
- ATMOSPHERE: 5.7 atm (CO2, CH4, He)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: -27.4°F to 41°F (-33°C to 5°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 18.9 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 910.4 days
- GEOGRAPHY
Although they are rarely seen due to the planet’s cloud cover and the vast expanses of ice from both poles, Balaho has three continents: Qethro, Vysolep, and Kavmit. (Qethro having the largest equatorial spread and therefore the highest population of indigenous life). Although most of the planet is buried under mountains of snow and ice, its centermost strip is covered in rocky volcano and spout-dense ranges, as well as gelid wetlands—all of which provide the methanous warmth around which life has gathered.
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| TE
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Front:
- TE (HUNTER HOMEWORLD)
Te is the homeworld of the Lekgolo species, previously in service to the Covenant and known to humans as 'Hunters.'
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Svir V
- STAR: Svir
- SATELLITE(S): Rantu, Uhtua
- DIAMETER: 19,789 miles (31,848km)
- GRAVITY: 4 G
- ATMOSPHERE: 1.2 atm (N2, He, CH4)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: -4°F to 203°F (-20°C to 95°C)
- DAY LENGTH: 13.4 hours
- YEAR LENGTH: 4,380.7 days
- GEOGRAPHY
When they were first discovered by the Covenant, the Lekgolo were found densely packed into the hollows and crevices which cover Te’s natural satellites and icy rings. Outside, their colonies look similar to any lunar craters—vastly scattered pockets and channels strewn across the surface of a moon or an asteroid. Inside, the environments are relatively warm, low-lit caves, thick with the eel-like shape of Lekgolo, similar to some Earth-based habitats for earthworms or some exotic eels.
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Requiem[edit]
| TE
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Front:
- REQUIEM
Requiem is a world introduced in Halo 4, though it was first shown in Halo 3 and mentioned in Halo: Silentium as well as Halo: The Thursday War. Requiem was the first Forerunner shield world created as a fortress for the Didact, the Protector of Ecumene.
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Back:
- STATISTICS
- DESIGNATION: Shield World 0001
- STAR: Epoloch
- SATELLITE(S): N/A
- DIAMETER: 6,703 miles (10,787km)
- GRAVITY: .987 G
- ATMOSPHERE: 1.2 atm (N2, O2, Ar)
- SURFACE TEMPERATURE: -36°F to 159°F (-38°C to 71°C)
- DESCRIPTION
What is essentially an enormous series of concentric planetary shells enclosed within each other and hidden beneath a vast armored surface, the shield world of Requiem was the Didact's main refuge during his command of the Forerunner military. Requiem would be placed in dormancy when the Didact's wife, the Librarian, discovered his crimes against the humans and betrayed him, locking him away in a Cryptum. After he was awakened, Requiem once again became a key strategic point for the Forerunner, and the UNSC would come into conflict with its extensive Promethean army, and its mysterious secrets for some time, until the artificial planet was hurled into its system's sun, Epoloch.
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The cards contain several contradictions with established Halo canon. These include:
- Doisac is listed as Oth Sonin IV; canonically the world was established to be Oth Sonin III in the Bestiarum.
- The Sanghelios card contains a typo: landlocked water is in found in
- Balaho's diameter is listed as 1,888 miles (3,038km) when it should be 4,869 miles (7,836km).
- Te's diameter is listed as 19,789 miles (31,848km) when it should be 54,164 miles (87,168km)
Sources[edit]
