Flatus Atmosphere

The Flatus Atmosphere is a dense, volatile, and hilariously unstable gaseous mix prone to spontaneous ignition. Commonly found on primordial or chaotic worlds of the Continuum Universes, it is as infamous among explorers as it is revered by pyromantic orders. In local parlance, “breathing Flatus” means living dangerously.

Composition and Behavior

The air is a combustible mosaic of reducing and oxidizing gases. Hydrogen Sulfide provides its characteristic acrid, “cooked thunder” odor; Methane and Hydrogen act as fuel, while Oxygen completes the pyromaniac trinity. Even minimal thermal or psionic disturbance can trigger global detonation cascades. Consequently, Flatus-class worlds experience near-constant firestorms — a rhythmic cycle of ignition, burnout, and reformation.

Environmental Characteristics

• Pressure: 2.0 atm — heavy and heat-retentive.
• Temperature: 330–400 K — sweltering, flammable, and photoreactive.
• Visuals: Rolling ochre clouds veined with blue fire.
• Auditory: Continuous thunder; combustion “roars” audible across continents.
• Smell: Sulfurous and organic; often compared to “divine flatulence,” hence the name.

Phenomena

Flatus storms are spectacular — kilometer-high combustion pillars ringed by halos of glowing plasma ash. Atmospheric lenses briefly form during ignition, focusing sunlight into fire domes visible from orbit. Afterward, burnt residues seed clouds with hydrocarbon snow, resetting the chemical balance for the next explosion.

Interactions

Organic life is effectively impossible without divine shielding. However, microbial flame symbionts known as “pyroplasts” have been observed in the outer thermosphere, feeding on the energy flux between fire cycles. Some Continuum cults regard Flatus as the breath of the First Spark — the primordial laughter of creation.

Associated Gases

Hydrogen Sulfide • Methane • Hydrogen • Oxygen

See Also

• Flatus-Prime Atmosphere
• Corrosia Atmosphere
• Continuum Atmospheric Compendium