Arbran V is a moderately large gas giant that orbits the system's sun at an average distance of two point three billion kilometres. An icy gas planet, Arbran V has a mean daytime temperature of minus two hundred fifty standard degrees, although at this distance from the sun, daytime is more a matter of which face is towards the distant sun rather than any appreciable increase in sunlight. The planet’s diurnal cycle is a surprisingly short ten standard hours, but the solar year is an astonishing one hundred seventy standard years, which ranks in the top two percent of lengthy years in the known galaxy. The planet’s atmosphere comprises approximately eighty percent hydrogen, with the rest comprising helium, carbon dioxide, sulphur and oxygen. There are some traces of rarer elements, such as tibannagas and several hydrocarbons that are extracted for use in local industries.

Apart from the tibannagas extraction and processing industry, which is common to almost all gas giants in the galaxy, the planet is also well known as a hub for the production of speeders of all descriptions, from one-person speeder bikes to multi-passenger shuttles. These are both exported off-world and sold at a reasonable cost at the myriad distributors found on almost every street. Almost as important is the production of machine tools and heavy equipment for factories, which are used both locally and on other planets in the system. Life for the millions of factory workers in the floating cities is somewhat constrained, as the local government favours the interests of business owners, somewhat to the detriment of workers. While some worker benefits are mandated by local laws, enforcement can vary widely from city to city, leaving some workers at the mercy of their employers.

Feeding the teeming billions on the planet is no small matter and is accomplished by a combination of intensive hydroponics, utilizing species of plants that can grow on a substrate of air and mixed gases from the planet and artificial ones produced in factories for just this purpose, and workers hunting the edible vermin such as rats and granite slugs that feed and breed among the maze of corridors, unused buildings, and abandoned factories.