EncyclopediaDark Star, Glory of Dominus
A large, if plain, red star.
Golden Pulse, Star of Da'at
A gentle golden star. Its temperature and brightness vary in a slow, gentle cycle, but the difference between its extremes is rather severe.
The Ark, the Primeval Forest World
A primeval, if plain, forest world orbiting Dark Star at a fair distance. In a binary system with Flow. Almost no light reaches the ground, and the planet is fairly temperate.
Flow, the Oasis World
A rocky desert world speckled with oases and shot through with rivers, orbiting the Dark Star at a fair distance. In a binary system with Ark. The normally constrained water sometimes forms beautiful rolling mists that bring moisture to areas that otherwise remain parched. Gets cold at night and on mountain tops.
Divine Barrier, Malice and Heat
Transparent barrier around Ark and Flow. Slightly raises the temperature of things inside, as well as blocking the entry or exit of anything save light or heat. This includes vengeful souls, feelings of malice, and so on, leading to some interesting accumulation problems.
The Kuron, Writhing Cavern World
[Small][Uncommon]
A mossy brain-looking world orbiting Golden Pulse, riven with canyons and riddled with caverns and deeper, darker passages. Also riddled with earthquakes and cave-ins, owing to its rather excessively hollowed out structure.
Sundancer, Eater of Light
A gargantuan space cicada. Dances around Beacon and Golden Pulse in an elaborate pattern, sometimes eclipsing them from the worlds around them. Can devour heat and light by flapping its wings, further adding to its ability to blot out the sun. Chitin attempts to resist and dislodge anything but Planner.
The Stormy Sea, Wrath of Alerama
A stormy ocean on Ark. Packed with giant trees below water and, near the shore, emerging from water.
The Maze, Gateway to Adventure
[Small][Uncommon]
Small, twisting mountain range on Flow, riven with waterworks and frequently shrouded in mists. Those who wander into it searching for something else tend to end up somewhere else on Flow.
Whispering Caves, Transcendent Sponge
[Tiny][Rare]
Brilliant white crystalline caves on Kuron, complete with leafy brilliant white crystalline plants. The whole thing acts as a strainer on mystical forces, condensing otherwise invisible or weak effects into stronger, more tangible results. The caves themselves are open to manipulation by cunning creatures that know how.
Kishvar Woods, Writhing Beauty
Writhing, colorful forest of mobile chitinous plants on Kuron. The plants vie for attention and space, sporting vibrant colors, catchy movements, and endless determination. As might be expected of plants, they cannot move very quickly, however.
Soulflare
A Death Beetle familiar attached to the void-cat's arm. It grants her limited powers of the dead similar to, but much stronger than, those of a typical elder Death Beetle. It appears to be considerably more intelligent and lively than a regular Death Beetle.
Quirlomphthilus, Natarki Veiler
A Natarki skilled in concealing presences. Friend and companion of the cat-thing.
Glorious, Stardwellers
Long-lived beings of light and heat living on Dark Star. They are imposing, vaguely demonic-shaped creatures of cowing light and oppressing heat, with arrogant personalities to match. The greatest of them can focus this power in order to catapult themselves onto other worlds as shooting stars, though the lack of light and heat to feed on at their destinations tends to make this an exhausting one-way trip.
Shards, Bubbles of Thought
[Medium][Uncommon]
Termite hive minds living on Ark. Neurotic and paranoid about the makeup of their current hive, and therefore consciousness, as well as about isolation or mingling of groups. Composed of very diverse castes, which the hive's intellect is usually able to wield with considerable proficiency.
Djinn, River Nymphs
[Medium][Uncommon]
Soft-skinned, amphibious humanoids living on Flow. Their blood is a source of magical power. Upon becoming Elders, they go through a transformation, gaining a tough, rocky shell that protects them from drying out, some magical prowess, and an insatiable hunger for the flesh of their younger kind. Some Djinn are born as Illuminators, which possess the ability to hamper the usual transformation of those around them into Elders, but still allow them a modicum of control over the powers of their blood. Illuminators are usually not very well-liked.
Lumen, Brilliant Guardians
[Small][Uncommon]
Muscular four-armed humanoids living on Ark. They have innate defensive light-based powers, and usually rove in small groups, defending the weak wherever they go. They suffer from horrifying nightmares of the Godborn, and must wrestle constantly with their fear for their own lives and shame at potentially letting others die. They often practice meditation to calm and reflect on themselves and their fears, which aids with both the nightmares and other troubles.
Verna, Primal Changelings
Hulking beings of plant material living on Ark. They can alter their forms a bit, and use this to help acquire food from local plantlife.
Natarki, Endless Minds
[Medium][Uncommon]
Rubbery tentacled creatures living on the Kuron. Their upright bodies are supported by a ring of tentacle legs, with a ring of tentacle arms further up, and a head sporting a ring of eyes. Their mouths sit atop their heads, and their brains lie within their main bodies, protected by a ribcage-like structure. They are highly talented at magical and psionic pursuits, but sensitive to the whispers from beyond, leading to frequent mental illness and eccentricity. They have a sort of native familiarity with the Kuron and its myriad passageways. A staggeringly rare few are able to cocoon themselves and grow into massive, mutated forms with unfathomable psychic power.
Rifths, Kingdoms of One
Glowing plantlike tentacles that can weld onto each other in order to form a coherent entity. Tend to combine delusions of grandeur with the conviction that everyone is out to get them, resulting in a lot of indignant villain speeches.
Rootrip, Brutal Scholars
Verna civilization on Ark, most notably the Stormy Sea. Obsessed with higher learning and communication, but brutal and callous in their pursuit of knowledge in all its forms. They can work metal seamlessly into their own flesh. They can temporarily and partially meld with each other, allowing incredibly natural and intimate communication. They value innovation in their tools, frequently experimenting with peculiar and questionable devices made from the screaming parts of careless plants and animals kept alive by virtue of being merged with the Verna's own body.
Currently off-balance due to largely inhabiting an ocean.
Empire of the Eternal Spring, Roiling Order
Djinn civilization on Flow. Organized into a rigid hierarchy based on caste and separated into Houses based on relation to active Elders. Intelligent or inventive members tend to also be valued and therefore protected against being eaten. Familiar, if not necessarily enthusiastic, with blood-based medicine. Practice grim ritual blood magic, storing and preserving it in great vats with a lot of unpleasant connotations to them.
Lineages of Kuron, Eccentric Aspiration
Natarki civilization on the Kuron. Organized around those few Natarki that have ascended into a much grander form, with most Natarki following and attempting to in some manner emulate a given patron. Occasionally domesticate animals, usually for eccentric and not altogether useful purposes.
Trees of Light, Cooperation of Cultures
Shard, Verna, and Lumen civilization on Ark. The Shards benefit from having someone to talk to and mediate inter-Shard relations, the Verna benefit from the supernatural qualities of their neighbors, and the Lumen benefit from having people to protect and talk about their nightmares with.
Lumen Civilization, Slaves to Light
Lumen civilization obsessed with Cathedral Cores. They prefer to build their villages inside them, where the Cores slowly bend them to their will. A combination of both influences encourages them to manually plant Cathedral Core spores whenever and wherever possible.
Malakim
[Tiny][Rare]
Giant mechanical demigods roaming designated areas of Flow. They protect their areas and their ecosystems fiercely, but tolerate Djinn and other humanoids so long as they don't cause too much damage. They are magically proficient and powered by both magic and sunlight.
Godborn
[Tiny][Rare]
Gargantuan divine grasshoppers living on Ark. They possess voracious appetites, routinely devouring giant trees in a matter of minutes, and begin to gain minor mutations when near each other. Over time, these mutations build up, as do their numbers, eventually culminating in an apocalyptic swarm of ever-mutating locusts that shear the planet clean before turning on each other. Each Godborn, mutated or not, carries with it a divine spark, and is monstrously powerful as a result.
Sunlight Rocs
Giant birds of tangible light living on Ark. They hunger endlessly for battle, and can "warp" themselves to other sources of light at incredible speeds. It's possible to bond with one if you can avoid being eaten, at which point it will warp when called and assault worthy adversaries in the vicinity, as well as descending for food and other favors, or just to assault worthy adversaries in the vicinity anyway.
Voidspawn
[Tiny][Rare]
Obsidian winged spider-terrors stalking the void between celestial bodies. They hunger endlessly for divine power, and regularly stalk deities to siphon a bit off. Their webs and venom are strong enough to inconvenience gods, but they will turn on and feast on each other in times of desperation. They are also relentless hunters of anything and everything else, being able to draw sustenance from this sacred act as well.
Aether Whales
Gigantic whale-like creatures floating through the atmosphere of Ark. They store air inside themselves, heating it with sunlight to float. They feed on negative emotions, foul spirits, and other detritus from Ark's barrier, and leave behind Slumberlight as a waste product. Slumberlight looks pretty and dissolves into normal light after a while.
Whisperwings
[Small][Uncommon]
Colored winged wisp-things inhabiting the void. Their translucency washes out much of their color. They feed primarily on sunlight, but can consume inanimate matter. They are large enough and shaped as to be able to carry a single creature safely across the void.
Hellstars
[Small][Uncommon]
Titanic bundles of spikes, glowing an ominous red, surrounded by ominous storms, and crackling with occasional ominous lightning. They attract bad karma, vengeful souls, and other negative forces via a gravity effect that grows stronger the more they hold onto, and which forms the storms surrounding them. They slowly metabolize this energy, producing their ominous glow as a side effect.
Death Scarabs
[Small][Uncommon]
Transparent, glasslike beetles living in The Whispering Caverns. They feed upon the plant life there, absorbing the ability to channel the energies of the dead. Older beetles begin displaying memories of those long passed, images flittering across their transparent carapaces, whispers lurking at the edge of their chittering, and scents lingering where they have been.
Herd Lobsters
[Large][Lacking]
Useless lobster-like creatures living on Flow. They live in large herds, feeding on plankton and other small organisms, but every century grow wings, lungs, and legs, then swarm the surface world in a frenzy, seeking out and feasting upon any source of magic they can find. After a few months, these Floods return to the ocean and use any accumulated magic to lay unusually large clutches of eggs. In addition, they can feast upon magical energies, making them difficult to battle with magic.
Sorceror Mosquitoes
[Small][Uncommon]
Copper-colored mosquito-like creatures with crimson highlights living on Flow. They are able to use the magic in Djinn blood to cloak themselves, which makes them very effective at what they do. Spread Bloodbloat, a Djinn-affecting disease that rarely inflicts increased blood production, causing victims to bloat up a bit. Recovery is usually fairly swift, however.
Lurelight Mushrooms
Mushrooms of pure light on Ark. They provide edible light to nearby plants, but slowly warp anything in their vicinity into serving them. The result is typically a large sphere of armored plant life, with ports that open only to spread more glowing spores.
Cathedral Cores
Giant mushrooms of pure light on Ark. They provide edible light to nearby plants, but slowly warp anything in their vicinity into serving them. The result is typically a massive sphere of armored plant life, supported by repeating patterns of structurally sound shapes. One in control of a solid base, they also begin slowly pushing this shell outwards, eventually roughly doubling their shell's radius from what might be expected.