The following is a comprehensive list of all the known species on planet Elladion:
- Sycan
- Orchades
- Valenkin
- Stahldon
- Wraith
- Undārygii
- Biomech
- Synthetic
- Fleurivine
- Human
- Leechers
- Asterzoa
- Thousand-eyes
Tag: Elladion
Vascular Network
Description
The Vascular Network is a form of public transport managed by the Integumentary System & the Basocytes. It is dominated by the Strain of Gravity.
It is a huge network of ancient magnetic railway lines and stations that flooded during the creation of the supermassive lakes. The network has since been repurposed and partially restructured.
There is now at least one station under or in close proximity to each capital Sanctuary.
Many of the tunnels are flooded and now house a great deal of the planets’ ancient biodiversity, long after the tropical ocean surrounding the tubes evaporated. This created long stretches of “overland aquarium tubes” where Orchades and Undarians move between the supermassive lakes and Sanctuaries.
Safety and Regulation
Travel through the Vascular Network is permitted, but due to the complex network and tendency for old tunnels to veer off into dead ends or into deep chasms (called “Dead Legs”), it is not entirely safe.
That being said, The Vascular Network is protected by the Amiiar-Maka (Islumian) Biodiversity Protection Initiative (BPI), and hundreds of Fleurivine-derived security drones sift through the network; both in an attempt to protect Orchades from poaching (whom seem to use the tubes as migratory paths), as well as to map the full extent of the ancient transport system.
Vascular Chambers
Stations, or Vascular Chambers, resemble the giant lofted reservoirs of Terran cities, with huge pillars made of glass and the Sycan’s own ancient form of concrete. Many of these Stations contain old “Stay-Bunkers”, presumably places where ancestral Sycans would have rested between long journeys.
The original mechanisms that ran through the Vascular System before it was flooded looked like Terran hyperloop trains. The large magnetic panels that once powered these lines now lay rusted and unpowered below the water’s surface. Any remaining train cars have been either junked for their metals or repurposed by Burrowers for housing.
The Vascular System is often “generated” by Alkemus, the rogue Phantasm that wanders the wastes building nonsense architecture. He is known for merging tunnels, adding imitation tunnels that lead to nowhere, even false Chambers with bizarre architecture. Alkemists use the most serviceable of these for underground hubs.
The Vault
Vault is another word for the sky on Elladion, and often takes the place of the word “sky” in conversation.
The implication of an atmospheric vault is literal, as all modern space-faring attempts have failed due to the increasingly violent weather of the upper atmosphere. There are innumerable amounts of records detailing attempts by several species capable of either flight or building a vessel capable of flight. Those who travel too far are simply battered away or shredded into pieces by wind and airborne particles.
Valenkin Faeries (Pterosaurs) pride themselves on challenging the Vault, finding ways to achieve, at the very least, reliable aerial travel in bold experimental ways.
The largest of these Faeries shuttle populations from one Settlement to the next, and even fly through Sunspotting events as a sort of extreme sport.
Only the fabled Atlantean Tower (A failed megastructure similar to a Space Elevator) came close to breaching the surface-vault barrier.
The Dust Bowel (Eastern Badlands)
The Dust Bowel is a region in the Mavve-Kechyo Territory. While considered synonymous with the Eastern Badlands, the Dust Bowel more specifically describes the large sandy basin and bordering dunes stretching south from Livewire.
Popular with sand sailors, the Dust Bowel is mostly loose sand and only has small pockets of larger sediments. This makes it ideal for the use of Gritfoils, which speeds up travel through the desert significantly. The region is void of any notable settlements, as the ground is too loose and unstable to support long-term tent living.
Anything that is lost in the Dust Bowel vanishes within seconds as it is buried beneath constantly shifting and cycling sands. Legends tell of great monsters, sometimes described as resembling the towering necks of glowwyrms, as the culprits behind the movement of the earth. Though, the most dangerous thing a sailor would have to worry about would be the bandits that frequent the region for it’s easy crossing.
Elladion
A .gif showing Elladion with and without Territory zones indicated.
Description
Elladion was once a rogue planet that drifted for several million years before falling into the orbit of Kless, a red dwarf star within a galactic void.
Prior to its ejection from the home system, Elladion was a tropical paradise of rivers, fungal jungles, coastal fields, and proper oceans.
It now has no discernible moons, but does possess an outer “ring” made up of large satellite asteroids and other debris from a cataclysmic impact that occurred in the distant past.
Elladion is internally heated via volcanic activity. Landmass is mostly composed of metamorphic and igneous rock formations, flash-glass fields, petrified fungal forests, and purplish deserts. The exceptions to this barren landscape are the presence of two supermassive “lakes” that make up the visible portion of a large, underground aquatic system. These are synonymous with oceans, though they are not true surface oceans. These include the Luago as well as the Undari lakes to the East and the North, respectively.
A ring of extremely low-gravity (descending to the upper mantle) “Supercanyons” encircle the equator of the planet, known as the Astral Belt (Minor and Major). These are home to floating islands held aloft by an swelling of bioenergy from the source.
Landmass is double the size of Earth (AKA “Terra” in this universe).
Externally, Elladion looks more like a Jovian gas giant than a standard rocky planet, let alone one that is inhabited by terrestrial life.
Elladion orbits Kless relatively close, but the thick ozone and cloud layer (known as “The Vault” in-universe) obstructs most UV rays from reaching the surface. Rare instances when the sunlight does pierce the clouds are natural disasters known as “Sunspots”, which can scorch the ground and severely burn/kill organic life in seconds.
Temperature fluctuations are intense and unpredictable on the surface due to Sunspotting and other meteorological events.
Days / concept of “years” do not exist in terms of rotation of the sun, as it is rarely seen. Instead, time is measured by periodic tectonic shifts called “Rhythms”. These underground vibrations are so noticeable that, with training, one can read the approximate time by holding a hand to the ground and counting out the “Beats”. Because of this, a year is known as a “Canticle” (roughly 1.4 Earth years)
Atmosphere primarily consists of ash, ice and water particles, hydrogen, oxygen, and helium. Snowfall and rainfall are common, though often with the side effect of acid or abrasive erosion. Windstorms and thunderstorms are prevalent.
The planet is constantly in perpetual night due to the atmosphere, though this may range to “twilight” depending on the thickness of the Vault (Sky).
An “Eye of the storm” exists, similar to Jupiter’s superstorm eye, along with a cluster of smaller infrequently-sighted storms. This rare stillness of the air is very disquieting for natives of the planet, and often spells immanent, powerful Sunspotting followed by torrential winds. Firestorms are known to rip through areas exposed to the Eye or it’s Sights.
Stormcatchers, a faction discussed later in this Wiki, often use Sunspotting iconography to distinguish themselves.
Plants and animals are rare, and found only in sheltered zones or within Elladion hydroponics or old-tech vitroculture labs. Civilized cultures cluster around ad-hoc Settlements or Sanctuaries.
Sycans and their aquatic cousins, the Orchades, are the sole remaining native fauna on Elladion (aside from isolated cultures of microscopic, hardy microplankton, bacteria, etc.); the rest having gone extinct from a mass extinction in the distant past. All other vertebrate biodiversity is made up of alien life or are constructs of the organic material known as Mana.
Plant life is rough, low-growing, and adapted to growth in low-light conditions. The only exceptions are aquatic “plants”, which resemble red kelps or other protists. The latter are cultivated for agricultural purposes or formed into textiles for clothing and insulation.
Territories & Settlements
Concept art of several Elladion landscapes, including Livewire (Sanctuary) and Tagium (Sanctuary)
Below are a description of the five major Elladion Territories, as well as lists of their respective Settlements (Towns) and capital Sanctuary (★ City).
Mavve-Kechyo (“Land of Deserts”)
Home of the capital Sanctuary of Livewire and the Settlements surrounding the Luago lake, Mavve-Kechyo (mahve-catch-yoh) (AKA the “Mave”, “Eastern Territory”, “Sifter’s Stitch”) is controlled by the Lone Oasis Consortium (L.O.C.). They are the lead patrons of ManciCorp as well as the Lymphocyte and Sinocyte Systems who control the research and usage of Mana throughout the region.
Mavve-Kechyo is one of the most technologically advanced Territories on Elladion, as well as boasting the largest and most diverse population of citizens. Following the naming convention of all Sycan-founded Sanctuaries, it’s name translates from Kuanodict to “Land of Deserts”.
- Dust Bowel
- Livewire ★
- Cardinal Wires
- Abyssal Wire
- Jugal
- Pygost
- Naris
- Lumbar
- Fenestra
- Fossa
- Mt. Man’Ci
- Capillary Bypass
- Eastern Badlands
Amiiar-Maka (“Belly of Fire”)
- Islume ★
- The Iron Crucible
- Crater of the Sky God
- Gastralia
- Tibia
- Northern Badlands
Chamuu-Kavu (“Walls of Rock”)
- Etmeth ★
- Dentary
- Artery Throughway
- Ischium
- Orbit
- Illium
- Tarsal
- Mt. Kavu’Ta
- Western Badlands
Vaivu-Maitii (“Ocean of Glass”)
- Coracoid ★
- Scapula
- Squamosa
- Thagomizer
Astral Belts
Astral Belt Major
- Tagium ★
- Acinto
- Pteroid
Astral Belt Minor
- Meteorfall Wastes
Other Noteworthy Locations
The Vault
>See Dedicated Page discussing The Vault
Wounds
Wounds are the nickname given to any area where Mana has seeped to the surface. Synonymous with “Manafield”.
Refineries
Refineries are Wounds that have been tapped into for the purposes of mining Mana (liquid and solid forms).
They are also strictly monitored as a prospective nursery for the spontaneous production of any kind of Wraith.
The acquisition of refineries is the responsibility of ManciCorp, The L.O.C., with members of the Lymphocytes occasionally involved in securing the areas.
As of the beginning of The Land, All but Omicron and Tau have been seized by The Iron Crucible, with the Neutrocytes given exclusive access to security and research.
Beta (Refinery)
Site Beta is located in Amiiar-Maka, at the edge of the Crater of the Sky God.
Omega (Refinery)
Site Omega is located in Amiiar-Maka, just south of Undari Lake. It is the largest Site currently under L.O.C. control.
Theta (Refinery)
Site Theta is located in Amiiar-Maka, East of the Astral Belt Minor and within travel distance of Tibia.
Omicron (Refinery)
Outpost Omicron is located in Mavve-Kechyo, extending diagonally down the Western Mt. Man’Ci volcanic range.
Tau (Refinery)
Outpost Tau is located in Mavve-Kechyo, just north of Livewire.
Alpha (Refinery)
Site Alpha is located on the border between Mavve-Kechyo and Amiiar-Maka, on the northern edge of Mt. Man’Ci.
Gamma (Refinery)
Site Gamma is located in Amiiar-Maka, to the east of the Undari Lake.
Glaciers
There are two large glaciers to the north and south poles of Elladion. These are the favored homes of some rare variations of Orchades, as well as a select few of the Undarigii.
The Glaciers are largely unexplored, and are said to be rich in pre-cataclysm ruins.
Trivia
- The Sanctuary of Etmeth in Chamuu-Kavu is named after the second major “city” the protagonists of Thunder Stone travel to in the second book. The region is depicted as an arid desert.
- The concept of Mana derives from Thunder Stone‘s lore on it’s own magic system of dangerous elemental crystals- which required the intervention of a secondary entity to use safely. This is also why Mana looks crystalline in it’s solid form.
- Pre-cataclysm Sycan Technology (also referred to as “ruins” or “artifacts”) ran off hydro-electric power using surface materials, while modern general Elladion tech is very “submarinepunk” in appearance and function. The reintegration of hydro-electric mechanics is a slowly emerging science, being put to use most notably in the Abyssal Wire using Pneuhydric Elevators.