Difference between revisions of "Jewel river"

Latest revision as of 10:22, 10 September 2012

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A mermaid inspecting a shipwreck in the Jewel river

Danger: Normal
Sub zones: Underwater crystal caves, Prayaga island
Inhabitants: mermaids, dryads, fairies , silver mycorpes, suwaro pelicans, pearl anemones, toxotidas, exovoles, jewel fishes, nagas, opal mingos, noghdongs, okalis
Characters: Calimn, Mina

A huge river so large that only a fourth of it is shown on the map, and so wide that you can barely see the other side when you stand on the shore. As its name suggests, it is filled with treasure. The riverbed is literally covered with jewels and gems. For mysterious reasons, there never seems to be any fewer of them, no matter how much greedy treasure hunters take. The river also has plenty of jewel fish, a usually legendary creature whose skin is worth more than diamonds on some worlds. The river and its surroundings are home to a wide range of colorful, shimmering fauna. Of course, although they may be very beautiful, the fauna here are no less dangerous, nor any less gluttonous than in the rest of Felarya.

Underwater Crystal Caves

Danger: Hazardous
Inhabitants: crystal dragons, crystal mermaids

For those few brave souls who actually risk swimming in the river, their destination is typically the legendary Crystal Caves. While the process that created them is unknown, the properties of many of the types of crystals that are found there present treasure seekers with no lack of motivation to visit them. Besides being incredibly beautiful, some of them can heal wounds, read minds, create gateways, and endow the user with incredible power. However, the caves are teeming with many untold horrors and monsters, many mutated by their long centuries in contact with the crystals. Those who have survived encounters with them tell of beasts and intelligent beings partially, or even totally covered with growths of crystals. In some cases, the being in question is something they might normally see above ground, such as a nagas or even a human. Many of these creatures now exhibit great powers, no doubt obtained from the crystals, but it is theorized that these beings may not in fact be individuals anymore, but rather drones working for some sort of intelligence. An ancient tablet, discovered in the ruins of Ur-Sagol, makes reference to the Crystal Cave as being some sort of living, intelligent entity. It talks about crystal covered beings bringing sacrifices to a large gaping mouth deep within the cave, where the victims were thrown into and devoured. After being digested, the person would then become energy, distributed among the network of living crystals. The tablet doesn't go into much more detail, but it describes how sometimes the entity would not devour the sacrifice, instead turning it into a mindless slave to do its bidding.

Prayaga Island

Danger: Normal
Inhabitants: elves, dryads

A diagram of the island

A large island standing in the middle of the Jewel river and separating it in two. It's covered by a lush and dense vegetation, with very large vine plants serving as trees. The most remarkable particularity of Prayaga island is its ground, that appears to be entirely blanketed by an intricate network of moving tentacles. They slowly twist and turn blindly, latching and pulling anything they can get hold of. Some wonder whether they belongs to a colony of carnivorous plants, or if the island itself is actually some sort of gigantic aquatic monster, on top of which the vegetation grew. Whatever their exact nature is, falling down into those tentacles means being entangled in a matter of seconds, then being dragged down and disappearing forever into that living mass. In order to move from one point to another, most creatures will walk on the intricate branches and vines that twist and snake around all over the place, above that deadly carpet. They form such a thick network that moving about and finding a route from a place to another in Prayaga is usually not a problem. Most creatures living on the island soon relegate the ground to the rank of a vague threat that you rarely have to approach anyway. However, a few times in a year, the tentacles appear to become frenzied, projecting themselves at much greater heights and actively trying to catch prey.

A characteristic orange moss grows on many plants of the island, sometimes covering entire trunks. While it's parasitic in nature, it doesn't seem to affect very much its host and it's perfectly edible, if a little bitter, offering a reliable source of food to the island's inhabitants. In some locations, the vines and vegetation have become so dense and tangled up that they form impenetrable vegetal walls. Curiously, their position doesn't seem entirely random, sometimes conveniently creating circling fences, staircases, or even fortifications of sorts. Many believe it's the work of the Aloes, a tribe of giant elves living in the north of the island.

The northern end part of Prayaga looks pretty different, giving the impression of a large, beautiful and well tended garden. The elves integrate their structures perfectly into the landscape, and it's sometimes hard to tell where the vegetation stops and where the buildings begins. The Aloes are a rather peaceful tribe, mainly keeping to themselves on the island, exercising art and playing music. They are definitely of the predatory type though, and any captured adventurer faces a significant risk of ending up as a light snack. The Aloes can sometimes be seen crossing the water separating Prayaga from the mainland, to hunt in the Oloonde region. It's interesting to note that on the island grows one of the rare Hydra trees of the continent and probably the biggest of them all. This behemoth towers at about 240 feet above its surroundings! The Aloes give it the name of Lakau tol'is, "The old watcher". Some claim they used to worship it and offer it sacrifices but this hasn't been confirmed.

• Credits goes to Veeshan123 for the idea and design of the Crystal caves.