The Diaemus Project

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I realize it would be very unlikely, but why can't someone be the descendant of two demigods who had ingested different kinds of lumuoles? Then they would be able to access the abilities of both types of lumoule, say green and purple to enhance their shapeshifting ability.  

 

I think it's preferable for demigodism to only be passed on through the matriarchal bloodline to prevent stuff like this, but... maybe?  Depends on what people want.

 

Oh, got it, that makes sense. Do you think people using yellow to power it would be slightly different from people using green? I'm thinking of maybe a culture descended from the same God, who split into two groups, one in the forest and one in the steppes who use different lumuoles to power their shapeshiftint, and as a result, have somewhat different cultures and effects.

 

That one is definitely workable.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Sweet! I'll get to work on that then.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

So with the human population, I was considering giving all of them minor control over fire--namely, the ability to remain warm far longer than would be normally possible, allowing them to swim in the icy waters for periods of time (haven't figured out exactly how long). Others would have more direct control. Would that work?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

So with the human population, I was considering giving all of them minor control over fire--namely, the ability to remain warm far longer than would be normally possible, allowing them to swim in the icy waters for periods of time (haven't figured out exactly how long). Others would have more direct control. Would that work?

 

Pretty much anything can work.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Pretty much anything can work.

Except the steel-formed radioactive dead-raising pugs....unless I work them into tundra mythology somehow.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Except the steel-formed radioactive dead-raising pugs....unless I work them into tundra mythology somehow.

 

True... true... we need other kinds of pugs. Powls or Pawks or whatever the heck was in that (totally real) photograph that was posted on the Questions thread yesterday.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Since otters feed on fish, I'm thinking of having two different animals be herded by my people, one(otters) that are water-based, and another that would graze on land. Any ideas for what those land ones should be?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Since otters feed on fish, I'm thinking of having two different animals be herded by my people, one(otters) that are water-based, and another that would graze on land. Any ideas for what those land ones should be?

 

Snifflers! They're like tapirs, but they're covered in shaggy fur, stand about a foot tall, and lay eggs! My people domesticated them over on the western end of the continent and it's been about 11,000 years since then. Plenty of time for them to spread east-side.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Perfect! And they eat grass and leaves?

Edit: And, Kobold, if it isn't too much work, would you mind hyper linking the important posts(eg. Jerric's map/climate post, Bard's most recent map, Mek's Magic system ones, etc.) in your OP?

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mailliw73

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Perfect! And they eat grass and leaves?

 

Yep.

 

EDIT: And, Kobold, how big did you envision the raptor species when you wrote the description?

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Perfect! And would there have been time for them to have evolved differently if they were in the steppes as opposed to the forest?

Edit: Jerric, you call the light green tropical forests, but Wikipedia calls it a tropical savanna. What's the difference?

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mailliw73

[Kobold King he/him]

Perfect! And they eat grass and leaves?

Edit: And, Kobold, if it isn't too much work, would you mind hyper linking the important posts(eg. Jerric's map/climate post, Bard's most recent map, Mek's Magic system ones, etc.) in your OP?

 

I can do that.

 

 

EDIT: And, Kobold, how big did you envision the raptor species when you wrote the description?

 

I imagine a Dromean's snout coming up to a grown man's chest, about four to five feet high. Larger than Deinonychus, but quite a bit smaller than Utahraptor.

 

 

 

Anyway, a lot of great ideas here! I especially love that mini-essay, Curiosity.

 

 

 

The main fauna I wanted for the tundra region involved prey animals for humans and prey ocean creatures for the seals. Some land creatures that the humans could hunt so they wouldn't be in direct competition with the seals on that front. The humans would also need skin animals that could be used for parkas and dwellings, though if some sort of plant provided equal or superior covering I could work with that.

I'm considering having the twin sisters be the goddesses of that particular region and fashioning the religion accordingly. Tentatively, the human-seal society will be matriarchal.

 

I think dinosaurs could work for that... tell me what you think of these. That goes for all of you, since I'm not sure how flamboyant lumuole-infused animals are allowed to be.

 

 

Spaksnout (Pyrorhinosaurus)

 

Medium-sized dinosaurs the size of muskoxen, these iguanadonts wander the tundra in small herds, grazing the moss and lichens that grow in the cold soil. They are warm-blooded animals with thick umber coats, usually walking on two legs as they migrate across the plains in search of food.

 

The spaksnout's most notable attribute is its nose. Within the skull is a hollow cavity just above the nostrils, filled with warm air. This can be used to produce a loud trumpeting sound for communicating with other members of the herd, but that's only one use. More important are the colonies of red lumuoles that inhabit the cavity, absorbed into the body during times of the year when red lumuole-infused flowers bloom in the frosted soil that ordinarily could never support them.

 

The red lumuoles warm the leaves and roots of the flowers, and are used for a similar purpose in the spaksnout. The microorganisms produce supernatural heat within the animal's nostrils and respiratory system, warming the dinosaur from the inside out even in the coldest blizzards and the darkest winters.

 

Of course, such power isn't limited solely to homeotherm regulation. In the long springtime males will voraciously seek out and eat any plants which will provide them with new lumuoles, and their bodies work overtime producing the hormones necessary for upkeeping the ones they already have. The magical red microbes fully fuse with the bulls' bodies, producing immense amounts of heat while simultaneously granting the animal some immunity to it.

 

The magically derived heat has to go somewhere, and bull spaksnouts know how to put it to good use. In elaborate displays to attract females, spaksnout males will snort enchanted flames from their nostrils, causing spouts of fire a few feet long. (Though in one record case, a male was spotted producing a plume of red flame twenty feet tall.) It is an obscene expenditure of energy, especially for the woefully inefficient mechanisms within the spaksnout body. It quickly tires the bulls out, leaving them weak and drained. It's absurd and it's wasteful, but it's extremely attractive to spaksnout cows. 

 

Once the excess lumuoles are burned out of their systems, the spaksnouts mate and produce offspring, which will remain huddled close to their mothers until their own lumuole colonies begin to populate their nasal cavities.

 

 

From an anthropological perspective, spaksnouts would be extremely useful to a human population on the southern coast. While the fire-spouting abilities of the bulls would be difficult to harness, they could be hunted for their meat and hides without much difficulties. They are not dangerous game, and it is not in their nature to use their precious flames for defense. The animals are flighty and are prone to fleeing at the first sign of danger, but clever hunters could sneak their way close enough to strike a killing blow.

 

 

Crimsobeest (Thermosaurus)

 

A less dramatic animal than the spaksnout, crimsobeests are members of the nodosaur family. Stocky, heavily armored dinosaurs with curved spikes along their shoulders, these mammoth-sized creatures live in small, loose herds on the few areas on the tundra capable of sustaining them.

 

Unlike spaksnouts or the mammalian inhabitants of the tundra, crimsobeests have no shaggy coats or thick blubber reserves to keep them from the brink of freezing. Instead, the plates on the animal's back are matched with hot scutes on the underbelly of the beast, which are hollow and used for insulating colonies of the red lumuoles. In an example of a species becoming evolutionarily lazy as a result of magic, crimsobeests rely entirely on the lumuoles for their continued existence. The animals essentially wander the frozen tundra with heating units attached to their undersides, warming their bodies and putting a warm red glow into the air around them. In the darkness of the long tundra winter, herds of these animals can be made out by the light they produce, and a freezing traveler would do well to follow them and sap whatever warmth he can from their proximity.

 

 

From the perspective of a tribe, crimsobeests would be a rare but valuable resource. These animals are slow, heavily armored, and adorned with menacing spikes, which renders them all but impervious to non-sapient predators. They have little to no fear of humans or Dromeans, but such clever creatures can make use of well-aimed arrows or pit traps to bypass the natural armor.

 

In addition, any animals or humanoids that rely on their diets to supply them with living red lumuoles would do well to target the crimsobeest, as this animal has extremely high concentrations of the valuable hot microbes.

 

Skitterhair (Thoosaura)

 

While some dinosaurs rely heavily on lumuoles for survival, the skitterhair scarcely has need of them at all. These two-legged herbivores are covered in woolly grey coats broken up by the faint glow of blue lumuole stripes, and bound across the tundra eating whatever small plants they can scrounge up. In freezing weather they will huddle with others of their kind, sharing natural body warmth and waiting out the frigid wind.

 

 

These are one of the more mundane inhabitants of the tundra--a rarity, in a world where animals can tap into the pores of reality for unlimited free energy. Skitterhairs are hard to catch, but would be valuable for their hides and flesh. They are also pretty fast, and might be used to pull sleds or or carry bags.

 

 

Snowsaber (Cryokopisaurus)

 

 

Apex predator? Still working on this one. I can only be expected to throw so much together on short notice.

 

Blueroot Pine (Pagopinus)

 

In a conventional tundra, there are no trees. There is too little precipitation, and a thick layer of permafrost prevents deep roots from penetrating into the earth. However, the standard rules of nature work differently on Diaemus. Blueroot pines are evergreen trees mostly unremarkable save for their sophisticated root structure, which attracts and utilizes blue lumuoles to tap into the hard permafrost. The lumuoles possess a strong affinity for water in all of its forms, and in the case of the blueroot, can be used to change water from one of its states to another.

 

The roots convert the unusable ice in the soil into damp, valuable water, which is greedily extracted from the soil by the blueroot and plants that are adapted to grow near them. The blueroot sprinkles the landscape with dense foliage in between the desolate plains, and provides valuable habitats for small tundra-dwellers with meager needs. The local Dromean culture will travel deep into the tundra to gather blueroot sap, which when distilled is extremely useful in efficiently controlling blue lumuoles.

 

 

I doubt they'd grow very close to the coast, so it's unlikely that Twi's humans or seals would run into it very often.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on these organisms. Whether or not they're fine, or whether or not I need to go back to the drawing board with them.

 

This is fun.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Thanks, Kobold! And those species are awesome!

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

And, Kobold, if it isn't too much work, would you mind hyper linking the important posts(eg. Jerric's map/climate post, Bard's most recent map, Mek's Magic system ones, etc.) in your OP?

 

We might want to add the fact that lumuoles represent portals to the "other side" when we do this.

 

Perfect! And would there have been time for them to have evolved differently if they were in the steppes as opposed to the forest?

 

Eh. Think of them like chickens spreading from Southeast Asia to Europe. There's selective breeding going on, so people in your region would have been choosing to breed snifflers with traits they like better, such as taste of meat, milk, and eggs, faster walking speed, coloration, and growth rate, but probably not evolution per se.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I was thinking like longer snouts or necks for the ones that live near more trees, not a huge difference, but enough to tell where they're from.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

I was thinking like longer snouts or necks for the ones that live near more trees, not a huge difference, but enough to tell where they're from.

 

That's a thing. Yep. Like different breeds of dogs.

 

I can do that.

 

 

 

I imagine a Dromean's snout coming up to a grown man's chest, about four to five feet high. Larger than Deinonychus, but quite a bit smaller than Utahraptor.

 

 

 

Anyway, a lot of great ideas here! I especially love that mini-essay, Curiosity.

 

 

 

 

I think dinosaurs could work for that... tell me what you think of these. That goes for all of you, since I'm not sure how flamboyant lumuole-infused animals are allowed to be.

 

 

Spaksnout (Pyrorhinosaurus)

 

Medium-sized dinosaurs the size of muskoxen, these iguanadonts wander the tundra in small herds, grazing the moss and lichens that grow in the cold soil. They are warm-blooded animals with thick umber coats, usually walking on two legs as they migrate across the plains in search of food.

 

The spaksnout's most notable attribute is its nose. Within the skull is a hollow cavity just above the nostrils, filled with warm air. This can be used to produce a loud trumpeting sound for communicating with other members of the herd, but that's only one use. More important are the colonies of red lumuoles that inhabit the cavity, absorbed into the body during times of the year when red lumuole-infused flowers bloom in the frosted soil that ordinarily could never support them.

 

The red lumuoles warm the leaves and roots of the flowers, and are used for a similar purpose in the spaksnout. The microorganisms produce supernatural heat within the animal's nostrils and respiratory system, warming the dinosaur from the inside out even in the coldest blizzards and the darkest winters.

 

Of course, such power isn't limited solely to homeotherm regulation. In the long springtime males will voraciously seek out and eat any plants which will provide them with new lumuoles, and their bodies work overtime producing the hormones necessary for upkeeping the ones they already have. The magical red microbes fully fuse with the bulls' bodies, producing immense amounts of heat while simultaneously granting the animal some immunity to it.

 

The magically derived heat has to go somewhere, and bull spaksnouts know how to put it to good use. In elaborate displays to attract females, spaksnout males will snort enchanted flames from their nostrils, causing spouts of fire a few feet long. (Though in one record case, a male was spotted producing a plume of red flame twenty feet tall.) It is an obscene expenditure of energy, especially for the woefully inefficient mechanisms within the spaksnout body. It quickly tires the bulls out, leaving them weak and drained. It's absurd and it's wasteful, but it's extremely attractive to spaksnout cows. 

 

Once the excess lumuoles are burned out of their systems, the spaksnouts mate and produce offspring, which will remain huddled close to their mothers until their own lumuole colonies begin to populate their nasal cavities.

 

 

From an anthropological perspective, spaksnouts would be extremely useful to a human population on the southern coast. While the fire-spouting abilities of the bulls would be difficult to harness, they could be hunted for their meat and hides without much difficulties. They are not dangerous game, and it is not in their nature to use their precious flames for defense. The animals are flighty and are prone to fleeing at the first sign of danger, but clever hunters could sneak their way close enough to strike a killing blow.

 

 

Crimsobeest (Thermosaurus)

 

A less dramatic animal than the spaksnout, crimsobeests are members of the nodosaur family. Stocky, heavily armored dinosaurs with curved spikes along their shoulders, these mammoth-sized creatures live in small, loose herds on the few areas on the tundra capable of sustaining them.

 

Unlike spaksnouts or the mammalian inhabitants of the tundra, crimsobeests have no shaggy coats or thick blubber reserves to keep them from the brink of freezing. Instead, the plates on the animal's back are matched with hot scutes on the underbelly of the beast, which are hollow and used for insulating colonies of the red lumuoles. In an example of a species becoming evolutionarily lazy as a result of magic, crimsobeests rely entirely on the lumuoles for their continued existence. The animals essentially wander the frozen tundra with heating units attached to their undersides, warming their bodies and putting a warm red glow into the air around them. In the darkness of the long tundra winter, herds of these animals can be made out by the light they produce, and a freezing traveler would do well to follow them and sap whatever warmth he can from their proximity.

 

 

From the perspective of a tribe, crimsobeests would be a rare but valuable resource. These animals are slow, heavily armored, and adorned with menacing spikes, which renders them all but impervious to non-sapient predators. They have little to no fear of humans or Dromeans, but such clever creatures can make use of well-aimed arrows or pit traps to bypass the natural armor.

 

In addition, any animals or humanoids that rely on their diets to supply them with living red lumuoles would do well to target the crimsobeest, as this animal has extremely high concentrations of the valuable hot microbes.

 

Skitterhair (Thoosaura)

 

While some dinosaurs rely heavily on lumuoles for survival, the skitterhair scarcely has need of them at all. These two-legged herbivores are covered in woolly grey coats broken up by the faint glow of blue lumuole stripes, and bound across the tundra eating whatever small plants they can scrounge up. In freezing weather they will huddle with others of their kind, sharing natural body warmth and waiting out the frigid wind.

 

 

These are one of the more mundane inhabitants of the tundra--a rarity, in a world where animals can tap into the pores of reality for unlimited free energy. Skitterhairs are hard to catch, but would be valuable for their hides and flesh. They are also pretty fast, and might be used to pull sleds or or carry bags.

 

 

Snowsaber (Cryokopisaurus)

 

 

Apex predator? Still working on this one. I can only be expected to throw so much together on short notice.

 

Blueroot Pine (Pagopinus)

 

In a conventional tundra, there are no trees. There is too little precipitation, and a thick layer of permafrost prevents deep roots from penetrating into the earth. However, the standard rules of nature work differently on Diaemus. Blueroot pines are evergreen trees mostly unremarkable save for their sophisticated root structure, which attracts and utilizes blue lumuoles to tap into the hard permafrost. The lumuoles possess a strong affinity for water in all of its forms, and in the case of the blueroot, can be used to change water from one of its states to another.

 

The roots convert the unusable ice in the soil into damp, valuable water, which is greedily extracted from the soil by the blueroot and plants that are adapted to grow near them. The blueroot sprinkles the landscape with dense foliage in between the desolate plains, and provides valuable habitats for small tundra-dwellers with meager needs. The local Dromean culture will travel deep into the tundra to gather blueroot sap, which when distilled is extremely useful in efficiently controlling blue lumuoles.

 

 

I doubt they'd grow very close to the coast, so it's unlikely that Twi's humans or seals would run into it very often.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on these organisms. Whether or not they're fine, or whether or not I need to go back to the drawing board with them.

 

This is fun.

 

 

Impressive magibiology skills. I'm inspired. Truly I am. I just added an entirely new document to my folder for "environment."

 

Although I just realized that we've never explicitly stated how exactly organisms use magic.  I always imagined that there had to be a sort of intent behind it to shape what the lumuole does, but I'm not sure what everybody else got out of that discussion. Obviously, the demigods require intent. Whether or not demigods use up lumuoles in the process of doing magic is up for debate.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Mckeedee123

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Would animals like the "snifflers" or the otters use magic in some way?

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Would animals like the "snifflers" or the otters use magic in some way?

 

I didn't originally think of them as magical creatures, but if you have any ideas, I'd be absolutely psyched to hear them.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I was just wondering if, generally, most animals would use the magic in some small way. Or have adapted so that their bodies process the lumuoles.

Depending on how it works, I'll use the otters for example, since I've thought about them more, they could use green lumuoles to manipulate wind to affect currents-which would require intent-or they could process them, making them happier and more-whatever-life-lumuoles-do. Or they could have an aura that makes others happier, usually prey, to make them easier to catch. Just some ideas. I was thinking that it'd depend on the type of lumuoles, so for the snifflers, it'd depend on where they were.

[Young Bard he/him]

Kobold, TwiLyght, Morzathoth & Warden: Please check that you are happy with your spots.

Slowswift: I'll need a lot more information that that. Even if it's just a vague idea, you can still change it later.

 

Regarding a second continent, I'd rather it be displayed in such a manner that the current map doesn't have to shift. Either have it in the empty space, or right on the other side of the planet (we can make this where humans came from originally). I'm using Photoshop CS2 for making this, so I can reimport the image with a new continent on the side, but not if the continent itself has been shifted to fit the new one in. Does that make sense?

 

Anyway, here it is.

 

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

Hey, me and Mckeedee are right next to each other. I have been working on my species, including a race of wolves that can swim and my humanoids, called the Nixos, who manipulate lumules to control the wind. I am on mobile so posting is hard. Amazing races Kobold! YoungBard, your maps are beautiful.

[Young Bard he/him]

Well, Sir Jerric actually created the map, not me. But it is a very good map, yes. My compliments to the cartographer.

 

Once the subforum is up, I may also start a thread which includes maps as to where various species and where various empires are located. (I've sent a PM to Chaos about that, but he doesn't appear to have read it yet.)

[Kobold King he/him]

 

Impressive magibiology skills. I'm inspired. Truly I am. I just added an entirely new document to my folder for "environment."

 

Although I just realized that we've never explicitly stated how exactly organisms use magic.  I always imagined that there had to be a sort of intent behind it to shape what the lumuole does, but I'm not sure what everybody else got out of that discussion. Obviously, the demigods require intent. Whether or not demigods use up lumuoles in the process of doing magic is up for debate.

 

 

Thanks! I think that's the first time I've inspired awespren.

 

 

From a biological perspective, I think lumuoles would be everywhere. The ability to access the pores of reality for unlimited free energy, bypassing all the rules and restrictions that govern conventional life forms, is simply too valuable for any species to pass up. There would be a few species with meager needs that could do without, like my skitterhairs, but I think even they would allow the lumuoles into their bodies and might make some small use of them sometime in the year.

 

As for intent--DNA and genetic instinct is an intent, right? The spaksnouts may not be sapient, but every fiber of their being wants to generated their fiery displays. The blueroot pine doesn't have a brain, but the way I imagined it, pheromones in the sap and root structure would "tell" the lumuoles what was required of them. I agree that the lumuoles should require intent, if only to prevent them from wreaking havoc in their raw form, but I think expanding our definition of intent to allow for non-sapient or non-sentient magic users makes for lifeform possibilities that are too fascinating to pass up.

 

 

I was just wondering if, generally, most animals would use the magic in some small way. Or have adapted so that their bodies process the lumuoles.

Depending on how it works, I'll use the otters for example, since I've thought about them more, they could use green lumuoles to manipulate wind to affect currents-which would require intent-or they could process them, making them happier and more-whatever-life-lumuoles-do. Or they could have an aura that makes others happier, usually prey, to make them easier to catch. Just some ideas. I was thinking that it'd depend on the type of lumuoles, so for the snifflers, it'd depend on where they were.

 

Like I said to Mckeedee, I think that lumuoles are extremely valuable lifeforms that almost everything would have assimilated in some way or another. I like the idea of making this a world where almost everything is magical; imagine fields of faintly glowing grass, or blissful lake surfaces occasionally broken up by the spout of some blue lumuole-utilizing predator somewhere underneath the ripples. I cannot speak for everyone, but I would like this to be a world where even the barest backyard is filled with magic and magical beings.

 

I like your magic otters and tapirs, by the way. I especially love the idea of otters that give out an aura of tranquility; if human cultures of Diaemus mirror the ones of Earth, I imagine there could be a thriving trade in exporting the still-glowing pelts of critters to the rich and powerful.

 

Mckeedee, what do lumuoles require to survive? Can they directly harness their own energy to power their cell activities, or do they require external sources of nutrition?

 

 

Kobold, TwiLyght, Morzathoth & Warden: Please check that you are happy with your spots.

Slowswift: I'll need a lot more information that that. Even if it's just a vague idea, you can still change it later.

 

Regarding a second continent, I'd rather it be displayed in such a manner that the current map doesn't have to shift. Either have it in the empty space, or right on the other side of the planet (we can make this where humans came from originally). I'm using Photoshop CS2 for making this, so I can reimport the image with a new continent on the side, but not if the continent itself has been shifted to fit the new one in. Does that make sense?

 

Anyway, here it is.

 

Who owns what.jpg

 

That works just fine for me. It even gives me a sizable access to the coast, which I'm sure I could utilize...

 

 

Thoughts directed at specific people:

 

• To whichever person claimed the caverns: will all cavern systems be interconnected, or will most be isolated pockets with either no access or surface access only? Would there be caverns underneath the tundra?
• TwiLyght: do those magic dinosaurs work for you? If not, I'd be more than happy to either design something else or keep these animals confined to my region somehow.
• Edgedancer/anyone else with an interest in the mountains: do we have a canon name for the long eastern mountain range? If not, I would like to humbly propose calling them "The Spires" as a solid cross-cultural name, though I'd be thrilled to hear other suggestions.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Thanks! I think that's the first time I've inspired awespren.

From a biological perspective, I think lumuoles would be everywhere. The ability to access the pores of reality for unlimited free energy, bypassing all the rules and restrictions that govern conventional life forms, is simply too valuable for any species to pass up. There would be a few species with meager needs that could do without, like my skitterhairs, but I think even they would allow the lumuoles into their bodies and might make some small use of them sometime in the year.

As for intent--DNA and genetic instinct is an intent, right? The spaksnouts may not be sapient, but every fiber of their being wants to generated their fiery displays. The blueroot pine doesn't have a brain, but the way I imagined it, pheromones in the sap and root structure would "tell" the lumuoles what was required of them. I agree that the lumuoles should require intent, if only to prevent them from wreaking havoc in their raw form, but I think expanding our definition of intent to allow for non-sapient or non-sentient magic users makes for lifeform possibilities that are too fascinating to pass up.

Like I said to Mckeedee, I think that lumuoles are extremely valuable lifeforms that almost everything would have assimilated in some way or another. I like the idea of making this a world where almost everything is magical; imagine fields of faintly glowing grass, or blissful lake surfaces occasionally broken up by the spout of some blue lumuole-utilizing predator somewhere underneath the ripples. I cannot speak for everyone, but I would like this to be a world where even the barest backyard is filled with magic and magical beings.

I like your magic otters and tapirs, by the way. I especially love the idea of otters that give out an aura of tranquility; if human cultures of Diaemus mirror the ones of Earth, I imagine there could be a thriving trade in exporting the still-glowing pelts of critters to the rich and powerful.

Mckeedee, what do lumuoles require to survive? Can they directly harness their own energy to power their cell activities, or do they require external sources of nutrition?

That works just fine for me. It even gives me a sizable access to the coast, which I'm sure I could utilize...

Thoughts directed at specific people:

• To whichever person claimed the caverns: will all cavern systems be interconnected, or will most be isolated pockets with either no access or surface access only? Would there be caverns underneath the tundra?
• TwiLyght: do those magic dinosaurs work for you? If not, I'd be more than happy to either design something else or keep these animals confined to my region somehow.
• Edgedancer/anyone else with an interest in the mountains: do we have a canon name for the long eastern mountain range? If not, I would like to humbly propose calling them "The Spires" as a solid cross-cultural name, though I'd be thrilled to hear other suggestions.

Those dinosaurs are great. I can already think of some probable uses for them (will spell out the names when I'm back on my laptop, since my phone thinks "skitter" and "hairs" should never be one word ). The armored ones might also be useful to the seals, if they need heated water or use the spines as weapons. (If anyone else has any suggestions as to how this arrangement could be mutually beneficial, don't hesitate to let me know. There's no sense in a symbiotic relationship if the humans are benefited more than the seals.)

Ooh, looks like there's a bit of overlap on our respective territories. What are the chances your race has explored far enough into the tundra to reach the coast?

[Sir Jerric he/him]

Personally, I have been calling the long range the World Spine.