Friday, December 16, 2011

The inhabitants of Axphalia (Part 1)

    
   The planet of Magnatus has three large continents - Axphalia, Timneria and Numeria. In this post I would like to introduce you to some of the peoples and creatures who make their homes on Axphalia.

The dwelflings:

     The dwelflings are a placid, contented folk who typically marry young, settle down early, and seldom move away from the village they grow up in. It is not uncommon to find dwelfling families living in the same village that their great, great grandparents had once lived in, and even sometimes in the same treetop. They are fearful of the Eternal Lake due to the proliferation of folk tales and rumors about the fearsome sea serpents who are said to inhabit it. They are generally a cheerful people, mostly crop growers, woodworkers and builders, who have very little appetite for excitement or adventure. They live in elaborate treehouses in the treetops of the giant oak forests of the southern counties.

The orchnids:
     The orchnids are a refined race, with their silvery skin tone and bell-like voices. They are well known for their speed, grace and agility. These are largely facilitated by the winglets on their wrists and ankles. They are also renowned as poets, artists, metal workers and floral arrangers. The orchnids typically live in caves on the steep hillsides of Meade County, and take great pride in their landscaping and flower gardens. All of the cave mouths are usually framed in dazzling arrangements of wildflowers.

The edelites:
     Generations ago the edelites lived in the northern counties, while the dwelflings and orchnids inhabited the south. One day the edelites amassed a huge army and marched on the south, pillaging and burning the villages in their path. The dwelflings and orchnids joined forces, and defeated the edelites after a bloody three-year war. The edelite survivors were taken as slaves and the four counties were then divided amongst the dwelflings and orchnids. The orchnids chose Meade County because of its high mountains and abundance of precious metals, and in exchange they agreed to let the dwelflings keep the other three counties and all of the edelite slaves. Today most dwelfling families own edelite slaves, although they are treated nothing like slaves, and instead have formed very strong bonds with their "masters", becoming more like an extension of the family.

The swamp folk:
     The enigmatic swamp folk live among the mangroves in the mysterious Misty Swamp on the southern tip of Axphalia. At the time of the beginning of our tale, no swamp folk has ever been seen by dwelfling eyes, but on the stillest of nights their mournful song can be heard from the treetops of Oakfield. Every so often the residents of Oakfield might even hear the ominous clacking sound of the swamp folk shaking their bristles.

The forest nymphs:
     These nocturnal treetop dwellers live in the heart of the Ancient Forest, where they spin their hammocks between the highest tree limbs. The diminutive, large eyed, half-transparent forest nymphs are the keepers of the ancient lore books, due to the fact that they are the only creatures on Axphalia to have mastered the art of reading and writing. They usually have very little to do with the other inhabitants of Axphalia. They live on a diet consisting entirely of dewdrops. At night they emit a pale blue glow, and at night they are easy to spot - you just look for the blue glow. The entire community moves daily. They spin their hammocks in a different part of the forest every night, and every morning their hammocks dissolve with the rising sun. On still nights you can hear their beautiful voices singing while they spin.

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