Month: September 2023

Heikei Mushrooms

Image by Andreas from Pixabay

These mushrooms are known as Heikei mushrooms, and are found in the Pevyse forest. This forest seems to grow all plants to enormous sizes, with the great trees of the Pevyse settlement being the most well-known. These mushrooms are of similar stature, and grown in a unique formation, one atop the other. Gnomes of the Heikei forest live in these great formations, using them as homes in a manner similar to elves and Pevyse bandearg. Some hollow out the mushrooms while others use them as a tentlike shelter, building small huts beneath their caps. The mushrooms require thicker walls, thus providing smaller homes than an elven-built tree home made from a similar-sized tree.

Dolphins of Ferella

Dolphins are known to be quite intelligent, with IQs between that of a typical bandearg and that of a human. We have conducted extensive testing and found that while they are capable of speech, it is difficult to capture nuances. While speaking in the present tense and even future tense have been possible, they seem to struggle with the past tense, confusing it with the theoretical.

Image by Claudia Beer from Pixabay

Attempts to ask them about their culture have been more successful than expected, though much of it is yet to be deciphered. Asking them about their past only results in legends and stories, perhaps due to their primitive language and oral culture. They are remarkably consistent, claiming that they originated from the sky. This likely refers to some deity that they believe their species came from. They claim they were with humans during this occurrence, perhaps indicating that their deity created humans, as well. It could also suggest that they imagine their deity as a humanoid, though their lack of respect for researchers suggest that no reverence for our species exists.

We have been able to determine a consistent starting point for the species: the island of Atlantis. Scientific research shows that it is a central cultural hub, and all dolphins interviewed had spent time there on multiple occasions.

Early Flight?

Photo by MEUM MARE

This is one of the earliest images in our archive. It seems to be depicting a mountain range from above, as if from a bird’s view. This may be a fanciful image by the artist, though images from our own experimental flights show that it is remarkably accurate in terms of viewpoint and angle. It also seems to be framed by a shiny, artificial portal of some sort. This suggests that the vantage point may have been achieved by some sort of spell.

It is also possible that flight was achieved at an earlier time, and that the technology was somehow lost to time. This is consistent with some salvaged pieces made from a material that resembles the shiny white frame of the window.

One final thing of note; the image is not consistent with any known mountain range on ‘El’.

Domestic Cats

Domestic cats are a curiosity, as there is no evidence that their descendants ever lived in the wild. Some theorize that they were a construct of magic while others believe that they were a scientific experiment like the Pas Todoans. It is interesting to note that older entries refer to them as “domestic cats,” implying that a wild cat did in fact exist. This could simply mean that feral cats were common at that time, rather than true “wild” cats. It could also be an indicator that Ferellan wildcats ceased to exist long ago.

It is important to note that while there are felines in the Ferellan wilds, they are not in fact related genetically to domestic cats. This, along with their physical similarities, would support the theory that they were genetically altered so that their DNA no longer resembles that of wild cats on Ferella.

Image by Ralph from Pixabay

Sailors have a strange theory, a myth that seems to be popular across all the seas of ‘El’. They believe that cats came from somewhere else, having become domesticated in a distant land where wild cats may still roam. This likely came from the fact that cats often travel on ships, visiting all the lands of ‘El’ that way. Sailors may have assumed that they did the same, though there is no reason to believe that another land might have existed before this one.

Something Once Was

Dear Diary,

Have you ever desired something so much that you conjured that thing into being? I think I may have done so…I know that Eurth is uninhabitable, but…sometimes I think I see something down there. On the surface.

When I look through my telescope, I see skyscrapers, factories, acid-eaten buildings and rotted stumps. But every once in a while, there is a flash of movement. It could be the wind, but there is nothing left for the wind to carry. It almost seems to move on its own, but whatever it is is too fast to catch on such a delicate instrument. By the time I recalibrate the telescope, it is gone.

I know that they say everything is gone and nothing could live down there, but I can’t help but wish that those glimpses were something more than a puff of smog or a dust devil.