Jack o Lanterns are an ancient human tradition, one of the few cultural aspects shared amongst Vuzodep, Ferellan Giants, and humans alike. These lanterns are carved from hollowed-out gourds or root vegetables to resemble humanoid faces. Ferellan giants will often hire humans and smaller races to carve the lanterns for them since it is difficult to find large enough gourds and roots for them to carve. Their fingers are simply too big.
Unlike a standard lantern, these pieces are more like artwork, filled with eerie magical light or the simple flicker of a candle. The glow of light makes them functional lanterns, but the purpose of the device is to scare away evil spirits. Legend says that evil spirits roam Ferellan on one night each year, and can only be driven away by the light of the lantern. It is possible that the evil spirits they fear are what drove humans and Vuzodep to leave their homeland long ago.
Giants exist in many legends across the world, from ancient Eurth legends of one called “Goliath” to stories about legendary frost and storm giants in the wilds of Ferella. As of today, we have no definitive proof of the existence of any nonstandard giants such as these, but the legends are so prevalent that it is wholly reasonable to assume that they exist. The various subtypes could be explained as descendants of a common ancestor or perhaps as simple differences in appearance due to the climate they evolved in. We will explore each of these two giant phenotypes in this article.
On Ferella, the only type of giant known to exist in all climates, and the only one that commonly interacts with other races, is the common Ferellan giant. This giant looks like a normal humanoid, but is approximately ten times the size of most Ferellan races, namely elves and humans. Their skin can be any color in the pink and brown spectrum, including shades of olive. Hair color tends to be brown, blonde, black, or red. They never seem to have blue, green, or pink hair, though they occasionally have white hair. Culturally, common giants are very similar to humans, but with technologies to rival the dwarves. Their culture is also known to be sophisticated, even in remote areas.
It should be noted that these giants are significantly smaller than the one referenced in the legend of the Giant’s Hand.
Other types of giants are typically characterized by weather elements in their area, such as frost giants that are rumored to live in the frosty wastelands of the world. One notable exception is the legendary Goliath, a story common amongst Vuzodep. He is commonly described as being three or four times the size of a normal Vuzodep, similar to the size of weather-characterized giants. This has given rise to the theory that he was the allfather of all giant races, excepting the common giant. Another theory suggests that giants are all separate races with strength-based traits and weather resistances that allowed them to become apex predators in their areas.
The Giant’s Hand is a rock formation consisting of a large island-like structure in the middle of a former lake, as well as several floating rocks above small ponds in its interior. It is some distance from civilization, and is the only documented area with floating rock formations.
Local legends say a great giant or god fell here. He wrenched his hand free, pulling the earth up and forming mountains. Floating rocks were formed when some of the mountains were pulled up so far that they came free of the ground. The space beneath them was then filled in by water over the years of rainfall.
There is no evidence that gods are real or visited this site, thus necessitating a scientific explanation. Floating rocks have been theorized as the result of magnetic repulsion, detailed here. The formation itself happens to look like a large handprint, but was most likely just a mountainous formation that happened to occur in the midst of a prehistoric lake.
The existence of the lake and the odd way the water moves around the mountains suggests that there is a network of underground rivers beneath or around the mountains. While some claim this supports the theory that the range was formed by a god, it is more likely that earthquakes, wear from the water itself, and other stressors created underground rivers that change the way water moves around the mountains.
One theory, found in an ancient human textbook from long before humans had interacted with the other races, suggests that mountains are formed by internal stressors in the ground, possibly the same stressors that created the underground waterways. This theory says that the ground is formed in plates of rock that sometimes collide or slide against each other, forming mountains.
Most inhabitants of the Giant’s Hand live on the floating rocks. They are typically Vuzodep, and spread the legends and histories of the area verbally. Notably, their history does not mention ever residing in the country Vuzode, from which the Vuzodep people get their name. While ponds, rivers, and lakes provide ample fresh water, growing food can be a struggle as the locals must find ways to grow food atop their floating rocks or must travel to the surface to gather.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It is believed that some spellcasters have the ability to capture any person, place, or even time period in a bubble-like dome of magic. This preserves anything until the spellcaster releases it; however, some believe that the bubble degrades over time and the contents fade or even become corrupted.
Reports indicate that domes have become damaged and spewed their contents out, while some witness accounts suggest that people may be freed from the bubble with a proper counterspell. Accounts are unconfirmed because all witnesses seem to have some mental impairment that may affect memory, possibly as a result of severe trauma. Many claiming to be survivors were neurodivergent, suggesting either an increased suggestibility or an increased resistance to the effects of this spell.
While few if any Ferellans believe that there is such thing as a god, some in the remote human village of Askile have come to believe in them after witnessing miracles and inexplicable phenomena. One such phenomenon is he appearance of a lightning formation they dubbed the “antlers of the gods.” The lighning appears in the shape of one of two antlers, arcing up towards the sky.
Every time the lightning appears in this formation, one item from the town will go missing. Sometimes, a intricately carved pot disappears from a craftsman’s basement. Other times, a statue or monument will disappear from a prominent location. Many believe a god is coming and taking the most precious items humanity can make. This is consistent with the town of Askile’s reputation as some of the most skilled craftspeople in the world, regardless of the medium.
It is said that the moontouched can transform into their komorebi, whether that’s water for one and fire for another. Many do not believe such rumors, but the moontouched all know it to be true. They treat these abilities with the greatest reverence and borderline terror.
There is a ghost story amongst the moontouched. It tells of a girl named Maia Running-Candle who came to a school for moontouched to learn how to use her light komorebi. She was one of the most skilled students who had ever come to the school, mastering high-level techniques during her first year and quickly advancing beyond what her peers could do.
Maia’s master was content to let her learn each new ability as she mastered the previous one, but the dean began to worry that she was learning too fast. Many moontouched skills can have dangerous and long-lasting consequences.
Two years into Maia’s studies, her master came before the dean and told him Maia was ready to learn the most advanced and dangerous technique a moontouched could learn. This would be the capstone lesson to make Maia a true master; transforming into her element. While Maia’s studies showed that she had mastered every other ability, the school had strict ethical guidelines. The dean determined that she could not learn the new ability until she had been at the school long enough to understand the dangers and implications of the ability. She would have to complete twelve full years with the college.
The dean generously offered her employment as a teaching assistant, believing that this would give her the chance to see and experience all levels of komorebi and understand why it could be dangerous, but instead, it gave her the chance to gain sympathy among her peers. Less than a year later, her master finally agreed to teach her the capstone ability without the dean’s consent.
Soon after, the pair snuck into the training grounds together. The lesson began with a demonstration in which the light master flawlessly shifted, her form disappearing into a beam of light that zipped around the room. Excited, the apprentice began to mimic her instructor’s movements.
Realizing what her pupil intended to do, the master began to shift back, her form coalescing and becoming more solid as a warning left her lips, “wait-!”
The student’s form dissolved, bright light filling the room as she streaked around it, bouncing haphazardly against the walls. The beam of light struck her master’s incomplete form, causing a bright explosion. The form flickered and dimmed, finally settling into a single humanoid shape made of light.
Now, that humanoid shape travels the world, roaming at the speed of light. At any point, you may look over your shoulder and see her. She will have something to tell you, but she will be unable to speak.
Nobody is certain whether the event killed the apprentice and left the master stuck in a half-light, half-human form, or whether it merged the two into a single being made of light. To this day, the story is told as a cautionary tale to impatient moontouched and to each new student who prepares to learn this potentially deadly ability.
Many Ferellan natives are known to have control of lightning and electricity, but few have mastered it. Some of these rare individuals, called lightning moontouched, are selected to be trained at a school for moontouched, while others are found by a traveling lightning komorebi master.
One such student was Jaina Scholar-Field, an unusually powerful elven woman. Jaine was born during times when schools were rare, but Carin Elf-Song discovered her abilities when passing through the tiny village she lived in.
During the master’s visit, a lightning storm came through the town, marked by a lack of rain or warning clouds. The lightning flashed a brilliant purple color, marking the beginning of the storm. Clouds began to coalesce, pulling in around it until the lightning could barely be seen as a purple tinge to the clouds. The lightning steadied and no longer came in flashes, instead forming a steady stream just above the cloud ceiling before striking the ground in one massive blow that shook the village.
Carin elected to stay in the village to investigate the strange event, and soon discovered that the event heralded the birth of a powerful infant, Jaina Scholar-Field. As she grew up, her talents became too challenging for her family to handle, and at the age of nine, she was given fully into Carin’s custody.
By adulthood, Jaina had mastered every technique her master taught her, but was known for out-of-control outbursts. Stories were shared about the time she lost control of her magic during an argument and destroyed an entire village in a lightning storm.
Another village considered her a heroine as she liberated them from a tyrannical mayor. The mayor was abusing a servant, and the tales say that Jaina looked up from her drink and stared the mayor down as he berated the young man. Suddenly, the mayor’s eyes rolled back in his head and he began to shake uncontrollably, falling to the floor. They claim that purple lightning flashed overhead for the days he lay sick, seizing uncontrollably until his death three days later.
Some time after her twentieth birthday, Jaina set out with a group of adventurers and never returned. Some believed she perished fighting a great threat while others claim that her own abilities became too strong and destroyed her.
Moontouched Dragon 