Crimwol

Crimwol is the second world orbiting Hwren. Much of its plant life had evolved to mimic the color of its scarlet-colored sun. From fiery red to rich golden yellow, its plants, so isolated on islands deep in the global sea have evolved a staggering array of colors.

All landmasses on this ice-covered world are volcanic in origin, but with such fierce competition from Crimwol's plants, the efforts of its volcanoes to fill the atmosphere with warming gasses never make progress. Ice covered a quarter of the planet. This planet's native ecology has evolved many methods to keep warm, most notably fur. Even creatures no larger than a thumbnail have the adaptation.

The native Tannjens have largely abandoned their home planet, whose population is not even a tenth of its maximum some five millennia ago. Since the collapse of the ancient Tech Egealta civilization, Crimwol had been at the mercy of warlords seeking glory and emperors seeking hegemony alike. The Tannjens have migrated throughout much of Zalanthium and beyond.

Without their kin so much as looking back to their home world, the remaining Tannjens formed an eclectic militaristic state to defend themselves. Maintaining the ruins of a hundred empires, from old orbital weapons to house-sized guns whose designers have been forgotten to history, the United Duchies of Crimwol, fiercely defends its home.

Ancient Era

Many say the brain is the most powerful computer in the universe and, yes, its capacity for associative data storage and learning is certainly impressive. What was less impressive to the ancient Tannjens was its need for nutrition, hyper specific temperatures and pH, and its purpose. Brains are for making more children, not calculus.

Tech Egealta was founded on the principle of transcending the flesh. They created the first Nachleben in the universe, that is, computers capable of maintaining the soul. With trillions of these machines produced over the years, Tech Egealta's leaders could use the tremendous amounts of energy needed to keep animals alive for other purposes.

Those who refused the procedure were stripped of rights and pushed into nature preserves. They lived short naturalistic lives and lost even the ability to cure their illnesses as databases of "veterinary medicine" were superfluous. The few thousand Tannjens crammed into these reserves soon adapted, discovering the secrets of herbal medicine and basic agriculture.

Unbeknownst to the ten times great grandchildren of the first Tannjens sent to these preserves, their civilization had fallen. The Andvaris Swarm razed every civilization in the universe. The clever Nachleben, however, had a simple plan. They had no need for reality; they could retreat into simulated paradises, subsist off nuclear-powered batteries for eons, and wake up when the Andvaris Swarm finally left.

Still as statues, the Nachleben hid in plain sight. Andvaris drones could not tell them apart from rocks and they could not tell the still-organic Tannjens apart from animals. 170,000 years later and the Swarm finally shut down.

Common Era

The Nachleben remained where they first stood, the meta-materials composing their body as strong as ever. The Tannjens had become one million strong by 1000 BCE. They tore down ruins to forge bronze tools, but the Nachleben were far too durable to be anything more than strange formations. Of course, superstitions about the "people-shaped rocks" abounded, but they were nothing more than that.

By the time the Tannjens tore down mountains to get to the coal within, they had the technology to pry apart these stones. Curious to see what was within, the first Tannjens to do so experienced fatal radiation poisoning. But, with proper precaution, these statues turned out to be ancient relics. Governments gathered these machines and paid thousands of researchers to unlock their secrets. Through stimulating their limbs with electric currents, one could coax them to move. While clunky industrial-era batteries could hardly do the job, within the century the entire planet's economy had become based on these useful machines. Their hearts powered cities, their eyes took family photos, their arms labored in factories, and their legs held up civilization.

There were even more to be found on Crimwol's large moon of Starrock, including far larger and more mysterious machines. The governments of Crimwol, once competing for land and sea now competed for space. The first colonies on Starrock went up in 2003 CE. Just twenty years later, the Tannjens had set foot on every somewhat notable rock in the system. Every government and company wanted their name in the histories of each world.

Overlord Era

Millions of Nachleben carelessly dumped into landfills, stripped for parts or not. Their brains, dense orbs of unassailable even by atomic age technology, made for good paper weights and little else. They saw limited usage in sanding applications given their resistance to wear. By the millions these orbs piled up in landfills, at the bottom of lakes, under the foundations of buildings, or strewn about on airless worlds under the full unfiltered cosmic radiation. Needless to say, most did not survive being harvested. Some may have been able to subsist on auxiliary power, but waking up to find oneself buried and slowly buckling under pressure must have been horrific.

A small satellite orbiting Hwren gave the signal, the ancient device one of the few the Tannjens hadn't found and tossed into a museum. They ambled out of facilities, brushed moss off of themselves, trudged ashore, or at least attempted to do so. In various states of disrepair they began discussing what to do to rebuild. The Nachleben soon noticed the scattered remains of their brethren. They recognized components in vehicles, electronics, and even houses. They responded much the same way anyone would seeing a predator tear apart a comrade. These animals needed to be put back into their reserves first and foremost.

Thus the war began, although neither side saw it as such. Putting down the ancient weapons of some precursor civilization and putting down the animals who slaughtered their countrymen and played with their viscera. The Tannjen were outnumbered two to one, but the limping Nachleben had nothing in the way of infrastructure or weaponry. The feuding Tannjen states put aside their differences to unite into the Hwren Congress.

Around when the population had quartered, both sides put down their arms as yet another player entered the fray. The snoutless woman bald across her body save for the top of her head called herself Sachitel. With her, more hairless snoutless creatures and beings seemingly made of crystal, two arms and two legs but three eyes. Each one could brave the vacuum of space and could move fast enough to traverse the gulf between stars, somehow under their own power.

These were Magi, the users of Thaumaturgy. Perhaps at full strength, the Tannjens could crush them with bullets from orbit. Perhaps the Nachleben, whose strength and speed were unparalleled, could send wave after wave until they overwhelmed the magi. The Nachleben and Congress pledged fealty without the woman saying a single word. Sachitel ruled the Second Aeternal Society. She left nearly as soon as she had arrived, leaving behind her magus army to enforce her will.

Several years later, she had returned. Sachitel began to remake the planet as she saw fit. Nachleben and Tannjen alike faced screenings for magical potential. All those with potential never saw their home world again. These magi were sent to the front lines in the eternal warfare against each and everyone one of her neighbors. She had the best thaumaturgy in the universe, but with so few subjects, she had gone as far as Zalanthium to find them.

That was, until her visit to The Benefactor.

The Wish

Her wish, an army of magi she could conquer Eos with. The Benefactor, perhaps the most powerful spirit in existence, grants wishes in exchange for fulfilling a contract. All Sachitel would need to do is fling a dwarf planet into its maw and she could live the rest of her days a conqueror. Every tenth Tannjen had their souls touched by the Benefactor, apparently it did not recognize Nachleben as living things. The Tannjens gained whatever passed for magic in the Benefactor's view, which apparently was a very broad set of abilities. Most of them gained abilities so obscure it would take millennia for them to emerge organically.

Sachitel had her magus army induct whichever ones seemed useful and left the rest, over 9 billion, with only a few hundred guardians. This army spent its days feeding the Benefactor, fighting wars across an ever-increasing number of fronts, and finally laying waste to Eos' cities. Crimwol was free to an extent. While Sachitel's warriors could do anything they liked, they could begin rebuilding. In secret, some explored their hidden abilities, most of which figured out how to leave Crimwol. Many went to Limehold, some to Eos to get their revenge against Sachitel, and some began roving across Cosmoria as Sachitel had.

For the next few centuries, Crimwol changed hands between warlords flying throughout Zalanthium.

Self Rule

With the Hwrenlords war band making Crimwol their permanent home in 4300, the planet stopped becoming a place to be raided. It slowly rebuilt, offering goods for trade. This new peace made the planet far more productive. Other bands began slowly settling worlds, forgoing their nomadic life styles. The gains were just too great, even if the cost of defending worlds was much greater. As the Hwrenlord political situation grew increasingly complex, different houses competed for trade rights with passing ships. What emerged was a system of property rights which trumped even claims to power. When seizing assets became bad for the economy, the nobles of Crimwol either respected their traders or fell by the wayside.

At this time, Crimwol was known across the universe as one of the best places to do business. Trade with the rest of Zalanthium was high, but even places as far as Dotskgard, Matoehdahn, and The Heart of Providence traded. Empires came and went, but during the fifth and sixth millennium, Crimwol remained independent.

In 5120 CE, Tech Starrock landed troops on Crimwol and seized its capitol. With overwhelming power and wealth thanks to Starrock's lower gravity, the rulers of Crimwol's large moon easily bested a planet with a population ten times larger. Starrock's population slowly rose as opportunities on its parent dwindled, coming to match and even surpass Crimwol by 5630.

The Benefit

Life

This table details the vast familial ecosystem of Crimwol. Also known as the Crimwol machinery factory.

An order of creatures which encompasses any organism that reproduces by laying eggs.

Duaverbra Poa

Branching out from their monoverbra ancestors, Duaverbra Poa are known most notably for their two spines. One spine, the one that forms an animal's back, is responsible for weight bearing and muscle control while a the secondary, smaller spine that is positioned underneath is responsible for protecting the central nerve that connects to an animals brain. This system is in place to protect Duaverbra Poa from predators as most of them are prey animals despite being large. Animals within this family are quite durable but many lack proper attack options.

Species within Duaverbra Poa --->

Appentrite: A four legged, furred creature. Having an extremely large lung capacity and the rare ability to sweat, this creature is known for being able to run large distances with no rest stops. Although not aquatic and definitely not built for swimming, the Appentrite can also survive long underwater since they have a large amount of oxygen storage. Notably, the appentrite has an elongated snout in order to consume the higher up plant-life. Appentrites seem to have a very acute control over the hundreds of miniscule muscle structures within this snout, making it a sought after product in Crimwol’s society.
Poanas: A four legged creature that can grow to up to 7 feet tall at the shoulder.

Monoverbra Florith

Given the name due to the singular spines within their back, Creatures within this family are often small due to their abundance as prey animals. A vast majority of monoverbra florith are herbivores and therefore perfect targets because of their high energy. A key feature within this family is the flattened molars placed on the roof of the mouth. These teeth are used to chew flora even when a monoverbra florith's mouth is closed, a feature that is not present in a lot of larger grazing species

Species within Monoverbra Florith --->

Herbid: A rodent-like, plant grazing creature with elongated feet and folded spring-like legs to maximize jump height and running speed. Being a significantly hunted species, the Herbid can lay up to 40 hard-shell eggs at once. Although in eggs, baby Herbid's carry out their gestation period in their mother's egg compartment, allowing them to hatch immediately after being laid. These animals sport a rather long, furry tail which they use for balance purposes.

An order of creatures which encompasses any organism that reproduces live children.

Monoverbra Bipeda

The only family of monoverbra in the order of entonativitas as well as the only bipedal family ever on Crimwol. This family is known to favor intelligence over attack.

Species within Monoverbra Bipeda --->

Rhagg: A humanoid species with notably two joints in the arm. Although only speculative, it is believed that ancient Rhaggs used their arms as sort of spring-like hammers to attack. These three section arms were also useful for climbing trees to escape from predators. On top of Rhaggs being the most intelligent native species on Crimwol, they also possess natural pseudo-pylons in their stomach. This is hypothesized to be because Crimwol's orbit comes close to the High-Warlock every 20 million years. The last time Crimwol passed the High-Warlock was 7 million years ago, the same time that the first Rhagg skull has been dated to. Although somewhat magical, these pseudo-pylons still do form naturally. At about 5-8 years of a Rhagg's life span, calcium will build up in their stomach, collecting blood and stomach acid along the way. Eventually, it will coagulate and harden into an extremely dense blood clot that functions as an aforementioned pseudo-pylon. a Rhagg blood clot causes a Dexter Rod to burn red at a little over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. For fairly obvious reasons, Anihla Gryith's Dexter Rod is cased in Rhagg muscles with a Rhagg blood clot pseudo-pylon.

Placeholder