[Development] Pre-Production

by **Surei** on August 3rd, 2012, 10:35 am

Just for the record, Surei might just hang out in the salt mines one time or the other. In fact, now that it's been said, I'll make sure it happens.

by **Hadreck** on August 3rd, 2012, 7:21 pm

They WILL BE AWESOME!
Besides, even an awesome slave like me needs to earn his keep.
I figured I could use the location for my "Job Threads" more or less, amongst other tasks of course.

by **Lixue** on August 6th, 2012, 6:21 pm

Any concerns/things to be fixed, PM me!

Ahnatep Coast

The coast of Ahnatep effects the city every day. It helps keep the weather more mild than the rest of Ekytol. This influence causes there to be three main seasons in Ahnatep. "Spring" has more rain because of the coast and estuary. "Summer" is a blend of fall and has more wind. "Winter" does not suffer from lake-effect snow; it is pleasant with differing temperatures from day to night.

Light, salty breezes fall off the coast and make it only slightly inwards before dying. Waves splash against the hot sand, creating a soft sizzling sound every-time they reach a spot not before wet. The sun beats down on the coast and anyone here should expect a "tight" sensation of their skin after visiting. This is the salt, sun, and moisture taking effect.

The coast is full of pale sand. At the edge of the coast, there is a sharp decline on the beach; where the sand angles downward. The water quickly goes from ankle-deep to over the head of even the tallest of Eypharians. The water drop-offs unexpectedly.

One should never walk on the beach without shoes because of how hot the sand is. If one is not careful, blisters and first-degree burns can take happen. Especially in the combined season of summer and fall. Most of the creatures in the water directly off the coast are harmless, though occasionally a dangerous animal lurks.

Moderator's Note: This location does not require moderating.

Name: Ahnatepian Shelled Water Flier
Frequency: High
Threat level: Low
Major features: Extremely large size, oil skin
Abilities: None
Most common in: Ahnatep

Physical characteristics:

Ahnatepian Shelled Water Fliers are the largest of all sea turtles. They can reach four to six feet in length and weigh anywhere from four hundred to a thousand pounds. Only one has been recorded bigger and was found in the Ahnatep Docks; it weighed over two thousand pounds.

The turtle is naturally a white coloring with olive-green highlights and spots. The back feels like leather and has white stripes down it, along with white spots. The flippers are long and paddle-like and have two claws on the foreflippers. Hind flippers serve as rudders, stabilizing and directing the animal as it swims.

The Ahnatepian Shelled Water Flier cannot retract its head under the shell. They have upper eyelids that help provide protection and there are no external ear openings. The sea turtles lack teeth.

Until the sea turtles reach maturity, males and females do not differentiate. Adult males have longer, thicker tails, because the male reproductive in the base of the tail. Unlike females, the tails may extend beyond the hind flippers. Males have two claws on the foreflippers and they are elongated and curved.

Social Structure:

The Ahnatepian Shelled Water Flier is not a social creature. They tend to remain solitary until they mate, in which case the pair will travel together. The two will travel to an annual nesting grounds and perform a basic mating ritual before the female will travel upon the shore, dig a hole and lay a clutch of eggs. Each season, the female has the ability to lay up to nine clutches of eggs. The heat in the sand helps the eggs hatch. In Ahnatep, the hatching only takes half a season and happens mostly in the summer. A female only nests every two to three years.

These turtles follow the rising and sinking of plankton and jellyfish. The Ahnatepian Shelled Water Flier feeds on the Ahntepian Dock Lurkers. At night, the turtles feed on the upper layers of water. Midday, the turtles can be found in the more shallow waters soaking up the sun.

The turtles have no problem with swimmers and are non-aggressive. They may live up to eighty years.

Miscellaneous:

This turtle can be harvested for the oil suffused skin, which can be used to clothe the body and allow venturing into colder waters. If a batch of eggs are found before the hatching, they are considered a rarity and should be left alone.

Name: Brown Boat Clinger

Brown Boat Clinger are a known nuisance to all who sail. These crustaceans glue themselves to nearly everything and wait for food to wash by. They eat plankton by absorbing the oxygen inside. Brown Boat Clinger has the ability to grow up to five centimeters wide and nearly two centimeters in height. They are completely brown. The lifecycle of this crustacean is quite bland; the larva hatches, leaves the parent's shells, and swims until adulthood when it finally sticks to something until it dies. To "glue" themselves to something, Brown Boat Clinger use a natural adhesive that is designed to hold permanently.

Name: Ahnatepian Dock Lurker
Frequency: Medium
Threat level: High
Major features: Long tentacles, carnivorous lifestyle
Abilities: Frighteningly powerful venom
Most common in: Ahnatep

Physical characteristics:

The Ahnatepian Dock Lurker is an invertebrate that glows in the water. It can grow up to ten feet in length and ten inches in width. Some Ahnatepian Dock Lurkers weigh up to five pounds. Able to move up to four knots through the water, the Ahnatepian Dock Lurker has the ability to use their tentacles as a propellant. At the "corner" of the bell, there are six eyes.

The Ahnatepian Dock Lurker has a cube-like shape to their bell. They are a pale, translucent color that glows in the dark depths of the water. Up to fifteen tentacles grow from each "corner" of the bell, for a grand total of nearly sixty tentacles.

Social Structure:

Living in clusters of up to thousands, the Ahnatepian Dock Lurker has no problem with others of their own kind. All mating takes place late in the summer season. There are two different mating styles. Some Ahnatepian Dock Lurker will take a mate. During this style, the male places a tentacle into the bell of the female and deposits a sperm packet. The other mating habit is when a female deposits eggs directly into the water to be fertilized and males release their sperm.

From here, the eggs become planulae, or a free swimming egg, before becoming a polyps, or small growth, on a rock. They will cling to the rock until the next spring, when they look like a smaller version of Ahnatepian Dock Lurker. They will detach from the rock and begin their lives.

Miscellaneous:

The Ahnatepian Dock Lurker has an extremely powerful venom. Given its carnivorous lifestyle, the Ahnatepian Dock Lurker is a predator. It hunts its prey before touching a tentacle, if an individual is lucky it is only one, to the victim. The venom has the ability to instantly stun and kill its prey, such as fish and shrimp. The toxins attack the heart, nervous system and skin cells. With humans, the poison immobilizes the person, forces them into shock and they risk drowning. Other times, the heart fails. Those who do survive the sting experience extreme pain for weeks and have significant scarring where the tentacles made contact.

Name: The Glowing Spotter
Frequency: High
Threat level: Low
Major features: Cube-like body, glow
Abilities: Glowing
Most common in: Ahnatep

Physical characteristics:

The Glowing Spotter is similar to its cousin, the Ahnatepian Charger. It has a nearly square body with three points on them; behind both eyes and one on top of the body. The Glowing Spotter is a fluorescent orange with black and white spots. These fish never weigh more than two pounds and are never bigger than six square inches.

Social Structure:

The Glowing Spotter is a social creature. It lives in peace with others, especially Ahnatepian Charger or Box Fish. The Glowing Spotter does not mate with other fish for life. They will get together once a year, in the summer season, and mate before leaving again. The female lays the eggs in a hiding space. She will not visit the breeding ground again until the next year. The eggs take one season to hatch. Once they do, instinct is the only thing controlling the younglings and keep them from dying.

Miscellaneous:

The Glowing Spotter is an omnivore and enjoy eating mollusks, algae, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, marine plants and crustaceans. They are also able to be kept in captivity. The aquarium should be large and have low to medium water circulation. There should also be decorations within with caves and other hiding spaces, along with coral.

Name: The Ahnatepian Charger
Frequency: High
Threat level: Low
Major features: Horns, neon color
Abilities: Poison when stressed
Most common in: Ahnatep

Physical characteristics:

The Ahnatepian Charger, like the rest of its family, has a cube-like body. The main difference is how three points come off of the rear end and the "horns" in the front. A fluorescent yellow, the Ahnatepian Charger also glows in the dark. They can grow up to fifteen inches in length and weigh up to five pounds. When in captivity, the Ahnatepian Charger shrinks in size to three inches.

Social Structure:

The Ahnatepian Charger lives in groups of up to six. There are three pairs. All six will live in one area, normally a crevice in the dirt. Eggs are laid in the center of the "home" and all males will stand guard outside. The females will keep the eggs warm, as the heat helps them form. Once the children are born, they are pushed out of the "home" and must survive on their own. This happens three times a year.

Miscellaneous:

The Ahnatepian Charger is an omnivore. It survives on sea weed, algae, and shrimp.

Likes its family, the Ahnatepian Charger has the ability to be kept in captivity. The aquarium should be large and have low to medium water circulation. There should also be decorations within with caves and other hiding spaces. When in captivity, the Ahnatepian Charger shrinks to three inches long.

This is an intelligent fish and will observe anyone in sight. They prefer rituals, such as always feeding when the sun is high.

When stressed or threatened, the Ahnatepian Charger will release a black ink that will kill any fish within a foot radius.

Name: Box Fish
Frequency: High
Threat level: None
Major features: Cube-like body, wing fins
Abilities: Glowing, able to keep in captivity
Most common in: Ahnatep

Physical characteristics:

The Box Fish is a neon yellow when young. As they age, they turn a blue-grey in color. The bone structuring of the Box Fish keeps the species in the shape of a cube. They never get bigger than three by three inches and never weigh more than two pounds. There are two wing-like fins.

Social Structure:

The Box Fish lives alone in most instances or with fish of the same family, such as Cow Fish or Trunk Fish. They pick a mate and live side by side with the other gender. The females will pick a cave or deep hiding place and perform a mating ritual never seen by human eyes. The eggs will be laid and the male will keep guard outside of the cave while the female brings him food. The eggs take one season to emerge from the cave and will automatically take to eating their tiny weight before swarming the mother for attention.

Over the course of half a season, the youngling's will dare to venture farther and farther away from the parents. Taking the mother from the young Box Fish will cause the babies to die unless they are four weeks or older.

Miscellaneous:

The Box Fish has the ability to release a toxin if stressed. This poison can and will kill any fish it comes in contact with in a two foot radius. The fish is easily stressed and should be kept by itself. If it is decided to keep the Box Fish with others, the stress level must be extremely low. To do this, keep the fish away from large or aggressive species. The aquarium should be large and have low to medium water circulation. There should also be decorations within with caves and other hiding spaces.

Omnivores, the Box Fish prefer sinking food. They enjoy their food and move slowly. Examples of foods are sea weed sheets, shrimp, clams, crab meat, etc.

Name: Blobfish
Frequency: Low
Threat level: None
Major features: Blob-like appearance
Abilities: None
Most common in: Ahnatep

Physical characteristics:

The Blobfish looks exactly likes its name: a blob. It can grow up to twelve inches and weigh nearly fifty. There are two "eyes", an oversized nose, and several downturned lines outlining the mouth. Every time it moves, the Blobfish leaves behind a slime trail.

Social Structure:

Living alone, the Blobfish does not need another to mate. The fish will store its slime inside the body for two weeks once a summer before digging a hole in the muck and depositing the slime. This gooey mixture will create smaller Blobfish by devouring the slime gradually. "Hatching" takes two seasons and another one before the fish can move.

Miscellaneous:

The Blobfish is only seen when it is dead. It lives on the sea floor nearly nine-hundred meters below the surface. Though inedible, the Blobfish has a thick slime stored inside of its body that can be used for boat-cleaning. The grease also keeps barnacles off the boats.

by **Lixue** on August 6th, 2012, 6:39 pm

Ahnatep Docks

The Ahnatep Docks is an extremely busy place. Numerous races, ranging from humans to Dhani to, mostly, Eypharians, buzz with life. Boats of all sizes are constantly entering and leaving the area. More often than not, people have to shout to be heard. The Ahnatep Docks is controlled by the House of the South Winds.

During the Valterrian, part of the coastline broke away from the mainland. The salt water invaded the crevice, slowly making it bigger as the years passed. An estuary was eventually created that lead into a lagoon. Eventually, the citizens of Ahnatep realized they could use this to their advantage and trade with other cities if a port was founded. They became part of the trade route across Mizahar.

There is only one way in and out of the lagoon. To enter, any ships must first be caught in the swift undercurrent in the sea. This will carry them into the entrance, a wide lane. The water slows here and really gives the vessel a chance to direct their own movements. Bigger ships should stay near the middle, where the deepest water resides. Small boats, such as the Kersha and Khnor, are required to stay to the side; for their own safety. During the summer and fall season, the lane tends not be as deep and maneuvering large ships is a tedious process.

One automatically knows when they reach the lagoon. The water deepens, the lane merges with a pond, and the noise level rises significantly. The docks start almost automatically. They circle around the lagoon and part way down the middle.

The right side is used for the docking of ships and only has two sides. Smaller boats are expected to dock on the left side of this. Larger ships on the right. This is because of the water difference. Where the larger vessel docks is much From here, boats will be expected to unload their own goods.

As the water continues straight through from the ship docking area, part of the actual dock floats. When a boat moves toward the piece, the water vibrations cause the dock to swing outward and away from harm. This movement is gradual, as the vessels are moving at a slow pace. For safety, there are rails on both sides to prevent individuals from toppling into the salty water below.

When viewing the Ahnatep Docks as a whole, the left side is teeming with life. All trading, bartering, selling and buying goes on here. Instead of being individual rows, the dock is one large platform surrounded by thick railing. Tents and tables occupy the space, creating tight aisles. Everything from wadj to salt to barley beer are traded by Ahnatep citizens. Those who travel to the city may bring timber or exotic fruits for business. Boats that fish off the coast are able to bring back their catches and sell them here. Those who are not Eypharian or Viper-Dhani should expect higher prices when buying and lower prices when selling.

Exiting the Ahnatep Docks is much like entering. The current carries any boats slowly away from the lagoon and back to the sea. Small vessels are required to stay to the sides and large ships should keep to the middle. During the summer and fall season, the water tends to not be as deep and maneuvering a large ship through the lane is a tedious process. The exit lane is slow moving and leads back to the sea.

One should never swim in the lagoon. The water is salty and hails directly from the sea. As such, creatures that live in the outer waters may also survive here. More than one child has been clumsy, fallen off the docks and never heard from again. Vessels should expect to pick up barnacles.

Keahche :

Heaka :

Moderator's Note: This location does not require moderating.

by **Surei** on August 6th, 2012, 7:50 pm

Great stuff Lixue! A thousand thanks.

by **Chiaja** on September 11th, 2012, 3:13 am

So birthday custom idea:

On birthdays, it is normal to throw a large and lavish party, with elaborate invitations and expensive food and decoration. It is custom to send an invitation to the Pressorah. She occasionally will show up for a birthday, and it is considered a great honor if she does. Presents are always given, and it is considered quite rude and impolite to not bring anything. The person who brings the most favored or expensive gift is in return given jewelry, exotic lotions and creams or something else rare and attractive.

by **Kaley** on October 14th, 2012, 10:27 am

Forgive me, I had a terrible time trying to fall asleep. I thought this would be much more fun = ]

Name: Dusk Peas

Season: Annual, blooms in late fall and early winter

Appearance: The color tint to this vegetable gives it an unnatural glow. These peas grow in pods along vines. The pods are uneatable and must be sliced open to reveal the sweet bean inside.

Purposes: Dusk Peas are quite a tasty side dish. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They can be eaten raw as a snack or steamed with herbs. Though, when cooked, its affects are much more noted. It is said that dusk peas can produce a calming effect over the body. Eating too many may give a drowsiness or laggard feeling. Eating more than 50 pods may produce a coma. Dusk peas are most often sneaked into the meals of young children and pregnant women.

Climate: Grows along vines in the most temperate climates in Eyktol. It can be found in gardens or snaking along walls. They can also be find in coastal environments, thriving in the moisten air. It is a hardy vegetable, however the desert atmosphere still makes these a rare find.

Name: Hik Fruit

Season: Year-round

Appearance: The Hik Fruit is a parasite, growing alongside other nutrient rich trees and stealing their water supply. Possessing a scaly outer shell, it protects itself from the hot sun, while its opening omits rotten smells. Inside the opening are sensitive nerve endings. When touched, they will continuously omit an even stronger smelling odor than the one it already already has.

Purposes: There have been several disputes about whether the hik was a fruit or a fungi. It is terrible to taste in it's natural form. However, in the desert, one cannot turn down such an able source of water and nutrients. It omites a foul odor as a defensive mechanism. It is terrible to taste in this form.This odor will stay until after several hours drying in the sun, once the fruit is plucked. Because of this fruit's water intake, it makes a fabulous traveling food. When dried, they can be cut into long moist strips, similar to a jerky. Because of the plant's biochemical makeup, it's moisture does not get evaporated by the hot desert sun. When biten, natural sweet juices from the fruit will pour out and quench thirst and hunger as one.

Climate: The desert, hardened areas of Eyktol. Growing at the base of desert trees, like the Acacai, it sucks off their precious water supply.

Name: Opalberry

Season: Biannually, flowering in both early spring and late summer/early fall.

Appearance: Growing on thorny bushes in clumps, Opalberries are quite shiny at first glance. The desert air has made this flowering bush evolve so that it's outer coat is protected against the heat. They are pure white when first budding, with deep purple flowers. As the season wears on, the flowers will lighten in color and the berries will darken to the same shade as the flower.

Purposes: To be eaten as a sweet, tangy snack raw, or to be cooked into jams or preservatives. There is no end to what one can do with this fruit. It has been known to make a luscious wine, tasty pies and tarts, and even as a dye.

Climate: Coastal or temperate areas of Eyktol.

Me · by **Colombina** on October 24th, 2012, 7:45 pm

Kaley! These are awesome contributions

I will get them in the wiki today!

by **Subira** on November 11th, 2012, 5:24 am

Some more vegetables to add to the Eyktol flora list!

Name: Viper Cucumber

Season: Blooms in late spring, produces fruit from midsummer to late fall.

Appearance: Elongated and often elaborately curved, these slender, snake-like cucumbers range in length from 8-12 inches. Their furrowed, ridged malachite- and jade-green-striped skin is quite tough and hard, but can be sliced or peeled off to reveal spongy, moist flesh embedded with round white seeds. They grow along sprawling ground vines with stiff, hairy stems and leaves and small yellow flowers.

Purposes: The flesh has a delicate, slightly astringent flavor that makes it a fresh, cooling culinary accent, particularly for heavily spiced or piquant dishes. They can be eaten raw once peeled, but are also enjoyed in sauces, soups, or light stews. Eating a cucumber before it has fully ripened can cause a burning sensation in one's mouth, though.

Climate: They grow wild mostly in the rockier, scrubby regions of Eyktol, though they are also cultivated in vegetable gardens upon trellises or other supporting frames by the farmers owing fealty to the House of the West Winds.

Name: Eypha's Tears Mushrooms

Season: Year-round

Appearance: These mushrooms tend to grow in overlapping clusters in shadowy, sheltered nooks on cavern floors or along cave walls. About 2-4 inches in diameter, the pure white caps are smooth and slightly translucent and reflect ambient light with a distinctively wet, shiny luster. The darker-hued stems often make it seem as though the caps are floating above the ground, lending the mushrooms an otherworldly air.

Purposes: Gelatinous but not slimy in texture, the mushrooms are edible, but bland in flavor. They can be dried, pickled, or marinated. The Eypharians credit the mushrooms with anti-inflammatory properties and hold that they sprang from the tears shed by Eypha as she fled from her husband; the Kalanue who frequent the redstone formations scoff at the tale, but harvest the mushrooms nevertheless.

Climate: They are only found inside the caves within the redstone formations of Eyktol, through which ancient rivers once ran and in which water still bubbles in the depths.

Me · by **Colombina** on November 16th, 2012, 4:42 am

Subira, these are awesome! Thanks to my players I will have some of the best IC flora around. I have already updated the lore with your cool as a cucumber plants