THE SECOND WORLD: LUXERA

Luxera is a gentle world, without extremes. It has no tall mountains, saltwater oceans, or large predators. Freezing temperatures are          occasional and confined to the poles. Elsewhere, snow, ice, and high winds are unknown.

The largest geographical features are several large systems of hills that range both north and south from the equator. One               body of fresh water is large enough to be called a sea, and the world is dotted with numerous lakes and rivers of various sizes.

Luxera has no true winter. In most places, the changes of season, from warm to cool and back again, are barely noticeable.               The world is saturated with sunlight, which helps supply the large amounts of energy required by the inhabitants’ physiology.

Luxera is home to one indigenous species–very tall humanoids with sun-bronzed skin, and hair and eyes of every hue. Their eyes contain flecks in a contrasting color, and these flecks swirl in various patterns, betraying the emotional state of the individual.

Luxerans also exude a personal aura that other Luxerans can detect. They always know when others of their species are in the vicinity.

Luxerans are longer lived than any other Dominion species except dragons, enjoying a natural lifespan of nearly 200 years.

Ya-Lohim, the Creator, being in nature more light than flesh and of a form not unlike the spun light of the Luxerans, has a special camaraderie with this species. He meets Light Spinners from time to time at the granite towers in an uninhabited region and dances a glorious dance of spun light with them. All Luxerans who give loyalty to Ya-Lohim hope to join the dance at least once in their lifetimes.

Emblem of the Dark Spinners of Luxera

The Dark Spinners took Choshek’s whispers to Sek-Nar and at last managed to convince a few dragons to abandon the light. A group of Sal-Enos followed them into the shadow.

When humans appeared on Exalton, the Dark Spinners took their message of rebellion there as well. It took many centuries to corrupt the humans, but at last they succeeded. At the end of a long civil war, Choshek and his Dark Spinners gained control of that world. Meanwhile, as more worlds were populated, they spread their corruption to each new world.

Dark Spinners seek to subvert the loyalty of all sentient species, all individuals, turning their loyalties away from Ya-Lohim and toward Choshek. Their tools are subtle persuasion and violence in equal measure.

The Light Spinners on Luxera, those who remained loyal to Ya-Lohim, were horrified at the defilement their brothers and sisters had spread throughout the Dominion. They vowed to fight the shadow wherever they encounter it and to protect all sentient peoples from further destruction. Thus, the Luxeran Anti-Shadow service was formed.

The Service trains agents to fight Dark Spinners across the Dominion, and has established enclaves on four of the worlds: Sek-nar, Kakislane, Merdoma, and Ara. Both Exalton and Amisi are considered inaccessible and do not have Light Spinner enclaves.

Exalton is a world of contrasts. Of its two indigenous peoples, one, the human species, is strong, aggressive, and embraces advanced technology, while the other, a humanoid speices called the Sashosa, is frail, peace-loving, and rejects all but the most rudimentary technology.

The Sashosa were content to live close to nature, nurturing the land and subsisting as hunter/gatherer/gardeners. They seldom came willingly to the human cities.

Meanwhile, the humans studied physics and engineering from their earliest history and developed marvelous machines, devices, and weapons, bringing into reality whatever they immagined. Their cities became bustling centers of creativity and invention.

The two species had little to do with one another over two thousand years.

The humans of Exalton are highly intelligent and ambitious, possessing a talent for mathematics, science, and technology. They developed sophisticated tools and machines early in their history and reached the skies in flying machines before Exalton’s 2,000th anniverwary (2578 on the Dominion Calendar {DC}). It took them less than 400 years after achieving flight to reach the stars in void ships capable of long-range exploration. They also excelled in medicine, agricultural production, communications, and the manipulation and transmutation of matter.

Their culture flourished, but pride in their accomplishments led to their gradual downfall. They were the first non-Luxerans to listen to the deceptions of the Dark Spinners, believing the whispers about their own superiority. As they began to grasp for power and domination, they became more aware of the Sashosa and discovered that the peaceful people would do little to resist aggression. By 4,000 DC humans had enslaved nearly half the Sashosa population.

Though the Sashosans had adequate strength for their rustic life, they were not hardy enough for the tasks the humans set for them. Even those who worked as household servants suffered, both from the work and from being shut away from the forests and rivers they loved, but those who were sent to the factories and mines rarely survived more than a year or two.

Furthermore, the separation from family and community drove their reproductive rate down. As the humans enslaved more of them, their numbers dwindled.

Those who were not conscipted into labor moved deeper into the forests. They became even more secretive and elusive and adopted a semi-nomadic life-style in an attempt to avoid human slave raiders. More than ever, they became like a mist on the wind among the trees, and some of them survived, but their lives became difficult and bitter.

The whispered deceptions of the Dark Spinners became harsh commands as they gained more and more control over large groups of humans. They inflamed their followers with hatred and desire for domination, and the occasional clashes between humans became riots and, finally, all out war.

The Great War lasted a bloody 300 years, during which most of the Sashosa were wiped out and the humans who resisted the shadow were besieged on every side. When it was clear that the Dark Spinners had control of the world, Light Immortals intervened on behalf of the Sashosa, transporting the remnant, a mere 500 individuals, to Amisi, where they could make a new home in peace. The small population of humans still loyal to Ya-Lohim retained control of Exalton’s void ships. The Immortals ushered these people onto the ships and escorted them to Kakislane, where they set up a colony under an uneasy treaty with the indigenous cat clans.

A few loyal humans begged the Immortals for permission to remain on Exalton and build a resistance movement against the Dark Spinners. While technological knowledge declined on most of the world under Dark Spinner rule, the resistance scientists and engineers continued to build on ealier discoveries and improve their technology. They built an underground stronghold and trained agents in espionage and infiltration. Thus began a slow campaign of conversion and recruitment. The Dark Spinners sought their stronghold to destroy them, but in vain.

The area is accessible to anyone who wishes to enter without technology. Inhabitants here walk or ride horses, or use simple conveyances such as wagons and coaches. Mechanical weapons using gunpowder also work along with other simple tools. The inhabitants are hardy souls who wish to escape the control of the world governments, whether human or Dark Spinner. Some Sashosa also took refuge here to escape slavery. They intermarried with humans, creating a unique people with close ties to the land and the hardiness to survive this rugged environment. Along with this mixed race, a number of human groups make their home in this region as well. Periodically, new groups of dissidents lose themselves here, but the population remains small, as only the hardiest thrive this difficult life. The Exalton world government has tried to gain control this area for hundreds of years without success.

THE FIFTH WORLD: KAKISLANE

Kakislane is a green world, filled with lush forests, meadows, and wetlands. Mountainous regions are thick with spruce, fir, and pine, while lower regions contain hardwood forests or tropical growth. A few areas of canyon land support sparser vegetation, but there are no true deserts. The climate is mild except at the poles and the higher elevations of the mountainous regions, where ice and snow prevail during winter months.

Sentient cats and sentienr owls comprise the indigenous population. The cats organize their society into twelve clans spread out across this large world. The owls are more loosely organized into nestings and prefer to live among some cat clans while avoiding others. A colony of human refugees from Exalton occupies a portion of land ceded by the clans through treaty.

View a map of the Interior of Kakislane here.

The cats of Kakislane divide themselves into twelve clans, differentiated by geographical region, by physical characteristics, and by varied customs, though their cultures are alike in many ways. The clans are proud and independent and in control of their world. They resisted the arrival of the human refugees from Exalton and accepted them only under duress, by the decree of the Immortals who represented Ya-Lohim, ruler of the Dominion.

Two clans—Rock Clan and River Clan—were the most vocal in their unwillingness to accept the humans. However, all the clans are equally stringent concerning adherence to the treaty the Immortals brokered between the clans and the humans. The humans cannot not cross the boundary into clan territory for any reason, and the cats are happy to abduct any human who violates the border.

The treaty allows only Light Spinners, who have an enclave on Kakislane, to cross the borders. This is only allowed when they cross to remove unwanted Dark Spinners from clan territory.

Tucked among the territories of the cat clans, the human Wellador colony is the home of refugees from Exalton.

At the end of the civil war in Exalton, Light Immortals, operating on Ya-Lohim’s commands, instructed those humans who had not given allegiance to the Dark invaders (Dark Spinners and their Dark Immortal masters) to go aboard their void ships and travel to another world. The Light Immortals guided these humans to Kakislane. The Immortals brokered a treaty with the cat clans, giving the humans adequate space and mineral resources to establish a high-tech colony.

The exiles call themselves the Wellador after the captain, Joseph Wellador, who led them through the void and became their first governor. They live peacefully in their colony, carefully observing the rules of the treaty and keeping an uneasy alliance with the Luxeran Light Spinner enclave located in a corner of their territory.

They look forward to returning to Exalton someday, to help the resistance fighters they left behind and reclaim their world for the light. To this end, every colonist is trained in the sciences needed for void travel, resulting in a highly advanced technological society. They also study the prophecies, looking for clues about the time and circumstances that will signal their return to Exalton.

Owls are the third sentient species sharing Kakislane with the cat clans and the human exiles. There are three subspecies.

Members of the largest subspecies, white with dark markings, are about .75 metters long (2.5 feet). with a wingspan of 1.75 meters (5.75 feet) They live mostly in the north and south polar regions and have little to do with the cat clans or the human colony.

Individual of the smallest subspecies are mostly gray, measuring .35 meters long (1.14 feet) with a wingspan of .75 meters (2.5 ft). They live in Big Leaf and Marsh clan territories, where they primarily hunt fish.

Members of the third and most numerous subspecies range across most of the temperate parts of the world, though they avoid Rock and River clan territories. They are gray or brown, sometimes with darker or lighter markings. They average .55 meters long (1.8 feet) with a 1.4 meter wingspan (4.6 feet)

All three subspecies live in loose groups called nestings, but little more is known about their social structure. They are elusive and secretive, but the third subspecies has some dealings with some of the cat clans, which started when cats from Deep Valley Clan aided a nesting that was under attack from Rock Clan. The owls became allies with Deep Valley Clan and several other clans in their perennial war with Rock and River clans. Those clans that enjoy a close relationship with the owls use the swift and silent birds as messengers and spies.

The owls and their cat friends understand each other, though they cannot speak each other’s languages due to different vocal apparatuses. Owls also understand standard speech, but the Wellador exiles and Luxeran Light Spinners have been slow to decode owl language, gathering only a few words or phrases in each human generation. Their efforts are hampered by lack of access, as the owls avoid the highly populated human settlements.

Emblem of Sonja the Chronicler

Sonja’s little dog, Bessie, was her constant companion. The two became identified together in all of Sonja’s personal writings. When she contemplated her own emblem, she could not imagine anything more appropriate than one of her many drawings of her dear little friend.