Pronounced ee-uh-th-all. Iethol is the realm of green and white.
The hive of Iethol is, despite their color identities, unusually self-destructive. After each crash, they behave like any other hive, regrowing their numbers, expanding their influence, reclaiming territory, building and maintaining the underground complexes. But shortly afterwards, shortly after they adapt the hiveform known as [[harmonic sliver]], they will collapse their tunnels, bury the leylines and eternity column, eat their crystallized mana reserves. Generally hinder the realm from crashing. This has caused this realm to possess probably one of the more extreme temporal dilation effects of the realms, as they need to be sped up locally to 'meet the quota of the tree'. They also behave significantly different to other hives.
Rather than sleeping in large pinecone-looking clumps, they sleep in piles on the ground, rather than having dedicated brood chambers, they have above ground nests, rather than having a complex of underground tunnels that they patrol, they have well worn trails in the grasses and trees.
Their affinity to destroy any sufficiently advanced magic and technology through esoterically magical means has resulted in the degredation of the realm's filament just outside of the hive's borders, which is responsible for the extreme magnification of the 'star' into the periodic novas that spawn the glistening desert. Oddly enough, it was because of these novas that phyrexians don't have a presence on this realm, as the invaders were vaporized, as was the branch of the invasion tree.
This hive is also the only hive to significantly influence human society subconciously. Typically, hives will have a superego, a sort of generalized drive or instinct, that will direct them to interact with the outside world in a specific manner, this hive's magically destruction of technology and enchantments has caused the people of this world to stagnate in advancements, as they can not advance magically nor technologically.
The realmsoul is generous and, by all accounts, loving to their children. The realm provides ample fruits and vegetables across it's groves and forests, something that the local hive utilizes amply as it destroyed its access to a skep's usual food source.
The humans, with their somewhat domesticated wurms, cultivated licid livestock, ample fruits and vegetables, even sap and herbs; they have littler reason to leave their scattered groves of safety. But these groves are small, capable of holding a dozen on the small end and a thousand on the large end, with the largest one supposedly holding a million, but that is just a rumor, they have to move around to various groves to prevent from crowding, some become nomads, others eject those who come of age, some groves, particularly the smaller ones, have no permanent residences what so ever. But the most common practice, is to send those who come of age to the Hushwoods. A place of eerie quiet, to learn to live with the land, or to become part of it.
It is in the hushwoods that the more exotic meats can be found; spider, phytohydra vines, silent creepers, whisper wasps, it is an opportunity as much as it is a risk. And, there are many who choose to hunt in these woods often, trading with the grovefolk for such delicacies. Anyways, these woods are quiet, any sound louder than a rustling of leaves, a creaking of branches, a whisper of breath, attracts predators. As such, naturally, wurm mounts are not allowed to go anywhere near the place, and fires are generally frowned upon.
The eldrazi infestation has…adapted to this and wanders these woods almost like any other predator. Rather than making noise, these things emit silence. Their otherworldly roars and screeches an ear splitting nothingness.
And, well, the final reason to go to the Hushwoods, is for the 'trees of rest'. These trees look as if they've had their trunks hollowed out, just enough to fit a person. When a dead body is placed within, the tree will slowly close its trunk, and it will begin digesting the body. Though, once every thirty-two attempts, it will only partially digest the body, using pieces it's saved from prior bodies, it will grow vines into the form and create a zombie. This zombie is slow and looks as if it is made of wood, with wooden musculature and a bark faceplate that hides its bare skull. These zombies are subservient to the first human they see and are prized for their unsleeping nature for menial tasks and defense around home groves. Some of them have been passed down for generations, others stand silently, their master long gone, others have been tasked with maintaining and protecting way-groves indefinitely, while some are given to the Drix or Dauthi as gifts and gestures of good will.
These trees are viewed as avatars of the realmsoul's benevolence, and the nature of having to give back to the mother who provided so much all their lives.
A few of the larger isolated groves are rather isolationist, preferring a more singular community over the greater community of the realm.
The angels sleep most of the day, their wings appear more like those of a butterfly, composed of petals, vines and roots grow from them, up their necks and down their limbs. When they sleep, their petals wrap around them in a sort of bud.
When they are awake, they magically safeguard their chosen groves from novas. They are the sole reason for several groves existing in the first place, shielding them from the nova territories.
The vampires are half reptilian half humanoid beasts, four meters tall, pure muscle. They can inject their blood through their elongated fangs, the rest of the serrated fangs are used to rend flesh like any good raptor or tyrannosaur, transforming victims into similar monstrosities, though many end up larger than their progenitor. Those they get to drink their blood end up resulting as a 'normal' vampire, changing like so many of the other realms.
The vampires they spawn are eerily fanatically loyal to their progenitors. Which are recognizable due to their constant bloody saliva that dribbles off of their faces. These vampires choose to migrate, raiding groves of the people that live within, staying for some time, before moving on. They tend to be particularly active when a crash occurs, leaving where they are currently to a new grove. This has destroyed several of these vampiric lineages throughout the history of this realm.
The center of Iethol, like all realms…or well, a vast majority of the realms, is the Sliver Hive. or Skep if you are Shandalaran, infestation if you are exoversal. This is normal, but, the area is decidedly abnormal. Roughly 160 kilometers of dust and stone. Paths well worn into the ground snake across the entire area, and you see those indentations? Looking like miniature asteroid collisions? What were those called again? Ah, a craters of packed dirt. Those are nests, that one over there, with the cream colored sphere, has an egg. You see, this hive is unique in that they live above ground.
They patrol the area, but you will see many sunbathing on rocks, rolling around in the dust taking dirt baths and to cool off, you can even spot some of the juveniles, those who have yet to magically interlinked with the hivemind yet, playing with one another. Normally, such a sight would be hidden deep underground, too far and too dangerous for me to try and show you. You see, young Thrum, less than a day old, lack a connection to the hivemind, simply possessing instincts. I believe that to be from the strange blending of the arcane multiverse and the…biological exoverse. So, this is one of the few places you can see them acting as individuals, like any other child animal.
Yes, these slivers are odd in appearance, little traces of metallic flesh from their origin, no, they have bone, and carapace, and scales upon their bodies, with a feathery headdress rather than the typical tendril or horn ones.
These stones that you see, they are the remnants of their tunnels. After every crash, they build a large mountain of stone, then, a few years later, they collapse it. I don't quite know why yet…Oh, this stone, you see the gashes? this one is used to sharpen their beaks, their proboscis, and their claws! Normally, slivers don't need to do this, but this sharpening behavior serves another purpose in this realm, it wears down the rock. They need to sharpen their appendages because they want to wear down the rock. Wearing down the rock provides them the dust they use to build their nests and cool down, as they are exposed to the sun the most of all of the hives.
[They aren't cooling off I've learned, they are using it as sunscreen, a concept I learned from my recent stint in the Exoverse; multiversal slivers love molten and underground environments while exoversal slivers love deep space asteroid fields…the kind on the edges of planetary systems and zero-g or micro-g environments; they rarely seem to encounter constant nearby solar radiation. When they do, they typically adapt to the environment. I believe that the restricted mana structure of the realms prevented or interfered with the process of properly adapting to the local conditions physiologically, thus they had to adapt behaviorally.]
I know, surprised? This rock, though as tall as you are now, I guarantee was easily five, perhaps even as much as eight times as large when they collapsed their prior tunnels.
Lets see, during the day, they patrol the territory, they breed, they lay eggs, and they protect their nests. As you can see, its almost like we are in a perpetual dust cloud, only a light haze, not like the sandstorms on the edge of Komas, hence my recommendation to wear the face covering, just to not breath it in too much, you see, there are a lot of them and they move around quite a bit during the day, stirring all this up. And, as you can see, only stubborn weeds thrive in these conditions, choked with dust and constantly trampled, poor things. During the night however, you'll see a very different scene-
-here we are. Not a speck of dust in the air, you can even see the constellations. I believe we are wall side at the moment, perhaps you can see your home system up there? Anyways, you see those mounds? Slivers are highly communal, comes with having a hivemind I suppose, but normally they sleep upside-down in…well I guess they look like pinecone like structures, you have pinecones in some form where you're from, I'm sure, in their tunnels. But these don't have tunnels, so they sleep in great piles. Huu, yep, these are a lazy lot, not really keeping watch at night at all. I'm sure I could get away with dropping my illusions right now, don't look so worried, I won't. Sure, there is a token patrol force, but they are more concerned with keeping the eggs warm than looking out for intruders. Afterall, in this hive, the eggs are really the only objects of argueable value in this place.-
The next biome of Iethol, heading outwards a bit, is a savanna. Vast plains of golden green grass a tree or two every hundred or so feet. Beautiful, yet, unremarkable right? Wrong. This place, like most others, teems with life, insects and worms, even the odd pangolin or two, hides out in those grasses, out of our sight. But more importantly, out of their's. You see, the hive considers this to be part of their territory, and they patrol it diligently during the day, much like they do the core of their hive. Sometimes they will go out and look for the odd insect or worm to bring back to the hive, but they don't usually bother with that. This place is more a buffer should violence be necessary it seems.
Come here, see? How suddenly the grass is missing from your right and left, a camouflaged pathway through the savanna? I bet you can't tell me how far it goes in either of those directions before they turn? They have hundreds if not thousands of such walkways through the grass. Their paths are well worn, often travelled, yet hidden at first glance. Running into these trails, onto one of these paths, is…unfortunately easy for those who do not look out for them. This place will look similar at night-
-but it sounds of so much more life. You hear that? The sounds of animals seeking to live? The winds rustling the leaves and grass? That chirping is not a bird, but a species of insect, that warble in the distance? another…now that soft screechy roar is more likely a wurm in the radiant wastes, many many kilometers away from here, which we'll get to in time.-
The next biome out, we see far more trees, a dozen or so feet in any…well, most given directions and you've already walked into one. Though, this is the territory of the hive as well, the paths are far more obvious, now that you are looking for them, flattened grasses, roots divoting. But, you also should notice a lack of fruits. And, there should be one somewhere here…ah, over there! That sliver is caring for one of these fruit trees, you see, the hive lacks the traditional access to the realm's leylines, they have to feed in a more traditional way, much like you or me. They clear out weeds, remove parasites, and in return, they get to harvest a bounty of fruits. They leave fallen fruits, even if they dropped it themselves. I don't quite know why, but…yes, here, have one. This one is quite fresh, I suspect it simply fell off the tree.-
-Even at night, it is quite tranquil here. If you look into the space between the trees, you may spot a lantern-bug flash flitting about.-
The fourth biome, the last of the hive's claimed territory, is a veritable forest, jungle, or grove. Whatever you want to use to describe so much foliage and so many trees. The flowers are colorful, reds, purples, yellows, and whites as some readily visible examples. I'm sure you've noticed the shadows themselves are of similar colors, if you look upwards, you can see the leaves, glass-like. As beautiful as the most decorated Benalish armor or church. You can see that a similar glass or…well in this case, gem-like structure in the trunks of the trees.
The hive only has a few hiveforms watching this area, more as sentinels than anything else. I'm sure we won't see any while here, just as they would not see us. Now, here, I would say if my favorite-
-at night. It is not your senses being deceived, the petals of the flowers and the gems of the trees are in fact softly glowing. Refracting through the canopy, does it not form one of the most beautiful auroras you've ever seen? Well, I suppose it is not technically an aurora, but it is certainly a beautiful sight.
Now, before we go to the next location, I need to double check your face coverings and your boots, don't want any microglass in your shoes, lungs, or eyes, now do we? hmmm, looks good. hm? ah, yes, the microglass can be an issue. Here, let me show you-
This iridescent desert is the fifth biome of Iethol. It's not made of small eroded stones, but rather shattered fragments of glass. If you look up, you can see the shimmering of the damaged filament. I would liken it to a blue opal…you? Well, anyways, the damaged filament is the reason for this desert, spotted with those forests in the distance. It-well, there it is, that column of solar light you see there, that is caused by the magnifications of the realm's filament. It superheats, melts, glasses, and shatters the land it hits, contributing to rather consistent 'sandstorms'. Luckily, they are predictable, the reason why we are here right now was so I could show you this one. Despite how utterly hostile this desert is, it is not lifeless, though it is close. The only things that live here are the wurms, they burrow under the surface and cannibalistically prey upon each other, or smaller prey that deign to wander into the deeper deserts. Oop, the nova is coming closer, don't want you in the storm or in the nova do we? Stop panicking please, the lightning in the storm won't be an issue soon… -
-Well, as you can see, at night, the sands shimmer like one of the clearest starfields in all of reality. Due to the novas and the storms, the constellations change each night. The sky however, a spiderweb of the fractured glass of reality, or I guess the fractured glass containing this reality? Beautiful, but, uninteresting, in my opinion anyways. Lets go elsewhere in this band though, where there are people. -
-This here is Hiem, one of the larger groves. Groves like these are where a majority of the realm's human populations live, they're safe from the novas, as they follow particular paths. Their clothes are made from what they find, grasses from the prairie, leaves, barks, and vines from their trees, leather from wurms, even carapace they've traded from the hushwoods. Yes, it does look crude compared to most realms, even most planes or planets I'm sure you've seen, but this is not because these people aren't smart or aren't capable, it is because of the local hive's influence. Anything that is considered to be 'sufficiently advanced' technologically or magically is annihilated, disintegrated, and destroyed. So, this is the best they can get away with. Ooo, you see those depressions of water? The bowls of roots there? There are two varieties, one of freshwater, and another of saltwater. The salinity is controlled by the trees themselves, two different species…right right, you're probably not that interested in the biomechanics of them... One is used as water storage and the other as food storage, the saltwater pool holds the licids, considered to be more of an emergency food store rather than a consistent one, preferring fruits from a third species of tree or traded meats from the hunters, vegetables, sap from a fourth species, even herbs like that one you are standing on now. Now, their buildings are restricted similarly to their clothing. So, they came up with a clever work around, they weave their homes out of trees, the environment itself! Woven, bound, and fused together. Over years, over generations. Room by room, meter by meter. Fathers passing it to sons, sons to daughters, so on and so forth. It is one of my favorite pastimes to watch the handful of saplings spring up into great trees, dozens or even hundreds of meters into the sky. Sorry, I'm rambling…-
-At night, it is calm, quiet. Peaceful, I would recommend staying here if you were to choose a place on Iethol. Not that I'm inviting you to stay...ahem...-
The sixth biome is this sunny field, the sungrass prairies. The light green blades reach your chest here. Right now we are in the highest the grass gets, it progressively gets taller from the edge of the desert until it reaches this height, then it sort of stops growing. Ah! Feel that cool breeze! Those winds form beautiful waves from the grasses both day-
-and night. They come away from the desert during the day, but towards it during the night. Small insects scurry through the grasses, and larger, but still small pangolins hunting them. Vicious apex predators of the prairies...hehe...sorry, a little joke I like to say. Before we move onto the second to last environment of Iethol, I have to request that you don't…make too much noise. Okay?-
Here, we have the hushwoods. Yes, it is eerily quiet. Besides my own voice, the only things you can probably hear would be your own breathing, perhaps even your own heartbeat. Trees with strange hollows right there! Those are good luck don't you know? Anyways, look at the many colorful fruits that hang from the branches of the others, and, if you look there, a twenty foot spider creeping through the canopy. Didn't even hear it, did you? Luckily, it doesn't sense us, if it did, it wouldn't be such a frugivore anymore. Everything here, save the eldrazi, are only opportunistic carnivores, primarily being frugivores. Well, the flowers and vines here are strictly carnivorous actually, you know, animals eat the plants and plants eat the animals, a balance. Just...don't step too close to them. A handful of the denizens live here, hunting, preferring the solitude, the quiet, and sometimes even the simplistic brutality of their way of life. A few are here for the profits, the unique resources, some are even here to provide for their home grove, a more altruistic version of the prior one.-
-Night here is somehow more quiet, as you can hear…well, I'm probably talking too much for that. I can't explain how it is quieter, though I assume why is due to a lower level of activity. Well, this is one of the temperate quarters, we are in the...lets see…western reaches? I believe that star there is Sothera? Or perhaps Dominaria? Regardless, there are also-
-the southern reaches, which as you can attest to right now, are rather cold. Similarly dangerous, but with the added hazard of crunching snow and crackling frosted grasses! Well…also the fact that the trees are alpine rather than deciduous is another difference. White upon the trees and the ground, that can cause snow blindness at the right times of day. But-
-night is far more spectacular. The iridescence of the desert refracting off of the frost tipped needles, does it not just illuminate the tree line so…spectacularly? Huu…I'm sure you can imagine the sparkles twinkling with tangible little pings in this eerie silence. But, that is just your imagination, I assure you...huu...well, moving on-
-Sorry for this rather sudden jolt of temperature. The heat here is far harsher than anywhere else on Iethol, I assure you, the grasses of the other reaches replaced by a fine sand. As you can see, the trees even look as if they've been burned to charcoal. What's interesting is that, should you compare them through the centuries, they do in fact grow, albeit painfully slowly. Even for me. But that means that they are alive, even in this state! I assume it's primarily due to magic or perhaps the Realmsoul's...ah, here I go rambling again. This reach has…little life, if any, beyond these trees. It is known as being part of the hushwoods due to how dead it is, rather than as a warning to their danger. Still, there are those who choose to hunt here, the charcoal being a valuable commodity for fires elsewhere...I suppose hunt is a misnomer...gather is more accurate.-
-You can feel it, right? Night in the northern reaches…feels…as if you should join the nothingness, doesn't it? I personally don't particularly like being here for long at this time. It just feels...melancholic...in an oppressive manner...we'll move on now...-
Finally, we are at the bleeding edge of the realm. The grey wastes of the reality. Next to you is the edge of it all, the crystalline wall, the firmament. On your other side, you will see the expanse of consumption, it looks as if the woods have been desiccated, burned, and disintegrated, doesn't it? Beware the eldrazi here, they are quiet, and well...dangerous, even for me...one will emerge shortly, so I'll spare you that trauma.-
-At night, well, this place is the hardest to sleep in. Light filtering through the filament causes it to be a perpetual dusk, atleast when we are this close, with shimmers of green and white. The grey desolation is... somehow more bleak in this twilight. You can't even see the hushwoods from here in this light. We need to end here quickly unfortunately, the acuasal beings that thrive here can sense through my illusions and movements, I've probably attracted quite a lot of them if I'm honest. Besides, once you've seen one spawning bed, you've seen them all if feels like.
