#lorelight

[lorelightcreative]

"How's your day going?"

Well. One of my characters decided she only speaks in questions.

And she's the god of this world, so she can do whatever she wants.

I'm just the author. I just work here. So. It's a Wednesday?

[lorelightcreative]

Glowfruit

Like a grapefruit that had a glow up

Found in the Evergreen realms of Twilight and Night, the glowfruit is highly sought-after by potion makers for its luminescent properties.

If you weren't raised in the Night Realms, you might consume these juicy fruits to light your way when traveling through them.

But remember, while your glowing skin helps you navigate, it may also draw unwanted attention in the dark forests of Evergreen.

[lorelightcreative]

Creature Feature: Foxwing

Foxwing

Clever and shy servants of notorious masters

Legend says foxwings are made by the shonnah--powerful fox-like creatures with multiple tails--to serve them. They are small Everbeasts the size and shape of a red fox with insect-like wings (butterfly, dragonfly, etc.). Their coat color reflects that of the shonnah who made them.

Behavior

Elusive and solitary, foxwings stalk through the shadows of Evergreen's forests and never stray far from their shonnah masters, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice.

Hooks

Foxwings are rare and not widely known, but Evers well-versed in beast lore know if you do see one, it's best to watch your step. You wouldn't want to hinder one on an errand and get yourself on a shonnah's bad side.

Some brave or foolhardy Evers have tried to offer aid to a foxwing, hoping to curry favor with a shonnah and be rewarded with some kind of boon--but if they were successful, they have yet to see the payoff.

Deep blue eyes glinted at him through the underbrush, so still he wondered if they were an illusion. Slowly, he held out a sliver of his supper. The eyes blinked. So quick it was a blur, a red muzzle snatched the food from his fingers and the leaves shuddered as it pushed off, and iridescent orange wings carried it away through the trees.

[lorelightcreative]

“Ah, you must be Zinnia’s little frenemy!”

Kallie shook her head. “I don’t know what that—”

“You simply must come inside for some tea. Holly, go put the kettle on.” The girl rose from the bench and went inside the cottage, and Basil’s neck cracked as he looked Kallie up and down. “You might have to stoop a bit to fit through the door. Might be more comfortable out here. It is quite a nice view of the stream from the stump. Oh, I’m delighted you’re here. I’ve been dying to hear your side of the story for ages.”

Kallie’s brow furrowed as the little man reached up to take her arm and led her over to the stump he’d vacated. “The story?”

“Oh, you know, all those little adventures she met you on back in her hero days. When you worked for that nefarious organization I always forget the name of.” He tugged on her arm until she sat down. “Ah, here’s Holly with the biscuits. You’ll love these. Don’t suppose you ever tried Tabios Tea Bites, being from Kreyfall and all, but I’m sure they’ll remind you of home just the same. It took some tweaking to get the flavor right using only Evergreen ingredients—texture, too—but I think we’ve managed.”

Holly held the plate out expectantly, and Kallie blinked and obediently took one of the biscuits. “Thank you.”

Basil beamed at her. “You’ll stay for supper, won’t you? I’ve been experimenting with recipes and I love having new people to test them on. Zinnia and Wren will be back by then, so we’ll be a merry party.”

“We could open up that wine from home,” Holly chimed in.

Kallie was sure Basil’s grin would tear his face open if it got any wider. “Excellent notion! This is the perfect occasion.”

[lorelightcreative]

Hayato heard a grunt of surprise behind him. He turned to see his arrakh companion hunched over, gripping her head with one clawed hand.

"Amina?"

A shudder wracked her scaled body.

"Are you all right?"

Her head snapped up and he watched in horror as the whites of her eyes slowly turned blood red.

His stomach dropped. "No," he breathed. It couldn't be. It was too soon.

A low growl rumbled in her throat and she bared her teeth at him.

"Fight it. Please."

But he knew even as he said the words that there was no fighting the Dragon King's roar in her mind, awakening the rage that slept in her blood.

She growled again, and Hayato drew his sword.

"I'm sorry."

[lorelightcreative]

Where the sky never meets the sea.

As a Prime, Nahariel takes a much more hands-on approach with her planet of Harellia compared to most of her counterparts. She walks (or flies) among her people, giving direction and support and ensuring everything works in harmony for the good of all who live on the landmasses floating above a floor of clouds. Her nine Archangels, embodying core aspects of her will, help her rule her world. Each leads their own Creed--like an ethnic group--and oversees a broad spectrum of magitech research and development projects.

But this is only half of Harellia's story.

Far beneath the dense layer of clouds, oceans cover the surface of the planet, teeming with life that has evolved along its own paths. Thousands of years ago, the islands that now float above the clouds floated instead on the sea, and all Harellia was one in Nahariel's loving eyes. But many chose to rebel against her rule and commit atrocities, and as she is just and loves her world, she does not hesitate to strike down those who are a threat to its goodness. When the traitors refused to repent, she rejected them as they rejected her. She cast them into the sea and raised all land into the sky, taking the innocent and loyal with her and putting the cloud barrier in place.

There are legends among those in the sea that one day Nahariel will return to judge whether they are worthy of her presence once more or worthy only of destruction. The biggest difference between sea dwellers is often whether they live as if this as an opportunity, a threat, or no more than myth.

[lorelightcreative]

One town, eight times

Some places on Evergreen defy its strange laws of physics--if they can be called that--contributing their own brand of chaos to the mix. While most towns stick to one spot in one realm, a powerful spell cast during the Portal Crisis detached the town of Athru from its original location and set it in infinite motion. Though the caster's plans were thwarted, the spell's effects endured.

Now Athru shifts through all the realms at unpredictable intervals and in no particular order. This way of life presents interesting challenges--cultivating crops that only grow in the dark, ready light sources for random shifts from Midday to Night, etc. But Evers are nothing if not adaptable, and having access to every realm does have its advantages. There are even those who have settled in Athru, drawn to its unique situation for their own reasons.

[lorelightcreative]

Nature has spawned many creatures on Hlutar, but no one here has ever called her Mother.

Hlutar is a planet ruled by the destructive forces of nature--volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and more plague the surface. And as if that weren't enough to make life challenging, these natural disasters spawn elemental creatures that wander the wilds, dangerous in their own right--hlutan, aquan, ignis, and atmos.

The humanoids of this planet, in their fight to survive the elements constantly threatening their existence, have become resourceful. Over the centuries, they've developed ways to collect the energy generated by natural phenomena and awakened elements alike--known as 'source'--and use it to their advantage. Source is the lifeblood of the city-states scattered across the planet and powers the ships, trains, and airships used to travel between them.

The people of Hlutar don't have an awareness of how their planet may have been shaped over the millennia by any higher power as no Prime has deigned to make itself known to them. But legends say a colossal elemental being of pure energy and unfathomable destructive power called Heyl exists somewhere out there. It is believed it could be summoned if one were to collect source of a great enough magnitude of all four types and find a way to combine them--without killing oneself in the process, of course.

Why anyone would want to summon such an entity, so unlikely to trouble itself with the desires of fleshy creatures, is another matter.