#munova

[basementdwellerinthestars]

A series of thin, interconnected caverns and tunnels created by water running beneath the earth, all interconnected in a spiderweb downwards. The largest of these caverns can just barely allow a slim adult woman to squeeze through.

These caverns are everywhere and impossible to see from the surface. Because of this, the greatest danger they hold is as invisible pit traps. This is worsened by the Golden Absolution.

Where, originally, these zones were harmless, the Golden Absolution has taken out the plants whose roots stabilized these areas and provided no replacement. Areas of high Golden Absolution are still semi-stable, but that just means danger zones exist in seemingly random patches.

What makes Pit Traps dangerous is not any creatures residing within them, but rather the water that creates them. The further down in Munova you travel, the hotter and hotter it gets. Many of these streams reach towards boiling.

Burns are the most common injury acquired in Munova purely because of these pit traps. Abrasions are the second most common.

[basementdwellerinthestars]

The only biome recognizable as a forest, with trees and grass. No other distinct biome has anything like it, nor any other kind of tree.

Oddly artificial, built in a terrace formation of slowly declining steppes towards a flat, almost circular center. All the trees bend inward towards this decline. Considering there a several of these formations scattered about. Some believe it to be a form of tree farm.

Untouched by the waterfalls, with no standing water to speak of. The waterfalls scatter about the edges, but never cross over a seemingly invisible barrier.

The majority of wildlife seems to live in here, whether that be the infected or the few safe. Evidence of the Golden Absolution chokes this place, so it's very easy to misstep and the forest should be avoided when possible.

No shrubbery to speak of, just trees and grass. Some of the grass has grown tall, but most of it is cut short, these sections referred to as Turf. It, too, feels artificial. Grazing animals don't even try to eat it.

Filled with primarily Catalade Trees and Vurna Berries. The animals who live there subsist mostly off of each other, being scavengers. The few uninfected eat the tree leaves. None of them eat the berries. It is assumed they are poisonous for the creatures living there.

[basementdwellerinthestars]

A prototype dandelion made by Tekka, the very parasite that they’d haphazardly added in, and had choked out civilization and life while they weren’t looking.

Takes the form of the white dandelion fluff, but dyed a deep golden yellow. Very infectious, popping up new ‘flowers’ (although there’s no petals, only seeds) anywhere they land. This plant is insanely stubborn and will take root anywhere,

Feeds like a normal plant, taking in nitrogen. However, instead of converting it to oxygen, they convert the nitrogen to LFC. This is believed to be why the atmosphere in Munova is so high in LFC, and why it’s such a common rift location.

The parasite works via airborne pollen, secreted by the stem rather than the golden seeds. When breathed in, the parasite works its way through the creature’s body to implant into the brain.

Once rooted, Golden Absolution makes the creature protective of it and willing to spread its seeds, often via taking it to new locations and blowing the seeds from it’s stem. This is it’s main form of reproduction as there is no natural winds in the majority of the cavern system.

Creatures infected with Golden Absolution are dangerous when the Absolution is threatened in any way, even if one just accidentally steps on the roots. Considering it’s roots are everywhere, multiple feet into the ground, this is extremely easy to do.

Creatures will die for the Golden Absolution, many species extremely fast producing or extremely hardy in order the make up for this weakness. The majority of remaining creatures are herbivores, feeding on the purple tinted leaves of trees, or scavengers who feast on the animals killed by the Golden Absolution.

It’s not perfect, however. The parasite automatically is drawn towards the brain, but if the brain isn’t in the head then it gets confused and often falls dormant. This is how a few species managed to escape control. Their brains were not in their heads, or simply not stereotypical brains.

Roots better in low LFC areas, often creeping out of portals into our world. Fortunately, due to the atmospheric differences, such as a lack of head and ‘greenhouse’ effect, the plant is harmless. If it doesn’t wither and die, it merely acts as a sign of Munova being through the portal.

While you shouldn’t eat it or try to root it, the Golden Absolution can be general ignored by travelers and scientists. Just be careful not to piss off the native wildlife and everything will be fine.

That being said, it is very easy to piss off the wildlife. Unless a seasoned and trained adventurer, stay in one place until help arrives.

Uninflected wildlife isn’t safe either, evolving both immunity to Golden Absolution as well as the ability to hide, ensuring it’s safety. They are extremely skittish.

[basementdwellerinthestars]

A 10 foot tall, very fluffy spider. This spider only has three main compound eyes in comparison to the usual eight. Naturally, it would have six, but the presence of the Golden Absolution has left many partially or entirely blind.

To compensate for this, the spider learned to use the Enchantment Affinity to attract its prey, lessening its need for sight in order to hunt them down. Similarly, it laces its webs with this affinity. In practice, this lets the spider 'see' anything that touches its web. This is why their dens are made up of an incredibly dense web floor.

Matching with this newfound hunting style, these spiders have developed an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, essentially smelling via their individual hairs. Similarly, their hearing has improved.

Using these senses, they lure prey close and, using their grasshopper-esque legs, lung forward to attack their prey. Biting into their prey, they release an acidic compound that turns the prey into a paste, sucking that up into internal sacks to later store in egg-like forms made of mostly calcium bicarbonate.

This calcium bicarbonate based compound is also what makes up their webs, although that is interwoven with bright red veins which act as the sensors of the web. These veins are what trigger the pressure reaction response.

Wings upon the spider's back are not intended for prolonged flight. Rather, these are for short bursts after jumping to allow the spider greater movement to hiding places and later greater speed for ambushes.

Since the eggs they have in their nests are for food storage, they use an entirely different method for reproduction. These reproduce asexually, forming new spiders within their bones. One adult spider can hold hundreds, if not thousands, of baby spiders within these bones.

Many baby spiders do not make it to adulthood. Either they are crushed while growing, crushed after being born, starve, are hunted, or simply aren't formed enough to survive outside of the adult spider at the time which they leave.

Alla's Sweet Spider's can live up to 6 years, with the last three months of their life being spent unable to move before the baby spiders explode out of them. If the spider dies before this point, they still explode into smaller spiders, but noticeably less depending on how many spiders survive and how old the spider is.

The original species name was 'Allais Sweet Spider' after the woman who discovered them. However, the language Allais original spoke has evolved over time and many translators have mistranslated the 'i' as an apostrophe. After so many times, the name has stuck to all but a select few.

[basementdwellerinthestars]

An infected creature that primarily wanders through the Renhaven Desert, walking in straight-ish lines between the remnants of society.

Once upon a time, this creature subsisted primarily on a diet of eggs. Eggs of all kinds of creatures worked, but they primarily preferred the eggs of Alla’s Sweet Spider. Those eggs made up the base of their diet.

The teeth these creatures now have, giving them the ability to eat meat, was granted by the Golden Absolution. Due to the Oreandel being the former society’s most popular pet, it had access that the Golden Absolution needed to spread. However, it’s diet of eggs made it reliant on the leading species to feed it due to domestication.

Granting the Oreandel eggs made them much more aggressive due to pain and fear. It also allowed them a larger array of creatures to feed from, enabling their survival once the Golden Absolution drew them from their homes.

Oreandel still stick near cities, looking for something they no longer have.

This creatures eight legs makes it an extremely good climber. The joint at the knee splits into two feet, allowing double the grip into the fragile stone landscape. If one foot looses a hold, it has a backup. This also allows a better grip on vine-like structures.

[basementdwellerinthestars]

Despite making the rest of the Munovan ecosystem, I have somehow managed to forget to draw this... the one part of Munova that's actually plot relevant... go me?

[basementdwellerinthestars]

Did I ever tell y’all that the worldbuilding for Teraphira (see last post) and Munova (see basically the first post on my blog) is based off minecraft? Teraphira is the overworld and Munova is the nether.

No? Well, now you know. It’s pretty fun trying to make all these miscellaneous game mechanics work together in a fantasy world based (loosely) in science.

Like Blazes? The end? How does one that these these Very Minecraft things and use it as inspiration in a way that doesn’t immediately scream Minecraft? With great effort.

And fellas if I don’t love effort. I’m in the fucking mines getting this shit to work and I’m salivating.

Call me proto-Tolkein the way I proto-language my empire’s socio-economic policies until I inter-continental political tensions

[basementdwellerinthestars]

A parasitic creature consisting of two main halves, SE-1 and SE-2.

SE-1 is a brain parasite that lives within the skull of the Sessparatie. It is often present within the Sessparatie since birth. Those that do not possess the parasite then usually gain it before separating from its' original family group due to proximity. As such, fundamentally every single instance of a Sessparatie is infected.

This parasite takes 4-9 months to fully mature, growing and stretching feelers over the brain. Only once it reaches that point does it start to manipulate the body of the Sessparatie.

First, the Sessparatie begins to excrete an acidic compound over its skin, eating away at any scales to give it the wrinkly, fleshy appearance that it does. This compound dissolves any creature that touched the Sessparatie, with the resulting slurry being absorbed through the skin like a mushroom. This slurry in turn feeds SE-1 and SE-2.

Second, its' muscles begin to contract along its' spine. Slowly, they contract harder and harder until the ribs break apart and create the Maw that the Carneline Hive makes its' nest in. This reveals its' organs and releases a scent that the Hive is attracted to.

Carnelines will find their way to the Sessparatie, eating away at the organs within the maw and then chewing at the bones into points in order to make it more intimidating to wandering creatures until the Hive has been properly settled. This is an excruciating process but the Sessparatie is not longer capable of much movement.

SE-2 is the snake-live creature that makes up the body of the Sessparatie. While lacking any agency in its' situation, two aspects of SE-2 are essential in the relationship between these two creatures.

While only being roughly 2 feet long at birth, SE-2 is capable of infinite growth. So long as there is enough food to sustain it, it will continue to grow unimpeded. This, in turn, allows for larger hives and more surface area for the acidic compound to react through.

More importantly is SE-2's perfect cellular replication. This means that it cannot die of old age. If cut in half, it usually will not die and will instead regenerate into two separate snakes. So long as it is fed, there is no end for SE-2

It is a horrifying existence to be sure.