Planetary Spotlight: Callisto
Callisto [Cal-ih-stow]
Callisto The Hunter's World.
Callisto The Wild Lands.
The Planet of Callisto is something of an anomaly in the Magical Dimension, since it is unclear to outsiders exactly which Thematic Domain the world truly belongs to.
A world of forests and plains, mountains and valleys and oceans, the planet has vast expanses of wilderness and one of the smallest populations of any of the Keystone Worlds*.
The Thematic magics which appear on Callisto tend towards plant or stone aspects of nature, animal talents - whether specific or general - and some... slightly more unusual types which suggest Callisto either has no true Thematic Domain, or a history of immigration.
The Callistei [Cal-ih-sty] have a long history as hunter-gatherers, despite their level of technological advancement. They prefer to keep their technology compartmentalized from the majority of their lifestyle, except in cases where it truly is a lifesaver, such as certain facets of medical technology or water purification.
(This gives them the appearance of being less technologically advanced than they actually are at first glance.)
Callisto has one of the highest concentrations of Wild Magic found anywhere in the Magical Dimension, and is thought to be the rightful 'Homeworld' of the chaotic force.
The ability of the trained Callistei hunters to track their prey across galaxies has gained the people of Callisto a fierce reputation as a warrior race**, though they themselves laugh at the notion. While their culture does contain many of the markers of a warrior race, the concept of what a warrior race is and what it is believed to be are so different that they simply do not care for the term.
Personal and societal honour and responsibility are important facets of the Callistei culture, if one of their people goes 'bad', they will take whatever measures are deem necessary to take care of the problem rather than leaving it to others, even if the problem occurs on another world.
While Callisto does prefer rehabilitation as a first resort, it is one of the few worlds which have an outright death sentence, though this is considered to be a last resort, and many forms of truth and forensic magics will be used to determine a perpetrator's guilt before such measures are reached.
Because Wild Magic is so prevalent on Callisto, it is not uncommon for Magicals to undertake the challenge of Nature's Boon, travelling to Graynor to train under the Ancestral Spirit of Nature in order to learn to work with Wild Magic and not suffer the normal, and oft unpleasant consequences.
The governance of Callisto is considered to be one of the oddest of the Magical Dimension. The ruler is granted the title of Emperor or Empress (->Their Imperial Majesty), and since the title is not passed through bloodlines or marriage, the spouse or children of the ruler are granted no special titles.
The title is passed after an event called The Corona, a 'ceremony' which can last for a decade. (The longest Corona being 11 ½ years.)
The Corona is begun when the reigning Emperor/Empress feels that they are close to the end of their reign. They select several candidates from the fairies, wizards and witches of Callisto who are in, or are working towards, positions in the Callistei government.
These candidates are granted the title of prince of princess for the duration of the Corona, and are often sent to act as representatives of Their Imperial Majesty in instances of interplanetary meetings of royals.
The rules of the Corona state that there must not be less than three candidates, though no maximum has been specified, and the largest group of candidates recorded was twelve. Candidates may 'abdicate' during the Corona, dropping themselves from the running, but in any instance where all but one candidate 'abdicate' an official inquiry must be held to ensure no foul play has taken place.
A candidates inability to Bond with an Astri Ursin does not insure their failure to ascend to the ruling title, but it is very rare for a candidate without such a bond to become ruler, having happened only three times in the recorded history of Callisto.
Despite – or perhaps because – of the reputation of Callisto, it has good relations to almost every world, though it shares especially good relations with Solaria, which is their closest, inhabited planetary neighbour.
(This is especially fruitful for Callisto, as Solaria lies directly in the travel path from Callisto to Magix, one of the Magical Dimension's 'hub' Worlds which are considered to be 'neutral' in the Magical Dimension's politics as they are often Colony Worlds, built by many cultures coming together to create a shared space.)
Varanda of Callisto – Fairy of Protection
A Corona candidate at the time of Winx Club Season 1, Varanda became friends with Princess Stella of Solaria during a political conference before Stella's first year at Alfea. Despite her candidacy Varanda was slated to attend Alfea on Magix, but decided to remain on Callisto after a 'small' series of attacks on her home world changed her mind, she felt that she would be able to do more good on Callisto than at Alfea. (She was correct, and earned her Enchantix on Callisto shortly before the siege of Magix several weeks later.)
Varanda's magical abilities lie with protection and defence, and she is one of the few magicals alive capable of constructing a Devouring Shield, a magical shield which eats the magical energy of any attack that strikes it, converting the attacking energy into extra shield power.
Though her hair is darker and her eyes greener, Varanda bears a striking similarity to Bloom of Domino. This is an ethnic similarity made more apparent by the rarity of the people of Domino. Varanda's grandmother was a refuge from Domino. (If stories are to be believed, Varanda's Grandmother was a member the Dragon's Teeth warriors of Domino when the first siege happened, and was off-World – escorting wounded to a nearby planet for medical treatment due to the loss of medical facilities on Domino – when the second siege happened.***)
Callisto is home to the Astri Ursin, or Celestial Bears. One of the few creatures that can interact with Wild Magic without ill effects, it is often sought after by magic practitioners crazy enough to pursue the 'mastery' of Wild Magic.
The Astri Ursin are often the Bonded animal companions of the rulers of Callisto, and so have a sacred place in the culture of the World.
On a smaller scale, Callisto is also home to the Bardic Glider, a small creature similar to Earth's sugar gliders which live in colonies and possess a group memory they can share with other creatures they trust.
Bardic Gliders are very small, the largest of the species requires one and half (average adult) hands to hold securely, while most only require one.
Like Solaria is the planet of the Sun, Ruler of the Worlds of Celestial Bodies and Primary House of Light, as Zenith is the World of Technology, Keystone worlds have existed since almost the beginning, and represent Aspects of Reality and the Nature of the Universe. Keystone Worlds were created by the Great Dragon to bring Order to the Universe, like Fairies and Witches had a Thematic Power source, Keystone Worlds also belong to a Thematic Domain.
Thematic Domains can be anything from Nature to the Aspect-of-Nature-which-is-Plants, to Technology, to a specific celestial body, to all celestial bodies, to a terrain like the sandy deserts, to an aspect such as death itself.
One of the few Aspects that is not truly represented is War, though several 'Warrior races' exist, and there are Worlds with 'proving grounds' for young warriors to test themselves, no Planet or World is Thematically Dedicated war. It was thought that War was not considered to be a natural Aspect of Reality, but debates rage on, because the existence of Zenith proves that even things which are created by beings lesser than the Great Dragon are considered to be 'natural Aspects', War should therefore be considered a 'natural Aspect'.
Magical Historians and Religious researchers also agree that one of the natural states of the universe at the time of creation is in fact Conflict, which is to say, 'War'.
Some philosophers posit that a World under the Thematical Dominion of War would not last long and would quickly self destruct, and given the history of wars through out the Magical Dimension, it is possible that to avoid such a fate, the Dominion is shared by all Worlds, just as they all share the Thematic Dominion of Order by the sheer virtue of their purpose in the Magical Dimension.
These philosophers are not well loved and are often considered mad or insane.
**I honestly picture the Callistei a mix of the Xena/Hercules Amazons, and the Star Wars Mandalorian race.
***Varanda’s grandmother’s name is Europa. Yes, that Europa (I think I’m so smart😉)
