Lynxie🐾 She/Her ☆°~ from 🇵🇱 ☆~ Mostly Star Stable and other nonsense :3 There's gonna be something better someday, just wait (I swear pls) ~☆I'm akward but I'm trying 💔
[This is a collection of my Pandoria headcanons and homebrew worlbuilding. There is a lot of text, so prepare yourself.]
TIME
Explaining time to a pandorian is like explaining carbonated water to a fish; illogical, unneeded and it hurts their head. And believe me, I’ve tried explaining many times. Pandorians exist outside of time, but what does that even mean? They move and talk just like humans do, but once you enter their dimension… you wish you hadn’t. Your vision starts to swirl and legs begin to move in a zig-zag patten even though you’ve never asked them to do that. As a person used to being drunk on two bottles of mead, I find that experience quite familiar. Once you get used to it, it’s bearable. My many years spent in this dimension have somewhat adapted me to the environment, although it comes at a cost (see: PANDORIC SICKESS).
Pandoria works on simple logic – if it can happen, it will. Which means, not simple at all. Although every being lives linearly, one might find themselves looking at a tree that has not been there before. Your friend is twice as tall as you, yet you are stuck as a teenager for another eternity. So on and so forth. My visits to Pandoria have been particularly confusing. As a being used to the frames of time, I’ve felt as though I spent two weeks walking around, yet when I came back my tea was still piping hot!
I’ve asked a fellow traveller, a witch searching for supplies in the pandoric wilderness, of what she thinks about this anecdote. She said “My only concern is to come back home before my ten year old kids leave for university”.
SPACE
Pandoria is ever changing, but it follows a general structure that the locals have named and written down. The maps are a crude representation of Pandoria; in reality it warps and bends and twists and pulls as each non-existing second passes. No living thing is able to capture that on paper.
The Islands –> space for all living beings. Much like planets in space, they drift in the infinite expanse of shining lights (I haven’t been able to deduce what the lights are. Are they stars? Other islands? The chaotic energy of Pandoria?)
The Infinite Down –> once you fall, there is no hope for you. You will fall for eternity or until your lungs give out. The difficult environment influenced several species to develop flight, such as flying manta rays, formless pandorians and shadow seekers.
The Space Between –> once you cross the portal to Pandoria, you need to pass through a foggy, deserted place. That is the Space Between. It acts as a gateway between time and space; a moment of complete stillness.
Navigating Pandoria is nigh impossible. Each island is moving around like a big, everlasting kaleidoscope. Every time you enter a portal, you end up in a different location. When you want to go back to the previous island, you might discover that there is an empty space left instead. No matter if you are human or pandorian, you are forever lost. That is why pandorians choose one of two ways in life; some stay in one place their whole life and others travel from island to island, never to return home. (I was relieved when I’ve learned that there is a free shelter system in Pandoria. I’m so happy I don’t have to abandon hot showers!) I call them the settlers and the drifters. Pandorians have their own names for them; the direct translation would be “the one who stays” and “the one who travels”.
It’s difficult to live in a place so chaotic, even for equally chaotic beings, but at least they get to choose their fate. Throughout my journey I’ve travelled to many cities and met many amazing people, but I am unable to return to them again. I feel kinship with the drifters, missing home even though you are doing what you love. When I finally came back to Valedale, I hugged my brother as hard as I could.
There is only one known way of going back to a specific location; the Keystones. They lead to one singular island. A rather unremarkable island on its own, but it has collected quite the collection of pandorian and human activity. No one knows why the Keystones were built. Fripp is being weirdly silent about it…
The “kaleidoscope” nature of this place has made communication nigh-impossible. Thus, the difference between the Islands’ scientific development is striking. You can travel from an Island straight out of a sci-fi book to a rural village. Drifters try to bring different inventions across the land, but there are infinitely more Islands than there are people. Traveling through Pandoria is like a game of roulette – you never know what you’re going to get!
PANDORIC SICKNESS
While exploring this realm is very fascinating, with each visit my health has been slowly declining. As of writing this, I am unable to return there ever again. Beings from Earth are not accustomed to an existence outside of time. Their bodies and minds deteriorate each time they think about the absurdity of breathing backwards. The pandoric sickness, as I have dubbed it, starts in the mind and travels through the nervous system until your entire body is completely covered in pink.
I've made a simple and effective list to make your trip suck a bit less:
First and foremost, it attacks your eyesight – eyes are windows to your soul and Pandoria wants to swallow it for breakfast. When you are overwhelmed, cover your eyes and pray for the best.
Direct contact with pandoric energy worsens the effects; just avoid touching anything you don’t know the exact properties of, otherwise your limbs will be next in line for amputation.
Avoid cuts and bruises, the sickness clings to open skin. Many people in contact with pandoric energy discover that their old scars have suddenly started to glow pink. You don’t want that to happen, trust me.
Remember to cover your nose when you venture into the wilderness. You can easily take care of a scratch on your hand, but you can’t sneeze out microscopic particles from your lungs.
Don’t eat unknown plants. Just don’t.
THE GARNOK CONUNDRUM
Garnok reigns terror on Jorvik and He reigns terror in Pandoria. Ever since the Dark Riders have started to raise Him from the dead, Pandoria got the short end of the stick. Islands upon islands have been sinking into the depths of the Infinite Down. What we know on Jorvik as pandoric cracks are massive tears in Pandoria’s surface. I’ve met many pandorians who fled to Jorvik in fear of being next. The soul crushing fact about that is; you can find your way out of Pandoria, but it’s impossible to return to your home island when you go back.
It’s been happening more and more in recent years. I hope the new generation of Soul Riders will succeed where we could not.
remember when I said I was going to share the rest of my notes on the first soul rider trilogy with ya'all?
WELL HERE THEY ARE
(these are purely book base notes I personally deemed important be it character descriptions, magic explanations, personality traits or just random facts I wanted written down for myself) if something isn't mentioned about XYZ I either didn't deem it that important or more likely it wasn't mentioned in there
important! I don't agree the words from that ad (who knows, knows) and I find it difficult to interpret this character as a 32-year-old for much reasons. (SSE has a constant problem with the ages of their characters, I think-)
more information below
✦ childhood.
«pain can create the strongest dark sorcerer»
Darko was born and raised in a family of Garnok fanatics who lived in one of the towns of Norway.
His father [Heinrich Johansen] did everything to raise a capable and strong-spirited magician.
And Johansen partially achieved his goal. His son grew up disciplined, and with a lot of wounds on his soul.
✦ young years.
«every person is weak, but those who are called “strong” just can hide their weaknesses perfectly»
Darko's youth was a time of socialization and a strong desire to become part of the goth subculture. It's weird how an unsociable “magic nerd” turned himself into a self-proclaimed style icon.
But he still remained true to himself and his goals. Gradually, interest in magic grew into a scientific one. Mr. Sands appreciated this, sometimes trusting Darko too much.
■■.■■.20■■ Dark Core has given the go-ahead to fund an new secret organisation that called “Nightmare Institute”.
✦ middle age — now.
«not a step back!»
Darko is as we know him.
A veiled confrontation with Mr. Sands, an attempt to get rid of Justin Moorland, the killing of the “Keepers of Aideen” leader, “Mortuus Spiritus” & “the Dark Sun” projects — his crimes in a short time.
This man literally make a lot of enemies and still remain overconfident.
while the new marchenghast questline/area seems really cool, it feels to me, idk, somehow disconnected from the game?? i can't explain why or how but it feels like something that doesn't fit the game's esque or perhaps it is in my brain. not saying it's not good, and i'm more than happy to be receiving more quests, but it just does not feel like star stable to me
I honestly don't know how I feel about SSO realising "unique" Npc horses for players to buy.
I guess it's pretty cool for our storytellers on Ssoblr, but it does take the uniqueness out of them…
same as last time, i will be posting some facts about them in my au below the cut :3
sabine
born to rich parents (competitive riders) forced into the equestrian world from a young age. had a very dramatic teenage angst phase that never truly left. still not in the best of terms with her parents
born and raised in jorvik
biker girl. i really saw her in those red pants once and was sold
dark riders in my au are chosen by chance as the soul riders are; in short, they harbour the exact same powers but 'corrupted' in the hands of thise who know what to do. most of the time they pick teenagers/early adults with circle skills that have struggles in life or are easy to manipulate into working for them. sabine had both; when she was younger she had no friends and felt as if she belonged nowhere when mr. sands found her
quiet, reserved, aloof, does not really like talking even to jay or katja
actually really likes khaan and finds solace in him
jay
*sighs* jay has so much lore in my au that it ain't gonna fit here but
model/actor, born to rich parents aswell, roots in india, their family breeds marwari horses and are also in modelling/wine business with branches in multiple other fields. even richer than sabine's family. at some point anne overtook their career from which they will always be bitter about
has the hardest time of the three associating with horses, even acerbus. prefers a car to horse any time
the planet 'darkstar' where they're from does not actually exist (anymore! it was destroyed by garnok before it was imprisoned and sent to earth), but is used as a ploy to make them work for dark core. mr. sands & co have been planting false memories to their mind that make them homesick and feel 'wrong' even if there's nothing wrong with them and the closest actual relation they have is to aideen
has an on-off relationship with katja that is not very healthy lol
katja
the closest to 'truly evil' here, katja is a cold and an unforgiving character
her family moved to jorvik after a recommendation from a friend, for katja's ice powers manifested very early, and it became a problem where they were in their home country. she was a weird kid with all kinds of brutal and unkind hobbies, especially concerning little animals she would catch, and obviously had no friends either
is used to manipulate the other two often. she is a compulsive liar and an incredible storyweaver, and for some reason people really find it easy believing her
hates how lisa 'misrepresents' the star, for to her they are dear in their cold distance.
is much closer to jay than sabine. fears sabine precisely because sabine does not fall for her schemes so easily
