Aetheris · Phase One
Ten entries. The people of the glade, and nine kinds of life that exist nowhere else.
People of the glade
The Lantern Glade
Tall, slender and gentle, with slightly translucent skin that glows faintly gold in sunlight and cool teal in shadow. They weave light into cloth and song, keep the lanterns and the bridges, and speak in a woven, songlike cadence with both hands moving. They are few; most of Aetheris is wild.
Aerial giant
The Heights
Vast, gentle manta-whales that glide the high currents above the canopy, singing long low notes that carry for miles. The signature creature of Aetheris — enormous, unhurried, entirely harmless.
Forest floor
The Verdant Deep
Small fox-like creatures whose fur brightens and dims with feeling — bright when curious or joyful, almost dark when wary. Guests who stand very still are usually inspected within a minute or two.
Two-headed grazer
The Verdant Deep
Moose-sized grazers of the deep forest floor whose single thick neck forks into two heads. One head browses the moss while the other lifts and watches the trees, so a Duskoll is almost impossible to surprise. A warm ember line of light runs beneath the skin of both necks.
Beast of burden
The Lantern Glade
Heavy, patient six-legged beasts the Lumen walk the jungle paths with. Living moss grows across their broad plated backs, so a resting Mossback can be mistaken for a hillock until it stands up.
River bird
The Ribbon Rivers
Tall, long-legged waders that fish the braided shallows, holding perfectly still for minutes at a time. Their iridescent teal plumage is one of the few colours in Aetheris that does not glow.
Canopy glider
The Verdant Deep
Broad, flat gliders that drift silently between the great trees on translucent ribbed wings, filtering spores from the air as they go. Utterly quiet — you feel the shadow before you see them.
River light
The Ribbon Rivers · The Singing Caverns
Long ribbons of living light that move in slow shoals through the rivers and the underground waters. When a shoal passes, the whole river lights from beneath — the reason Aetheris is never truly dark.
Apex herbivore
The Verdant Deep
The great armoured beast of the deep jungle — immense, quiet, and rarely seen. A herbivore, despite the plating. When one crosses a river, everything else on the bank stops what it is doing.
Cavern life
The Singing Caverns
Shy, almost transparent drifting forms that live in the root-caves, pale as light through frosted glass. More curious than ghostly — they will follow a lantern for a while and then think better of it.