I haven't developed this one too much, but I still wanted to toss it out there! 
Udunotts and the Far Skies Cult
Udunotts are a slow-moving and ponderous race from the Etwett system. They are long and low-slung, with rounded muzzles, floppy ears, and shaggy equine manes falling from their spines. Their legs are stout, allowing them to assume a bipedal or quadrupedal gait.
Udunotts are in general a congenial species, eager to trade culture and technology but very sedentary and hesitant to travel too far from their home system. It came as a surprise, therefore, when an Udunora stasis ship called the Pilgrim set off from their home planet for Auruta's distant skies just under a century ago.
The Pilgrim was controlled by a group known as Far Skies, which believes that their calling is to find a singularity of bliss located somewhere in the universe. Deemed religious fanatics by most Udunotts, Far Skies was a separatist group back on their homeworld. As such, the Udunotts present on Auruta represent an offshoot of Udunora culture dramatically different from the homeworld.
Auruta was chosen as their destination due to a series of unusual sensor readings. The Udunora Scientific Review passed them off as inconsequential--while they didn't doubt that the planet was habitable or of some interest, they did question the merits of sending a ship on such a long journey. Far Skies saved up money for years to buy a Terran stasis ship and outfit it for Udunora physiology. The journey took forty years.
Upon landing, the Udunotts established a base camp on a large land mass a few days' travel from New Aurora. They saw this as more of an expedition than a settlement, since their goal was to locate the singularity, and so brought little in the ways of entertainment or creature comfort. From their base camp (which they never named, but is known as Udwera, an Udunora word that means "a place where journeys start") they began to venture out in methodical circles, at first on land and then sea.
Of particular interest were the Four Triangles of Azreal--the Udunotts were quick to set up another camp on a nearby island and study of the phenomenon became their primary focus.
Far Skies has now been on Auruta for three generations. Most of the arrivals on the stasis ship have passed away, and their children have inherited the task of locating the singularity. But some Udunotts now coming to age are beginning to question the religious fervor they were raised with. Some have even broken entirely away from the cult to live in New Aurora or other non-Udunora settlements. They tend to not fit in well, due to underdeveloped social skills.
Udunotts and the Far Skies Cult
Udunotts are a slow-moving and ponderous race from the Etwett system. They are long and low-slung, with rounded muzzles, floppy ears, and shaggy equine manes falling from their spines. Their legs are stout, allowing them to assume a bipedal or quadrupedal gait.
Udunotts are in general a congenial species, eager to trade culture and technology but very sedentary and hesitant to travel too far from their home system. It came as a surprise, therefore, when an Udunora stasis ship called the Pilgrim set off from their home planet for Auruta's distant skies just under a century ago.
The Pilgrim was controlled by a group known as Far Skies, which believes that their calling is to find a singularity of bliss located somewhere in the universe. Deemed religious fanatics by most Udunotts, Far Skies was a separatist group back on their homeworld. As such, the Udunotts present on Auruta represent an offshoot of Udunora culture dramatically different from the homeworld.
Auruta was chosen as their destination due to a series of unusual sensor readings. The Udunora Scientific Review passed them off as inconsequential--while they didn't doubt that the planet was habitable or of some interest, they did question the merits of sending a ship on such a long journey. Far Skies saved up money for years to buy a Terran stasis ship and outfit it for Udunora physiology. The journey took forty years.
Upon landing, the Udunotts established a base camp on a large land mass a few days' travel from New Aurora. They saw this as more of an expedition than a settlement, since their goal was to locate the singularity, and so brought little in the ways of entertainment or creature comfort. From their base camp (which they never named, but is known as Udwera, an Udunora word that means "a place where journeys start") they began to venture out in methodical circles, at first on land and then sea.
Of particular interest were the Four Triangles of Azreal--the Udunotts were quick to set up another camp on a nearby island and study of the phenomenon became their primary focus.
Far Skies has now been on Auruta for three generations. Most of the arrivals on the stasis ship have passed away, and their children have inherited the task of locating the singularity. But some Udunotts now coming to age are beginning to question the religious fervor they were raised with. Some have even broken entirely away from the cult to live in New Aurora or other non-Udunora settlements. They tend to not fit in well, due to underdeveloped social skills.
Native flora:I don't know of a name for it ...yet.
It's a purple wheat-like substance that is popularly made into a bread, and it tastes almost exactly like graham crackers.
Native fauna: Shellmeats
Similar to an oyster or some such, they're a blue shelled water creature, which help purify the water and help plants grow. They also taste pretty good; however, it isn't a good idea to eat many of them because of their high content of salt and fat. The creature/meat itself is also light blue. And no, there isn't a cult, as far as I know. ;P
Mellserina - A merchant who makes scented waxes for people's houses, etc. Because of the watery climate, the housing can get damp and moldy; therefore, reinforced inner housing materials, solidified with such wax, are often used as part of the insulation. The outer insulation (outsulation? Protection?) is often made of woven or painted-on materials.
The wax stuff can be ground into a paste, and used like grout -to paste over cracks or fill in holes- or daubed on like paint. Also, it smells good! It can be easily sterilized by heating, and is used medically. Attracts some insects and repels others.
Anyway, Mells also sells other trinkets and candles, etc.
Edit: Maybe there's some kind of wasp or caterpillar or something that leaves behind the wax from it's cocoons, houses, etc. If so, I imagine it would be a sort of orange and purple color.
It's a purple wheat-like substance that is popularly made into a bread, and it tastes almost exactly like graham crackers.
Native fauna: Shellmeats
Similar to an oyster or some such, they're a blue shelled water creature, which help purify the water and help plants grow. They also taste pretty good; however, it isn't a good idea to eat many of them because of their high content of salt and fat. The creature/meat itself is also light blue. And no, there isn't a cult, as far as I know. ;P
Mellserina - A merchant who makes scented waxes for people's houses, etc. Because of the watery climate, the housing can get damp and moldy; therefore, reinforced inner housing materials, solidified with such wax, are often used as part of the insulation. The outer insulation (outsulation? Protection?) is often made of woven or painted-on materials.
The wax stuff can be ground into a paste, and used like grout -to paste over cracks or fill in holes- or daubed on like paint. Also, it smells good! It can be easily sterilized by heating, and is used medically. Attracts some insects and repels others.
Anyway, Mells also sells other trinkets and candles, etc.
Edit: Maybe there's some kind of wasp or caterpillar or something that leaves behind the wax from it's cocoons, houses, etc. If so, I imagine it would be a sort of orange and purple color.
These last minute ideas have me on the edge of my seat
Pencils down! This concludes our first annual collaborative world building project. THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who participated -- this has gotten my creative juices pumping more than anything in years. It's been exhilirating reading all of your ideas and building on them. I so appreciate how well everyone worked together and how thoughtful everyone was.
I have pasted all of these posts into a Google Doc so that I can go through and edit everything into one cohesive setting document, and fill in any details that were flagged as being needed but didn't quite happen before the deadline.
Just with the raw pasting of text, before any formatting or images, we had already reached 50 pages of setting information, single spaced.
That includes...
This is going to be one heck of a setting, and I really hope I get to play in it with some of you.
Editing and finalizing all this is going to be a non-trivial project, but I'll try to keep you posted as we go.
I have pasted all of these posts into a Google Doc so that I can go through and edit everything into one cohesive setting document, and fill in any details that were flagged as being needed but didn't quite happen before the deadline.
Just with the raw pasting of text, before any formatting or images, we had already reached 50 pages of setting information, single spaced.
That includes...
- A full description of the solar system and planet
- 6 settler races
- Almost 20 fully original plants and animals
- Multiple important locations, scientific anomalies, and more
This is going to be one heck of a setting, and I really hope I get to play in it with some of you.
Editing and finalizing all this is going to be a non-trivial project, but I'll try to keep you posted as we go.
WOOOOOO DOGGY I have been absolutely addicted to working on this project. It flowed faster than I ever thought it would or could. I've completed a first editing pass on a setting document. It's been re-organized, different suggestions have been combined and made to agree with one another, and writing has been updated to sound more like it's written from sorta-kinda one voice (and tense!) I rewrote many entries to go from "What if" and "I imagine that..." to definite statements, and expanded on many hanging ideas ("Maybe somehow they...? I dunno, someone else can add that").
I'm about a third of the way through a second editing pass right now, working on clarity and further interconnecting related ideas.
I cannot WAIT to share this document with you all. It is my favorite thing right now.
I'm about a third of the way through a second editing pass right now, working on clarity and further interconnecting related ideas.
I cannot WAIT to share this document with you all. It is my favorite thing right now.
Wooo! I'm really excited.
PSSST -- before I make an official news post, here's a sneak preview for our world builders!
Click here to see the setting document
This project took on a strong hard sci-fi flavor, so elements that were more cartoonish or relied on magic got a rewrite to have a more "natural history" bent and explanation. You'll note we've got a bunch more art now, including illustrations of every species that was missing one by Auberon, and planetary renders by Darth_Angelus. I even got a retired scifi literary agent/editor to take a pass on the doc to really give it some polish and shine.
Looking for something?
I hope you all love this as much as I do. It is sincerely one of my favorite projects ever.
Click here to see the setting document
This project took on a strong hard sci-fi flavor, so elements that were more cartoonish or relied on magic got a rewrite to have a more "natural history" bent and explanation. You'll note we've got a bunch more art now, including illustrations of every species that was missing one by Auberon, and planetary renders by Darth_Angelus. I even got a retired scifi literary agent/editor to take a pass on the doc to really give it some polish and shine.
Looking for something?
- "Fiends" are now the Kruk
- Ministaro Monstero shows up under Auruta Flytraps
- The Mysterious Forest is now La Forêt Blanche
- nightmqre's unnamed plant was dubbed Silver Shoot
- Shinyrainbowlithogra's unnamed grain was dubbed Plumgren
- Shinyrainbowlithogra's unnamed "wasp or caterpillar" was named Waxy Wasp
- Shinyrainbowlithogra's professional "Mellserina" does not appear in the table of contents, because it is in an "aside" box by New Aurora.
- Deinocanis is listed under its common name, Wegener Hound
I hope you all love this as much as I do. It is sincerely one of my favorite projects ever.
Kim wrote:
Orrik_Zynn's unnamed plant was dubbed Silver Shoot
dont wanna be a bother, but I had a look through the document (which looks amazing btw.) but just a note- Silver Shoot was my plant C:
nightmqre wrote:
Kim wrote:
Orrik_Zynn's unnamed plant was dubbed Silver Shoot
dont wanna be a bother, but I had a look through the document (which looks amazing btw.) but just a note- Silver Shoot was my plant C:
Whoops, apologies! Updated my post.
Kim wrote:
Whoops, apologies! Updated my post.
It’s okay
it looks amazing still- I need to read it once I’m not drained from school 
Man I really wish I could have added one of my ideas for some ocean fauna when it was still open. Oh well, the document is amazing and I love how much we got going for this planet!
SolarLoki wrote:
Man I really wish I could have added one of my ideas for some ocean fauna when it was still open. Oh well, the document is amazing and I love how much we got going for this planet!
We'll definitely do this again next year with a new seed, so hopefully you can get in on it even more then!
I'm excited to see what you'll bring to the table next year! If it's gonna be a fantasy setting then you'll probably see a lot more of me in there since that's more my environment.
Also I'm wondering if we can still submit art for species that are already present in the document or if that time is up as well
SolarLoki wrote:
Also I'm wondering if we can still submit art for species that are already present in the document or if that time is up as well
I can still work in more artwork, but it's gotta arrive soon.
This looks absolutely amazing! Kim, thank you so much, you must work nonstop for this site. It's so cool to see everyone's creations in there!
Amazing! this is so cool to see. U.U
this is so cool to see. U.U
Awesome!
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