http://www.sisterworlds.com/ 2026-04-29T10:00:48+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/ http://www.sisterworlds.com/lib/tpl/dokuwiki/images/favicon.ico text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:35+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:alpine_tundra&rev=1632844115&do=diff Alpine Tundra The alpine tundra is rocky, mossy terrain found on mountainous peaks above the tree line and on polar terrain not covered by ice. Frigid temperatures, high winds, falling rocks, and a lack of food are often more dangerous than the plants and creatures found in alpine tundra. text/html 2020-07-16T15:56:50+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:ankies&rev=1594915010&do=diff Ankies Also Known As: Kylos Ankies are large, squat, armored herbivores that move about on four legs, and have a large club on their tails. Adults can be the size of two oxen, and are often used by the military of Rakore to carry ballistas into combat. The ankies do not have a high carrying capacity, despite their size, and so often carry only two armored dwarves and a ballista text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:35+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:ecology&rev=1632844115&do=diff Ecology The ecology of Gaeleth is that of an alien world, with species unique to Gaeleth and the SisterWorlds in each of its ecological biomes. Below is a list of biomes, complete with typical encounters within those biomes. Terran life forms are introduced species to the world, and no one is certain how many of the other life forms are native, or came from other worlds than Gaeleth. Some biomes overlap in the overall ecological scheme: mountain forests, for instance, can be found in both '… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:35+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:elgannet_beetle&rev=1632844115&do=diff Elgannet Beetle The elgannet beetles of the forests reach tremendous size, many growing to the size of carriages and weighing in at two tonnes or more. Their iridescent green color makes them quite attractive to collectors, and their shells are often made into jewelry or even armor. Elgannet beetles tend to ravel alone, eating whole live trees and leaving behind monstrous piles of half-digested cellulose material behind. The presence of elgannet beetles in a forest can often be determined by… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:35+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:eudella_lilies&rev=1632844115&do=diff Eudella Lilies Eudella lilies are a floating plant with beautiful flowers. In small numbers the scent of the flowers can act as a mild narcotic, relaxing passers-by with a wonderful smell. In larger numbers, the lilies can choke a river and make travel anywhere near them deadly for humanoids. Rivers overcome with the invasive plants oft-times need to be burned out, or have hippopautomi or similar herbivores brought in at great expense text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:36+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:floodplains&rev=1632844116&do=diff Flood Plains Flood plains tend to be flat lands around older rivers, rich in fertile soils with water tables close to the surface. Older rivers tend to meander quite a bit, and so oxbow lakes and strange snaking stands of trees tend to be on the flood plains. At higher altitudes, flood plains may be long and narrow affairs, while close to the sea flood plains may dominate the landscape unendingly. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:36+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:great_lake&rev=1632844116&do=diff Great Lakes Bodies of freshwater with shores so far apart that one cannot see them are considered 'great lakes'. Some great lakes are in the process of drying up and becoming salt water bodies, while others are continually fed or even drain elsewhere. Regardless, they tend to be rather large bodies of water text/html 2019-09-14T13:59:56+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:guardian_forests&rev=1568469596&do=diff Guardian Forests The ancient Karatikan Alliance of druids and mages sent their most dangerous prisoners to a distant peninsula walled off by mountains -- in modern day Rakore. Semi-awakened trees each held a prisoner within their trunks, wrapped around them, sustaining them, and individually tailored to the prisoner. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:36+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:hatori&rev=1632844116&do=diff Hatori The hatori are a monstrous reptile-like creature though to be native to the deserts of Gaeleth. Hatori are massive creatures, some reaching nearly a mile in length. Although normally in their semi-dormant feeding stage, when active they can rise from the sands and stand nearly a thousand feed off the desert floor on four massive pillared legs. They have been described in appearance as being a desert crocodile. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:36+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:hippotaun&rev=1632844116&do=diff Hippotaun Hippotauns are large bipedal beasts that are opportunistic feeders, traveling in matriarchal herds. They eat tall grasses and saplings, corpses, and other river food, including the occasional alligator, fish, or turtle. Hippotauns generally live about 40 years, reaching juvenile status within five years, and adult status within fifteen years. They are generally found around rivers and flood plains, where they hide in the tall grasses and depend on their large size to keep most pred… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:36+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:hippotauns&rev=1632844116&do=diff Hippotauns Hippotauns are a distant relative of the hippopotamus, though the front fore-limbs have withered so as to be little more than chin-scratchers. The hippotaun has a massive fat-filled tail that serves as a counter balance to its enormous head and gut, and its bipedal gait is somewhat ungainly on land. In the water, the beast is considerably more agile, using its massive tail much like a crocodile. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:36+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:home&rev=1632844116&do=diff Ecology The ecologies of Gaeleth varies from region to region, with unique species in each. The great Goordune Ocean is larger than all the oceans of earth together, and has a subcontinental shelf as large as Asia itself. The deserts of Gaeleth are as vast as the Sahara, and the plains vaster still. The forests themselves have species not seen on other worlds, and food webs of diversities that make exploration both dangerous and exciting. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:37+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:ice_desert&rev=1632844117&do=diff Ice Deserts Many of the ice deserts of Gaeleth have active ecosystems, the base of which consists of massed cellular colonies more commonly known as 'puddings'. Example encounters include (but are not limited to): White Puddings White Dragons text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:37+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:mace_tail&rev=1632844117&do=diff Mace Tail Sometimes known as ankylos, the mace tails are large, armored reptiles with heavily armored tails that serve as clubs. Mace tails have been used in combat, where whey can have ballistae mounted on their backs to provide support to infantry or cavalry units. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:37+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:marsh&rev=1632844117&do=diff Marsh Marshes are freshwater or brackish bodies of water repleat with grasses. There tend to be few trees, or trees only on the small 'islands' that rise up above the waters. Freshwater marshes may be found where rivers slow down, in old river beds and oxbows, or where lakes ooze off to one side. Saltwater marshes are invariably found where rivers slow near the sea, and often make up river deltas. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:37+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:minotaur_lizard&rev=1632844117&do=diff Minotaur Lizard Description: Minotaur lizards are gargantuan lizards that eat a variety of prey. Active hunters during the day, their colors range from muted browns to brilliant blues, greens, and yellows. They are called minotaur lizards because of the set of forward-sweeping horns on their heads that they sometimes use to gore their prey when chasing it down. They tend to be active mainly in warmer desert regions, but they are also found in many mountainous regions. Some of the largest m… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:37+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:mistrae&rev=1632844117&do=diff Mistrae The mistrae were one of the more common foot soldiers of the necromancers during the War of the Undead. Necromantic soldiers often relied on the remnants of the dead for building materials, and no building material was more abundant than the shells and exoskeletons of dead insects. The necromancers of the war could use one dead insect to find another insect, dead or alive, and add to itself. The mistrae could form humanoid shapes, or become amoebic and slip through any crack small en… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:38+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:mountain_forests&rev=1632844118&do=diff Mountain Forests The mountain forests of Gaeleth are full of various dangers that can include: Cave Bear (4E Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual) Behir (4E Monster Manual II)) Elgannet Beetle Anklosaur text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:38+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:ojib&rev=1632844118&do=diff Ojib The ojib is a parasitic vine that attacks swamp cedars. The fruit of ojib is generally found during the summer months, and extremely toxic to most animals. Once the fruit has sat in anoxic water and begun to rot, the toxicity fades and it can be eaten. The strawberry-sized fruit is bright red-to-yellow on the vine in its toxic state, although once it has begun to rot it turns a duller red-brown to muddy color. The leaves of the vine are rather small and somewhat dark green in color, wi… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:38+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:omsomif&rev=1632844118&do=diff Omsomif An omsomif is a single member of the omsomivae, the plural form of omsomif. An omsomif is a white, six-legged lizard that can reach thirty or more feet in length. Capable of carrying a harness and rider, an omsomif is blind and relatively gentle, although it can bite through armor and spit acid that can cause considerable pain and damage. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:38+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:omsomivae&rev=1632844118&do=diff Omsomivae (singular omsomif) The omsomivae are subterranean creatures unique to the SisterWorlds. They are large, white, reptile-like creatures, some as long as fifteen feet in length, that move about through the underworld cave systems on six legs. They tend to be solitary, though adult females can have as many as half a dozen younglings with them. A single omsomif tends to be a skittish creature, moving away from any potential predators despite the size. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:38+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:puddings&rev=1632844118&do=diff Puddings The pudding origins are unknown, though believed to be from far off-world. They consist of single-celled lifeforms that exist in a colonial manner, moving and engulfing prey much like a slime mold -- though at far larger scales. Many puddings use active ion exchanges in aqueous solutions to extract every last iota of raw materials to serve as reaction mass to derive energy at even the smallest scales. All puddings known are oxygen-breathing puddings, though they can often survive fo… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:39+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:river&rev=1632844119&do=diff Rivers The lotic waters of Gaeleth present as much of an interesting melange of Terran, SisterWorlds, and endemic species as any other habitat. The use of waterways in many civilized areas is only possible through routine cleansings of the more exotic inhabitants of the streams and rivers of Gaeleth. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:39+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:roc_hawke&rev=1632844119&do=diff Roc Hawke A roc hawke is a large bird of prey with wingspans of eighty feet or more. They have been tamed, with chicks impressing on handlers who limit food consumption to slow growth until training is complete. They are impressive hunters with keen eyes and powerful beaks and talons, feeding on large prey on land and at sea. Roc hawkes tend to be rather solitary, with feeding ranges of a hundred miles or more. They have indeterminate growth and can reach impressive sizes. Some of the larg… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:39+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:sand_desert&rev=1632844119&do=diff Sand Desert The 'sand desert' is, as its name implies, dominated mostly by sand. Many of these so-called sand deserts are also badlands or areas with less than an inch of rain each year. Example encounters include: Kobolds (4E Dungeons and Dragons text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:39+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:sentinel_tree&rev=1632844119&do=diff Sentinel Tree Sentinel trees are particularly tall deciduous trees that lose their leaves in winter. They tend to have purple flowers that grow in large arrays, and smell faintly of alcohol. Sentinels can reach heights of 450 to 550 feet, with trunks up to 50 feet in diameter not being unheard of. Relying on high winds to disperse their bat-pollinated seeds, sentinel trees rarely grow in groves, with average distances between them being closer to a mile or more in even a densely populated fo… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:39+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:srik&rev=1632844119&do=diff Srik The Srik'Kr'Sril are a semi-intelligent race of horse-sized ants that live in the extreme heat of the deserts, and the cool darkness of the night. Their name derives from the Tremederik tongue, and their encounters with the giant ants between the text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:39+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:subterranean&rev=1632844119&do=diff Subterranean The subterranean ecology of Gaeleth exists almost entirely free of the surface world, with only some of its energy flow deriving from the surface world. Most of the energy is derived from chemosynthetic bacteria that decompose the rock, some amalgams of which are considered quite dangerous, such as the highly acidic 'black puddings'. text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:40+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:swamp&rev=1632844120&do=diff Swamps Swamps are freshwater bodies of water dense with trees such as cypress. Many swamps have black or dark brown waters full of tannins and other natural chemicals that dye the water the color of death. Swamps may often have green algal coverings or be covered in large-leafed lilies, hiding the waters beneath. The waters often go anoxic, killing many fish and gilled creatures, with black mud beneath the surface that smells of sulfur and rotten eggs. Small islands of above-water land serv… text/html 2021-09-28T15:48:40+00:00 http://www.sisterworlds.com/doku.php?id=gaeleth:ecology:undead&rev=1632844120&do=diff Undead The undead have existed on Gaeleth for all of recorded history, but have played particularly strong roles since the War of the Undead in the early 1300s Avard. They are a class of organism unto themselves, powered by cohesive spells from the negative planes of energy. While some people believe negative planar energy to be a form of antimatter, this is not the case; negative planar energy is more akin to an entropic or lower order energy state that mimics conventional energy states.