Ogalepihcra

 Discovery and world building on a tropical, alien planet

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In the tropics of an alien world, afloat upon a vast ocean, are the islands of Ogalepihcra. Ogalepihcra is a vast but tightly-knit archipelago of islands. 

Floating islands: These floating islands start out as masses of seaweed that become so thick and intertwined that they trap dead and rotting plant matter and other material, until they begin to form soil.  These islands drift upon the ocean currents until they end up in the relative calm of Ogalepihcra.

Ogalepihcra: The islands of Ogalepihcra are vast as a whole, though each is fairly small. There are about 475 major islands and countless thousands of lesser ones. Together,they provide about 50,000 square miles of “land”, spread over nearly 100,000 square miles of ocean.

The great trees: From these floating islands of dead and living seaweed, the largest plants of the oceans, slowly grow the largest plants of the land — the great Barkwood Trees, called Nge. These Trees tower thousands of feet into the air, and their vast spreading canopies intertwine, forming an almost solid mass. The Trees unite Ogalepihcra, tying the many islands, rocky and floating, into one united realm.

The land above, home of the Rumel: Above, in the sunlight and the storms, exists a lush land perched precariously on the boughs of these massive Trees. It is a land of brilliant colors, dense with life. Hundreds of different birds and arboreal mammals and thousands of insects and flowering plants form a complex ecosystem. At the top of this food chain are the djuru (“tree-wolves”), ruthless solitary predators that will eat anything that doesn’t seem like too much trouble. Amid all this plenty dwell the Rumel, a society of sentient monkey-like beings with a society that revolves around Byzantine politics and esoteric beliefs, and is guided by their interactions (both real and imagined) with the spirit world.

The land below, home of the Anaugi: Below the trees, sheltered equally from the storms and the light, is a land of decay and rebirth. The only animals amid the Tree roots are scavengers and the only fish survive on whatever dead plants and animals fall into the water between the islands. The ground is one giant compost heap, damp and stench-ridden, and the only plants to be found are fungi and mushrooms of every kind. The animals are all small, and the fish all vicious. In this place, the society of the Anaugi flourishes. The Anaugi are an amphibious people who believe they spring from the ocean itself. Their society is an industrious one, thriving equally on craft and trade, and dominated by guilds. And infused with a subtle magic that not even they grasp the full extent of.


Ogalepihcra Resources