#enurian

[basaltbutch]

what are the most recent enurian updates i must know :)

SOL!!!! DIPPING YOU LOW AND KISSING YOU SWEETLY 💕💕

a lot of the fleshing out im doing for the ecosystems and the organisms within ive really only done in the past two weeks or so. ive been working on writing relatively short snippets for each species + working on a first draft of designs. figuring out who is related to who and which species have relationships with one another.

before all this i had been focusing almost completely on the ferraen and their culture and way of living but it was getting way too difficult to write about. an alien culture without having any clue about what their surroundings are like and what other lifeforms share that space with them. ummm. the one that's giving me the most trouble right now is the imbroglio, the giant abandoned alien city, since i have to develop it in a way that feels confusing and illogical to the viewer and it's been a bitch to get right.

[basaltbutch]

top 5 out of context enurian facts GO!

SKGJGJSKJKGKJK YOU BEAT ME TO THE LONG-ASS INFODUMP POST I WAS DRAFTING IN MY HEAD

1.) sometimes a family is just you and the abandoned alien city who loves you so so so so so much (so much please don't ever leave please let her live in your veins and speak through your mouth)

2.) fur (and of course, hair as a subset) never evolved here so all the "furred" animals have modified feathers. pseudofeathers. that evolved from shells.

3.) sometimes the day/night cycle freezes and you're not supposed to start worrying about it until it's been at least two days since it stopped.

4.) the ferraen (dominant sophant species on the island) have separated all living things on the island into three categories (mirroring our six kingdoms); ambulatila (organisms that are able to move using their own will), statariae (organisms that are unable to move using their own will), and commenticia (artificially constructed organisms left behind by the original occupants of the island). they are not at all scientifically accurate according to the evolution of those organisms but. shrugs.

5.) i thought that creating viable ecosystems for just a tiny island would be easier than creating viable ecosystems for an entire planet. :(

[basaltbutch]

favorite statariae

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

100% mothercaps! they're a giant clonal organism growing up at the very northern tip of the island where the land is always covered in a thick sheet of permafrost. they're thermogenic and produce heat, as well as growing directly above the scattered geothermal springs in the area.

each single mothercap individual is a microbiome of its own right. their large, extended root network will send out shoots of ironwood trees, technically premature versions of mothercaps, though they never make it to their adult form (mostly because it takes them thousands of years to become true adults, and only one can exist in a given area at a time). these forests can stretch for easily a mile or more, and create pocket environments within the harsh tundra where biodiversity blooms. despite the snow, these places appear analogous to rainforest jungles in our world.

it's not going to be covered in-text because i don't know enough about these sort of things but i imagine it's this giant mess of symbiotic organisms all consuming and decomposing each other which leads to heat generation composting style.

[basaltbutch]

not gonna write it on the post itself because it's not really the point but i love writing escapist fiction for me and myself only where its like. my dream worlds. places so unlike current reality you get culture shock entering them.

[basaltbutch]

i need to talk about enurian more