Megafauna,[1][2] also known as world-beasts,[3] are enormous planetary-sized creatures native to Herdspace in the Spelljammer campaign setting.[4]
Overview[]
Megafauna, or world-beasts, are native to the crystal sphere known as Herdspace, where they wander along the inner surface of the crystal shell. Unlike starbeasts, megafauna have their own gravity and their own atmospheric envelopes. This allows plants and animals to flourish across the surface of a world-beast, with various kinds of foliage forming bands and blocks of color. The hide of the megafauna feature great valleys and cracks, with broad lakes and vast tracts of woodland and forests.[3]
The larger megafauna can reach heights of 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) or planetary size E. Many world-beasts are so tall that they reach beyond the limits of Herdspace's atmosphere, and extend well into the void of wildspace. Megafauna are so heavy that as they slowly walk along the inner surface of the crystal shell, they leave enormous footprints - 120 to 130 miles across in some cases.[1] These footprints fill with water, forming enormous lakes. However, the mass of the megafauna actually "crushes" all magic out of the ground, rendering the resulting lakes effectively non-magical,[4] to the point where the lake can actually inhibit the functioning of an active helm, causing the spelljamming ship to crash.[5] Megafauna move extremely slowly, with one single movement, such as raising or lowering a foot, taking hundreds of years to complete.[6]
Description[]
Each world-beast is unique. According to the tinker gnome Dyffed, megafauna are self aware and have individual names.[7]
The first world-beast the gnome-ship Perilous Halibut encountered was about 10,000 miles tall (size E), and only its legs remained within Herdspace's atmosphere. The rest of its body extended into wildspace and was surrounded by its own air envelope. The creature had a huge blue-and-red striped body, with a long neck and a tail. The creature's head resembled that of a lizard, with fan-like ears, and what may have been gills on the side of the head, ahead of the neck. It only had one large, dark green eye.[8]
The crew of the Perilous Halibut would go on to explore a second megafauna, in search of the falmadaraatha sage One Six Nine. This creature was 1,200 miles high (size D), with a vaguely elephantine head and a rhino-like face, with tiny ears and an enormous horn that projected from the center of its forehead. A reptilian tail, fully half the length of its body, hung from its rear, sweeping hundreds of miles above the ground at its lowest point. The creature's hide was a diamond-pattern of black, red and yellow.[9]
Inhabitants[]
Some megafauna feature great lakes and vast redwood forests which support a large population of birds,[10] as well as other living creatures, including, but not limited to, skullbirds,[11] colossi,[12] and fal.[13]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), page 200
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), page 224
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), page 238
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 211-212
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 187-188
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), page 235
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), page 239
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 226-227
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 236-251
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 240-243
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 240-241
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 243-251
- ↑ Roger E. Moore, The Cloakmaster Cycle, The Maelstrom's Eye, 1992, (TSR Inc.), pages 273-278