Triaxus

Triaxus’s eccentric, mysteriously slow orbit takes it even closer to the sun than Castrovel during its summer, resulting in a tropical climate that turns harsh and frozen as the world sails back out past the gas giants in its winter. This cycle takes 317 Pact Standard years, with whole generations living and dying in a single season and plant and animal life forming two nearly separate ecologies, each going dormant during its off season. Of the creatures that adapt to both, the most prominent are the humanoid Ryphorian, who manifest thick white fur and narrowed eyes to protect against snow blindness in the winter and develop smooth, dark skin in the summer. While the advent of spaceflight has made such adaptations less important for survival, ryphorian biology continues to be inexplicably tied to the planet, which is currently locked in winter. Those ryphorians born offworld generally maintain their current winterborn form, though even without knowing the exact mechanism, some have begun using magic and genetic engineering to transition early.
Much of traditional Triaxian culture revolves around the fraught relationship between humanoids and dragons. For millennia, the fractious humanoid nations of the Allied Territories battled against the dragon-ruled nations of the Drakelands. The tactically crucial isthmus between the two warring continents was the Skyfire Mandate, defended on the allied side by a legion of ryphorians bonded with intelligent Dragonkin mounts. With the coming of the Pact, however, the primarily evil dragons of the Drakelands saw the advantages of membership and trade with the other Pact Worlds, and active hostilities ceased. Today, while humanoids remain second-class citizens in the Drakelands, their masters have opted for more subtle power plays, with many dragons acting as shadowy investors in major corporations. The Allied Nations, meanwhile, largely lost their reason for cohesion, and today nations such as militant Kamora, where every citizen goes armed, vie for relevance with countries such as Zo, where spaceflight and its support are practically a state religion, or Preita, the Scholar’s Paradise, where technomancers duel on campuses for high-paying corporate contracts. While most of the nations have prospered under the new interplanetary arrangement, a few have refused to modernize fully and still cling to the old ways. Of these, the best known is the pugnacious walled city of Aylok, which shoots down any starship that dares enter its airspace and requires that anyone seeking to trade or meet with its ruling Imperators come in by land instead, through trap-lined plains of jagged ice and hordes of furred insectile horrors bred for defense. Such policies have deeply undercut the city’s health and economy, but so far the ruling elite claims it’s the only way to avoid complete cultural annihilation by the encroaching Pact Worlds.
Even with minor outliers like Aylok, nowhere did the advent of the Pact have a greater effect than in the Skyfire Mandate. With peace—if a tense one—between dragons and humanoids, and with spaceflight replacing planetary combat in importance, the territory’s famed Dragon Legion found itself without a purpose. In response, its leaders took to the stars, and today the rebranded Skyfire Legion forms an elite and highly principled mercenary organization, selling its protection to well-meaning colonists and corporations operating beyond the solar system (and thus outside The Stewards’ protection). Now the dragonkin themselves are only occasionally ridden in atmosphere. Many starfaring dragonkin families have resorted to genetic engineering to reduce their size to better fit in the narrow corridors of space stations and starships, and thanks to their near-telepathic bond with their partners, no humanoid of the legion would dream of flying a starfighter without her dragonkin copilot.
Outside of the Allied Territories, a notable exception to prevailing Triaxian culture is the continent of Ning, long cut off from the other nations by the vast Sephorian Sea. Like backward-looking Aylok, Ning has refused to acknowledge the Pact’s authority, but it has embraced modernization, making it a haven for corporations, criminals, and all others that seek to avoid Pact control. Far from being a lawless society, however, Ning is obsessed with honor and status—traits that attract a fair number of Kasatha and Vesk immigrants—and its upper class, led by the Immortal Suzerain, keeps its citizens safe from dangers both domestic and foreign. Culturally, Ning is best known for the ukara, or “battleflowers”: lithe, genderless warriors—often solarians—who compete in broadcasted ritual combat in exchange for system-wide celebrity.

Geography

Triaxus’s two largest and most prominent landmasses still bear names tied to the planet’s ancient political divide between dragons and humanoids. The Drakelands, where dragon-run societies still burgeon and thrive, occupy the hemisphere opposite from the Allied Territories, where ryphorian-majority states squabble. Connecting these massive continents is a land bridge called the Skyfire Mandate, where a curious blend of dragons, humanoids, and dragonkin make their homes.
Beyond the lands of ryphorians and dragons, the next-largest landmass is the island-continent of Ning, situated south of the Drakelands across the Sephorian Sea. The twin plateau-isles of Meruchia and Nusova lie to its east, as does the sprawling Sephorian Archipelago. To the north, Grenloch and Tirosh lie off the eastern coast of the Allied Territories, outlining the Ryphara Ocean. The Winged Isles mark the geographical center point of the Greatwater, and the northern island-continent of Weldfall borders the shallow Channel of Spines.
Triaxus is a hub of volcanic activity and diverse biomes. The Deathinge Mountains line the southeastern coast of the Drakelands, while the Parapet Mountains cascade down to the Skyfire Mandate. The Hortyne Peaks of northern Ning are similarly rocky, showcasing a ring of tectonic activity that harks back to the planet’s myths of ancient underground dragon wars. The Allied Territories are less mountainous but far more ecologically diverse, with the mighty Uchorae Jungle sprawling across the westernmost subcontinent and the Doraeshi Rain Forest shrouding the subcontinent to the east. Colder forests, fertile river valleys, and massive lakes (such as Lake Delfic and Narnoess Lake) pepper the major continents. The most prominent of the latter is perhaps Dahak’s Claw, a freshwater expanse where, according to legend, wicked dragons once spontaneously arose to join the planet’s political fray.
Most dynamic, of course, are Triaxus’s glaciers, which are massive in the winter but recede significantly in the summer. As winter settles over the world, the southern glacier—dubbed the Encroach—creeps northward, abutting the southern coast of Ning and creating treacherous ice bridges between the islands in the Sephorian Archipelago. The long cold season also sees the Expanse, as the northern glacier is called, reach its fingers down into the Greatwater, over the northern stretch of Weldfall, and into the northern tundras of the Drakelands and the cold upper forests of the Allied Territories.

History

More than any other celestial body in The Pact Worlds, Triaxus is a place of extremes. Its plodding and eccentric path around the sun mires this world in centuries-long winters and summers that define existence for all life upon it. During the frozen decades, enormous glaciers creep a thousand miles or more from the poles, while rivers remain icy floes and snows howl practically without end. Summers are just as brutal; sweltering heat envelops the planet, jungles and forests bloom riotously, and fire and drought become deadly threats despite the most aggressive technological interventions. Strangely, the transitional seasons—spring and fall—last only as long as it takes for the summer vegetation to grow or fall dormant, respectively.
Life on this planet is hardy, however, and Triaxus’s organisms have long since adapted accordingly to the differing climates. Each main season’s flora and fauna enter a state of hibernation as their time draws to a close, only to awaken upon the harbinger equinox. In the winter, enormous furred insects roam the lands, as do gigantic snowbirds, predatory packs of tusked felines, and other arctic horrors. In the summer, an array of diverse and often brightly colored wildlife covers the planet.
Some of Triaxus’s humanoid inhabitants experience vast shifts in biology depending on the season during which they’re born. These include the dominant ryphorians, whose life cycle and adaptability resemble those of humans. Other species, including the planet’s dragonkin and dragons, simply weather the seasons by taking precautions and making lifestyle changes as necessary—an easy task for those who can afford it.
Long before the Gap, the conflict between Triaxus’s dragons and the ryphorians dominated nearly the entire planet, with dragonkin fighting on both sides. However, as Triaxus’s residents developed spaceflight and the territorial wars became moot—particularly after the Gap and upon the signing of the Pact—the planet’s active hostilities ceased. Though evil dragons still treat their humanoid vassals with disdain, they are less overt with their schemes and plans, preferring to meddle behind the scenes in interstellar politics and hoarding information as well as riches.
RESIDENTS Triaxus is currently deep in the clutches of its long winter, which shapes all of its inhabitants’ lives.
Although untold time has passed since the wicked dragons of the Drakelands warred with the ryphorians of the Allied Territories, true dragons are still the masters of their continent. These dragons plot against one another and nurse ancient grudges, often employing a complex array of allies to serve as proxies, saboteurs, and spies. However, instead of feudal states, the largest dragon-led realms function much like corporations, with the ruling dragons acting as the chief executives. These “dragoncorps,” as many call them, specialize in everything from mass-produced military armaments to the creation of elaborate holograms for large-scale entertainment to feats of nanotechnological engineering. Because they plot against the solar system’s other corporate leaders as much as against one another, the dragons of Triaxus engage offworld rivals as often as they find themselves embroiled in centuries-old conflicts.
Fusions of humanoids and dragons, dragonkin are most populous in the Skyfire Mandate and the Drakelands. Many maintain strong connections to the planet’s ryphorians; there are few dragonkin-only settlements on Triaxus, as the symbiosis between dragonkin and ryphorians is mutually cherished and appreciated. Dragonkin continue to work with their bonded ryphorians to further the interests of the many mercenary bands that now make up the Skyfire Legion, formerly known as the Dragon Legion. Perhaps most common is the pilot-copilot arrangement, which reflects the history of the humanoids riding the dragonkin into combat—though starships have replaced the dragonkin as mounts, and modern dragonkin almost never fly with riders on their backs. In addition to serving alongside ryphorian pilots or copilots, dragonkin with scales of all colors sometimes pursue farming, food processing, hacking ventures, technological manufacturing, and textile weaving. They are found working so closely and frequently with ryphorians that many non-Triaxians consider them two complementary halves of the same species.
Those with little to no knowledge of the planet’s societies sometimes conflate the terms “ryphorian” and the more general “Triaxian,” but the latter is the modern term for members of that race. Ryphorians born during winter are called winterborn, those born during summer are called summerborn, and those born in between those seasons are called transitional. Ryphorians are tall and lean, with ears that are notched and pointed. The planet’s current wintry season means that its resident ryphorians are winterborn, with fine white hair covering most of their skin and narrowed eyes that help ward off snow-blindness, though gene therapy and hormonal treatments allow summerborn and transitional ryphorians to exist anywhere, regardless of the season. Ryphorians’ culture and even many of their superficial physical characteristics vary according to the region in which they live, but all major population centers include individuals who have deep, established bonds with the less populous dragonkin, whether or not ryphorians actually fly alongside them in starships.
Sometime during The Gap, a contingent of Elves arrived on Triaxus. No one knows the exact reason for their emigration or where they had traveled from—some believe the elves were fleeing a massive threat, while others think they were following some ancient prophecy—but the elves established colonies of their own in the sparsely inhabited northern reaches of the Allied Territories. These elves receive the occasional visitor from Sovyrian on Castrovel, trading theories and knowledge about their species’ shared lost history. Some elves have also formed families with the native ryphorians, leading to a small population of half-elves on Triaxus who are curiously similar to half-elves of human and elven parentage.
Romanticized stories of Lost Golarion have recently prompted a wave of races native to the missing planet to move to Triaxus and make it their new home world, despite the harsh weather. Many of these settlers claim to be looking for a chance to escape the crowded corridors of Absalom Station or the dust-choked wastelands of Akiton and want to experience geography and an ecosystem similar to what they have heard about in tales. Gnome are the most populous of these immigrants, motivated by the hints found within pre-Gap accounts of ancient gnomes supposedly arriving on Golarion and Triaxus simultaneously from The First World. Whether such stories are true and what might have happened to the Triaxian gnomes in the intervening millennia are yet to be discovered.
SOCIETY Government is a nebulous thing on Triaxus. A closer look at the ruling structures of the Drakelands and the Allied Territories reveals not one system but many intertwined and often conflicting organizations.
The ryphorian-dominated Allied Territories present a weakly unified front to other areas of Triaxus and beyond. They present themselves as a conglomeration of independent forces that have agreed to ally whenever a threat presents itself. In truth, however, the territories are a motley mix of city-states, nations, and thinly populated unincorporated areas. Only the loosest official body actually unites the territories. The Allied Council, as it’s called, consists of a leader—a ryphorian, a dragonkin, or, rarely, a bonded pair—per member state, though what constitutes a member state is murky, at best. Currently, 28 representatives sit on the Allied Council, some of whom have served for decades simply because their homelands have never bothered finding replacements. Notable among the member states are Aylok, Preita, the Uchorae Jungle, and Zo; other member states’ influence waxes and wanes as their borders and wealth fluctuate. The Allied Council meets sporadically, but at least twice yearly, and handles matters of the territories’ safety, loosely coordinates mass preparations for the coming summer or winter, concerns itself with the territories’ economic well-being, and handles official diplomatic disputes between members. Beyond the Allied Council, the government of each city-state and nation on the continent is unique, with each fiercely independent realm devising exactly the system it sees fit. Communist enclaves, corporate-run states, feudal hegemonies, representative and true democracies, and socialist oligarchies all operate independently, making the customs and politics of each geographic area markedly different and practically impossible to predict.
Although nominally part of the Allied Territories now that the warring between the ryphorians and dragons has cooled, the residents of the Skyfire Mandate still see themselves as a people apart from their kin to the east. Thus, they’ve traditionally declined to send a representative to the Allied Council. Instead, the Mandate is home to several mercenary bands that, though technically under separate leadership, all cooperate as a surprisingly unified coalition known as the Skyfire Legion. This conglomerate boasts some of the most elite mercenaries from all manner of races in the solar system, and includes high-ranking pilots, soldiers, operatives, hackers, and tradespeople. As a whole, the Skyfire Legion handles territorial governance, keeps errant mercenary companies and rogue agents in line, and serves as a central hub for mercenary jobs. Since the discovery of Drift travel, the members of the Skyfire Legion have taken jobs that lead them all across the galaxy, cementing their functional independence from the Allied Territories and setting them apart from the squabbles of its member states.
Although their dragon rulers would hiss at the characterization, the governance of the Drakelands is not so different from that found in the Allied Territories. Dozens, if not hundreds, of dragons rule separate patchwork realms, with the size of each sovereignty ranging from single small factories to massive nations. Even the weakest true dragons often find a patch of dirt or a rusty warehouse to claim as their own, while the oldest and most powerful dragons rule sprawling nations such as Dretchnyl and Serozanyx. The dragons ruling these realms vary vastly in their methods, with the vilest chromatic dragons acting as terribly cruel despots and the kindest metallic dragons serving as philanthropic caretakers. However, all dragons are used to ruling with absolute authority in their homes, so there is nothing resembling the Allied Council in the Drakelands. Rather, diplomacy here takes the form of ancient customs, opaque decorum, informal treaties, and other measures that are endlessly frustrating to non-dragons who try to navigate the political landscape—especially offworlders trying to conduct business with major leaders, some of whom are the most successful executives in the solar system. As a result, most who tread in the Drakelands recruit a native guide to accompany them along on their interrealm trips.
The Immortal Suzerainty of Ning always existed apart from the dragon-ryphorian wars that rent the northern regions of Triaxus in antiquity; it still does, as one of the only major areas to eschew the Pact Worlds’ authority. The island-continent functions as one massive merchant republic with a leader, called the immortal suzerain, who the realm’s top-ranking executives choose. Ning’s current immortal suzerain is Jinethia Moonlake (LN female feychild gnome envoy/mystic), a woman who rose from absolute obscurity. The Immortal Suzerain’s life is lavish but difficult, as she works around the clock to make far-ranging business decisions, each of which affects life in the realm for generations. A five-member Circle of Wisdom aids the suzerain, and the council’s members are lifelong leaders of ancient and charitable nonprofits. Their interests are considered purer than those of other oligarchs, whose own business needs might supersede those of the suzerainty’s. Aside from the national government, the continent’s vast swaths are carved into 14 neat square-shaped areas known as mercantiles. By custom, local law in these regions is handled by the executives of the four largest noncompeting enterprises based there. It might seem messy, but this setup has worked well for Ning, likely because station, hierarchy, honor, and tradition form a strong backbone that supports the system.
CONFLICTS AND THREATS The strife between Triaxus’s humanoids and dragons might have cooled, but innumerable strands of conflict and intrigue are still woven throughout the planet’s societies.
Just because the dragons of the Drakelands have turned their interest more toward economic domination as opposed to territorial conquest doesn’t mean that the most powerful among them aren’t still interested in the latter, especially if it means expanding their influence or profits. For several decades now, the draconic leaders of Dretchnyl and Serozanyx have maintained a complex web of dragonkin spies that both realms have embedded into the Skyfire Mandate and Allied Territories. Early on, these spies were under strict orders to settle in specific settlements and only observe and report. They gathered data about their neighbors and wrote detailed dispatches about how the societies and governments around them functioned. More recently, though, as the dragonkin spies have had children and raised a new generation of agents, the realms of Dretchnyl and Serozanyx have started assigning their moles to more daring missions. The dragons’ end goal, of course, is to fold desirable parts of the Allied Territories into their own nations as colonies—cowed vassals, in the case of wicked Dretchnyl, but willing partners or emigrants in the case of virtuous Serozanyx. However, the dragons’ goals are far from assured, especially as the second-generation dragonkin spies begin to fully realize the extent of their traitorous legacies.
The Skyfire Legion is as massive and as well-oiled an operation as any on Triaxus, but all is not wholly peaceful within the mercenary group. Specifically, a few discharged and disgruntled members seek to sow enough discontent within the Skyfire Legion to stage a coup, shake up the organization’s leadership, and re-form it in a much crueler, much more authoritarian, and much more profitable image. Most in the Skyfire Mandate believe this conspiracy, colloquially dubbed the Rogue Legion, to be a rumor. However, two former members—Binata (CE female dragonkin soldier) and Flennish (NE male winterborn ryphorian envoy)—are truly plotting such a coup, though they masquerade as traveling gunsmiths wherever their plans take them. It’s not clear how much support Binata and Flennish truly have from the Skyfire Legion’s ranks or whether their grand scheme will ever come to fruition. However, if they manage to seize control of the Skyfire Legion, it would throw the mercenaries’ many ongoing jobs and future plans into chaos, and the deep-space mining and colonizing expeditions the legion protects would be in serious jeopardy.
In the centuries since spaceflight became commonplace on Triaxus, some of the planet’s dragonkin have delved into genetic tinkering to adapt their physiques to life on a starship. This has resulted in a number of their species with slightly narrower frames than their progenitors, who can therefore fit more easily inside narrow starships. Where progress is made, though, there is a price; rumors whisper that some genetically engineered dragonkin are born with animalistic instincts and ferocity in place of their species’ normal sensitivity and intelligence. Those who believe these rumors also speak of secret underground enclaves where engineered dragonkin are kept against their will. It’s said that some of the governments of the Allied Territories hide this secret from the rest of the solar system, and some speculate that thousands of creatures are being kept for experimentation and worse.

Tourism

Triaxus teems with kingdoms, nations, realms, settlements, and more places of interest. Below are examples of the myriad lives and plots that play out here.
Aylok An insular city-state with towering walls and terrifying defenses, Aylok is one of the outlying cities in the Allied Territories that has stubbornly eschewed modernization and refuses to accept the Pact Worlds’ authority. Aylok’s ruling imperators outright forbid all starship flight in the airspace above their city. Violators are mercilessly shot down, and captured pilots are given summary life prison sentences or worse. Still, despite the dangers, some visitors seek to trade for the city’s strange magical goods. By decree of Highest Imperator Brax (LE male winterborn ryphorian soldier), these delegations must approach Aylok by land, through trap-lined plains of jagged ice and hordes of furred insectile horrors. Some say that the authoritarian imperators regulate outside visitors so heavily because the city is involved in illegal humanoid-rights violations—perhaps even wicked experimentations on genetically altered dragonkin.
Bora Wood This coniferous forest stays green no matter the planet’s season, but lately, the trees’ needles have begun slowly turning brown. Botanists examining the woods claim that the trees are still healthy but are undergoing a subtle mutation, possibly from an unknown contaminant in the soil. More concerning is that in parallel with the change in coloration, a number of species of local fauna have begun to act more aggressively, leading some to worry that the entire forest might need to be razed and the animals relocated. News of Bora Wood has reached the Xenowardens, and they are in the process of launching their own investigations.
Caldera Basin This geological landmark consists of a deep, fiery pool ringed by the tallest, most active volcanoes on Triaxus. The basin holds a 30-foot-deep lake of sulfuric water that isn’t remotely potable. This pool stays scalding hot even in the depths of Triaxian winters—serving as a place where red dragons of all ages can find sanctuary. None of these is more powerful or feared than Uzilzylian (CN female wyrm red dragon). The undisputed empress of Caldera Basin, Uzilzylian claims to hail from the Elemental Plane of Fire, from which she fled hundreds of years ago to escape a horrific enemy. The dragons of the Drakelands largely ignore Uzilzylian and her realm, both because her strength is legendary and because none of them see any useful purpose to invading a land of volcanoes. However, spies from some of Uzilzylian’s wicked neighbors have discovered hints that a prize worthy of winning is indeed nestled within this fiery realm.
Cumo A bustling Skyfire Mandate trade port on a river delta on the north coast of the Sephorian Sea, Cumo is a well-known place where smugglers can offload just about anything. With just a few inquiries, one can find a buyer for any type of good, no matter how illegal or taboo. Many of these trades are conducted in heavily secured back rooms or across highly encrypted digital channels and often through several intermediaries to befuddle any interplanetary law-enforcement agencies (such as the Stewards). The only trade the black-market merchants of Cumo will not participate in is the trafficking of sentient creatures; as such, drow arms dealers have been told repeatedly to take their wares elsewhere. Many shops offer a discount to Skyfire Legionnaires to keep the mercenary group on good terms in case their services are ever required for protection.
Dahak’s Claw In antiquity, dragonkin and ryphorians told stories about the evil dragons who supposedly arose spontaneously from this freshwater lake, whose name is an homage to an evil draconic deity. Now, the landmark seems peaceful and pristine to those who pass it. However, beneath the frozen lake’s surface are dozens of massive ice caves that hold a terrifying secret. These are the lairs of evil dragons who have been turned into undead monsters by strange eldritch energies. The horrors work to mine deposits of precious conductive metals buried far underground, and they search for a way to fuse enormous firearms to their rotting flesh. Curiously, alongside the dragons dwell a number of undead ryphorians, some of whom consider their dragon overlords gods. The existence of this underground draconic city of the dead is unsuspected by all but the most observant lakeside hermits, who have recently noticed a strangely metallic, bony dragon taking wing into the night sky.
Doraeshi Rain Forest One of the solar system’s most biologically diverse natural havens in the summer, Triaxus’s largest rain forest transforms into a arctic land covered by rare mosses, lichens, and treelike megaflora that can sustain entire communities inside their trunks in the winter. The largest such settlement in the rain forest is Hinth, and its 300 or so inhabitants are ryphorians descended from some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet. Consequently, the walls of Hinth’s encompassing tree are covered in high-tech instruments that regulate the temperature, predict the weather, grow biologically enhanced food in designated areas, and otherwise ease existence in this harsh realm. In charge of Hinth is an advanced artificial intelligence system known only as Iota, which the residents’ ancestors built generations ago and which contains the collected consciousnesses of the settlement’s founders.
Dretchnyl Situated south of Caldera Basin across the Blacktooth River, Dretchnyl is the frozen draconic realm of Dretchnyliax (CE female cybernetic very old green dragon) and hundreds of her whelps. A few decades before the Gap, fearing the pace and cruelty of Dretchnyl’s expansion, a contingent of metallic dragons converged on the realm and weakened its mistress terribly. Dretchnyliax retreated, and for a century or more, she quietly built up a business selling dragon-flesh augmentations she created herself and threatened the other realms of the Drakelands no more. However, in recent decades, she has emerged as something seemingly far more terrible. Fully three times the size she once was, Dretchnyliax is now more machine than flesh-and-bone dragon. Gun-bearing prosthetics have replaced her hind legs, her wings are made of polycarbon plate, and both her eyes are heat- and magic-sensing targeting computers. So far, the green dragon has remained quiet in her frozen woodlands, but rumors of her renewed plans to expand her territory and enslave those who oppose her continue to increase in intensity.
The Duet This pair of linked lakes in the northern Allied Territories is collectively called the Duet. During the summer, the upper lake—the Verse—is fed by snowmelt from the Cloudhigh Mountains, while the lower lake—the Refrain—empties into the River Eax, and the two are connected by a short waterway known as the Bridge. When winter falls, the Duet completely freezes over, but local ice anglers occasionally claim to hear whispers emanating from the lake, sounds that don't occur during the planet's warmer years.
The Encroach Triaxus’s massive southern glacier is all but uninhabited. Its harsh locale, however, has less to do with this fact than the enormous ursikkas—white-furred, praying mantis–like creatures—that roam this region, devouring all sentient life they come across. Worse, these ursikkas have somehow managed to unearth a technological cache from a failed expedition that was filled with industrial-grade ice-melting cannons. Now, as the glacier creeps toward southern Ning and the Sephorian Archipelago, the ursikkas press northward, wearing the cannons on their backs and seemingly spurred by some unseen force with a mysterious purpose.
The Expanse The planet’s northernmost glacier is a desolate wasteland, but that doesn’t stop pockets of hardy humanoids from making their homes here. These small societies tend be egalitarian, as is common of settlements focused entirely on survival. The communities share hunting techniques and have established landing spots for starships and other atmospheric craft to help ferry supplies to each other. In recent years, however, the smallest such hamlets have begun falling off the grid, disappearing entirely from communication channels and seemingly vanishing into thin air. Some have blamed rare seasonal diseases, but those ailments would not explain why the settlements never tried to ask their neighbors for help creating a vaccine—or why all of the structures and data presences of the afflicted towns have simply disappeared from existence.
Grenloch To those who pay the right price, the island-nation of Grenloch is shockingly balmy and pleasant, offering exotic recreation, luxury dining, and fantastic entertainment facilities that present a sharp contrast to the rest of the wintry planet. However, this “beachfront” experience is all an elaborate alternate reality available only to the ultrawealthy, whose unconscious bodies are kept safe and sustained in massive high-tech underground bunkers while their minds experience virtual pleasures. The entire operation is the brainchild and creation of Andlara Rinelle (CN female elf technomancer), a brilliant computer programmer and virtual reality specialist. Some say that Andlara went into massive debt to several evil dragons to finance Grenloch Lacuna Beach, as she’s named the resort. Regardless, the place draws offworlders by the thousands every year, who seem either oblivious to or willfully ignorant of the true nature of their vacations.
Hoziah Forest Even though most of its flora and fauna are in deep slumber, the Hoziah Forest is still home to massive white-furred lemur-sloths, sentient ice caves, and even worse terrors that make settlements here scarce. Though they focus mainly on surviving, the pockets of loosely allied ryphorians and other humanoids living here still send a single representative to the Allied Council when it suits them. In recent years, that representative has been Calprena Goll (N female Half-Elf operative), a quiet, private woman of intense bravery and focus. The Hozians, as they call themselves, have a rough time in the more urbanized areas of the Allied Territories, and those who dare to visit the forest find that the tree-dwelling humanoids have their own unique dialect and customs that have evolved drastically even during the current season.
Ignomus Bay The fishing industry of Ignomus Bay provides most of the nonsynthetic, nonfarmed food consumed by the humanoids, dragonkin, and dragons of the Drakelands. Vessels of all shapes and sizes constantly ply the bay’s waters, and the area has seen little need for regulation through its history. Over the past few years, however, some of the smaller boats have gone missing, sparking myriad rumors throughout the nearby communities. The blame has been placed on a new species of underwater dragons, very localized storms, swarms of blue-skinned humanoids, and even more bizarre things. A sizable bounty has been offered for any information leading to this mystery’s solution.
Kamora More of a military state than a political nation, the citystate of Kamora has more guns than citizens and institutes compulsory army service for all but its least-suited adults. There’s a good reason for such militancy, however, as the territory is situated just north of the Uchorae Jungle. Lurking in this chilly wilderness are enormous, bearlike vampiric beasts called ranoneks, which often wander toward the civilization in search of blood and meat—and inflict massive casualties when they breach the city’s fortified walls. Each Kamoran is rigorously trained in group fighting techniques, which the army uses frequently to stave off ranonek attacks on the city’s outskirts and closer to home. Kamora’s current high commander, Echera (NG female winterborn ryphorian solarian/soldier), is considering sending units of elite fighters into the jungle to head off the increasingly violent threats before they reach the city, though the populace is skeptical of this plan.
Meruchia and Nusova These twin island-continents in the southern Sephorian Sea seem empty from the land’s surface, but a glance upward reveals the truth. Massive hovering citadels situated a half mile in the air—and secured there using a high-tech system of propulsion jets and magnets—take up the islands’ airspace. The citadels were originally engineered so the ryphorian and dragonkin population could avoid the devastating floods that occurred each spring when the Encroach melted. Now, though, the citadels have evolved citizen-governments that are among the most effective on the planet, and they’ve even engineered a way to create sustainable food out of water and gases pulled from the atmosphere. An elect contingent of reconnaissance troopers led by the white-scaled dragonkin Roslant (LN male dragonkin envoy) descends once every few months to ensure that no threats lurk on the island-continents below and to escort those who wish to join the citadels as citizens; such pledges, as these prospective citizens are called, go through a rigorous round of aptitude and loyalty testing, and those found worthy are permitted to live on the citadels for life.
Parapet Mountains Once the main physical barrier that kept the armies of the Drakelands from encroaching onto the Skyfire Mandate, this wide mountain range contains twisting passes and icy peaks. The strong winds that sweep around the summits turn flying into an ordeal; even atmospheric starships have trouble navigating these howling gales. A trio of dormant volcanoes known as the Three Sisters holds the ruins of strange, battered mechanisms thought to have aided the Dragon Legion during its heyday. The current Legion has yet to reclaim these relics, nor has it refurbished the handful of magically constructed bunkers within the mountainsides, as many believe they are haunted or cursed in some way. Members of exploratory groups who have returned speak of experiencing mysterious lights and bouts of nausea within the structures.
Preita This province in the Allied Territories contains an array of higher-education institutions, including the Preita Institute of Technology, known as the best technomancy academy on Triaxus and one of the top schools in the Pact Worlds system. Here, scholarly enlightenment is a form of religion, but so are the high-paying corporate contracts its students often receive upon graduation. To land the most lucrative and prestigious contracts, seniors compete annually in elaborate technomancy duels that involve technical know-how, technomagical aptitude, cunning, and subterfuge. Sponsoring employers often include Grenloch Lacuna Beach, the oligarchs of Ning, leaders of the Drakelands’ dragoncorps, and a wide array of offworld magnates and business leaders.
Sephorian Archipelago This motley collection of outposts, hamlets, and villages nominally accepts the Pact Worlds’ authority, but only because their leaders so rarely communicate with outsiders that they have not officially rejected the arrangement. In reality, the archipelago’s brusque culture is a cover for the secretive research labs hidden within each enclave. The scientists in each lab work on a small piece of a larger project of which they are kept ignorant. Once finished, a team is given a generous severance package in exchange for signing strict nondisclosure agreements that contain magically enforced clauses. Only a small, unknown board of directors is aware of the entire project’s larger goal, and their will is enforced by a scarred woman named Wenda (N female transitional ryphorian operative), who operates out of the city of Qua, but occasionally must leave the planet to exterminate former scientists who have spoken too much of their work.
Serozanyx The sprawling plains northeast of Clawfist Wood are the demesne of Serozanyxia (LG female very old gold dragon), one of the few powerful metallic dragons who have managed to secure a place in the Drakelands. Serozanyxia keeps up a mutually beneficial alliance with the dragonkin and ryphorians of the Skyfire Mandate; over the years, the dragon has sent considerable supplies to her allies when they’ve been in need, and vice versa. Should they need harbor, traveling or besieged honest folk are always welcome in the gold dragon’s realm, which is populated with a diverse array of humanoids and kindly sentient beings. Despite her many warm diplomatic relationships, however, no one has seen the gold dragon in decades. Some believe that her body is somehow maimed, though her consciousness continues send missives to her allies and subjects in the form of regular voice and hologram transmissions.
Uchorae Jungle A haven for all manner of vampiric predators in the summer, Triaxus’s largest jungle in the winter is home primarily to the hated bearlike vampiric beasts known as ranoneks. This season, ranonek attacks on settled areas—including Kamora, just to the north—have become more violent, and it’s no coincidence. The beasts’ simple minds are under the control of a ryphorian who fell to a necromantic disease the previous summer: Creeva (NE male ryphorian vampire mystic). An egomaniac, he has set his sights on overrunning Kamora, turnings its citizens into undead, and ruling over the new necropolis. So far, no one from the city-state knows of Creeva’s existence, though the vampire has already begun to set plans into motion.
Viletiʼs Sound Due to its proximity to Zo, this once-pristine body of water was polluted with starship fuel runoff and discarded hunks of plastic and metal sometime during the Gap. The rate of contamination has decreased since the widespread adoption of Drift technology, but the sound remains an ecological disaster. Xenowardens and local conservationists struggle to clean the waterways, but are hindered by attacks from the hideous monsters that have evolved within the disgusting depths over the centuries and that now swim among the artificial reefs formed from ancient, junked starships.
Weldfall This northern subcontinent hosts a handful of bucolic villages that have resisted adopting much of the technology of the modern age. These quiet people (mostly dragonkin and ryphorians) spend their time farming root-based plants, foraging for nuts and berries, and herding the shaggy, multilegged wollipeds. A major exception to this particular way of living is the banks of automated flamethrowers that melt the encroaching glaciers and fend off arctic monsters during winter; a devoted crew of Triaxians operating in yearlong shifts maintains these weapons.
Zo In stark contrast to the self-sequestered Aylok, this allied territory is a hub for spaceflight. The city-state is filled with starship pilots, mechanics, and engineers. Theorizing about the most efficient way to build Drift engines or how to get the deadliest spread of particle beams happens as often in Zo’s hangars as it does in its spaceflight academies. The city is known for its first-class ace pilots, who often take lucrative jobs as corporate fliers. This had led to some speculation that spying is one of Zo’s more clandestine exports. If that’s the case, Ace Mayor Sindeo (CG male winterborn ryphorian mechanic) has done a spectacular job hiding the evidence, as he gladly offers tours of the city’s top facilities to any outsider who asks properly.
ZO CG spaceport Population 18,400 (50% ryphorian, 32% dragonkin, 18% other) Government true democracy (Ace Mayor Sindeo) Qualities academic, technologically advanced Maximum Item Level 8th

Alternative Name(s)

The Wanderer

Type

Planet

Inhabiting Species

• Ursikka
• Wollipeds