World-building: Leprecon 27

The culmination of scientists, artists and other imaginative attendees used their intellect and creativity to build an unknown world. This is the result of their hard work at Leprecon 27.

Life Found on Distant Moon
 

Circling the planet Pandox are two moons. The slightly smaller of the two is called Littlun. It has a lower orbit than the other and no organisms reside on it. The larger moon, Pangea, is roughly the size of the planet Mars but appears to be denser. Pangea's orbital day is equivalent to a week on earth due to Pandox being four times the size of Jupiter.

 At first glance, there appeared to be no form of life. The atmosphere is rich with nitrogen that occasionally has an influx of ammonia due to its orbit around Pandox. The moon is divided into two very different hemispheres. The side closest to the planet is live with volcanic activity. It is lighted all of the time due to its irregular orbit. Lakes and rivers are heavily salted and the land is rich with minerals. The other side of the moon has an enormous crater, due to meteor impact. The largest volcano chains reside directly opposite of this impact. The dark side also contains a large frozen ocean. Between the two sides, the terminator is attacked lightening and tornado storms due to the difference of temperature of either side.
 

When studying the storm areas, early stages of life were found. Clouds of bacteria were found clustered together. These evolved into floating bags of hydrogen. The earlier form of development led to creatures called Protobags. They are not unlike simple jellyfish. The more evolved creature is a Neobag. It developed tentacles for grabbing food and hard sail-like fins on its dorsal and ventral sides. The area is high in nutrients because the storms that destroy them to fertilize the land.
 

The plant life in this region is also highly evolved. Whip grass rampant due to strong and flexible stalk. It contains a gathering of seedpods at the top of its slender body. When the storms rage, the wind slaps the grass hard on the ground making a whipping sound and the seeds spread. During tamer seasons of weather, Whip-grass grows in large masses. This plant later evolved into the tangled forest of trees that reside in the storm belt. The chain of trees is actually one tree that burrows in and out of the ground. This enables them to survive the harsh storms and not be uprooted.

More evolved creatures on the moon all have six appendages. One frequent creature you find is a scavenger on the forest floor. Like cattle, it has very thick skin and grazes on patches of whip grass. Living in the tangled forest is a sloth/anteater creature. It has only two toes on each appendage and remains solely on the trees, never touching the ground. Evolved from this sloth-like creature are several carnivores that feed on the scavengers. Avian in this area avoid most problems do to there speed and flight advantage. Instead of feathers, they have long, thin scales to help fight against harsh winds. Their last two appendages have become a two-part tail, which aids them in agility.
 

Among the avian, there is a sentient group. They live near the volcanic center of the bright side of the moon. They live in mobile cities that allow them to easily escape harms-way at a moments notice. The have developed “transfer barges” by using the air bags. Their value system is based on information. Honesty is the highest virtue although asking the right question becomes tricky. Living permanently on the ground is their “damnation”. All criminals are banished from the shy and their wings are clipped. This avian class mates for life. The female lays egg but then the male carries the baby in a pouch on his back until it is able to fend for itself. The last stage of pregnancy is extremely difficult for her because she cannot fly. Every baby is precious because mating season comes only once a year. Males tend to worry about protection of the family and home. The female is more inclined to warfare and genocide. As formidable messengers, they created a very accurate calendar to warn against the harsh ammonia influxes that occur semi-annually. The messenger service is the trade that directly links the avian to the other sentient beings on this moon, the spider wolves.
 

The Spider wolf is a tribal creature that began as a herding culture. They live in deep safe burrows the fight against intruding avian and the environments. Later, they built small farming communities in the plain and some cities. Within the family unit honesty is required, but for trading with the avian, no rules apply. Their commerce is based upon the minerals in the land. The spider wolves remained a barter society much longer than the Avian. They developed a light alloy that is kept secret. Anyone caught trading light metals to the Avian is punished. Because of the harsh climate and dangers of the moon, the elders of the tribe couples mates. Due to the arranged mating, sexuality and procreation is separated. Unapproved mating is considered illegal unless the one of the couple is from another tribe. Breeding contracts are essential because a spider wolve's lineage is very important to him. The gain prestige by how far they can trace their family line. Females only ovulate when there is enough water. Females give off some type of signal that they are in heat. There are plants that can change the number of times a female goes into heat, but they grow in Avian territory or the other side of the moon. Reproduction can occur up to four times a year as long as there are no draughts. The motor skills of a baby Spider wolf are almost fully developed at birth and are able to all but run. The community rears the young. The elders take care of them while the rest of the clan is hunting. It is common to have two bonds for life but have several different mating partners for just a season. The elders see this as “ making the tribe stronger.” All crippled or unintelligent spider wolves are used as labor workers.

Both societies live in relative tranquility as long as there is no interference from either side. Their trading agreements have been successful with a few exceptions. There is the atmosphere that each group is eventually trying to get the upper hand on the other.

Credits

Kathleen McDonald Neal

Janeen S DeBoard

Erik Wennstrom

Edward Sulfano

Randall Whitlock

Mark E. Horning

S. Ross Martindale

David J.Untied

Linda-Ann Stewart

Tasha Cady

Kevin King

J.M. Sieber

David M. Nelson

David A. Williams

Kit Townsend

Russell Neal

Chris D'Arcy

Robin Wright

Russ Sutton

Melissa Trible

Marina Lambert

Paul Tanton

Marguerite T. Murray

Maryeileen Flannigan

John Mina

Adam Niswander

Mark Siegel

Scott Glener

Brian Esterson

And many, many others.