Kanda
I Dreamed a Place as Cruel as the Sea
Development : Post Industrial Global Society (Hobgoblins, Humans, Ogres) ; stable Afterlife Transfer (Positive/Annihilation) Colonized Moon
Astral Travel Aware : Yes
Habitability : Garden - Self Sufficient
Feywild : Hostile (Shallow Ocean type)
Shadowfell : Partially Developed (Abyssal Ocean type)
Significant Features : Restrictive Theocratic World Government
A temperate world with a full spread of biomes and a self-sustaining biosphere. Kanda experienced significant Elan activity early into its history, leaving behind a number of Superstructures termed "Fairy Bridges" in its Feywild.
Kanda has a single world government (with a few rebel enclaves in less developed areas.) This society is stratified into castes by a metric of Goodness. All citizens are annually scanned using a device created by the Church. This census grades sentient creatures on two axies- Goodness, and Lawfulness. The Prime Minister is said to be the only living creature who is both perfectly good and perfectly lawful.
People which are both Lawful (and either good or neutral) are considered to be capable of self governing, and granted widely permissive rights to property, privacy, and self determination- recreational drugs, prostitution, and property ownership are permitted. People who are Chaotic are subject to invasive and paternalistic surveillance. They do not choose their own work or living arrangements, may not own property, and must petition a Higher Citizen before making a marriage proposal; while they may prostitute themselves and sell recreational drugs, they may not partake in them.
Lawful Evil people are drafted directly into military or hazardous labor programs. The Chaotic Evil are not considered to be "People" and are chattel. Their bodies are legally used for medical testing and organ harvesting.
The functionality of the Census device has never been authenticated by an outside party. Supposedly it was first developed as a countermeasure against infiltration by an aggressive Fey species called Changelings.
The Theocracy's relationship with Starfarers is unsteady. Starfarers are exempt from being subject to Census and seizure, so long as they remain on either the Lunar Colony, or the Feywild/Shadowfell.
Kanda's natural Fairy Rings manifest through a bioluminescent species of phytoplankton, whose patterns of propagation are a matter of scientific study across the planet's universities. Despite the ease of crossing, Kanda's Feywild is abnormally hostile. Though none of the original Elan remain, they left behind dangerous Bioconstructs across the Shallow Oceans of the Feywild. The density of these hostile Fey increases proportionally to proximity to the Fairy Bridges, compelling evidence that they were created as their guardians. A few such creatures are detailed below.
- Salmon Trolls - placid herbivorous bipeds which undergo a berserker metamorphosis when exposed to Fairy Ring phytoplankton.
- Reverrachnids - a kind of Ophiuroid which can ignore gravity. They live inside the Fairy Bridges and appear to be sentient. They cross into the Prime Material to steal the children of the sentient races and turn them into Changelings.
- Changelings - Surgically and alchemically altered Sentients. Incapable or uninterested in speaking to other members of their own race. Autopsy reveals them to be missing certain internal organs; most frequently their reproductive systems, gallbladders, and portions of the brain with the highest density of mirror neurons. Naked, sexless, and unashamed. They have been taught to kill other Sentients with their bare hands and teeth- but are equipped with Fey technology and augmentation that grants them an edge against better equipped foes.
- Butcherbirds - a kind of finned pelagic slug that can fire jets of water and gas out of a siphon on its belly- generating enough lift to fly short distances through the air. Their skin is covered in microscopic spurs which inject paralytic venom. They eat their prey slowly over the course of several days, keeping them alive to preserve the flesh. 48% of survivors develop synesthesia after recovering from paralysis.
Due to the feywild's Hostility, Kandan Astral Traffic routes through the Shadowfell, which is comparatively empty. There are seven stable Shadowgates of black fulgurite found at tectonic intersections below Kanda's sea level. Their origin is unknown, but geologically predates the Divinity which seeded the planet with life. Kanda's Shadowfell is an expanse of black water whose surface touches the Astral Sea directly, which makes entering and leaving Astral Orbit extremely efficient, requiring only a functional diving bell or bathysphere. The upper fathoms of the Shadowfell are vacant and lifeless; thoroughly patrolled by the Church's military submarines, which prowl for smugglers and the rare incursion of something from below. Expeditions have been funded, in search of a Shadowfell counterpart to the Fairy Bridges or for a hidden rebel stronghold, but none have returned. Data on potential Shadow-fauna is distorted by superstition and hearsay.
Reasons to visit;
- Chasing the secrets of the Fairy Bridges
- Assassinating a Priest
- Smuggling Materials into or out of the Church's cordon
- Stealing a Census device
- Exploring the Shadowfell's Eutrophic Depths
Kandan Items;
Fair- Fairy Sword : Blue Metal razor-disc held under the tongue. Can be fired by whistling. 1d8 damage- Vorpal. (If a damage dice explodes, the target of the attack cannot soak the resulting damage with Toughness.)
- Echo Minnow : A two inch long glowing fish that can swim inside reflective surfaces like glass and metal. As intelligent as a Dog, and as willing to take orders from someone with treats.
- Scapegoat : Circlet of Black Fulgurite. Two spikes mimic horns. Allows a willing wearer to take on the injuries, curses, or diseases of anyone they are touching.
- Ancient Fossil : Like nothing you've ever seen. Grants permanent waterbreathing and cold immunity to the creature that swallows it.
- Pistol Shrimp Claw : A living weapon hibernating until picked up by a warrior's hand. Functions as a crushing gauntlet/claw- and when submerged, a cannon. (Declared action/Breath weapon; fires a bubble of plasma within 60 feet that deals 3d6 fire damage, Dexterity save for half.)
- Census Device : A Brass/Silver/Golden sphere with a lens and a handle. Attunes to the soul of a single user, must be released before attuning another, and will not attune to anyone present at the moment of the previous user's death. At will a user may either designate or detect another living thing's "Alignment." After designation, all future attempts to detect that creature's alignment will return the same value. A value can only be overridden by a higher tier of Census device; and only Golden devices can designate Lawful Good.
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