azurebolt-fr

[azurebolt-fr]

The Geography of The Tangled Wood

This is the first post in a series going over the geography of each flight's territory in unnecessary detail. Since the original request came from a shadeling, I thought I'd start with their home flight!

Important Notes

Sorneith's polar gradient runs south-to-north: that is, the south is cold, the north is warm.

It's possible that Sorneith is tidally locked. I won't be ascribing this as 100% true, but it might inform some opinions here and there.

Geography

The Tangled Woods is described as a sunken forest perpetually enshrouded in mist. This region is eternally dark through the Shadowbinder's influence, with regions composing of silty river deltas, forest groves, brambles, lowland valleys, and hollowed-out trees.

The vast majority of the Tangled Wood is comprised of low-lying plains and valleys. It is very close to sea-level, with the southern coast feeding into a river delta sourced from the Sea of a Thousand Currents. Like many locations with similar climates, the Tangled Wood likely relies on the groves and forests that surround its borders and dot the landscape to maintain soil stability.

Climate

Being a low-lying region with frequent fog, high ambient water levels, and close proximity to the Viridian Labyrinth suggests that the Tangled Wood is a warm, humid climate kept cooler than usual due to perpetual darkness.

Temperatures likely stay temperate year-round: summers are cool and muggy, and winters are chilly and wet. Rain is frequent and heavy but may not fall consistently, instead following wet and dry seasons. Snow would be rare.

Flooding would likely be a common concern, especially near the southern border with Water, but also in the valleys and plains during heavy rainfall. Expect everything from the soil to the trees to be muddy and soggy due to a lack of evaporation.

Border Biomes

The western border shared with Plague is covered in a massive bramble. While still maintaining a higher humidity, the area slowly grows more arid the further out you go.

The southern border with Water is a low-lying bog that eventually gives way to the ocean. It is a coastal swamp filled with mangrove-type trees and is very, very wet.

Similar to the west, the eastern border slowly becomes more arid the further you travel. The easternmost territory of Shadow is more like a slightly damp coniferous forest or prairie.

To the north are sharp coastal cliffs broken up by the head of region's largest river. Expect large sandbars, higher temperatures, and tropical to sub-tropical climates.

What is it like to actually live there?

The air is damp and heavy. Everything feels perpetually muggy and soggy and muddy.

Summers feel like pleasant autumn nights, and winters feel like the worst days in the UK. The bogs may freeze overnight, but it's only a surface freeze, and trying to walk on it will just get you covered in mud and very, very cold.

Infrastructure is difficult to build in the open plains and deltas due to poor soil stability.

Because flooding is so common, entire swaths of the region can be swallowed by overflowing waterways when it rains. This can make entire regions dangerous to habitate.

IRL Examples

The closest examples I could find IRL are the central pacific coastal forests. In particular, the coastal lowlands and Hoh Rainforest stand out to me, but many of the other areas also seem pretty similar. I'd expect everything to be slightly cooler than IRL, though.

You could also look to the southern river valleys of China, the coasts along the Black Sea, and mississippi river delta for more geographical examples.

[azurebolt-fr]

okay so..... i am a big dumby and completely missed out on buying my own girin. i know the prices are rising now, but also that there were many people saying theyd sell them to people for the 250g value if they couldnt get one

i also dont quite have 250g atm though (i have 205). would anyone be willing to sell me one for gems+the treasure equivalent of the missing gems? my acc is girls #684170 if you wanna double check and make sure i dont have one yet x)

[azurebolt-fr]

Final Girin Fundraiser Totals*

Total girin familiars sold: 27,618

Total profit for donation: $62,936.63

We're speechless. You went above and beyond, beyond any expectation, and we wanted to get this update out to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

We are finalizing the funds and donation process. Once we've made our donation to AAJC, we'll update you with the receipt on our website.

(*) These are the totals via the Purchase Girin Familiar options on our Gem page, made by players starting on May 21st through August 31st. They do not include the company's $500 donation or any individual contributions made by our employees.

[azurebolt-fr]

i dont think that's right.

[azurebolt-fr]

she needs this. She NEEEEEEDS THIS

[azurebolt-fr]

if you're scared about your lore running into issues ask yourself this?:

Is this plot plausible in a movie/game with the same rating as FR?

If it's heavy on deeper topics is it possible to "soften" the words used?

If the lore has darker topics, am I using other people's suffering as a plot point [racism,slavery..etc..] if so, maybe rethink that

Do you know how to indirectly write things? If not, then softer wording might not work for you.

If you cannot turn your lore into something that fits FR's rules, then you should practice until you can or scrap it

Remember that death is ok, just don't go into heavy detail. I would avoid using reasons such as real world human diseases/sicknesses without heavy research, instead create your own fictional disease unrelated to any real world ones. that way you don't run the risk of using someone's suffering for a plot device especially if you don't have personal experience with it.

DO YOUR RESEARCH, make sure you know your shit. Why is dragon #3 a witch doctor and not a white mage, or a druid. Do you really need something culturally important to other people in your lore?

.

[azurebolt-fr]

(gripping my fists) basic is valid even on fandragons basic is valid even on fandragons basic is valid ev

give him a kiss please he's given me so much trouble

[azurebolt-fr]

The Crystafam Gem & Gold rundown!!

First: Why? Well, I thought it would be funny to try and design pokemon that the FR dragons would design, based on creatures that live in their world, and then all the rest happened! My partner in crime @deer-rising contributed so much to this ridiculous project, creating the in-game pixel screenshots as well as the logos, which we'll get into later. Special thanks also to Arkeyr79 on Flight Rising, who created the Flight Rising Runes font that I used extensively in the magazine spread and on which Sourdeer based the logos and custom textwork. Doing all the layout and beating up the quality a bit to make it look like a magazine scan was a lot of fun. We were going for an overall Gen IV vibe because imo Gen IV and V were the golden era of fake pokemon leaks.

Crystafam Gem & Crystafam Gold

The game logos, designed and flawlessly rendered by @deer-rising. We went with "Crystafam" as the name of the game because this is a game made by Arcane flight featuring Arcane crystal capturing technology. The text in the first box of the magazine spread says... well the first line is just nonsense letters that look like they say "bitch cheddar". Um, because that's traditional. But then it says, "Welcome to the Umbra Region! Set out on your new Crystafam journey! Exclusively on the Stormlight Spark." (The Stormlight Spark is the name of the console it's on, which is Lightning tech, and a shoutout to the FR studio.)

Gem and Gold Protagonists: Fae and Mirror

Whereas Pokemon uses a lot of red, Crystafam skews more pink and magenta. Because Arcane! It also uses capture crystals instead of pokeballs. My choice to make the protagonists a Fae and a Mirror was pretty arbitrary, but Sourdeer's idea to base their colors off the dragons in the FR header banner was inspired lol. It immediately makes them recognizable, I think.

Moofio, Dilloom, and Mamertyke

The starters! Based on these guys:

They are Fire type, Nature/Plague type, and Water type (of course the types are the flight elements, not normal Pokemon types.) Mamertyke's name was originally Mammerteeny but we wanted it to be 9 characters so it got the Feraligatr treatment and got cut down to fit. I think that Moofio would evolve into a Fire/Earth type, and Mamertyke would probably be Water/Ice. If they didn't just stay pure Fire and Water.

In-Game Battle Screenshots and Vampuff

These are so incredible and they are made by Sourdeer. Look at the special crystal UI! She made a bespoke pixel version of the runes font! Custom type symbols. The sprites!!! Just outstanding work.

This bird is Vampuff, based on the Ragepuff familiars, and it is the regional bird (Shadow/Wind type). Unfortunately it was left on the cutting room floor because we wanted the screenshots to feature the starters. But it even has an animation!!!! Sourdeer is the best.

Professor Wispwillow and Rosmack

This is Professor Wispwillow, the professor who gives you your first Crystafam! Her partner is a Rosmack, the regional rodent Crystafam based on a Rodaque. I think it is Shadow/Water type and when it evolves it would dual wield bones to do the full jolly roger.

Nogdon and the Shade

Finally we have a couple hints at the plot of Gem and Gold. The Crystafam are being infected by a dangerous Shade incursion! This is Nogdon, a pseudolegendary Crystafam, and it has been completely Shadebound!! You have to catch it or KO it to save it! The Shade also seems to be able to infect capture crystals, uh oh... Nogdon is of course based on Xhaztol a Noggle:

That's pretty much it I think! Oh, also the vertical text on the left says "You have to get them." The slogan of the series. Get them. You have to.

[azurebolt-fr]

I love this new genre of warrior's way familiars that's just an old fam but facing the other way with armor

[azurebolt-fr]

my nocturne looks kind of weird..?

[azurebolt-fr]

"A halberd, at long last... oh, I could just burst into tears! This really is the best event!~"

simply put: Noell Finally Wins (Again)

[azurebolt-fr]

needed a pfp update badly. it has been 4 years

[azurebolt-fr]

compared to cerasus by the way (he's 8m long but i think sitting like this he's about. 4m. maybe.)

mark ii

[azurebolt-fr]

a cache refresh may be needed in order to see these changes

people have been asking for this change for a while iirc, glad it's finally happened!

[azurebolt-fr]

mark ii

[azurebolt-fr]

mark ii

[azurebolt-fr]

_Basalt Bloodstone

A soon to be available pair in my hatchery Aberrant Corporation.