Urndel Silkglades

Place

Place Name:

Urndel Silkglades

Biome:

Silkglades

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

The Urndel Silkglades border a desert, and are often regarded as a major oasis of the desert. The desert is dry and barren, as is expected, and have a range of mountains at their centre, which are just visible on the horizon when one is standing in the silkglades. The rest of the area surrounding the silkglades consist of long, rolling plains, stretching off into the distance as far as the eye can see. The area of the glades themselves is flat, with deep soil. Though it borders the desert, there are no traces of sand anywhere, and it is very lush and overgrown.

The area only begins to slope and form hills beyond the glades, in the plain bordering it. The desert on the other side is sandy and rocky, and supremely difficult to navigate. But the glades themselves are in complete contrast to their surroundings. The zu’aan marvelled at the complete and total flatness of the glades, which lacked even a trace of slope. Every area of the glades that they studied was found to be the same: completely and totally flat. There is also no trace of rocks or stones of any kind in the area. The whole glade is carpeted in lush green grass with no disturbances of any kind.

Whether it be stones, thorns and pebbles. This completely baffled the scientists of the zu’aan, who had no explanation for how the glade remained perfectly flat and devoid of any obstacles. The area under the glade was also found to be strangely lacking in minerals or ores. When the zu’aan probed the ground underneath the area surrounding the glades, they found it consisted entirely of earth and rock all the way down, with absolutely no trace of any kind of metals, gems, or ores, a very strange discovery. In the exact centre of the Urndel glades lies a large lake.

The zu’aan discovered that this massive body of water ran deep, and fed multiple underground rivers, providing water to the entire surrounding area, though these rivers never breached the surface anywhere in the glade itself. The lake was fed by a far deeper underground aquifer, which gathered all the water from rain or snow, or any other source, from the entire surrounding area, including the distant desert mountains, the desert itself, and much of the surrounding plains. It is believed that this may be part of the reason why the desert lost so much water and became so dry and barren.

In certain regions of the glades, traces of the zu’aan buildings are still evident. The trees grow around and over all the zu’aan equipment and buildings, but leave visible traces of the ruins and tools that the zu’aan left behind. Slowly over time these ruins continue to crumble and breakdown, and someday the entire glade will once more be immaculate, completely devoid of any trace of zu’aan interference.

Plants

The predominant plant life of the Urndel Silkglade is, of course, the teaethri. The trees are completely unique, and have never been found or successfully grown anywhere outside of their home glade in Urndel. In structure, these trees are very similar to the common trees found everywhere else. They are tall, with separated branches, and are firmly rooted in the soil. Their bark is a grey/white colour, which gets lighter with age. The oldest trees in the glade have bark so light and clean it appears to almost glow silver.

Although closer inspection reveals it to still be normal wood, just changed in colour.Though the silk trees are structured similarly to other trees, the major differences come in when the branches are inspected. Rather than growing twigs with leaves, these trees grow long, silky strands of fibre. These strands emit straight from the branch of the tree and hang down. Each branch can sprout many, many strands, and from a distance the tree as a whole appears to be covered in a shimmering white curtain. The strands can vary greatly in length.

Some are long enough that they touch the ground, and in some cases, when in contact with the ground for long enough, may plant themselves in the soil and remain there as an anchor for the tree. Each tree usually has a few of these anchoring strands, and they serve to keep the branches steady and prevent movement. The silk trees can reproduce through multiple methods. If a strand of silk or a piece of bark from the tree is planted in a viable area, which can be enough for a new tree to grow. But sometimes an entire branch with multiple strands must be planted in order to properly grow anew.

It is not clear what defines how much needs to be planted for successful growth. The bark of the silk tree is delicate and soft. The bark may flake and fall off at the slightest brush of contact, and drift easily on the wind. Under the outer layer of white bark, there is tough, thick wood. The wood of the silk tree is strong and tough, and has been found to be exceptionally hard to harm or cut through with conventional tools. The other common form of plant life is the grass carpeting every inch of the glade floor. The grass looks very similar in appearance to the manicured, carefully maintained green grass of zu’aan gardens.

But growing naturally. Unbeknownst to the zu’aan, this green grass can emit a chemical designed to break down dead matter and stone. Whenever an animal happens to die, the chemicals of the grass it is lying on break it down and convert it into nutrients, fuelling the further growth of the grass. The grass grows almost as a network, with grass far away reacting to nutrient intake from an alternate location. It is unknown whether this is due to a shared, basic neural system, or some form of chemical communication between the various stalks of grass.

Animals

The animal life of the silkglades is scarcer than the plant life that made the Urndel glade so famous. Due to there only being a single large, constant source of water in the Silkglade, most of the animal life of the area can be found near the lake at the centre of the glade. Within the waters of the lake itself there are various species of fish. These species range from those adapted to life deep underground, with pale skin and large eyes, to the common species found in lakes and streams across the whole continent. There is one species in particular which is unique.

These fishes are named the Urndel fish, after their location, and their scales appear to be formed of shimmering silk. These fish learnt to eat and process fallen silk from the trees, layering it over their outer scales in a strange, shimmering suit of armor. This layer of silk protects them from damage or injury, and streamlines them to assist in swimming. There are not many large creatures of the glade. There is only one species of deer to be found, and they do not live in large herds, and keep their population small. They have large, branching horns, grey in colour.

The grey colour of their horns is due to the bark of the silk tree. These deer have gotten into the habit of rubbing their horns against the trees each day, and pick up a thin, finely ground layer of the greyish bark on their horns. Their pelt is a light grey in colour, helping them to blend in to the hanging curtains of silk throughout the forest. There are no large predators of the Urndel silkglades. There is simply not a large enough population of prey for a predatory species to feed on. There are many omnivorous creatures. Most prominently are rat-like rodents that eat both the grass of their environment and various insects.

These rodents burrow into the ground, creating small, warm homes where they sleep and raise the young. There is a large bird population in the Urndel silkglades. Most species build nests of fallen silk strands in the branches of trees. They vary in size and colouration, with some species being the size of a hummingbird, and others being as large as chickens or ducks. The larger birds tend to eat the fish of the lake and build their homes nearby the waters, whereas many of the smaller species consume insects and worms. These smaller species of birds can be found all across the glades.

And tend to live rather solitary lives, only living as mating pairs, and only raising their young till it they are old enough to fly.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Lydac Kin'toni Clan

Place

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Urndel Silkglades

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