Axuu Silk Wetland

Place

Place Name:

Axuu Silk Wetland

Biome:

Silk Wetland

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

History

Historical Overview

Axuu is an extensive, lush, water-clogged array of soil set north of the equatorial line. It is known for being a marshland devoid of any tree life, and home to a species of giant water arthropod that produces enormous quantities of silk year-round, the xuxu. Prior to the Awakening Age, Axuu was home to a semi-rural zu'aan settlement that made their living harvesting the local silk and producing various items. The inhospitable environment made the presence of machines and factories highly undesirable, and so the community here remained largely artisanal and dependent on other cities for important supplies.

After the Awakening Age transpired and Axuu was forced to face kin'toni invasions, the remaining survivors built an aggressive stronghold dependent on the harsh environmental conditions that surrounded them, using their terrain advantage along with their specialized silk industry to fight against their invaders. Axuu was largely involved in wars and ongoing scuffles against the surrounding nations all throughout the Awakening Age. As of the Twilight Age, the inhabitants have come to enjoy a more amiable situation, as the encroaching cold has staved off some of their attackers. The future, however, remains uncertain. Perhaps due to its position at the middle road between many nations, Axuu has served as a refugee point by other zu'aan tribes, and little of the original population remains.

The nearby kin'toni clans have been particularly aggressive in their invasions and attacks, likely due to this favored position.

Geography

Axuu has a unique ecosystem. Located above a large natural underground water reserve, populated by a rich and rare geological and biological makeup, Axuu has been a point of interest for as long as its been populated. Classified as a marsh wetland, the soil of Axuu is perpetually immersed in water, and lakes and ponds are often found throughout the land. Furthermore, rainy weather occurs at any time of the year in Axuu. The water itself is murky and dense, having a heavy composition of minerals and dirt. The climate is temperate, leaning on cold during the cold seasons and hot during the hot seasons, but staying roughly around the middle and rarely approaching any extremes. The vast majority of Axuu is wild, uncultivated marshland. This land is ripe with reeds and other types of water grass and algae, not supporting bushes or trees.

Excluding underground reserves, lakes and ponds are not very deep or large in diameter, and the water level throughout Axuu is, on average, only a few inches. The water is not potable and is filled with poisonous and deadly microorganisms, requiring thorough filtration in order to be consumed. Any type of natural disaster except for flooding is uncommon within Axuu. Storms of any kind, as well as low-level cyclones and other moderate climate phenomena are except for rain and occasional hail are also rare. Flooding can occur at any time during the year and can sometimes lead to high rises in the water levels. The local zu'aan settlements are, of course, ready for this and have built their buildings high.bThere are only four types of sub-biomes within Axuu Marshland, land perpetually flooded a few inches above the ground level and typically spread over a large array of soil.

These are: Plains, semi-dry land that retains water well enough to not flood the surface and is able to form land, typically a little above the average surface line and small in area; Ponds and lakes, small to medium fully aquatic regions spread through Axuu; and the silk-tents, an over-ground expanse belonging to the xuxu. Generally found in isolation from each other across great lengths of land, the silk-tents are medium-large settlements built entirely of silk, usually above marshland, similar to a nest or web in large proportions. Silk-tents are built above the land's surface, starting at up to 5-10 meters. Due to its location as a central hub on the way to other nations, Axuu has many artificial paths and roads built across its surface. Some of these have been damaged and destroyed during the conflicts that transpired during the Awakening Age.

Axuu is very, very large, making it incredibly easy to get lost in. It's been theorized that there are a number of ruins and old buildings among the land, leftover by travelers and pilgrims of other times. It's not uncommon to find some of these ruins dotted around Axuu. While somewhat uncommon, it is possible to find caves in Axuu's larger plains, especially near the edge of the biome. Due to the lack of stability in the wet soil, these openings are impossible to form elsewhere. They are, however, the only reliable method by which the underground water reserves may be reach without penetrating the soil artificially. During the Awakening Age conflicts, kin'toni were known to use a method of attack in which they would enter these openings and reach the water mantle underneath the earth.

Those who could breathe underwater would dive and dig until they were underneath the zu'aan colonies, and then would surface through the nearest lake or low marsh, causing an ambush. Because of this, most of these caves have been sealed.

Plants

Axuu has a number of unique flora. In the marshlands it is common to find water grass and reed-like plant life, as well as types of water grains and some forms of algae. Some of these include:

-> hulilacke, a violet grain shaped like a cube. It grows during winter and drops its grains on the water, which are then fished by zu'aan and processed in windmills. It has a mild spicy flavor, and its white leaves are used in salads.

-> karaç, a pillow-shaped lilypad with no roots, that uses lung-like cavities to suck in water and make itself sink, absorbing then the nutrients in the soil. Due to the difficulty of this, they are only found in marshes and never in lakes. They are edible, but have a sour flavor and no nutritional value.

Plain plants are similar to marsh plants, since they thrive on the same wet soil, only with a slight variance in humidity. There are a number of fungi that can only be found in this semi-dry soil, however:

-> Ouours, a black mold that spreads just underneath the surface of the dirt, making it appear black on the inside. It avoids other plants and fungi and is not edible, neither is it deadly. Stepping on one will often cause a cloud of black spores to emerge, though these are not harmful.

-> Auaurs, a white mold that spread vertically among the earth, until it reaches the surface and sprouts in an hexagonal manner. It avoids other plants and fungi, and usually grows very close to ourours, but never touching it. It is capable of funneling all its spores to the 'root' under the earth, which reaches the water reserve and spreads to the lakes and marshes. It is not edible, but often collected and used to make perfume, as it's considered to have a very pleasant scent.

Lakes are populated by algae and seaweed. Many of them can be found across Tarael, except for some:

-> Nenun, a kelp-like orange seaweed that likes spreading across the surface of ponds and lakes, making them almost seem walk-able. Zu'aans seem to despise this plant due to the number of times they have fallen in it, and efforts have been made to eradicate it. They have largely failed. It is not edible, but makes a great fish bait when cooked.

-> Quetas-me, a bioluminescent algae-like plant that grows at the bottom of water bodies. It glows a different color depending on its stage of development, in order to inform the surrounding wildlife. It produces a fruit, and before this fruit is ripe and ready to be eaten (therefore spreading its seeds) the plant is poisonous to the touch, and thus warns predators not to touch it by glowing a certain light. This particular fruit is considered a delight by the zu'aans in Axuu, and a tragic number of inexperienced divers has perished trying to obtain it before its ready. The toxins present in the plant prior to ripening are used in rudimentary chemicals and bioweapons by the zu'aan.

Silk-tents possess no plant life whatsoever.

Animals

The most prominent animal in Axuu is the megafauna known as the xuxu. Xuxu are 6-8 meter tall eight-legged arthropods, similar to spiders. They are a deeply intelligent species of giant invertebrate that live exclusively in their own biome, the silk-tents. Silk-tents are large arrays of xuxu silk, built in a fashion similar to that of a nest. They are built a varying distance off the ground, but always vertically, so that their spike-shaped structures reach up to the sky. The reason they do this has been theorized, but stands undecided. Xuxu are passive predators. Despite their large size which would no doubt give them an easy time hunting for any animal they wished to eat, they prefer to remain idly in the silk-tents and await birds and mammals to get entrapped in the webs.

They then sedate the victim, killing them instantly and peacefully, and consume them after they have died. They reproduce sexually, and present a small degree of sexual dimorphism (the males are slightly smaller than the females, and their abdomen is more round, while the female tends to be more pointed). The females will lay egg sacks, which hatch thousands of newborn, onto the marshes, specifically where there is shallow water, and they will leave the eggs behind. The eggs will hatch after 4 months have passed, possessing a rigid and spiked exterior which prevents them from being eaten. The newborn will then live in the shallows until they grow big enough (0.5 to 1 meter) to leave, at which point they will, typically in group, begin building a new silk-tent.

They will live for 10-15 years, and reproduce at the end of their life. The parents typically die 2-3 weeks after the eggs have been laid, both male and female. A newborn xuxu will never inhabit a silk-tent built by older xuxu, including their parents. They only live in their own community-built silk-tent. This means that once every resident of a silk-tent has perished, it will remain abandoned forever, until it eventually crumbles and dissolves into the ecosystem. Xuxu silk is made of a very tough biodegradable material, and is sought after by the zu'aan, both before and after the Awakening, for its uses in armor-work and construction. Taming xuxu was attempted many times and failed in each and every one of them.

Modern practice is to wait until a silk-tent has been abandoned, and then send scout teams to collect the silk. Some nearby xuxu colonies, while not able to be tamed, can be befriended with food and other services. This has led to some cases where silk harvesting was able to be conducted before the abandoning of a silk-tent, and as time went on more and more xuxu became accustomed with the zu'aan presence and became friendly and non-hostile. This is limited to xuxu colonies close to zu'aan settlements. Xuxu have proven themselves to be a reliable weapon against the kin'toni during the Awakening Age, and it became a war tactic to lure the beasts into silk-tents and watch them be devoured by the giant xuxu.

As the Twilight Age rises, however, silk-tents are becoming less common, and the xuxu seem to be slowly moving towards the south.

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	Phaingpol City Zu'aan

Place

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Axuu Silk Wetland

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This article is written by mightyvanilla. Copyright 2026 mightyvanilla. All rights reserved.