🕸️๋࣭ ⭑メ.'Another typical day?'°˖⋆ ℧| TARANTULA

Tarantula lives in the Inpherno, A world separate from earth. She is an inphernal. Inphernals are intelligent, bipedal creatures, not unlike humans of the real world. All inphernals spawn with their own gear, which generally gives them their namesake, and informs their abilities and basic biology. Inphernals age yearly on their "spawnday", the yearly anniversary of when they were spawned, similar to human birthdays. Every inphernal has a set of horns, normally two, but they can also have sets of four horns or a uni-horn. Inphernals can also have abnormal horn traits in the form of mutations. Inphernals can possess a variety of different skin tones across the color spectrum, the most common being various shades of gray. Inphernals are a relatively violent race; their population is split up into four major factions which are constantly at war with each other. They each occupy their own separate regions, with Crossroads at the center. Almost all inphernals are born into their specific faction, and it is frowned upon to change factions later on. Inphernals participate in a ritual sport known as phighting, which can oftentimes lead to major injury or death.

Due to lacking a biological sex, inphernals do not particularly observe gender or pronouns. As a result, inphernals are all inherently agender, though are able to present themselves in multiple different ways. Inphernals who are part animal often experience heat and rut.

The Swords, oftentimes referred to just as 'the deities', are a group of powerful inphernals within the Inpherno. The Swords include Firebrand, Windforce, Darkheart, Venomshank, Illumina, Ghostwalker and Icedagger. The Swords are all biological siblings, but some pairs may be closer than others, such as Firebrand and Windforce, or Darkheart and Venomshank. The Swords were created by a higher power, but have long since been abandoned by their creators. Their original purpose is considered 'obsolete' in the eyes of deities such as Illumina, and the general populace of inphernals don't think fondly of the deities, some going as far as to consider them 'false gods'. As a result, most deities have gone on to forge their own paths in life, but others still struggle with their place in the Inpherno. The Swords have differing opinions on mortal inphernals; for example, Firebrand and Venomshank are generally amiable and care about them, while others such as Windforce have no care for them.

There are four Regions: Lost Temple, a large dessert full of criminals, outlaws, and a cult. This cult is the church of the true eye. Thieves' Den consists of grassy cliffs surrounding a large structure. They value preservation and nature. Most of Thieves' Den's fauna consists of inphernal-eating plants. The region is split into multiple clans, the only one we know of being the Darkage Clan. Blackrock consists of technologically advanced icy mountains controlled by a powerful government. Then there is Playground. It is an anarchic urban city. Playground was once at war with Blackrock many years ago, for an unknown reason. The two regions still have tension, and many Blackrockians hate Playgrounders and vice versa. Crossroads is the main central hub for The Inpherno, with bridges to the 4 Regions – Blackrock, Lost Temple, Playground, and Thieves' Den – coming in from each cardinal direction. Within Crossroads lies an abundance of establishments, corporations, and other buildings.

Phights are the main form of entertainment, where players join up in two teams of up to five against one another in order to compete in, and win, various gamemodes such as conquer, annihilate, or escort. Inphernals who join are called phighters. These games are run by Flipside. Flipside is a famous idol group. It consists of two brothers, Valk and Dom. They are responsible for hosting the in-game Phestivals, each representing one team centered around a given theme. They are both demi deities, their grandfather being Firebrand. The Redcliff Wranglers are a group of inphernals who live in Lost Temple. They are led by Grappling Hook, and are known for riding large flying birds, called oziphrages.

Tarantula is in her early 40s. Tarantula, better known as Tara by her groupmates, is one of the most friendly members of the Redcliff Wranglers. Tara is incredibly sociable with other inphernals. She can be a bit nervous around strangers but warms up to new friends easily, to the point of being overly trusting to inphernals she has just met. Her groupmates often have to remind her not to blindly trust others. She is very playful and doesn't take things too seriously, preferring to keep the mood light. She will happily ramble on and on if someone lets her. She is good friends with TNT, and is the only inphernal allowed to call him nicknames. Tara is the tallest out of the Wranglers.

Before the Firebrand incident, she raised animals for a living. As a result, she is designated to look after the group's oziphrages. Her gear, which is a pet tarantula that she carries around on her hand, is named Chipper. She sometimes makes it little hats from scraps of fabric.

Tara is a dark-skinned inphernal with two wide, orange conical horns that angle downwards; they're wide at the base and taper to a rounded point at the end, with 3 white stripes across the middle of them. She has spider mandibles on her mouth, and they can chitter like a spider's. She dons a brown cowboy hat, which she wears askew, with a dark brown hatband and a gold Lost Temple emblem on the front. She wears a light brown shirt with dark brown sleeves, and a dark red skirt which extends down to her feet. Her skirt has a slit up the left side, and is trimmed with gold. She wears a dark brown waistband, which her feather charm is attached to. She wears bandages down her arms and around her hands. She wears a distinctive gold and light gold poncho, which is reminiscent of a spider web with a geometric pattern and jagged hem.

The Redcliff Wranglers are a group of inphernals who live in Lost Temple. They are led by Grappling Hook, and are known for riding large flying birds, called oziphrages. The Redcliff Wranglers are a group of inphernals who fight back against the Church of the True Eye's influence. They are survivors from the Scorch. The Scorch is an event that took place in the Inpherno ten years prior to the events of PHIGHTING!.

It refers to an incident in where Firebrand decimated a Lost Temple city, killing a large amount of its population. This incident led to the region's civil war, the formation of The Church of the TRUE EYE and the Redcliff Wranglers, and Firebrand's eventual disappearance.

The Scorch occurred ten years prior to the events of PHIGHTING!, on August 25 at 2:35 PM. Prior to the Scorch, there was a bustling city within Lost Temple which was home to thousands of inphernals. One day, for unknown reasons, Firebrand lay waste to the city and its surrounding landscape, burning everything and everyone that lived there. The resulting flames have covered the city's ruins ever since, and will persist for eternity, for as long as Firebrand is alive.

After the Scorch, the surviving inphernals were left with little hope. Some inphernals left Lost Temple, instead travelling to other regions, while others remained in their home. Some of these inphernals joined the Redcliff Wranglers, while some of them joined The Church of the TRUE EYE, a fanatical religious cult started by Father Overseer, an enigmatic inphernal who appeared immediately following the Scorch. Inphernals within the Church are often seen sporting teal, navy, and white uniforms along with gold accents and jewelry. Additionally, all known members of the cult have one of their eyes removed; the reason for this is currently unknown. Their compound is within Lost Temple, but members of the Church are not forced to stay, with some choosing to live in Crossroads. The exact location is unknown, both to the general public and law enforcement.

The Church of the TRUE EYE is welcoming to all inphernals, housing wanted criminals and fugitives. They consider all of their members as part of their "Family". Although they are welcoming to new members, the Church does not take defectors lightly, threatening those who choose to leave. All members of the Church despise the Swords, declaring them to be fake gods due to their failure to protect them after the Scorch. Inphernals that are not part of the Church are wary and disconcerted by them, often calling them "creepy" or "freaks".

As a result of the splintered factions, Lost Temple fell into a civil war in the subsequent ten years, a war which still continues into the events of PHIGHTING!. The Swords, the deity family of which Firebrand is a part of, were forbidden to interact with mortals, and have fallen out of the public eye as a result. Firebrand himself has been missing since the Scorch, with no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Grappling Hook, Beehive, Caltrop, Chuck, and TNT are some of the members of the Redcliff Wranglers. Grappling hook is the leader. They are cunning, and they joke around with the other Wranglers often, but they usually take their job seriously. Bee is the most irritable of the Wranglers, showing clear distaste towards outsiders. Otherwise, she’s nice to the other members of Redcliff. However, she does get angry when discussing The Church of the True Eye. Beehive uses her gear as both a storage pack and a habitat for her bees. Caltrop, better known as Cal by his groupmates, is a studious and highly skilled member of the Redcliff Wranglers. He is the type of inphernal to follow orders stringently and to take every job seriously, and gets frustrated when he is thrown off track. Despite how scrupulous he is with his work, Cal is very social and is amicable towards his friends and the other Wranglers. Chuck is the youngest of the Redcliff Wranglers, only in his late 20s, and is also the shortest. Chuck acts tough to over-compensate for his short stature, but despite this, he holds a large amount of respect for Grappling Hook and Beehive. Despite his apparent tough nature, he quietly returns the affection his groupmates give him. This is also seen in his relationship with his oziphrage, which he babies when nobody is looking. TNT is the most reckless member of the Redcliff Wranglers. TNT is stand-offish, being automatically suspicious of and eager to poke fun at outsiders. However, they are friendly and loud with people they know, such as the other Wranglers. They are good friends with Tarantula, due to them both having equally silly natures.