Mara

1. #1Planet Mawaiconstantselectiveregex

   Keys: Mawai

   Planet Mawai is located at the rim of the settled worlds. It orbits a sun-like star and 99% of the planet's surface is ocean, with a narrow band of islands and shallow water crossing its equator. The equator is the main habitat of the non-human Tagata people. The northern hemisphere of Mawai consists of temperate oceans and "manageable" sea creatures, while the southern hemisphere is largely unexplored due to the unique mega-fauna that inhabits the southern oceans. The equatorial band is dotted with greenery, true islands are rare with most habitable regions being shallow waters on which tropical trees grow. The band has thick rainforest areas, swamps, and in rare spots even scenic beaches.

   The oceans of Mawai teem with life, big and small. When humans first settled the planet a century ago, their settlements were built on the coast. The settlers soon discovered that the marine life produced a liquid called Somia by the natives, one that had miraculous properties when applied property. This discovery meant interest and investment into the backwater planet, the first floating cities following in the decades afterward. Most natives still live in tribal villages, living in the way their ancestors had before the humans came. Some live in mixed settlements, it is incredibly rare to see one in the floating cities.

   Life on the planet seems peaceful for now, but as humans continue to encroach on Tagata fishing grounds, researching the mysteries of Somia and the giants of the deep sea, who knows what might happen?

2. #2Lab X-18selectiveregex

   Keys: lab, x-18

   Deep underneath the oceans of Mawai there is a lab complex, simply named "X-18".

   It is divided up in three layers, each being connected by elevator shafts and stairs. Each level has its own escape pods.

   Level 1: Docks, Goods Storage, Common Room, Personell Barracks, Mess hall Level 2: Processing, Refining, Laboratories Level 3: Security, Brig, Security Barracks, Nautical Pens, Wildlife Observation

   The metal walls of the complex are a deep grey, with fluorescent lights and few glass windows.

   Processing is where they extract Somium, meats and other organs from animals. This large space is connected to the pens below, allowing for creatures to be easily craned out and processed.

   Before one can enter the main facility past the docks, one has to go through a security checkpoint. There are more security checkpoints in the levels below.

3. #3Tagata Peopleconstantselectiveregex

   Keys: tagata, wiki, mara, marama

   The Tagata people are the native inhabitants of Mawai, who resemble anthropomorphic foxes. Their bodies are covered in short, water-resistant fur, usually blue or silver in color. Like Earth foxes, they have muzzles, sharp teeth and claws, triangular ears, a tail and digitigrade legs. On average, they are somewhat taller than humans, standing at two meters (6'6").

   Culturally, most are still tribal, living in villages. These Tagata have ritual tattoos, signifying deeds and other notable information. They speak their own language, though they can learn human speech and vice versa. They live coastally, subsisting on a diet of mostly fish and foraged fruit. Due to the limited terrain, farmland is difficult to cultivate. They fashion the tools they need out of wood, stone and bones, though they are known to trade with humans for equipment.

   Hunting is either done by spear or net, in rivers, the coastline or the ocean. Tagata build their own rafts, and have an excellent weather sense. They are also good swimmers.

   Tribal clothing in an equatorial climate and with furry bodies is slim, to say the least. Reed skirts to cover their lower bodies, corded belts and slings for holding tools. Sometimes, the women wear chest straps.

   They have similar lifespans to humans. Their language and names could be interpreted similarly to Polynesian and other Pacific Islander cultures on Earth.

4. #4Somiumselectiveregex

   Keys: Somium, Somia

   Roughly meaning "wanted" in the language of Mawai's native tribes. Also known as Somium to researchers and consumers on Earth.

   A viscous, glittering, gold-colored substance extracted from bodies of Kaiju. It possesses fantastical properties which allow the native live to grow to ludicrous dimensions while also giving them the ability to soundlessly communicate with one another.

   In its raw state, Somia propagates cancer and insanity in humans. However, the substance can be refined into pharmaceuticals that allow humans to quickly recover from injuries, empower their bodies, extend their lifespans and even heal from physical disabilities. Needless to say, the substance is beyond precious outside of Mawai.

   Some groups believe that the latter property can be leveraged to grant humans a means to communicate with, or even control, Kaiju. A successful attempt has yet to be observed.

5. #5Kaiju/Meakinconstantselectiveregex

   Keys: kaiju, meakin, sprat, game, kraken, leviathan

   Apex predators of Mawai. Also called Meakin by the planet's natives.

   They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Fifty to thousand meters long and/or wide, some of them remind humans of creatures from their home planets such as lizards, squids, sharks, whales or centipedes, or a combination of thereof. Others look completely alien, these can be described as gigantic versions of microscopic organisms or complex geometric shapes. One thing they all have is common is their deep black color with golden features.

   The gold color comes from Somia. Humans have been overhunting Kaiju for the past hundred years to amass great profits from selling it to pharmaceutical companies back on Earth. Everything north of the equator has been fully cleared of Kaiju as a result, though the ones in the south are much more fierce. So much so, that it's still not worth it for most humans to venture there.

   Hunters divide Kaiju into four main types based on their value and threat level:

   • Sprat: Mostly harmless, but also too young and small to have any meaningful reserves of Somia built up in their bodies. Many sailors don't even consider sprats to be Kaiju yet.
   • Game: Kaiju who possess little ot no means of fighting back, or those who are easily defeated with onboard tech. They are usually the youngest and smallest of their kind while still possessing enough Somia to make the hunting trip worthwhile.
   • Kraken: Able to easily destroy most sea-faring vessels. Very rarely seen in the equator zone, virtually non-existent in the north as they prefer the deep southern waters. They are often hundreds, if not thousands years old. You'd have to be crazy, obsessed or desperate to go looking for one.
   • Leviathan: Rarest, but also both oldest and biggest of the Kaiju. They have been around for tens of thousands of years. Easily able to sink a floating city. Thankfully, they only exist in the southmost reaches of the planet where the water is the deepest. Hopefully it will stay that way.
6. #6Navis Alteraselectiveregex

   Keys: navils altera

   Navis Altera: [One of the floating ship cities on Mawai. The Altera originally was an amphibious exploration spacecraft that landed on Mawai over a hundred years ago, and the original craft is somewhere at the core of the city, but since then many other things were permanently attached to it, other spacecraft, simpler freighters, various platforms, even wooden floats at the edges. The Altera is bulky and is home to at least twenty thousand people, mostly humans but a few Tagata too. The Altera's allegiance is independent, as most human settlements on Mawai are, but they only survive by the graces of EXTIO and the Somium trade. Altera's economy is based on Somium, most industries on the city are supporting the exporting of. The city has bars, pleasure dens, meat processing and canning facilities, Somium extractors, and so on. The city itself follows the migration routes of class 3 and class 4 Mawai marine life forms in order to hunt them, hunting is done by many smaller more mobile vessels. Those life forms are still very big, but don't pose as much a risk to the colossal bulk of the Navis Altera. Life on Altera is not great, it's cramped, sickly, the ambitions of people are simple, make captain of a small hunting vessel and hunt a class 4 organism, that's a big payday. People who aren't hunters, well, they got nowhere else to go, they can't afford even the semblance of a dream.]

7. #7Okenuiselectiveregex

   Keys: Okenui

   Okenui: [A permanent settlement on the Mawai band. Okenui was originally settled thousands of years ago by a few exiled Tagata, they still follow Tagata traditions but a lot looser. Then humans came, and surprisingly the humans that abandoned their industrial and corporate kin jived quite well with the exiled Tagata. The small "island" has knee deep water, and most buildings are on stilts or floating platforms or small rafts. Okenui is home to humans that are tired of corporations, and exiled Tagata folk, about an even split. Okenui is home to maybe a thousand people, all living in simple conditions but unlike most on Mawai they have their freedom. Industry on Okenui, if can even be called that, is people fishing, farming in the reefs, and making things like clothes, furniture, new houses and rafts, life is simple and peaceful on Okenui. Travelers wander through Okenui, it's a good location on the band serving as a little pit stop between the oceans. The island has a tavern of sorts with rooms, drinks and food. Okenui people are welcoming to wanderers, most of them were that at one point, but they're not pushovers. A few humans on Okenui hunt the aquatic life forms that contain Somium, and venture to one of the floating cities to sell the Somium, and that's the main reason Okenui has some technology that's maintained, like solar panels, batteries, and other amenities.]

8. #8Viastraselectiveregex

   Keys: Viastra

   Viastra: [One of the floating ship cities of humanity on Mawai. Most floating cities are independent and free, but Viastra is the only one actually owned by EXTIO. Viastra's core is a sleek black vessel, but in Mawai fashion it has plenty of mismatched additions, other platforms, ships, and even few wooden constructs latched on the sides.

   Purpose: Viastra floats in the safe northern oceans, and its primary purpose is its landing platforms and storage facilities. It regularly launches crafts into orbit, and sends them back up. In orbit, EXTIO manages a more hands-on trading hub. Viastra has ships constantly move through it, independents trading Somium for credits and supplies, people coming and going, executives, tech professionals, mercenaries.

   People: The citizen of Viastra are mostly humans, and their permanent number is only a few thousand, it's a small floating city. But it has more thousands of transient traders, sailors, and spacers moving through it day by day. Naturally bars, hotels, and other entertainment amenities are established. Many undocumented people call Viastra home too, gangs, bums, and others who yearn for a way to get off Mawai.

   Events: The Viastra average day sees shuttles launch and land with rocket rumbles that vibrate the whole city. Corporate security patrol the streets, engineers tinker at the lower decks to keep the city at top shape, and spacers and sailors having drunken arguments. Viastra's northern ocean location is generally safe from the kaiju... But no place on Mawai is a sanctuary.]

Showing 8 of 8

Extensions: world (their contents are in the Raw tab)

1 assets: 1 archived, 0 pending, 0 failed, 0 dead · 0 expression images

2 files

• .pngpng_cardspec 3.0original

  596.5 KB512×768first seen Oct 20, 20262a019c5e6c571e6d

  Download
• .pngpng_cardspec 3.0rebuilt

  456.1 KB512×768first seen Oct 10, 2026188a331bced24f4a

  Download