what lies in hiding when you venture into the woods?
the wilderness of earth is sprawling, sparsely populated, and largely unexplored. wayward travellers willing to stray into the unknown very seldom return.leave the trail if you wish, but do not forget:
here be monsters.
characters
elizabeth "lisa" Herrera
AGE: 13
PRONOUNS: she/her
SPECIES: human
BANDANA COLOR: wisteria
BADGES: none
Following a freak accident involving radioactive material, Lisa has found herself as the sole human camper of Camp 51, a top-secret government summer camp for teenage monsters.An avid lover of cute animals, playing soccer, and vampire romance novels, Lisa is a good-natured jokester who loves to make people laugh. Her social skills aren't always the best, but she very rarely has malicious intentions.
Vampyra von mortem
AGE: 17
PRONOUNS: it/its + they/them
SPECIES: vampire
BANDANA COLOR: baby blue
BADGES: all of them
Labeled as Camp 51's resident problem child, Pyra is cranky, short tempered, and not very amicable. It despises bright lights, loud noises, and most people.Pyra has little interest in hobbies, and rarely expresses emotions outside of boredom and anger. It is skilled in occult magic, and its shadow form is a small, bat-like wyvern.
kaptain ambystoma
AGE: 16
PRONOUNS: she/her
SPECIES: ambystoma sapiens
BANDANA COLOR: salmon
BADGES: bug catching, fishing
Kaptain is a genetically engineered talking axolotl, created by her scientist father to be a lab assistant. She has a perfect memory, and cannot forget anything she sees or hears.Kaptain tends to be neurotic and controlling of her surroundings. She likes to help others, but her perfectionism can lead to frustration and condescending behavior towards her fellow campers.
corduroy gingham
AGE: 16
PRONOUNS: she/her + he/him
SPECIES: hellhog (hellanimus suidae)
BANDANA COLOR: steely blue
BADGES: crocheting, banjo, woodworking
Corduroy is a soft-spoken Hellhog of few words. She is even tempered, and often the designated mediator of a group. Though this role comes naturally to her, she sometimes gets frustrated always being the voice of reason.Corduroy is able to conjure weak flames, and she can control undead spirits by singing to them. Maybe that's why she can get Pyra to do their chores...
NArcissa Tenebris
AGE: 19
PRONOUNS: she/her
SPECIES: unicorn
BANDANA COLOR: gold
BADGES: metalworking, starbound magic, history of occult magic, astronavigation
One of Camp 51's senior campers, Narcissa is very serious, and almost never leaves room for nonsense. (Unless, of course, that nonsense is coming from her girlfriend.)She is stubborn, standoffish, and heavily insistant on following rules. She excels in Starbound Magic, but the topic bores her. Her true passions lie in her desire to practice Occult Magic, which is banned at camp.
Jet Thundersnow
AGE: 19
PRONOUNS: she/her + it/its
SPECIES: meteormoth
BANDANA COLOR: cobalt
BADGES: meteorology, flight
Jet Thundersnow is a senior camper, but many new arrivals wouldn't guess it. In addition to constantly joking around, she's very mischevious, and takes great delight in getting into trouble with the younger campers. Pranking her back is next to impossible, because her compound eyes give her almost 360 degree vision.Sure, she's not the best influence, but everyone likes her way more than her girlfriend.
Casey Swift
AGE: 16
PRONOUNS: she/her
SPECIES: paradisopod
BANDANA COLOR: pink
BADGES: cross country, deadlift, lanyard making
The highly energetic "face" of Camp 51, it is Casey's job to greet all of the newly arrived campers.Many find Casey's large size intimidating, but looks can be decieving. She is jittery and offbeat, but Casey lacks most aggressive behaviors typical of dragons due to being rasied by a human. Her heightened prey drive makes her easily distracted by small, rapidly moving objects.
tetra / u-239
AGE: 12 (estimate)
PRONOUNS: it/its
SPECIES: alien, specifics unknown
BANDANA COLOR: salmon
BADGES: programming
A small, curious alien, TETRA has a habit of following others around and mimicking their behavior. Though its crashed spaceship was reapired, it expressed no desire to leave Earth.Because of its vocal structure, TETRA is inable to speak any Earth languages, though it can read and write in english. It speaks in insectoid chirping and trilling, a simple language surprisingly similar to the squawks and chirps of paradisopods.
more coming soon...
creatures
The uncharted wilds of Earth hide many strange and dangerous creatures from the gaze of humans. These creatures are known as Monsters, and the leaders of the Monster world are intent on keeping it seperate from the world of Humans.Though this list is far from exhaustive, it nonetheless provides a brief glimpse into what lurks just outside your vision on a cold, cloudy night.
Eternabat
KINGDOM: arcanists
BUILD: mammalian
SIZE: 2-3 feet tall
SAPIENT? yesNOTABLE INDIVIDUALS:
ephemeris, batryx
Small, fluffy bat-like creatures. Eternabats are the progenitors of Starbound Magic. Despire their small size, they have significant wingspans, the undersides decorated with glittering, iridescent skin that sparkles like nighttime stars.It is often thought that Eternabats are the inspiration for angels in human culture, with their radiant appearance, large wings, and halos.
hellanimus
KINGDOM: hellbeasts
BUILD: varies
SIZE: 5-6 feet tall
SAPIENT? yesNOTABLE INDIVIDUALS:
corduroy, lucifer
Hellanimus are the progenitors of Occult Magic. Originating from caverns underground, Hellanimus have widly varying morphology, usually resembling an animal of some kind. They can be mammalian, reptilian, amphibian, insectoid, or aquatic.Hellanimus are thought to be the inspiration for demons in human culture with their barbed, arrow tails. Some hellanimus have horns as well.
Dragon
KINGDOM: draconids
BUILD: varies
SIZE: varies
SAPIENT? sometimesNOTABLE INDIVIDUALS:
casey, dawnrise, puck, pokey
Dragons are the most numerous monsters on earth. They have a sprawling variety of species, ranging from small, dog-like companion creatures to immense apex predators that shake the ground when they walk. Carnivorous dragons have elevated prey drive, and are not picky about what they eat. Feral dragons are often kept as pets and livestock. Dinosaurs (both avian and otherwise) are descended from the Paradisopod, a species of Theropod Dragon.
Vampire
KINGDOM: demihumans
BUILD: humanoid
SIZE: 5-6 feet tall
SAPIENT? yesNOTABLE INDIVIDUALS:
pyra, frostbite, kid, sid
Vampires are postmortal grey-skinned humanoids with sunken eyes, fangs, and black hair. Vampires have "horns", which are a tightly wound hairstyle. They have a small animal disguise, referred to as a "shadow form". Vampires burn painfully in sunlight, but the exposure cannot kill them. Very specific conditions have to be met in order to successfully kill a vampire. Occult Magic practice is common among vampires.
more coming soon...
Kingdoms
The monster world has six geographic-based factions, each with their own customs, leader, and bestiary of indigenous fauna. "Kingdom" is largely a vestigial name, as a majority of the factions no longer run as a monarchy. The leaders of these factions meet once a month for the Monster Summit, in which they discuss and negotiate inter-kingdom issues. The leaders are also responsible for communicating with the human government, keeping their citizens away from human settlements, and settling disputes that may arise as a result of unwated human-monster contact.
HELLBEASTS
DOMAIN: the kingdom of fire
LOCATION: underground, southeast us
LEADER: lucifer the loathsome
HEIRS: rowena the ravager
CASTLE: the brimstone strongholdCOMMON NATIVE SPECIES:
hellanimus, witch, imp, cerberus, ghost, reaper, gargoyle, nightcrawler
Hellbeasts dwell deep underground. Led by a tyrannical king; their society resembles feudal Europe, with a majority of inhabitants being poor farmers with very few, excessively wealthy landowners. Immigration to the Kingdom of Fire is uncommon, as Lucifer keeps it almost entirely shut off from the outside world.Colloquially, hellbeasts are often called "demons". They tend to like dark, enclosed spaces.
ARCANISTS
DOMAIN: the kingdom of magic
LOCATION: northwest us
LEADER: ephemeris the enlightened
HEIRS: batryx the bombastic
CASTLE: the floating sky fortressCOMMON NATIVE SPECIES:
eternabat, unicorn, werewolf, familiar, luna moth, harpy hen, cockatrice, phoenix
Arcanists boast the kingdom with the most urban development of the six monster factions. They have a lavish, wealthy, innovative society where nobody goes hungry. They readily take in outsiders, however they tend to keep their affairs domestic, and rarely attempt to interfere with other kingdoms' policy making.Arcanist society is heavily enthusiastic about science and the arts. They teach Starbound Magic in their schools.
draconids
DOMAIN: the kingdom of the eternal sun
LOCATION: southwest us
LEADER: dawnrise the devastator
HEIRS: horizon the harrower
CASTLE: the duskfall denCOMMON NATIVE SPECIES:
paradisopod, lowland snapper, prideful shorthair, common faux-welsh
Draconid society is unique in that it is made up almost entirely of a single type of monster, dragons. Dragons are highly individualist, and tend to despise institutional power structures. As a result, their kingdom is an anarchy, where solitary individuals inhabit large swathes of territory.Despite their lack of leader, Dragons highly value respect and honor; but they will only respect those who have personally earned their admiration, rather than anyone with an arbitrary leadership title.
genomorphs
DOMAIN: the lush kingdom
LOCATION: carribean and atlantic ocean
LEADER: becquerel the boastful
HEIRS: n/a
CASTLE: the infested laboratoryCOMMON NATIVE SPECIES:
genetic experiments
When humans create an abomination that their society isn't ready to face, it is adopted into Becquerel's Lush Kingdom.Genomorphs are largely feral. As a result, Becquerel is much more like a custodian or zookeeper. Many sapient Genomorphs express an interest in biology or husbandry because it is such a needed skill in their Kingdom, and is often the profession of their family if they are raised by their creators.
demihumans
DOMAIN: the kingdom of ice
LOCATION: new england, us
LEADER: frostbite the forgiving
HEIRS: n/a
CASTLE: the abandoned observatoryCOMMON NATIVE SPECIES:
vampire, human-type werewolf, android, zombie, various half-humans
It is possible for humans to become monsters, or for humans to have part-monster children. These individuals usually go to live with Frostbite, queen of the vampires.A small, close-knit community, the Demihumans are a kingdom in name only. Frostbite thinks of her citizens as her family that she is tasked with protecting and caring for. Members of the demihuman society tend to be friendly and easygoing, keeping in line with their human roots.
xenofauna
DOMAIN: the celestial expanse
LOCATION: outer space
LEADER: asteria the ambassador
HEIRS: n/a
CASTLE: the interstellar tarmacCOMMON NATIVE SPECIES:
aliens, bro
Extraterrestrial life is quite common, and encapsulates such a wide variety of civiliations it is impossible to describe them concisely.The infastructure for aliens on earth focuses mainly on assisting in integration to earth society or returning home, depending on the case of the individual. Their leader, Asteria, is an alien well-versed in Earth culture, and likes to advertise Earth as a hot tourist destination, much to the chagrin of the other leaders.