Masked in Arcane Mists, Radiating MysterySource Starfinder #23: Hive of Minds pg. 62
Location The Vast (Suskillon)
Settlements —
Diameter ×1-1/2; Mass ×2-1/4; Gravity ×1
Atmosphere Variable
Day 37 hours; Year 8 months
The second planet in the Suskillon system, Chonax was largely inhospitable to outsiders because of wild storms of magic until about 30 years ago, when the storms began to die down. Exploring the planet has been further complicated by its unique atmosphere and volatile topography. With temperatures ranging from coolly temperate to freezing, and with large swathes of the world covered in thick fog, navigating Chonax has proven difficult. Chonax’s three large continents are covered in rugged hills dominated by thick evergreen forests, descending to valleys filled by bogs and swamps, all blanketed with the ubiquitous fog. For reasons that are still unclear, magical energies saturate the planet with arcane radiation anathema to most non-native life. These energies create Chonax’s fog, and the effects of this magical mist are unpredictable. Multiple banks of mist can even mix together, creating ever more bizarre magical phenomena.
These fog banks gather magical effects from larger concentrations of permanent magic, each of which is known as a locus, carrying these effects along as the fog moves and spreads. Loci vary in their range, potency, type, and effect, warping the surrounding landscape in ways influenced by the kind of magical energies the locus exudes. Ghostly images of past or future events might play out within the boundaries of a locus of divination magic, for example, which is disconcerting but not particularly threatening. But a pocket of transmutation magic, in contrast, can be extremely dangerous, as materials within it spontaneously and unpredictably change in nature. Structures alter, deteriorate, or shift into different modes of existence, and the ground changes consistency, devouring buildings and visitors as it shifts phases from solid to liquid. Evocation loci create uncanny magical weather that can kill creatures in seconds with a rain of fire or a precipitous temperature drop. Illusion loci are often easy to spot due to the strange alterations they create in the landscape, but can also be incredibly subtle. Necromancy loci are thankfully few and far between, while summoned creatures wander freely through and around the landscape that surrounds a conjuration locus.
Despite such conditions, and sometimes due to them, life on Chonax has adapted to the loci. These adaptations frequently take the form of improved magic resistance or a connection to a specific type of magic. The creatures of Chonax spend much of their time migrating between loci they are attuned or resistant to, spending as little time as possible in the mists between. Some life on Chonax, such as muneens, are benign or even helpful, providing a natural barometer of arcane radiation and offering aid to friendly creatures they encounter. Others, such as the yotuhns, are highly aggressive, made more viciously dangerous by the magic they dwell around and feed upon.
Every creature native to Chonax feeds on the abundant magic to some extent. Most young creatures grow on magic absorption alone, and they retain the ability to survive on magic when other food is absent. Therefore, even when a magical environ becomes inhospitable, Chonax’s varied life doesn’t starve.Aliens found at ChonaxMuneen - CR 11; Large magical beast
Yotuhn - CR 11; Large monstrous humanoid (giant)
|