The Fekxtah planet Mammarell

Mammarrell

Mean Distance from Oma: 2,739 WA

Orbital Period around Oma: 391

Mean Diameter: 28,105 miles

Length of day: 94 hours

Gravity: 7.8 Ethems

Description:

Mammarrell is known as the Fekxtah with a Thousand Fingers. This, of course, is poetic license taken by the Elzheni Astronomers to describe the myriad number of magnetic and electrical fields of force that extend out from the planet to pierce space for thousands of miles beyond the physical bounds of the planet itself.

We will first note that this Fekxtah planet has no atmosphere. None at all. The empty immensity of space begins at the very surface of this rocky world. The only thing that breaks the darkness of Mammarrell’s rocky surface and the empty void surrounding it are the lines of Energetic force emanating from it. Usually these astronomical tendrils are invisible to the Astronomer’s eyes. There are times, however, when activity within the Fekxtah cause them to burst into color. The ancient Elzheni Astronomers called these events Moments of Energetic Chromatics, or MEC. An MEC might last for only seconds, but they can, at times, linger for days or even months. Regardless of their duration, an MEC event comprises every color imaginable (and some that can not be imagined). These tendrils, or as the Astronomers called them, their “lines of force”, are alive with constant movement. There are accounts that describe lines that cross each other and burst into explosions where they touch, scattering fiery bursts of light out into the cosmos, and down onto the planet below. At times the lines of force twirl around each other and combine to create ever thicker and longer forms. As one Elzheni Astronomer wrote in the ancient texts, “It was as if Oma lit fireworks over one of its most distant children to illuminate the distances among all of its children.”

There was speculation that, for countless eons, Mammarrell had been home to many of Oma’s Fire Daemon. Some Astronomers believed that the Fire Daemons spent their lives in constant motion on Mammarrell’s surface and that, periodically, these dances became so ferocious that they caused the Energetic Chromatics to flare into visibility. While this may be an artful and delightful story for Elzheni children (or our own), current scholars agree that it is no more than that — a fantastical children’s story.

It is interesting to note that, even though the Fire Daemons story is not to be taken seriously, the ancient Elzheni Astronomers did indeed find strong evidence of the existence of an Energetic life form on Mammarrell. There are accounts of Astronomers who tried to contact these creatures. These attempts almost always resulted in the death, or the total incapacity, of the curious and brave Astronomer; however, several explorers did return alive from their encounter and described their experience. Each of them told almost identical stories. At first the Daemons, called Mammarrs by the Astronomers, seemed uninterested in the Astronomers. In fact, they seemed not to even notice their existence. They were far more interested in the pockmarked, charred surface of Mammarrell. They wandered aimlessly over the rocky terrain occasionally bending to more closely inspect the stony expanse. Then suddenly, and inexplicably, they would halt seemingly fixated by a particular site. Like a small, slow-moving whirlwind they would surround this point on the surface and, as they spun around it, they would sink into the stone until almost all of their “body” was below its surface. The creature’s fiery glow would suddenly erupt into an intensity of heat and light. The rocky area they had surrounded immediately melted, turning into a slushy lava. With a final flash of incandescence the Mammarr would launch itself into the dark reaches of space that surrounded Mammarrell, carrying the molten stone with it. The Mammarr would fly far away to find a home on one of the many tiny moons that surround it, or deeper into space to a destination unknown to the Astronomers.

The Elzheni Astronomers speculated about this odd event, and though they were unable to arrive at a conclusive explanation, many were convinced that the Daemons were feeding on the material substance of Mammarrell.

Finally, it is helpful to note that there was much discussion in the ancient texts about the similarities between the Mammarrs and the Flamen who inhabit our own world here on Ethem. On our own Fekxtah the Flamen are a rare thing to see, and, when they are seen, it is usually quite brief as they fly out of the ground into the sky or from the sky into the earth. The fiery Daemons of Mammarrell were, however, ubiquitous. The Astronomers rarely looked out onto this world without seeing a number of these creatures busily exploring Mammarrell’s surface.

Fekxtah Station #11:

Fekxtah Station number 11 is located well beneath the surface of Mammarrell. It was constructed of a special substance created by the Elzheni Materials Masters which was impervious to the destructive desires of the Mammarrs. It is reported that the first stations, created out of the stone and rock of Mammarrell itself, were quickly destroyed by the Mammarrs, who seemed drawn to the oddly shaped spaces that had suddenly been carved out of their world. Once found by a Mammarr, a station would soon find itself inundated by any number of these creatures, each eager to consume the edifice. This gave rise to a belief among Astronomers that the Mammarr had the ability to communicate with each other. It was assumed that this communication occurred strictly through the Physic Energy that was so abundant on this particular Fekxtah

The construction of this Fekxtah Station took many years. Several dozen attempts were attempted before a solution to the Mammarr problem was discovered. The Elzheni were able to finally develop a material, and kind of metallic stone, that the Mammarrs would not consume. Accounts tell of Mammarrs descending on through the natural rocks of Mammarrell that stretched between its surface and the first walls of the Station. Once they had found the stations boundary they would latch onto it and begin to gyrate. After only a few seconds, however, the Mammarr would abruptly break away from the material and fling itself back up to the surface. There it would quickly find, and consume, some of the natural stone of the planet. It was almost as if the Daemon had suddenly bitten into something highly distasteful and had to excise that objectionable material with something more to its liking.

Our final note about this Fekxtah Station is that it was by far the largest of the Stations, other than Ethem of course. It comprised at least 20 floors and extended almost a mile wide in some parts. It was constructed at this large size for two simple reasons. The first was that the Fekxtah planet Mammarrell had very unique Energetic properties of great interest to the Elzheni scientists. There were two Energies in particular. One was Physic Energy. There were quite powerful and ancient forms of this Energy on Mammarrell. The other was Transference Energy, which is a Shadow-inflected type of Physic Energy (see the scholarship on Non-Junovalent Energies for more).

The second need for such a large Station is that it served as a transfer point to the Fekxtah Stations of the planets further away from Oma herself. These Fekstach could not be reached directly from Ethem because the distances were simply too great, and so the Mammarrell Station served as their entrance.