The Nolanders (commission).

Here is my most recent commission for Ryan Bowers ongoing series. The description builds upon a lot of pre-established lore, so maybe navigate your way to the comissions tag on patreon and read up on some of that first if you’re confused. Alternatively, I’m sure ryan will do his best to answer your lore questions.

Description:

The Nolanders are named as such by outsiders because their home world has no land, they do not have a singular name for themselves as they still exist in fractured hunter-gatherer societies. Their world is of the upmost interest to the peoples of the galaxy, being that it is an artificial gas giant created by the enigmatic H’ul. The gas giant was most likely a fuel depot of some kind for outgoing H’ul ships. The world has dual rings encompassing it made up not by ice and rock, but comprised entirely of the remains of H’ul stations and equipment. If we depart towards the gassy depths for a moment, one would see tremendous ancient H’ul structures that run along the equator and stretch down into the tempestuous “deep sky”. At the bottom of the deep sky, one does not find darkness, no, instead the cloudscape is bottom-lit by a glowing metallic hydrogen sea! The pressures are so great down there that should you make it that far, you would witness a constant barrage of diamond rain. 

Of course, not all of the gas giant is like this. High up in the low pressure zones, there exists a temperate layer where life not only exists, it thrives! Here we find colossal mountain sized organisms that sometimes clump together to form what are effectively small countries. These leviathan lifeforms are speculated to be of H’ul design, but given the H’ul’s absence after their rather confusing disappearance millions upon millions of years ago, life has evolved on its own. It is theorised that the non-engineered lifeforms arose through a process of abiogenesis in the vast seas of biorganic soup that pool in the centers of these enormous living masses. The Nolanders are of course nomadic, but they often set up base via ingenious temporary “hook tent” camps along the side of these leviathans. When these leviathans conjoin, it often spells war between their respective parasitic Nolander tribes. 

Nolanders form tightly-knit pods, and it was thought upon first observation that they were merely fauna. They travel in packs, unadorned and unencumbered by any semblance of clothing. However, they have been seen holding tools in their singular front grasper that can be observed as being directly below their filter feeder-like mouth. Recently Nolander pods have even been spotted making what seem to be pilgrimages to the ancient H’ul structures that stretch down into the “deep sky”, displaying what appears to be religious devotional behaviour, whereby they leave odd crafted tokens tethered to the structure’s surface. This behaviour is akin to other sentient species that have evolved on or around H’ul structures, like the Xylomorphs, Torosians and the Byaak.

The Nolanders are the largest known sapient species in my galaxy, growing to an average length of 70 meters. They’re preindustrial, so like the Ardakk, they fall under the protection of the Vjordaxian knights. The Nolanders are not alone however, this is proven by the fact that they have had several encounters with rogue Ozyrion mining operations and other private enterprises. These run-ins are very often hostile and are usually instigated by the affronted Nolanders. Luckily for the Nolanders, Vjordaxians have stationed themselves in orbit. This particular chapter of the Vjordaxian knights call themselves the “Vermillion Ægis” and it is their code to defend all unprotected sophonts of the galaxy, with force if need be.