Triaxus

Triaxus

(Cosmos)

Titles

The Wanderer

Type

Planet

Adjective

Triaxian

Diameter

×1

Mass

×1

Gravity

×1

Atmosphere

Normal

Year length (PST)

317 years

Day length (PST)

1 day

Orbits

Sun

System

Pact Worlds system

Inhabitants

Ryphorians
Dragonkin
Dragons

Images of Triaxus

Source: Core Rulebook, pg(s). 452-453

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Triaxus is nominally the sixth planet in the Pact Worlds system, but its highly eccentric 317 Pact Standard year-long orbit takes it inside the path of Castrovel (at its closest approach to the sun) and beyond the orbit of Bretheda at its farthest. This results in Triaxian summers and winters that last for centuries, with most of its inhabitants living their entire lives within a single season. Much of their cultures revolves around the relationship between the native ryphorians and dragons, who had been warring since before the Gap for millennia, but have reached a truce since the founding of the Pact Worlds.

Geography

A military parade on Triaxus.

Triaxus' perihelion is closer to the sun than Castrovel is, while its aphelion lies past Bretheda's orbit. Both winters and summers are brutal, with thousands of miles of glaciers and endlessly howling blizzards in the former and sweltering heat and frequent fires and droughts in the latter. Each rotation takes 317 Pact Standard years, resulting in whole generations living their whole lives in a single centuries-long season and indigenous lifeforms forming two nearly separate ecologies, each going dormant in spring or autumn, which last only long enough for them to do so. Currently, Triaxus is in the midst of winter.

Triaxus' two largests landmasses are the Drakelands in the western hemisphere and the Allied Territories in the eastern hemisphere, connected by an isthmus called the Skyfire Mandate. Beyond the Drakelands and Allied Territories, the next largest landmass is Ning, an island-continent located south of the Drakelands.

Triaxus has three major oceans: the Sephorian Sea between the Drakelands and Ning, the Ryphara Ocean east of the Allied Territories, and the Greatwater between the Allied Territories and the Drakelands, which borders the Skyfire Mandate to the south. Major islands include Nusova and Mechuria east of Ning, the Sephorian Archipelago south of the Allied Territories, Grenloch and Tiroch off the Allied Territories' eastern coast, the Winged Isles at the centre of the Greatwater, and Weldfall further north next to the shallow Channel of Spires.

Triaxus is volcanically active and possesses diverse biomes. Most continents are mountainous except the Allied Territories, which is more ecologically diverse, with the vast Uchorae Jungle in the west and the Doraeshi Rain Forest in the east. Cold forests, river valleys and massive lakes (most prominently Dahak's Claw) pepper all continents.

Triaxus has two glaciers: the Expanse in the north and the Encroach in the south. In winter, the Encroach creeps up to southern Ning and creates land bridges across the Sephorian Archipelago, while the Expanse reaches Weldfall and covers the northern Drakelands and Allied Territories in snow.

History

Long before the Gap, Triaxus was dominated by conflict between the ryphorians of the Allied Territories and the dragons of the Drakelands, with dragonkin fighting on both sides. As space travel developed and territorial disputes became less important, particularly after the Gap ended and the Absalom Pact was signed, the dragons of the Drakelands saw the advantages of membership and trade, and hostilities ceased.

Inhabitants

Triaxus' indigenous life are adapted to its seasonal cycle. As summer or winter comes to an end, that season's flora and fauna enter hibernation until the next solstice. The most prominent creatures adapted to both seasons are the ryphorians, who are born with appropriate adaptations depending on the season of their birth, even when technology has made these adaptations less important. Others, like dragonkin and dragons, simply take precautions and change their lifestyle accordingly.

Dragons

For all of recorded history, evil dragons have been the masters of the Drakelands. They employ all kinds of allies, whom they control like corporations (called dragoncorps) with themselves as CEOs, and produce all kinds of products. They nurse ancient grudges and plot against each other as much as they do offworld corporations.

Ryphorians

In the Allied Territories, numerous ryphorian nations squabble, having lost their main reason for unity since wars with the Drakelands ended. Most of them have prospered under the Pact Worlds government, with the exception of a few who refuse to modernise. Dragonkin are most common in the Drakelands and the Skyfire Mandate, living alongside ryphorians, with whom they maintain a strong connection.

Elves

A group of elves travelled to Triaxus during the Gap for reasons unknown and established colonies in the sparsely-inhabited northern Allied Territories. Visitors from Sovyrian occasionally come there to exchange knowledge on their species' history. Some of these elves have married native ryphorians, producing half-elven offspring curiously similar to half-elves of human origin.

Golarion exiles

Romanticised stories of Golarion have recently led a few members of its native species to move to Triaxus. Many of them wish to escape the crowded Absalom Station or dusty Akiton for an environment similar to where their ancestors once lived, despite the cold climate. The most populous among them are gnomes, drawn by stories of gnomes arriving on Golarion and Triaxus simultaneously after leaving the First World; what happened to the Triaxian gnomes in the intervening years is unknown.