Life Outside the City.
If you leave the city of Pandora and venture out into the island,
it's a bit like stepping back in time. Once you get about ten miles from the
city, the quality of the roads can drop dramatically. The landscape is dotted
by isolated farmsteads and the rugged estates of landed nobles. There are
expansive dairy and sheep farms, as well as large agricultural farms. Potatoes,
cabbage, kale, carrots, leeks, rutabega, bilberries and strawberries are all
common crops on Pandora.
Rural villages are small, close-knit communities consisting
of sturdy, well-fortified buildings. Water comes from wells or roof cisters.
Electricity, if available, comes from gasoline, diesel or, most likely,
bio-diesel generators and solar pannels. Wind farms are growing more popular as
a power-source as well.
Most rural homes don't have telephone service, but many are
equipped with CB radios and radio-phones.
Automobiles may be banned in the city, but they are
essential in the island's rural areas.Also, many rural residents are granted
special dispensation by local magistrates to carry firearms, to protect their
homes and properties from grendel attacks.
The further one travels from the city, the more rural and
undeveloped the island becomes. The landscape is dominated by grasslands,
cliffs and heaths with small isolated copses of trees. Wildlife is abundant.
Feral sheep, rabbits, birds and foxes are commonly seen. There are small herds
of deer and reindeer on the island.
There are also grendels.
Grendels.
Many visitors and newcomers to Pandora laugh at the tales of
grendels, believing them to be a kind of local bogeyman. This is untrue. Grendels are real. They are described as
large, terrifying beasts with a grotesque appearance possessing sharp claws,
bad tempers and insatiable appetites. (There are some who speculate that grendels
could be a corrupt, feral form of yeti or sasquatch.) They are fast and
ferociously strong. There have been reports of grendels tearing cattle in half.
Grendels are largely nocturnal and usually avoid groups of
humans. However, they have been known to attack and kill solitary humans. Because of this, most rural Pandorans are
either home by sundown or, if they must be out, they travel in large, well-lit
groups. (Grendels are extremely sensitive
to bright light and loud noises. Mostly they'll run away from the source, but
sometimes they'll fly into a rage and attack the source.)
The Pandoran Army and rural constabulary patrol the roads
and villages, keeping a sharp eye out for any sign of grendels. If they find
evidence of a group of grendels, the army may be ordered to track and eliminate
the creatures.
Grendels are extremely territorial and a male grendel will
not tolerate the presence of another male in his territory. Such encounters end
in the death of one of the males. Female
grendels are tolerated, but they mostly keep to themselves until they go into
heat.
Single births are the norm for grendels and the mother will
feed and protect the child until it can care for itself. At that point, she
will drive it off. If it lingers or
returns, she may kill and eat it.
Grendel sightings drop to zero during the winter months and
it is speculated that the creatures go into hibernation during this time. This
might also explain why grendle-human conflicts are most likely to occur in
mid-spring, if the creatures wake hungry from their hibernation.
The origin of the grendels remains unknown. Local lore,
however, suggests that the grendels are the children of Pandora herself. That
she was seduced by the King of the Underworld, and the grendels were the result
of their union.
According to rural lore, wild bilberry bushes should never
be bothered because they could belong to a bilberry fairy. The bilberry fairy
is described as a tiny androgynous figure with hair the same shade as a fresh
bilberry and diaphanous wings growing from their backs. Bilberry fairies have a
special link to their bilberry bush; the berries from their bush are the only
thing they can eat. If their bush is damaged or destroyed, the bilberry fairy
will starve. Therefore, they are extremely protective of their bush and will
even resort to lethal curses to protect them. In contrast, the bilberry fairy
will also reward those who protect their bush, granting them good luck. Bilberry fairies cannot abide the color
yellow and avoid it like the plague. Because of this, farmers will tie yellow
ribbons around their bilberry bushes to prevent them from being claimed by one
of the fairies.
Poskah.
According to Pandoran lore, poskah are magical creatures
resembling beautiful women or handsome men.
They are able to take on various forms - birds, fish, seals, turtles,
even whales. Depending on their mood, they can either help or hinder people.
Poskah are bound to the sea and cannot set foot on dry land without falling
down dead. Sadly, when some poskah catch
a glimpse of a human they fall madly in love with them. If the human knows and
can accept the poskahs magical nature and limitations, the love can survive and
even thrive. But if they do not know, or cannot accept the poskah's nature, the
poskah will be compelled to prove it by stepping on dry land and instantly
dying. Their human lover will often be so overcome by guilt and grief that they
then mourn themselves to death.
According to island lore, there was once a cunning old woman
named Becillia. One night, she met the
Devil wandering the streets of Pandora.
The Devil asked Becillia if she thought she was a good woman? Becillia
countered by asking the Devil if he thought he was a good soul? They went back
and forth like this for a long time, until the eastern sky began to grow
bright. The Devil realized he had wasted his one night of the year in Pandora
trading questions with Becillia. He got so angry, he barred her from his
kingdom, then vanished in a cloud of fire and smoke. When Becillia died, she
went to Heaven but was told she couldn't come in because she was wicked. She
was sent down to Hell, but the Devil barred her from entering. With Heaven and
Hell refusing her entry, Old Becillia returned to earth as a ghost. They say she wanders the city to this day,
hoping to meet the Devil again so she can apologize and finally find her
eternal rest.
