Intermitent brainshowers.

[Ghostman]

Pretty interesting critters. Are they actual plants or insects, or something entirely different? Those branches have leaves or needles growing on them?

What kind of things do they create? Plants and animals, or perhaps rocks, hills, rivers, caves, mountains, clouds and winds? Crop circles?

How do you pronounce Ggddrssl?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Pretty interesting critters. Are they actual plants or insects, or something entirely different?

I'm not sure if it's that simple: what constitutes a "plant", exactly?  I can't recall plant and animal cells having too many differences when you get right down to the components.  What this means is that the ssl are, more or less, both plant and animal, having cells that could be found in either, although often arranged in structures more resembling a plant.

Those branches have leaves or needles growing on them?

Needles are leaves.

What kind of things do they create? Plants and animals, or perhaps rocks, hills, rivers, caves, mountains, clouds and winds? Crop circles?

All of the above, if it's possible to create them based on a plan.  The ggdrssl created creatures based on plans, growing them inside their bodies.  Since ssl do not have that capability (they reproduce like plants) they must fulfill the desire to do so in other ways.

How do you pronounce Ggddrssl?

You either need to be a tree or speak Ent to actually make the correct sounds: *cracking strain*-*droaning strain*-*rustle*.  For those of you who can't produce tree noises it's something like "gg(dental stop)-drr-ssil".

[Ghostman]

Needles are leaves.

I know. I just wanted to know what they look like: summertime trees, evergreens, or trees that have shed their leaves for the winter.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

I just wanted to know what they look like: summertime trees, evergreens, or trees that have shed their leaves for the winter.

All of the above.  Different regional variants mimic different trees.

They were made to take advantage of the Rootwalker species from Fantasycraft, which has feats you can take at first level to be different kinds of trees.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Mirrorskies: Crosstown
This is something I'm posting here more to have a common access point between my home and work.  It is a game setting, but not one intended for the tastes usually displayed on this site.

Genre: Science-Fantasy Comedy
Tech Level: The technology appears contemporary to our own period, but much of it is in fact futuristic.
Theme and Tone: Discovering the whacky diversity and similarity of the universe.
Story Elements: Infinite multiple worlds, strange beings, fantastic powers, characters right in the middle.....

Crosstown sits between several mirrorskies -- zones where one planet of the multiverse transitions into another, also known as nh'hn -- giving it a prime position as a trade hub (and its name).  Crosstown is prosperous because material and memetic goods flow through it.  But other things must also cross Crosstown, and they can often be labeled under 'excitement' and 'trouble'.....

Geography: Crosstown sits on a coastal plain where several rivers from the mountains in the northeast drain into the sea.  A series of rocky islands protects the large merged outlet of two rivers enough to form a bay around which the city is centered.  The entire Crosstown Metropolitan Area actually spreads out over the half the plain.

Economy: The business of Crosstown is getting things from one place to another.  The main industries are import/export, headquartering, banking, and maintenance/supply of transport vessels and their crews.  Minor industries include tourism and educational institutions that boast about the 'obviousness of their diversity'.  There are no manufacturing centers and very little agriculture anywhere near the city as the metropolis can obtain all its needs through trade.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Mirrorskies: The Sihr
The world of the sihr lie at the edge of a mostly unexplored region of the Mirrorskies, and this is evident not only in the sparseness of its settlement but in the design of its devices: the sihr utilize the unexplained energy principle commonly known as "magic".  This allows their devices to do without many of the parts necessary for non-magic designs, but at the expense of the efficiency necessary for certain devices such as energy weapons and factories.  Many sihr inhabitants look upon this as a blessing, stressing the benefits of a society that must consider issues such as warfare and materialism up close and personal.

The Sihr
Definition: "Sihr" originally just meant "magic".  As part of the names of Easihr and Kisihr (lit: "the sea by magic" and "the sky by magic") it became a shorthand for referring to them.  Eventually as a tradition most new settlements continued to incorporate "sihr" into their names -- Ansihr ("below by magic"), Cirsihr ("Circe's created place by magic"), Sihr Monolith -- until the meaning changed to become a reference to a settlement that relied on magic.
"Sihr" is both singular and plural.

Below is a list of the most famous sihr:
Easihr: The Moving Island.
Kisihr: The Flying Mountains.
Ansihr: The Demon Caverns.
Cirsihr: The Witch's Isle.
Shir Monolith: The Grand Fortress.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Mirrorskies: Edge
Out in the Far Places, where the Weave of common Mirrorsky technology and science hasn't exactly reached, there are places that mix the two in odd ways.  Edge is one of them: Creatures provide most of the force, whether this be motive or "behind pointy pieces of metal" variety.  Energy principles not yet understood in the region are grouped under "magic".  Yet there are magic labor-saving devices and the consumer culture that goes along with them, and an entertainment industry that feeds recording disks into magic-powered home viewers.  It's a world of swords, sorcery.....and superstars!

Geography: Edge is literally that: an edge.  One side of a plateau runs for a hundred miles.  The tamed lands sit atop the massive plateau, cities strung out along the edge.  Below are the untamed lands: jungles and plains full of creatures and old ruins.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

basic premise: a world created by fantastic, mythic elements rather than mundane
sub-ideas: literal fantastic elements (instead of earth, fire, water, wood, metal, air, light, ice you have mysterious things like "surprise"), rivalry between followers of once-lovers the "earth snake" and the "celestial bird", racial lines drawn between the jin and the more powerful yaojing despite there not really being much difference, many fantastic colorful places to visit

fantastic elements, the "patterns of the cycle": excitement, twist, patience, reverse, direction

the jin: the lower-powered beings, coming in a variety of different flavors such as fox, cat, bovine, dolphin, squirrel, lizard, bird, and human

th yaojing: essentially jin, but with a longer lifespan and being stronger and more prone to magic and mutation

the celestial bird, aka Tianshangniao: represents the heavens, the greater elements, careful and orderly conduct with due respect for what has come before.  sits at the top of the "Palace of Heaven" in order to oversee the grand bureaucracy that ensures the world runs as the cycles predict.

the earth snake, aka Chenshe: represents the world, the lesser elements, rash and risky conduct that pushes boundaries and causes change.  lies coiled within the earth to nourish it with her breath.

the rivalry: obviously those who follow the bird like to keep life humming along in a precise way.  they're not against change per-see, but they believe it should be patient and methodical to ensure minimum disruption.  of course, being mortal and all, this often results in quashing creativity and things like social mobility.  the followers of the snake counter with disruptive behavior and the encouraging of risk.  neither comes out as "right" (in fact many times both come out as wrong), but the common people believe both sides are necessary for the running of life so neither can ever fully win, just grab enough political power to oppress the other.

UPDATE: Further refinement:
eliminate the yaojing, it's just needless complexity

re-add ssl, but define them as mostly mantid (except for clawed hands on the forelegs), add more animal-like plant creatures

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

random idea being posted here in case someone wants to steal it:
human fantasy setting based on the Five Symbols of China and their associated attributes
like: Black-landers (cold north, grey skin and dark grey instead of white in eyes), White-landers (west, white hair), Red-landers (south, US Southwest-style desert), Blue-landers (east, islands, blue skin), Yellow-landers (center, basic Chinese analogue)

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Some notes for a new fantasy setting.  It's going to be disconnected, as rather than try and force everything to fit I'm just going to create the pieces and see how they grow into each other.

Material world: Only thing worshiped.

Dancers: May have something to do with religion.  May also have something to do with magery.

Wild/Piece Mages: Have pieces of magic inside them, giving them powers but not spells.