Vilous | Border Regions in Talyxian Biomes and Talyxian Resin Trees [+Pre-reading the raw concept]

This is bonus entry for my +$5 supporters, available to peek and enjoy quite an amount of undecided and raw concepts, as pre-viewing and pre-reading for the ever so eager fans! Thank you!

Interpretation of the artwork

The time period is not determined, however, the location presented is located within the Northeastern lands of Planet Tal, where the border of Astna and Thekan meet. The Talyxian biome forest bordering the desert such as presented in the artwork is a very familiar sight to Northern people, scenery such as this can be seen throughout the whole of Northern habitable areas. Beyond the Talyxian forest line, the desert can be readily identified as a yellowish-white horizon.

The Sergal presented in the artwork is wearing a Reono styled outfit, they are visiting here in order to scout in advance for suitable materials. Due to their light set of clothing, it can be easily assumed Eltus people's village exist nearby.

Border regions in Talyxian biomes

Most of the areas in Astna are composed of wastelands or plains which feature few Talyxian biome. The few biomes which can be found at the boundary with the forest areas are characterized as having a comparatively low mutability ratio and are static in nature.

Talyxian plants in these areas are known to display a regularity or pattern to their shapes, similar in aspect to what Eltus plants have. These plants serve as a resource for Shamans and Northern Reono people. 

The state of these biomes is considered to be the result of Talyxian Wolves, which have lived in these areas for a long period of time and have continued to cut away and trim at the flora and fauna in order to divide and mitigate it. (Of course, the deeper areas of the forests may be exempt from this condition.)

Included in the various flora presented are the horsetail-shaped weeds that were often seen in the Vilous manga episode 4, “The Twelve Plainswalkers.” Depending on the conditions of the environment, these weeds are able to shift their coloration within a rough spectrum consisting of purple, beige and light blue. 

Talyxian resin trees

The blue translucent trees presented actually display a curious nature, comparable to that of Earth-like synthetic resin (similar to plastic). These Talyxian ‘resin trees’ are prized as a valuable source for craft material, and feature a varied and wide range of types and modifiable attributes. Some types include glitter particles inside of them that shine by virtue of reflecting light. Some offer resistance to high temperatures and others have a high elasticity rate. Due to their beautiful appearance and high versatility, they are harvested by Eltus people and exported to Gold Ring, in order to be used in various ways such as material for accessories or tools.

These resins mainly originate from the surrounding Northern Talyxian biome forests. They were already known amongst Agudner craftsmen in the civilized areas such as Reono from old times. However, harvesting them from the more uncivilized areas proved difficult, as such they were not as common a material. In the Shigu monarchy period under General Rain’s rule, Northern people began to use resin trees in full swing as material for their weapons and so on. After the end of the war, they established processing methods and began to treat them as main exportable goods.

As most resins would, applied heat causes them to become soft, sticky, and malleable. Once they begin to cool, they will harden to a firm state, perfect for binding blades and shafts of spears together, as well as other tools. In the past, this resin resource was overlooked, as the trees were not seen as a food source for the rustic Northern lifestyle. However, in years closer to the modern era, these trees have dropped drastically in number as continued high demands for the resin led to overharvesting.

--- Bonus Section for Kiki’s Patreons ---

With regard to the mutation of Talyxian biome, the diversity of their shapes which form flora and grant its overall stability are greatly related. If they can not keep diversity and stability among them, tissues of the biome will coalesce with each other and become irregularly enormous. The Hexnose Forest from episode 4 “The Twelve Plainswalkers” is a notable example of such a phenomenon.

Unlike Eltus organisms, Talyxians do not have a fixed biology and it is their natural state. As Talyxian plants in forest areas such as the Magoe irregularly grow large and combine each other, distinguishing Talyxian organisms as a unitary species becomes actually very difficult. It can happen that a Talyxian is indistinguishable based on their form and ecological trends, when purely viewed through the criteria established by Eltus society. Despite this fluidity and hardship, people are still able to distinguish certain prominent features and attribute them a name, such as the “Dondokos” or “Weasels” and so on. Most of these cases are limited to domesticated animals having passed through the “trial by fire” process or animal type talyxian organisms which exhibit a similar nature to Eltus organisms. Classification of sessile type Talyxians is considered to be extremely difficult in most cases.

Among the important tasks Northern shamans take up, taxonomy, the study of attributing names to all things as part of “classification” is one of them. They are considered to perform fine and organic classification rites by use of sounds and nuances (tonality) which only Northern Sergals can recognize. This style is quite different from naturalistic taxonomy which is carried out in Gold Ring.

In a normal situation, Talyxian biome are supposed to irregularly combine and mix with each other, eventually growing too large, or becoming something different by incurring mutation. However, in this border region between the Astna Plains and Forest, they form an organized layer of flora, akin to that of the Eltus biome.

In the old times, most of the areas in the Astna region were occupied by forests, however, they have finally ended up in this state due to the long history of Talyxian Wolves Which have inhabited these areas for vast periods of time and have continued to cut away and trim at the biota in order to divide and prune it. Other reasons may also be considered, however, these Talyxian biomes under specific conditions can be seen exhibiting such a “behavior” which looks similar to Eltus organisms which obey physical laws.

These biomes have a comparatively stable mutability in most of the cases, and their chaotic nature is suppressed. Plus, they have few blank spaces which new plants can grow from, comparable to simple, vacant and barren lands. Due to these situations, they function as a natural barrier to the plains from the forest. Northern people call this border region as “Zyn’s barrier”. Also, a desert which incorporates salt can function as a “natural barrier” even if there's no such thing as a border region.

In areas where there are no T-Wolves, such as the Magoe and Lower Magoe, deserts like the Tors and the Sailzane function as boundaries, however, the border regions composed of the Talyxian biome are few. It can be said with regard to Reono that it exists in an unstable situation due to it being situated just next door to dangerous biomes, as well as being separated by a very thin boundary. However, as a result, this situation also brings up a rich, natural resource, enough to establish hunting as the main industry.

As for the Talyxian resin trees, Talyxian organisms can intake resin into their inner body and reconstitute it. These resin trees are also one example of these organisms, and most of their body tissues are composed of plastic-like resin. A detailed structure covering the reconstitution of resin is still undecided.