Zael ★ (The World)

There are two dominant cultures, one from the Alados and another from the Nocturnos. Both are races from the same species, these are defined according to their physical characteristics, which develop differently depending if when they are born they get sunlight or not.

The Alados (the winged-ones) are born with the light of The Vigilant (their main star). They develop wings, usually 2, 4 or 6. They have a wider range of color perception, lighter bones and weaker muscle. They are naturally individualistic.
They are the dominant culture, exerting violence over the Nocturnos. They consider themselves more civilized and proper, with the Nocturnos being "savages".

They have one leader and a counsil, where only mothers of many children can participate, these control the government, but the Supreme Leader makes the final decisions.
The members of the counsil wear white and silver clothes, while the rest of the people wear gray, purple, sky blue and gold. They style their hair in headdresses imitating feathers and also use earrings and tiaras with star motives. The ones with only two wings must cover their mouth and only speak when first spoken too.

Only a mother and her children are consider a family, with the "father" being a donor, some maintain a friendly relationship with their donors, but its highly expected for mothers to get another mate if their children with the previous one aren't "perfect". Perfect by them means, more like the Supreme Leader, more wings, white feathers, paler skin, lankier body.

The Leader controls the economy and goods, giving more to the mothers with many children and the ones with the most wings, less to the men and specially less to the ones of two wings. But everyone has their basic needs met and a place to sleep.

They frequently perform sacrifices of the ones born with an odd number of wings, as this is considered a deformity and atrocity by them. They believe that by feeding them to the grasshoppers their city will be safe. They also try to sacrifice the Nocturnos born in the city, but they fail most of the times.

The Nocturnos are born with no light, usually at the night under The Empress (their satellite). They are wingless, they cannot see as many colors as the Alados but they have night vision, their bones are denser and have more muscle mass, making them much stronger. They are naturaly collectivistic.
They have to frequently defend themselves from the Alados trying to maintain their population low, for example the waves they sent to drown them.

They have no leaders, all important decisions are made in assemblies at the esplanade next to the river. Some are more esteemed to give better opinions and have fresher ideas than others, still, everyone who wished to speak is listened to.

They don't have family units, they are all sterile and can only be born from an Alado, so they consider each other like brothes and sisters, and create their own circles with the people they want to.

Their economy is based on barter and borrowing, they have a "bank" where people leave useful objects and tools that others might use and return. Once a week a flea-market is organized to make the exchange of new things easier.
They have their own kind of music, usually played during this weekly event, that makes use of the ecco and resonace of the caverns to create different sounds.

Another important event occurs once in a while, where they smash dry flowers againts all walls, this maintains grasshoppers out of the city, as these creatures hate the odor.

The fauna that is mostly encountered here are arthropods, followed by annelids and then the rest.

The most important animal to the Alados and Nocturnos are the Giant Grasshoppers, which they refer to as The night vermin. These insects are their natural predators. The winged defend themselves by living very high, where the creatures cannot reach. The Nocturnos by making their city inhospitable to them, still, they encounter them more frequently.

Other comon creatures are red snakes with green mouth, found making holes inside the softer parts of the rock, white moths and spiders of the violet tree.

Most plants that grow in this territory are short, with only two kinds being taller than Nocturnos and Alados, the spiny bushes with purple bark and red leaves, and the violet trees. Many plants here have thorns and spines. There are also a wide variety of flowers and grass.

The most importan plant to the Nocturnos are the ones which drive away the grasshopers, these consist of a green or brown stem with many white petals growing on them. There are also some with pink petals, but the white ones have a stronger effect. Mature ones can reach the hip in lenght.