Biography

Lander is a star-nosed mole residing in Cosmopolis, the largest city in the entire world of Xarcadia. They live in a small apartment where they collect all manners of space-themed paraphernalia. Lander is a kind-hearted and gentle soul, though a bit frivolous and inattentive. They are easily embarrassed in new situations with strangers, and can quickly become frustrated and frightened when a person becomes confrontational with them. They enjoy jokes and humor, but their sense of humor can be a little confusing or strange to people not used to it - it relies primarily on unintuitive wordplay, alliteration, repeating words, and the coining of neologisms. However, any joke that would take more than three sentences to explain completely befuddles them

 

Being a mole, they are almost totally blind. This doesn’t affect their daily life too much - being a mole, their sense of touch is dramatically more sensitive than most people and the use of a white cane is more than sufficient to get them around. 

 

Lander is obsessed with outer space. At virtually any time they are fixated upon the concept of the stars in the sky. It is a fixation that affects most any decision they make on a daily basis: the food they eat, the clothing they wear, and the hobbies they choose all revolve around the concept that they could be related to space in some way. Their ultimate dream is to one day take a ride into space - something that could feasibly become a reality, as space travel is relatively common on Xarcadia.

 

Aside from space itself, Lander’s primary special interest is “Star Moles”, an old multimedia franchise that has long since been cancelled. As a mole who was born with distinctive star-shaped fur markings, Lander has been compared to the Star Moles characters since birth. This has developed into them becoming totally obsessed with everything Star Moles. They have plushes of all of the main seven moles, authentic vintage T-shirts that were made to fit someone less than half their size, tape recordings of every episode of the original cartoon, even the ceramic Anti-Earthworm figurines that are worth well over a thousand Coins each in mint condition. Lander even likes to think of themself as a “lost” Star Mole, and has very strong opinions about what that means.    

 

Lander also enjoys writing. Their primary project is a series called Starfolk of the Skies. It is an intensely detailed multi-book series that covers hundreds of different anthropomorphic celestial beings over a span of thousands of years. Though it is an incredibly complicated body of work, Starfolk of the Skies possesses a small devoted fanbase that help keep Lander financially afloat. 

 

The most notable members of this fanbase include Lander’s closest friends: Price, Sunday, and the Operating System. As all three of them have steady jobs, they can afford to pitch in to buy Lander’s stories and help them survive. They sometimes will hang out with Lander and watch Star Moles together; it is Lander’s “thing”, but they are so sincerely enthusiastic about it they make it a good time for everybody. Lander is a gracious and generous friend; although they rarely have a lot to spare, they will fall down head over feet to provide for someone in need.

 

Lander spends most of their time in their apartment, working on the latest Starfolk of the Skies stories and only occasionally leaving for errands. They are not agoraphobic per se, but prefer to remain in a comfortable environment whenever possible. Due to their physical and mental disabilities a task as simple as grocery shopping can become an all-day event that requires much prepwork. When in a good groove Lander can be productive on a surprising scale; when feeling unwell, they may need days to recover. Lander’s support network of friends is critical for them being able to live a coherent life.

 

What is most interesting about Lander is their actual relation to the Star Moles - the real Star Moles. The Star Moles series was based off of a real mythological belief, similar to unicorns, of a gargantuan space-mole that “burrowed” through the vacuum of space. Since birth Lander has been covered in very distinctive star-shaped markings, drawing comparisons from their family to the famous space-mole. Lander has since closely identified themself with this creature; their belief that they are a “lost” Star Mole, though heavily filtered through the lens of pop culture, is still rooted in real mythos.

 

Is Lander a genuine lost space-mole? Have they been touched by the space-mole in some way? Do they have a great destiny or are they just a normal person? There’s no real way to know, but Lander’s going to be living their best life for as long as they can otherwise. They genuinely enjoy living in the big city and being surrounded by their friends.