Serin

Serin is a planet of the Virasana Empire, best known for being the homeworld of House Quetzal. Serin is covered in life - and every single blade of grass is out to eat you. Human life happens in highly sheltered towers, and only the most courageous venture outside to hunt for rare organic materials, poisons and drugs that sell for fortunes on the markets of the Empire.

## Climate

* no moons
* humid temperate to tropical, virtually no axis tilt
* one ocean, the Green Sea, countless larger lakes
* violent and omnivorous flora, fauna present but almost negligible (with exceptions, of course)

## History

* Ancestral home of House Quetzal
* medium N'Ptalini population
* no serfs, 70% slaves, even many highly qualified specialists are slaves

## Culture

While Serini partygoers import music of all styles and every corner of the empire, there is a significant amount of unique ambient music coming from the green planet.

Very little food is grown on Serin, at least very little that isn't poisonous or highly unique designer drugs. Almost all food is imported, and while there is little in terms of a local cuisine, event dining on Serin is an entertainment that knows no equal.

While it is a well known fact that Serin is the avant-garde hotbed of all kinds of body-modifications, rarely anyone off-planet is aware that variety and burlesque-style shows are currently seeing a magnificent bloom within the windowless towers of Serin.

Everyone thinking of Serin immediately sees intrepid hunters daring the violent flora, and some will even think of the endless parties, the drugs and gambling among the hunters of the Anyway. But there is also a solid culture of Gladiator Fights and glider races. And of course, the Serin Tumbleweeds, a small but highly motivated hoverball team that regularly ends up in the highest ranks of the Imperial Hoverball League.

## Fauna and Flora

Serin is notorious for its vicious, anthropophagous plantlife. That it also has a host of poisonous, aggressive animals barely registers in contrast to the spectacularly dangerous flora. On Serin, it is safe to assume that everything can and will kill you.

Some notable plants include

* Dakka - often considered the most dangerous of Serin's plants, this perennial flower is sought after as drug, poison and disinfectant.
* Tentacle Trees - the plant most commonly associated with Serin's man-eating fauna, these purple and violet trees have stunningly agile branches with which they can snatch prey off the ground and drop it into their ventral acid pit to digest them. They can uproot themselves and move at a slow walking speed.
* Grandfather BaoBao - These herbivore plants can grow to heights of several hundred feet, and while their crowns remain relatively narrow, their trunks can grow to immense widths. While overall less mobile than most species on Serin, they have highly agile secondary roots with which they can grab nearby plants and pull them towards their maw, which is located at the bottom of their trunk between the main roots. Grown devouring Grandfather trees are known to have cleared anything around them in a thirty-feet-radius with ease.
* Bladegrass - these lumps of knee-high grass are admittedly pretty with their red-and-translucent striped leaved, and yet they are one of the best known unwelcome souvenirs from this planet. While less motile than many other plants, the leaves of bladegrass can suddenly bend and will cut any unprotected flesh of a passing animal or person. While not problematic by itself, the bladegrass seeds into these cuts and will grow undetected around the victim's bones until it reaches sufficient size. Then, within the span of a few hours, it'll produce leaf nodes which will cause tremendous pain in the victim, before sprouting leaves in all directions, effectively killing its host. As bladegrass infections are barely noticeable by anything but the highest-level medical scans, death by bladegrass is a rare but way too common cause of death for travellers from Serin.
* Windflowers - while the actual plants are uncommonly harmless, they produce light, fluffy seeds that can be carried for miles by the wind. Those seeds can attach to almost any plant- or animal-based organic matter, and will take root there. While a windflower infestation in humans is barely painful, it has no known medical cure and if not cut out in an early stage will eventually kill its host. The tell-tale root canals under the skin and even visible green leaves are an unfortunately common sight in Serin's poor quarters.
* Hanging Trees - Not as mobile as their better-known brethren, these plants appear like liana-covered, gnarled trees. The dangling lianas, though, will spray bouts of highly caustic acid on any creature passing by. The acid is rarely lethal, but extremely painful and can quickly blind the victim. While the victim stumbles around or lies on the ground, writhing in pain, the tree has sufficient time to entangle the victim with its lianas, pull it up and slowly digest it there. The tree's silhouette with various corpses dangling from the larger branches has led to the name 'Hanging Tree'.
* Artillery Pods -
* Strangle Brambles -
* Sleeping Beauties -
* Cradle of Death - soft and clean looking but sticky death trap
* Grenade Trees -
* Landmine Tubers -
* Blinking Dakitas -

Some notable animals include

* long-legged turtle
* giant amoebae - native to he humid jungles of Serin, these very simple creatures can grow to translucent blobs of slime a good cubic meter in volume. Slow but near-impossible to kill, these creatures make for excellent waste-disposal units and are occasionally kept as pets by Serini nobles.

## Noble Domains

* Count Grisha Quetzal rules over much of the aequatorial jungles of Serin, leaving much of the planet's Dakka production in his hands. He has his seat in one of the few underground settlements of the planet, fitting located in an active volcano.
* Count Nicolai Quetzal rules the nothern mountain ranges and surrounding forrests. Relatively new to the title, he has only recently dismembered his father in the trone room with a double-bladed axe. Massively muscular and an experienced monster-hunter himself, he prides himself of having raised a litter of Svansgardian Leionas as his bodyguards. He is notorious for using physical and sexual violence to 'housetrain' the people around him. His family resides in a flying, spherical fortress hovering above the Narinaga Mountains, making most of their fortune with hunting down the local wildlife and selling them as 'monsters' for freakshows and gladiator fights all across the empire.
* Countess Murkowski Quetzal rules the ancient forrest regions of south-west Serin. Her family has always overseen the breeding and elevation of human and hybrid super-soldiers, but since her youth she has taken an unusually hands-on approach. Not only is she a highly skilled geneticist and doctor, she is also highly modified with bioware herself. She insists that artificial uteruses are inferior to the biological original and keeps an entire retinue of pregnant ladies-in-waiting 'producing' her latest collections. She keeps breeding her 'masterpieces' herself, constantly pregnant, leading to her title as the 'Broodmother of Nightmares'. Her homebase is a massive organic blob that resembles nothing more than a giant wasp's nest.
* Countess Talulah Quetzal rules the north-eastern plains of Serin. The deceptive beauty of her flower-covered steppes has influenced her family's style - her white-and-rose tower is one of the very few better known images of Serin. Countess Talulah is a staunch transhumanist and has converted her body into cybernetic replacements almost completely. While she appears unusually soft-spoken and mild for a Quetzal, her penchant for appearing at least with three identic bodies at any given event reminds everyone that there is a reason she and her family are thriving on Serin. Her county makes most of its income from slave breeding and training, particularly lineage and exotic pets.
* Count T'laloc N'Pata Quetzal heads the N'Pata Quetzal family line consisting exlusively of N'Ptalini. He rules over Serin's only ocean, the Green Sea, and resides in a deep sea base a quarter mile under water. While one of the calmer high-ranking Quetzal on Serin, he is renowned for heading out into the sea at lenght alone and without any protective gear - people say him being a priest of Y'Bathar makes him cold and unpredictable as the sea itself.

## Snippets

* The Deadly Windflowers are an autonomous commoner-owned gladiator troupe that tours the empire when not running shows in their main base on Serin
* Due to centuries of dispute with the church has led to House Quetzal banning all temples and churches, only allowing travelling priests. In particular, all members of Temple Belligra are watched with deep distrust.
* In perfect keeping with Serin's penchant for grisly euphemisms, one of the better known tourist guide through the planet's untamed wilderness is called 'Softly sing the Dakitas'.

## Notable Serini

 Elayne Quetzal Gregorius Quetzal T'laloc N'Pata Quetzal
## Other Articles on Serin

 Anyway Dakka Green Sea Serin Tumbleweeds The Lair