Tim Morris' Art and Project Blog

Among sapient thinkers of different kinds upon Aion, from human to non-human, post-human and alien alike, one question became paramount as the years wore on. That question was, how and why did Aion come about? The time-portals and hodgepodge nature of its fauna and flora seemed to indicate an outside force behind populating the planet. But the rather earth-like climate of Aion and its lucky position in a solar system of relatively unremarkable planetoids suggest that its formation may have been somewhat like that of earth. One vital clue was there all along, Aion lacks a molten core, and any kind of plate tectonics or vulcanism, and yet it is estimated to have been hosting life for as long as 1.5 billion years. Any other planet lacking plate tectonics would have worn down to a boiling morass of mud and sand by this point. The less pragmatic races of Aion largely did not concern themselves with the question of whence their world came, as their pagan and ancestor-worshiping religio...

Hello again, time for another Aion post, - The preponderance of sapient races found upon Aion has meant one important thing for its fauna, that some animals underwent domestication. Although humans can claim to be the most proficient at domesticating various Aionian fauna, the Dinomachy are also extremely adept at this practice. After all, it is only the Dinomachy and their cronies that have mastered the art of using certain dinosaurs as mounts for labor, transport and war.  Here we shall discuss a few animals that have been rather modified physically by the process of domesticating them for purpose.     The ethnic group of Aionian humans colloquially known as "Dinomachian Cronies", have styled much of their culture after the Dinomachy, but the places they differ are the most fascinating. It is a common hobby in the cities and settlements of the cronies, to attentively breed ornamental strains of the ubiquitous Placoderm-fish, Bothriolepis. These domestic strains usually ...

 Hello again, One more Aion post for now. - Today we shall be discussing the polar regions of the world of Aion, and some of their fauna. The south-polar circle of Aion encircles most of a landmass known as Pinguinotia, and the northern-polar circle forms a region of sea and coast referred to as Odobenotia. The reasons for this naming becomes clear when we consider the naming of Earth's Arctic and Antarctic. The Arctic basically means "bears" and accordingly is home to the Polar Bear, while the Antarctic means "without bears" for obvious reasons. Thus, upon Aion we have a similar naming convention, the polar regions are named from their eponymous megafauna.   Odobenotia, the northern-polar circle, is home to this very large walrus. It is descended from something like Gomphotaria, which soon became adapted for polar conditions by being larger and more blubbery than its ancestor. It uses its lower tusks to dredge the sea floor in order to find clams, which it crun...

Hello again, This is probably the last in my recent sequence of Aion posts, for now. - In this post we will take a look at some rather distinctive Aionian fungi.   This mid-sized brown mushroom grows on rotten wood and at the bases of trees, found from the temperate zone to the sub-tropics. Related to the Shiitake, not only is it edible, but it is known to have numerous valuable medicinal properties.   This fair-sized mushroom is a close relative of the Amanita, and grows from the sub-tropics into the tropical zone in well-watered areas. It is distinctive not only by its bright purple coloration and lack of spots, but that it is Aion's most poisonous fungi if consumed. Although it is obviously not valued as a recreational drug (as opposed to its relative), it is said to have terrifying hallucinatory effects that are a prelude to the poison taking your life. This is attested by the very few people who have managed to survive its poison.   This fungus is known sometimes as ...

Hello again, This is another in the series I have been doing about the world of Aion, my world-building project.  - In this post I shall elucidate the uniqueness and diversity of the plants found within Champsopia's arid, and semi-arid regions. It seems that the portals which have been present here specifically allowed for these unusual kinds of plants to disperse from Earth into this area of Aion, which proved suitable for them.   In areas of arid and semi-arid desert along the eastern coast, we see this plant which is a close relative of Welwitschia. It differs mainly in being smaller and somewhat broader in shape, and its leaf-structures tend to remain more whole instead of fraying into large loops. We see this Desert Rose in areas of arid and semi-arid shrubby-desert in the central-east, a close relative of the genus Adenium. Growing wider and fatter than it is tall, its thick trunk allows it to strongly resist drought conditions, and a single plant can live for many year...

 Hello again, I went deep down the world-building rabbit-hole last night. After burning the midnight-oil, I managed to create some new Aion maps that I can safely say were made to the very best of my ability, with lots of research. Be sure to click the images for a larger view. - First, here is a demographic map showing all the major settlements of the different non-human races of Aion. Secondly, here is a map of all of the major waterways found on Aion. These are all of the large rivers and lakes. Note that there would of course be many smaller streams and rivers that are beyond the scope of this wide-view-map. And finally, this is the one I worked the hardest on, a map of all the different biomes found upon Aion. Constructing this map involved considering prevailing winds, rain-shadows, precipitation, oceanic currents and other factors. Not that there are a few biomes here that are different from those found on earth.   -   All images, designs and writing on this blog ...

Hello again, Here is another important post about Aion, my world-building project. In this post, we will explore the native botany of this world, while focusing mostly on the species that differ from the familiar earthly varieties that are also present. Also, many of these plants have cultural and medicinal uses that I will outline as I describe them. -   This prodigious Pitcher-Plant grows at ground-level in tropical montane-rainforest. It is the largest carnivorous plant found upon Aion, each pitcher may reach as much as 50 centimeters tall. As well as trapping insects, its size allows it to trap and consume little vertebrates such as lizards, frogs and small mammals.   This domestic variety of Daikon Radish is commonly grown by different Aion races, including the Dinomachy, Tusked Folk and various ethnic groups of humans. It reaches even bigger sizes than the largest earthly strains of Daikon Radish. Known to readily run wild and grow in undisturbed habitats that are wet en...

 Hello again, I have just now finished scanning a bunch of new Aion pictures. These will feature in a series of blog posts over the next week. - The first post is a combination of old and new images. The subject is the variety of symbiotes and parasites that have evolved on Aion.   This first one is a tiny, odd placoderm no more than 6 centimetres long. It converges upon Clingfish in shape, and in the presence of a pectoral sucker that can hold it in place. It is almost always found inhabiting the crowns of stalked Crinoids, in particular the larger kind.   This barnacle is closely related to the sea-turtle barnacles, but exclusively infests various sauropterygians and other large marine reptiles. Encrustations of these can vary depending on the health and motility of the host.   This chewing Philopterid bird-louse is known to infest feathered theropod-dinosaurs of various sorts, it is thought to have evolved for this purpose. However, in habitats where giant flightl...

 Hello again, I have come to the end of adding new species to Aion's fauna-and-flora list, I made a hard-limit of 700 which I am sticking to. - For a final threat, and a nice bit of world-building, I will explore a part of Aion that is mostly unknown to even the smartest of its residents, apart from a few select species that came to light by accident. By that I mean the abyss and deep-sea, an area virtually no one on Aion is equipped to explore sufficiently. We can assume that Aion's abyssal fauna is as varied and unique as that on earth, from what little of it has made it to our attention, usually strange forms that may be caught in fishing nets or wash up on the shore.   This extremely unusual variety of hammerhead-shark completely lacks eyes, and seeks prey on the abyssal plain by a combination of scent, and the electro-and-mechano-receptors which cover its crescent face. It measures no longer than 1 meter.   This unusual arthropod dwells upon the abyssal plain and som...