The Nature Collection:
Things that grow, and the natural phenomena it must weather.
Avalanche
The snow normally deadens sound for miles, but a rumble reaches you here, distant and thundering. Hundreds of feet above you, an ocean of ice and snow casts its shadow. Cascading down the mountain, a wall of frozen death rushes to embrace you.
Polar Bear
The bear ripples with muscle under its soft white fur. Its black nose is like a small lump of pure coal, the eyes obsidian beads. One paw after another, each the size of a serving dish, lifts lazily and thumps onto the ice. When the white bear stands and opens its dark mouth, you feel the terrifying presence of a pure savage wearing the coat of an angel.
Heat Wave
The hellish swelter has lasted for days. Breezes hit you like the mocking breath of a cruel dragon, wells are running dry, and even the shade is stifling. Winged scavengers take to the cloudless sky, the throne for the unrelenting sun, and circle in search for any who have succumbed to the rising temperature.
Dolphins at Play
The sleek, blue-gray hides of the dolphins gleam in the sun, salt-spray sparkling with prismatic light when they surface—again and again. There must be a dozen or more, darting through the water as one, leaping in long, sweeping arcs over the rolling waves. They chatter to one another, and to you, as their cunning, dark eyes bid you to give chase.
Mauled Horse
The sadness here competes with the horror of the animal’s death. A leg sits shredded to the bone, and muscle across the flank is exposed under the long cuts of claws. There are great masses bitten from the neck, but the horse’s face is intact, its upward eye still open. For an instant, there is the sick feeling the horse may yet live, but no. Too much damage was done, not near fast enough.
Mud Slide
The trail vanishes, buried under an avalanche of wet earth and tumbled stones. The face of a hillside, soaked by recent rain, sheared away and collapsed, burying all in its path. Rivulets of muddy water trickle from the massive heap, and a clatter and splash tells you some part of the mud slide is still moving.
Badger
The badger’s relatively large head makes up fully one-third of its squat, compact length. It looks as if it would not pose much of a threat, and yet tales persist of their ferocity when defending their dens, their savage bite, and the power of their digging claws when applied to flesh rather than soil.
Drought in the Land
The ground is brown and cracked all the way out to the horizon. Only withered shrubs dot the landscape under a harsh sun. You spot farmlands long deserted, and the image of a distant town rippling through the haze. A few wispy clouds blow in the sky above, with nary a sign of rain.
Lizard
That face is a bumpy sculpture of stern humor. The long, dead gaze. The sudden flick of a tongue tasting the air. Its feet and claws are older than human time, its armor of scales and fleshy tail emblems of the lost world. And then, in the cool of a sunset, it races to some hidden place, leaving behind only the empty landscape and the lurking night.
Aurora Borealis
As the sky darkens, a wavering light manifests. At first, it seems an illusion, but soon enough other waves of light join the first. Vibrant greens, blues, and purples, separated by strands of gold and silver—each undulating above like waves on a calm sea. The lights cast the world below in a strange glow.
Rats Bursting from Corpse
The dwarf’s body stretches grotesquely from within as you get closer. Suddenly, with a sickening rip like tearing parchment, a swarm of gore-covered, beady-eyed rats bursts from the belly of the corpse. They scatter among the stinking offal and flee into the darkness.
Natural things and events
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Index
Descriptions of flora and fauna, from the garden-variety to the fantastical. Also, descriptions of natural, geological, and celestial phenomena, such as rain, earthquakes, and meteor showers. A variety of scenes are available for free, but complete access requires a Hero or Celestial subscription.