As boring as moss is, the prevalence of moss on Oscillus is impossible to ignore. The limited permafrost layer around Port and the greater expanse around Little Sol is blanketed with moss during the warmer season. During the Cylus, the moss lays dormant under thick layers of snow and ice.
Where moss is not present, there is lichen. It grows on rocks that pepper the flatlands of tundra at Little Sol and the small valleys at Port. It is an important food source to grazing animals.
Located inland amongst the moss and lichen around Little Sol, the white saxifrage has small white, curled flower. The flowers are extremely sweet, more so than sugar and they are therefore highly sought after amongst all grazing animals. The difficulty with eating the flowers is with every sweet tasting flower there are four or five mildly poisonous, awful tasting ones. Only a few grazing animals can tell the difference. The Ellune have been able to devise a method of separation and it is as simple as breaking off the flower and looking at the stalk. A black center is poisonous; a white center is safe to eat.
Located along rivers in both Little Sol and Port, the furr tree that grows very wide but not tall to avoid the ferociously freezing winds. The branches never exceed a few feet in height and expand outwards. The branches are coated by a fine furry bark that hangs below the trunk. This fur keeps the underside of the trunk warm while the top is exposed to sunlight, even during Cylus months.
Small green fruits are able to grow to one side of the trunk, sheltered from the cold prevailing winds. This sweet fruit is often collected by the Ellune. The fur too is useful for the Ellune who often slice it away and weave it to make loose, breathable clothing. The wood is fragile, porous and its honeycomb-like structure relies on capillary action of water to keep the structure intact. If a branch is removed from the main tree, the water will drain out of the branch and the wood will rapidly dry out, resulting in a powdery, talc-like structure that crumbles easily in the hand.
Located around Furr Trees, these mushrooms sit very low on the tundra and can grow to several feet in diameter. The cap is made of a solid material, similar to that of wood. This is to protect it from being eaten and also from being damaged when stepped on. The Ellune use bone as a lever to pry the cap free from the stalk. They have many uses for the cap of these mushrooms, ranging from using it as a shield, to a large carry tray.
A very rare flower that can grow in the coldest areas of Oscillus. The plant itself lives in the tundra areas as a low-lying thorny bush. Thousands of tiny seeds stick into animals that pass by. Like a parasite, they live in the body of the animal for months. When the animal dies, a flower grows out from the carcass of the body, using a boost of nutrients gathered from the animals flesh. If located in tundra, the plant will continue to grow into a bush, but if in ice, the flower will die. The blue flower, though short-lived, is used by the Ellune for its potent healing properties.
Located at the foot of mountains south and west of Little Sol and Port respectively, the leaves of this low lying ground creeper are covered in a glossy resin to protect it from the wind. This resin is highly reflective and each leaf is one of three primary colors. The dazzling display of color is used to entice animals towards the plant. The Ellune dismember sections of the creeper. The leaves are collected and the primary colors are mixed together in different combinations to create a variety of colored dyes.
This gigantic herbivore feeds mostly on moss, lichen, white saxifrage. They roam in all areas but are mostly prevalent around the colder area of Port. They grow to 8 foot high (2.5m) and 14 feet long (4.3m) and some can weigh up to 1800kg, making them a formidable size against predators. They are clad in thick hair that fall to the ground. The fur is particularly useful due to their heating properties and fine texture. The Ellune have little use of using the fur for clothing as it is far too warm for their needs, so they spin this into fine bags and baskets, exporting the rest to other nations.
The meat, however, is a main source of food for Ellune but the difficulty in killing them means they must organize large hunting parties to kill only a few of these beasts. Meat from these can feed several families for months. The strong bones and sinew left over from the bison make for good digging tools.
A domesticated and separate species to the woolly bison, the snow auroch is known for its enormous horns and only lives in the warmer areas of Little Sol. Little goes to waste once an auroch is slaughtered with the meat used for food, bones for tools, skins for vellum and the long horns for drinking cups.
A large and heavy horse domesticated by the Ellune for transportation and for hauling ice for the digging process. They are 2.5meters - a height that suits the tall Ellune. The horses are not covered in thick fur but rather have a thick layer of fat to act as an insulator against the cold. This means the horse is slow in speed but makes up for this with strength and hauling power. They come in a variety of colours - bay, chestnut, black and white.
Located throughout the tundra areas of Oscillus, the Ice Mole live below the permafrost layer and deep into the soil where it is not as cold. They are nocturnal and are unable to see well during the day but they make up for this by use of a type of sonar. Their claws are extremely sharp and durable allowing them to burrow through permafrost and even ice. These are a valuable commodity to the Ellune who use the claws mounted at the ends of their tools to aid their dig to Tried's heart. Unfortunately, these moles are few in number and notoriously difficult to capture.
The snow mouse thrives in the northern tundra around Little Sol. Covered in thick white fur, the mice feed on moss and lichen. Their numbers rise and fall dramatically every few arcs, often reaching plague like proportions at one point and falling to a few hundred at another. During the Cylus, they allow themselves to be frozen alive en-mass. Once Ymiden and Saun begins, they slowly thaw out. Many survive the process.
Populating mainly the tundra area around Little Sol with some packs located at Port, these little Devils are the bane of Oscillus. Snow Devils are small, white, wolf-like creatures with a thick upper neck and a large jaw. Their bite is so powerful that they can crush large bones. They also work in very large packs of fifteen to twenty Devils. They are unrelenting hunters and once fixated on their prey they rarely give up. Calves of the woolly bison are often targeted by these little terrors. The Ellune and their animal stock are constantly attacked from the Devils and it has become a problem yet to be properly addressed.
Roaming about all of Oscillus, these leopards have the ability for the color of their fur to interchange between white and black while they hunt. They use this in order to stay camouflaged in the snow during Cylus, with a white coat and black spots, and hide among the tundra in the Ymiden and Saun seasons, with a black coat and white spots. They are very lithe in their movements and make little sound while they stalk their prey. Their prey include woolly bison, snow devils, ice mole and snow mice.
These flightless birds are colossally large compared with other birds with some exceptionally large males reaching up to 10ft (3.05m) in length and tipping the scales at 4,400lb (2,000kg). They are also carnivores and spend most of their time in the ocean to feed on sharks and large fish. While they are superb swimmers, they are also capable of rapidly waddling on land or sliding on their bellies across the snow. Titan Penguins colonies are located on the frozen coastline to the east of Oscillus and their populations range at a few hundred or so monogamous pairs.
