The Shattered Realm: Creative

[Krishnath]

I think "Can't be blocked by creatures with flying" would work well in green, and possibly red and black as well. It could be flavored in multiple ways from stalking through undergrowth and hugging the ground, to literally moving to erratically to be easily targeted by airborne predators. Once a bird of prey is in attack mode, it is very difficult for it to actually change direction.

[Feyd_Ruin]

can't be blocked by creatures with flying

In the past it had been a solely-red ability but Skyblinder Staff is the most recent printing. I don't see why we couldn't open it up.


Saprolings almost always have a symbiotic relationship with something. What if the dandelion saprolings have a symbiotic relationship with the treefolk, and were used to spread treefolk seeds across the world? This would be one of the ways the treefolk have survived in such an opposing environment?

Speaking of Treefolk, I think one of their defining aspects might be that they're smaller and more ambulatory than some of the treefolks we're used to. Less like Yavimaya Ancients, more like Rootless Yew. This would let them move through their environment better. They'd still use the saprolings so their seeds could spread to regions they couldn't easily reach. Perhaps having a yearly ceremony, during a day when the winds are at their strongest and the saprolings are in bloom. The saprolings bloom their dandelion heads, and the treefolk attach their own seeds to a few. The sky grows bright and twinkles as vast bloom-clouds of floating seeds spread across the world.

[Krishnath]

Speaking of Treefolk, I think one of their defining aspects might be that they're smaller and more ambulatory than some of the treefolks we're used to. Less like Yavimaya Ancients, more like Rootless Yew. This would let them move through their environment better. They'd still use the saprolings so their seeds could spread to regions they couldn't easily reach. Perhaps having a yearly ceremony, during a day when the winds are at their strongest and the saprolings are in bloom. The saprolings bloom their dandelion heads, and the treefolk attach their own seeds to a few. The sky grows bright and twinkles as vast bloom-clouds of floating seeds spread across the world.

I like this idea, the saprolings are also considerably smaller than treefolk, most only being the size of an average housecat, so even saprolings who are not granted flight could still spread the seeds of the treefolk by virtue of being able to cross bridges (natural or artificial) that the treefolk simply can't due to their size and weight.

[Feyd_Ruin]

Thus far, our suggestions / ideas on Races:

White: Soltari, Avens, Griffons
Blue: Thalakos, Homunculus, Krakens & Serpents, Faerie
Black: Dauthi, Harpy
Red: Viashino, ( Goblins or Kobolds), Drakes/Wyvern, Dragons
Green: Elves, Spiders, Treefolk, Beasts, Saproling Tokens, Cat People

Color is loose, as we could easily choose to spread across colors, add gold, etc, later.

We've still got a bit of fleshing out to do, so I'm just going to spitball a bunch of ideas and see what people like.

White:
Do we want Angels? Or do we want a different iconic fat? Archon? Felidar? Lammasu?
Should we have Pegasus and Griffons, or just one? Hippogriffs?
I feel like we need a terrestrial secondary. We could spread Cat People into White? Or add Foxfolk?

Blue:
Blue seems harder for me. Vedalken? Flying jellyfish?

Black:
Thrulls, or some other kind of unthinking servant to the Dauthi. As social elite, they would want servants to cater to the mindless jobs that are beneath them. Status for the high and mightily could be affected by the quality of their servants.
Horrors. The dark crevices where light never reaches have twisted things into the unimaginable. They could be the large black creatures that even the Dauthi have to contend with?
I feel like we need another good secondary here too. Ratfolk? They could give a strong juxtaposition from the Aristocrat Dauthi.

Red:
How are we feeling on the Goblins vs Kobolds?
I like kobolds to set us apart slightly, and since they are a draconic race like Viashino. They do have a bit of a size problem, but we could easily push them into 1/1s and 2/1s. Their size seems well adapted to the environment. I have no real objection with going with Goblins instead if that's what people like more though.

Green:
Green seems fairly fleshed out.
How are we landing on cat-people, it seemed the only up-in-the-air?

[Krishnath]

My thoughts on the sapient races/species:

Humans: The baseline, present in all colors and with access to all classes. I am thinking that they are split between those who dwell in settlements and traveling caravans comprised of merchants, nomads, and explorers. The primary drivers of trade between the other races.

Soltari: A primarily white aligned race. Many clerics, soldiers, and knights. I am thinking highly rigid society and very religious. Sun worshipers perhaps? They live near and on the upper layers of the plane. Their wizards tend to study astronomy and weather patterns.

Thalakos: A primarily blue aligned race. Mostly comprised of scholars and wizards. They primarily live in the slightly dusky middle layers of the plane, where the day is near constant twilight. I am thinking they tend towards becoming obsessive. Practically worship knowledge, and hoard it in great stone libraries (possibly guarded by Sphinxes), but freely share their knowledge with anyone that offers knowledge in return. Their obsession with acquiring knowledge sometimes leads to insanity. They often create Humunuculi to aid in their research.

Dauthi: A primarily black aligned race. I see these as having a caste based society, but with lots of upwards and downwards mobility between the castes. A society that rewards ambition and punishes lack thereof. This social strata fluidity leads to conflict with the rigid society of the Soltari. The Dauthi live in the lower layers of the plane, just barely above "The Abyss Below", and they are the ones that most often have to deal with the creatures from there. They are ruled by an Emperor or Empress, and the heir is chosen from the most capable of the nobility. The Throne is served by a cadre of assassins raised from birth. The true purpose of the Assassins is not necessarily to protect the ruler, but to ensure that if the Ruler somehow endangers the Dauthi Empire, they are removed in favor of someone else.

Viashino: Closely related to dragons, and very a fierce race aligned with red. Viashino tribes consist primarily of raiders and corsairs that raid other races. Exceptional members of the race eventually develop dragon like features, often including wings that allow them to glide from one drifting rock to another, among these a few continue their metamorphosis, becoming more and more draconic as they grow in power and size. Legends tell of a scant few Viashino that completed their transformation into full dragons, and it is something every hatchling dreams of achieving, and it is what drives their culture to raid and accumulate wealth and resources, including raiding other Viashino clans.

Elves: The Elves are green aligned, and slightly xenophobic, disliking most other races. They have domesticated several different species of spider to act as mounts, cattle, and pets. And worship a spider goddess. Unlike Lolth of D&D however, their spider goddess is a protector and guardian of the natural order as well as a master weaver. She is also the protector of children. The elves use spidersilk for their clothing, and even spin it into strong strings and rope of light weight compared to the ropes of other races.

Aven: The Aven of the World are aligned with white and blue, and consider themselves the rulers of the plane, although pretty much all the other sapient races disagree with this idea. And despite their prideful natures, they never manage to muster a large enough force to assert their will over the entire plane. Despite this, they tend to get along well with most of the other races.

Cat People: A secretive and reclusive race aligned with green and white(?) that rarely interact with most of the other races, preferring to stay in their hidden and very well defended cities. They rarely interact with other races than the Elves and Aven, and their relation to the bird people is strained at best. They used to be considerably more numerous, and rumors persist that they are the reason the world is shattered (not that there is any evidence that the world has ever been "whole".)

Faeries. The Faeries are, well, weird. Tiny, intelligent creatures with short lifespans (that often end in the belly of larger predators), and a more or less constant glow in one of the colors of the rainbow. They can be found nearly everywhere from the dusky realms of the Dauthi to the cloudy skies above the highest Aven and Soltari settlements. Each individual Faerie only ever glows one color, the specific color can vary from a soft silvery white to a vibrant and dark purple and back again. Greens, blues, and reds are other common colors. Despite their short lifespans and tendency to die easily, they fortunately breed at an exceptionally rapid rate, sometimes to such an extent that they occasionally are considered pests. Some Thalakos researchers speculate that they are a natural manifestation of the planes mana currents.

Other Thoughts:

I am fine with either Goblins or Kobolds. And although I prefer the former, i am self aware enough that I realize that it is because I am a longtime D&D player, and associate them with small reptilian humanoids related to dragons, so as long as we avoid that trope we should be fine with it.

As for other creatures. I think we should go with Lammasu as the big white flier, they are rarely used and fit well with a world such as this. Griffins are a must for white, and since they require a prey animal, we should have pegasi as well as they work great as a large herbivore on a plane where flight is an advantage.
For blue, I really like the idea of giant flying "sea food" so to speak, Serpents and Krakens, Jellyfish, Whales and Squid, and maybe, just maybe, a single massive airborne Leviathan (Ooh, a leviathan associated with storms?). Drakes and Wyverns should also show up in blue, split with red (with possibly a one of in another color?). We can also put a few amphibians here, as most amphibians are capable climbers, and a few can glide.
Black should obviously have Harpies, they are an obvious "dark" counter part to the Aven. We should also not dismiss undead creatures for black, I think using Specters as the primary undead for the plane would work well, but we could also have a few zombies and vampires. The thought of a Dauthi Vampire appeals to me. Black should also have things like rats, bats, snakes, and some insects. Horrors should also go here, and could be natives to "The Abyss Below".
Red: In addition to whichever we go with of Goblin or Kobold, and of course Dragons, red should share Drakes/Wyvern with blue. We can also use the occasional Manticore and Phoenix.
Green: Spiders are a must for the Elves, it gives the latter a unique aspect. One or two treefolk (with associated saprolings) sounds like a good idea. Also a good idea to put a few snakes and bugs here, as well as big "gliding" cats. The gliding cats should be shared with red, and could even show up as a one or two of in white. Lizards also go into green. And Apes/Monkies. If we go with a race of sapient apes, we should skip the catfolk above, as having both would be redundant. The apes should also show up in red.
Multiple Colors I think the setting would benefit from having a few elementals spread among the colors, not to mention spirits.

Just a few thoughts.

[folding_music]

(can we get some sort of thread to toss designs about? not submissions to the set, that'd be premature, but more like to practise making commons that suit the environment and writing flavour text n stuff. not a big thing but a useful thing!)

I think we actually have too many creature types at this point ) I guess just about any iconic agile thing can appear as a one-of without really needing to be on the spec anyway, im just thinking about the primaries and secondaries and my pet floating saprolings for now

some cute ideas I was thinking about:

1: a farmer whose field spans multiple floating islands and who has become somewhat of an inventor to keep up with the demands of traversing the thing, could be a minor legend

2: barnacle creatures and bats living on the undersides of the islands - look at all that free real estate

3: thalakos folk together with illusionary homunculaic underlings magically organizing the floating islands into a regular spiral and then proceeding down it in a cathartic procession to who knows where

[Krishnath]

@folding_music

1. That sounds incredibly fun.
2. This meshes well with the ideas of "flying seafood specials" (I.e. flying squid, jellyfish, kraken, etc.)
3. That sounds like an interesting concept. And I would like to know more. Things like this can really "suck" people into the setting.

[folding_music]

I guess I'm more of a visionary than an explainer >:3

[dangerousdice]

1: a farmer whose field spans multiple floating islands and who has become somewhat of an inventor to keep up with the demands of traversing the thing, could be a minor legend

I really like that idea! i'll try to come up with a card design for him! (I won't post it `here, of course, as I don't want to derail the thread.)

[Feyd_Ruin]

Sapient Cat Warriors or Sapient Apes?
Kobolds or Goblins?

@void_nothing you're our creative lead. Want to steer us, or make us vote?

[void_nothing]

Nah, I'm not going to force a redundant discussion and a time-consuming vote. This is my CCC board and it's a benevolent all-knowing dictatorship.

Cat Warriors in green - and yeah, I'd say not leonin. Nacatl would be fine but I like leopardfolk a lot. I think we can have a few nishobas as their racial cousins as midsize creatures.

Kobolds over Goblins. Let's do something with them that lets them be something other than the infamous classic Kobolds.

[SecretInfiltrator]

Since Elves associate with Spiders, I like the idea of Elves bonding with individual Spiders/webs and maintaining those traps with their Bonded, but Elves between each other not having a unified society in the form of large settlements "hanging out" between two Steadfasts.

I think we don't need a full list of possible wildlife and secondary races. We'll see what comes back from the first brainstorm of Vision Design. After all top-down is better with some trickle up.

---

Speaking of trickling. How do you think the five basic land types each look on this plane? Are there multiple answers? What does everyone think of having some sort of humidity based vertical structure? It would start with arid vegetation-sparse rocky (Mountain) places at the top and clouds collecting and raining below Steadfasts causing lower places to become more humid, first shrubby Plains, then more trees growing into Forests becoming jungle like, with larger mid-lower continents sometimes collecting lakes that overflow into waterfalls and have Islands. and those holding the water long enough to grow stagnant becoming Swampy.

Similar questions could be asked about temperature.

Somewhat fits the distribution of races with Soltari closer to the top and Dauthi down below.

---

Do we have an idea how the five main races look? The Rathi variants of the trio have been warped to many different shapes, so we can use them as guideline or do something of our own with it, but I'd definitely look for something that tells us how they are different from each other and also from Humans.

Do we have some people who excel at or are really interested in finding artwork? I think it would help us and others to imagine out world if we had at least one or two reference illustrations of what we think they should look to give us a unified vision early (we might also choose Magic-art if we feel one particular Soltari-look could be our default). I'd collect them as some sort of style guide over here.

[SecretInfiltrator]

Do we want Angels? Or do we want a different iconic fat? Archon? Felidar? Lammasu?

I'd go with whatever feels right for the rare creatures we get. Though mirroring Specters/Archons as famous flying-mount-riders might be an idea.

Blue seems harder for me. Vedalken? Flying jellyfish?

With Humans and Thalakos in, I think, Vedalken seem redundant.

Thrulls, or some other kind of unthinking servant to the Dauthi. As social elite, they would want servants to cater to the mindless jobs that are beneath them. Status for the high and mightily could be affected by the quality of their servants.

Rathi Dauthi were split between big-teethed humanoids and nightmare fuel of Dauthi Jackal and Dauthi Mindripper that go for a different effect than what represents "shadow" in Dauthi illustrations. I always wanted to find a way why there is a Dauthi Jackal creature to begin with (the obvious answer probably is, that Dauthi never were actually supposed to be a race/species, but a culture like Keldon or Shivan, but w/e).

We could go with something unique to their race where individuals are able to spawn low-intelligence animalistic hand-servants. That would give their caste system a twist.

[Krishnath]

Nah, I'm not going to force a redundant discussion and a time-consuming vote. This is my CCC board and it's a benevolent all-knowing dictatorship.

Cat Warriors in green - and yeah, I'd say not leonin. Nacatl would be fine but I like leopardfolk a lot. I think we can have a few nishobas as their racial cousins as midsize creatures.

Kobolds over Goblins. Let's do something with them that lets them be something other than the infamous classic Kobolds.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Nishoba aren't midsized creatures, they are giant sized. They are so large that they stand taller than most Giants. Look at the art of Armored Guardian (The smallest Nishoba) for a size comparison to humans. They are massive.

Since Elves associate with Spiders, I like the idea of Elves bonding with individual Spiders/webs and maintaining those traps with their Bonded, but Elves between each other not having a unified society in the form of large settlements "hanging out" between two Steadfasts.

I think somewhere between the two societal extremes would be best. Loosely knit family groups of elves who have no permanent settlements, but rather camp where prey for their spiders are plentiful and then moving on after a while, maybe returning to an older hunting ground once the prey has come back. These elves would be more feral and barbaric than those we see on other planes, but still have a clear social structure with familial bonds. I like the thought of elves bonding with their spider mounts, it feels very green.

I think we don't need a full list of possible wildlife and secondary races. We'll see what comes back from the first brainstorm of Vision Design. After all top-down is better with some trickle up.

Agreed. Other than the humanoid races, and major "monsters" in each color, we shouldn't really limit ourselves.

Speaking of trickling. How do you think the five basic land types each look on this plane? Are there multiple answers? What does everyone think of having some sort of humidity based vertical structure? It would start with arid vegetation-sparse rocky (Mountain) places at the top and clouds collecting and raining below Steadfasts causing lower places to become more humid, first shrubby Plains, then more trees growing into Forests becoming jungle like, with larger mid-lower continents sometimes collecting lakes that overflow into waterfalls and have Islands. and those holding the water long enough to grow stagnant becoming Swampy.

Similar questions could be asked about temperature.

Somewhat fits the distribution of races with Soltari closer to the top and Dauthi down below.

I like the thought of drier areas near the top and more moist environments closer to the bottom. This is also a great way to drive weather systems of the plane combined with thermal conviction. The temperature should naturally be higher closer to the bottom, with the darker realms of the Dauthi being hot and humid. But other than regional variations, I don't think it should be necessarily cold near the top, I think a temperate climate would work just fine.

I do disagree with the biome distribution a bit though, if the primarily blue biome is far from the top where the Soltari live and close to the Dauthi, how can the Thalakos be caught in the middle? Should they not then side with the Dauthi in the conflict?

I think it would be better to create four "primary" light zones. The top zone is the "bright lands" (name could and should be replaced with something else), this is where the light loving Soltari live, there are wide and semi dry planes, vast forests, and it is where everything that enjoys long days with plenty of light thrives.
The second zone is the "twilight lands", There is still plenty of natural light, but the light levels are lower than the "bright lands", imagine how it looks when the sun is setting, it is not dark, but not bright either. Thalakos makes their homes here. There is still plenty of green vegetation, and even forests. But the leaves of plants are much darker to absorb more light, leading to immensely dense jungles. Temperature is also a bit higher than the uppermost zone, which leads to higher humidity levels. Fungi starts to become more common, as do creatures that look a lot like the aquatic species of other worlds. I am imagining things that look a lot like coral (or are coral), but adapted to non aquatic environments. Bioluminescence also starts to show up here in smaller numbers.
The third light zone, "the night lands", this is where the Dauthi makes their homes, and is the lowest reaches where natural light hits, Imagine a cloudless night in the country and you should close to the light levels of this area. Plantbased vegetation is rare here, and the few plants that grow here are deep red to absorb as much as the scarce light as possible. Fungi of various sorts is common, with some of it growing to large fungal forests. The aquatic influences are strong here, with a lot of what would be aquatic creatures on other planes having adapted to terrestrial lives here. Jellyfish floating on air currents, subsisting on glowing spores that drift through the air. Lots of crustaceans and mollusks scuttling and crawling along the ground, and so on. Most of these creatures are very small, and harmless, and should be more for flavor than card creation. There should be a lot of bioluminescence here.
The fourth light zone is defined by its complete lack of natural light. "The Abyss Below" as it were. Down here there is no light trickling down, it is hot, it is humid, and if you see anything glowing, it is likely something that wants to eat you. Horrible and terrible things live here, and if you should find yourself down here, you're fubared. Imagine finding yourself to be in utter darkness, not knowing if you are blind or it is just that dark, and just as you are about to give into despair you see a faint glowing light, you approach it slowly, crawling along the ground to make sure you don't fall. As you approach you see a glowing orb suspended in the air, you stand up and reach out for it, and touching it is the last act of your life as the predator it is attached to bites you in half and devours your corpse.

Do we have an idea how the five main races look? The Rathi variants of the trio have been warped to many different shapes, so we can use them as guideline or do something of our own with it, but I'd definitely look for something that tells us how they are different from each other and also from Humans.

Do we have some people who excel at or are really interested in finding artwork? I think it would help us and others to imagine out world if we had at least one or two reference illustrations of what we think they should look to give us a unified vision early (we might also choose Magic-art if we feel one particular Soltari-look could be our default). I'd collect them as some sort of style guide over here.

Well, I think the appearance of the three races should be a function of where they live.
The Soltari live near the top of the world, so they should be the ones that look the most human. Just spitballing here, but perhaps they look much like humans but lacking hairgrowth, and with skin ranging in coloration from pale pastel greens, blues, and purples to silvery white. They dress in white and gold.
The Thalakos live in the twilight areas, halfway between the Soltari and the Dauthi, I am imagining gangly humanoids with grey, green, blue, and purple skin and large heads (to accommodate their larger brains. Some of them may tend towards being over weight. They put more value on intellect than appearance.
The Dauthi live where light is scarce and edible plants are rare. They have adapted to a diet high in protein with lots of meat. Sharp teeth, eyes adapted to see in low light conditions, tightly coiled sinew and muscles for rapid movement when necessary. Their skin tends towards darker colors. Black, Dark Grey, Dark Purple, and Dark Reds. By other humanoids standards they look down right monstrous.

[folding_music]

(let's find a different name for it than caste system, too. Kinda leery of it given MTG's own misguided attempt at putting indian culture on cards lol)

[Krishnath]

(let's find a different name for it than caste system, too. Kinda leery of it given MTG's own misguided attempt at putting indian culture on cards lol)

Stratified Society? Feudal?

[folding_music]

how about they have a self-imposed system of roles instead of one imposed by the elites? caste system implies that's your station for life, no fluidity even when there's something to aspire for

edit: i guess it just makes me uncomfortable that the white aligned folk get to live on the top of the heap and dress like olympians while the black aligned folk get stuck in the dark, with a rigid society and drudge for venal heads of state

lol

i realize Black and White in magic terms don't perfectly template onto complex real life issues but it doesn't hurt to change things up a little!

[Krishnath]

how about they have a self-imposed system of roles instead of one imposed by the elites? caste system implies that's your station for life, no fluidity even when there's something to aspire for

edit: i guess it just makes me uncomfortable that the white aligned folk get to live on the top of the heap and dress like olympians while the black aligned folk get stuck in the dark, with a rigid society and drudge for venal heads of state

lol

i realize Black and White in magic terms don't perfectly template onto complex real life issues but it doesn't hurt to change things up a little!

I was actually thinking more of the opposite, the Soltari are the ones where the roles are rigid. Priesthood (or Nobility, whatever) at the top, the peasants at the bottom, and everyone else in between. The only real option for peasants to increase in status would be to become a soldier, because everyone who is not a soldier is born into their role.

While for the Dauthi, everyone outside of the Assassins that work for the throne have a lot more upward (and downward) mobility as they put more value on personal capability and ambition than to what role you were born into. Thus any Dauthi who shows enough ambition and cleverness would quickly rise to the top echelons of their society despite being born to farmers, while someone born to nobles but completely lacking in ambition or being of a dimwitted disposition would eventually fall all the way down to the bottom of their society.

This also meshes well with the respective color philosophies without going into the whole good vs. evil quagmire. White is all about accepting the role you are born into while black is all about ambition and independence. This of course does not mean that the upper "stratum" of the Soltari treat the lower "stratums" badly, I can fully see the priesthood and nobility of the Soltari caring for the well being of the workers and farmers, ensuring that all levels of their society is treated as equals in the eyes of the law, and with equal access to education and healthcare. Higher ranks may have access to more specialized education, but everyone learns to read and write, as well as basic math and other skills useful in day to day lives. While the Dauthi society would be a lot more porous when it comes to social mobility than the Soltari, I see both as basically feudal medieval societies with many similarities, which in turn could be part of the tension between the two races.

[Legend]

how about they have a self-imposed system of roles instead of one imposed by the elites?

Sounds cool. Do societal roles even need to be graphed? In the early days, characters, relationships, factions, and social systems were only loosely presented, leaving room for imagination and discovery, and it worked wonderfully. Nowadays. Every. Single. Set. Has a prominent linear storyline set in a rigid social order baked into it. It's a tired formula WotC employs to crank out 4+ sets a year. Kind of boring though.

[Feyd_Ruin]

I always wanted to find a way why there is a Dauthi Jackal creature to begin with

I think there was some creative licensing, and (IMO) we should either consider the jackal and mindripper to be not-dauthi-by-race and/or gross mutations. I think they would be more relatable the closer they look to human-ish.

How do you think the five basic land types each look on this plane?

I think part of that is.. how big are the big "pieces" of the plane? We've mentioned nation size and continent size, but I think the larger we get the more the elegance and beauty of the plane break down. If we have a continent-sized floatrock, how much of the world's differences actually apply there? I think we should set an upper limit only so we can get a feel for the world.

Similar questions could be asked about temperature.

I like Krishnath's answers, but a couple of things I want to add:
At points where there's a great fluctuation of light, mid-tier above the twilight area, there should be a great fluctuation of temperature. Akin to valleys here, it'd have warm days and cold nights. The adiabatic process heats up the warm air as it's moving downward through the crevices, but at night the cooler air is denser and will naturally descend.

The temperature toward the bottom really depends on how "exploded" the world is. There would be a balance between being cold due to the descent of cold air, the lack of light offering no external heat, and the closeness to the core. Things heat up really fast as you go down, but I wonder what the difference becomes as air flow and water offsets some of this in a shattered world? Overall, we'd get warmer as we go down, but shouldn't we have a cold point somewhere below the warmth from above and warmth from below?

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Nishoba aren't midsized creatures, they are giant sized.

If there were any giant-sized terrestrial creatures still around, it would make sense that they were agile climbers. If we make our Nishoba slightly smaller, roughly twice to 2½ the size of a person, the size difference is still very noticeable, not that far off from traditional Nishoba, but still entirely plausible for the world.

Loosely knit family groups of elves who have no permanent settlements, but rather camp where prey for their spiders are plentiful and then moving on after a while, maybe returning to an older hunting ground once the prey has come back. These elves would be more feral and barbaric than those we see on other planes, but still have a clear social structure with familial bonds. I like the thought of elves bonding with their spider mounts, it feels very green.

I like this very much. The Spider+Elves form a real symbiotic bond, with each making sure the other's needs are met. Spiders are often seen as emotionless eating machines, and I'd love to fight that aspect for something different here.

a different name for it than caste system

It doesn't necessarily have to be a "born into" hierarchy where you're parents matter. I... have an idea, but it's a bit all-encompassing, so I'm going to go on a creative tangent here. I don't mean to come off definitive here, please know it's all up for debate/expansions/etc, I just have an idea and want to write it out as it is in my head.

At the center of the Soltari nation, on the highest driftstone of the world stands Dicreig — the God's Rock. Floating high above the clouds, the full glory of the sun and stars can be seen., and it is the heart of the Soltari people. The Sun and Stars are not god himself but the reflections of his might and gifts of creation. Only the highest of priests are allowed upon Dicrieg, and from here they lead their nation.

Floating above the center of Dicreig stands the Talons of God — three spired rocks that point toward the heavens. Their movement is subtle, but discernable against the stars of the sky. The Talon of Roimhe points to what was, the Talon of Ur to what is, and the Talon of Tighinn of what will be. Together they tell a story and show the way forward. They give omens, hope, and warning for the future, they offer insight into the basal questions the people, and guide the Soltari way of life. Each night the priests read the Talons of God against the movement of the stars, and direct their people according to the Will of Hrain.

Soltari Priests devote their life to the Will of Hrain, and his message is absolute. The Talons of God are considered the literal pointing of god, and many Soltari Priests will bind their fingers together to mimic his three fingered hand.

As the Will of Hrain is read each night, so is the dictates of life to those who are born the following day. When you are born, your place in Soltari is ascribed by god. It is impossible to know what Hrain will say each night, and being born at a specific time is god's will. At an early age, Soltari are taught and educated on your future role in the nation, whether it be Missionary, Soldier, Commander, Priest, or any other role in society. To go against this is to disavow god's knowledge and become an outcast of the Soltari.

[Krishnath]

@Feyd_Ruin I really love the write up of Soltari religion, and how it influences their rigid society. And it is a good expressions of the Order aspect of White in MTG. Also love the name you chose of their god. It's short, simple, and fairly easy to pronounce (at least if you're Scandinavian, we have a lot of words in many Scandinavian languages that start with H going into another consonant. Usually Hv or Hj, but the principal is the same. ).

Which brings up something else I've been wanting to discuss: Gods. How do the gods of the setting work? Do they walk among the mortals like those of Amonkhet and Kaldheim? Are they further afield but take an active role in things, sometimes literally, like those of Theros? Or are they far and barely noticed like those of Dominaria? What are their names? What do each of them influence? We have determined that the Soltari worship a sun god and that the elves revere a spider goddess with a protective nature. What about the other races? Do the Viashino worship a dragon god(dess)? What about the Aven? The Thalkos? Dauthi? What about the curious and short lived faeries, do they have a god, or do they simply exist?

Also, your thoughts about the Nishoba do make sense, being smaller than their cousins on Dominaria, but still massive compared to the other races, adept climbers and leapers. Ferocious predators and fierce warriors.
Ooh! I just had a thought about them (beware of stray thoughts, they can be painful): The Nishoba of the Shattered realm live in small tightly bound family units. They usually have three to four kittens at a time, but it is rare that more than one reaches adulthood from each litter as the Nishoba are firm believes of survival of the fittest, and those kittens who have not learned to climb and walk on their own by the age of two are simply left behind when it is time for the family to move on. Most such abandoned kittens quickly fall prey to predators, but a few find their way into the hands of other humanoids who raise them to be fierce bodyguards, blindly loyal to the person who raised them. When such a foundling encounters savage Nishoba, the encounter usually ends in bloodshed.
Thoughts?

Which reminds me of another thing I realized, we have done all this worldbuilding, talking about races, cultures, biomes, and environments, but we have totally neglected one of the most crucial parts of worldbuilding: Naming the plane. >.<
Ideally the name of the plane should be relatively short, no longer than 12 characters long, easy to pronounce, and fairly easy to remember. Any suggestions?

[Feyd_Ruin]

Ideally the name of the plane should be relatively short, no longer than 12 characters long, easy to pronounce, and fairly easy to remember. Any suggestions?

Playing with Latin and Gaelic root words...

Bristaran
Elidolum
Crithmar
Talirean
Bristmar

/shrug

[dangerousdice]

I like Bristmar!

[SecretInfiltrator]

I'll put forward Aegeas. I am aiming for something evocative of an archipelago.

Ouranis, because everything is sky?

[Krishnath]

I like Talirean, Bristmar, and Aegeas. So either of those get my full support. I want to know what the rest of you think, including more suggestions.

Let's look at how it sounds.

Talirean: The Shattered Realm.

Bristmar: The Shattered Realm.

Aegeas: The Shattered Realm.

Hmm... Maybe we should put the last one on the back burner until when and if we make an oceanic world.