Szandite Collective

The Szandite Collective is a political alliance of seven planets located in four different solar systems in Near Space. Despite their disparate physical locations, all of the Collective's member planets are linked by Szandite Crystals, which act as magical communication devices, allowing people's speech and mental images to flow from one planet to another.

Holdings

The Szandite Collective's current seven member planets:

• Elaz System - Largest sun of the four systems of the Collective.
  • Zulphan - The spider-like Atraxids are the most populous and culturally dominant species.
  • Lazel - Nearly the entire surface is pitted with massive cave complexes, home of the sightless humanoids that call themselves Ords.
  • Czelle - Tiny waterlogged planet where the semi-aquatic humanoids known as Binnaquids are the dominant civilization.
• Jonid's Star System - Noteworthy in that each planet has exactly seven moons.
  • Rodnarth - A swampy world with treacherous weather events, where the multi-brained, ooze-like Fonqugons are the dominant civilization.
  • Dorjo - A hot desert planet home to the silent, dwarf-like humanoids known as Hardors.
  • Vatrigax - Not a member planet, underwent szandite meteor showers. Only lifeforms here are apparently dormant and live deep underground.
• Oukrux Major System - Mostly lifeless and inhospitable gas giants, except Xofirth
  • Xofirth - Terrestrial planet home to the stoic Meceniacs, mollusk-like psychic aberrations who live for exactly 101 years.
• Oukrux Minor System - A dozen terrestrial planets but only one collective member.
  • Kuxor - rotates so slowly its day-night cycle lasts 11 Pact Worlds years. The dominant species are boisterous two-headed humanoid Phasorqs, where each half of the population alternates between wakefulness and hibernation along the planet's rhythm.
• Krethiskar - Once the eighth member but fell silent some time before interstellar travel became possible.

All planets in the Szandite Collective are connected by szandite crystals, which transfer the speech and mental images of an individual touching a crystal to flow into all other crystals. Receiving a message involves simply touching a crystal and concentrating. The crystals also record all communication that passed through them, and opening one's mind allows one to access these records.