Episode 21--The Destroyer Ants

This episode adds yet another species to Amzot's growing list of fauna. We already had one type of giant ant on the list--the pony-sized creatures used as mounts by the Spider Men. The ants here, though, are elephant-sized and mindlessly destructive--reminiscent of the ants that sometimes swarm in South America--eating everything in front of them. On Amzot, this is particularly dangerous, since they apparently threaten to destroy all life on the surface.

That would make them a failed species, since they themselves would starve afterwards. That makes me think they are not quite a naturally occurring species. Here's my theory.

We know the Mole Men live underground in a technologically advanced civilization. We know they are an expansive culture who would conquer the surface world if not for the Herculoids (and the objections of a more pacifistic faction in their culture). What if, sometime in the past, Mole Men scientists captured some of the Spider Men's ants and used genetic tampering to create a larger, more aggressive species as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

When the Herculoids first arrived on the planet to bring peace, these ants would have been one of the many threats they had to deal with. But Zandor didn't know there was still a large batch of eggs hidden in a large cave. Energized by a random lightening strike, these eggs hatched and let loose a swarm.

When this swarm is dealt with, the immediate threat is over. Whether there are any other hidden egg clutches still around is unknown.

Because of this theory, I'm placing the Bottomless Cliffs mentioned in this episode near the domain of the Mole Men. Also, we see a couple of Earth-like colorful birds that are apparently native to that area.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

At least one cave above the Mole Men domain contains a huge clutch of Destroyer Ant eggs.

Also on the ground above the Mole Men is the Bottomless Cliffs, which descend deep down into the core of Amzot. This area is also home to a colorful species of Earth-like birds. 

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

M—A small mountain range. The Kyanite gladiatorial arena is located atop one of these mountains, though the Kyanites themselves live on another planet and only occasionally visit Amzot.

N--(off map to the north)--The Northern Sea, surrounded by woods and enormous caves. The caves include some gold deposits and volcanic fissures. A medieval-level civilization of humans (displaced from Earth) live in villages along the northern end of the sea, using gold mined from the caves as a medium of exchange. The Raider Apes, who usually hunt and farm, have villages near the southern end of the sea and occasionally launch raids on the humans to steal gold. The Raider Apes are reminiscent of Earth's Vikings, with similar armor and using long-ships propelled by oars. Their primary weapon is a powerful crossbow. Since the arrival of the Herculoids, their raids on the human villages have been severely curtailed. 

W--(off map to the west): The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

T--(off map to the northwest)--The Temple of Trax. This is a jungle area surrounded by mountains. The Traxians built a city here thousands of years ago, with a clock-work idol they worshiped as a god being the centerpiece of the city. The city is built atop fast, underground caverns, many of which contain rivers or lakes infested with Gater-oids.

With human high priests (displaced from Earth), the Traxians used to capture and sacrifice other sentient creatures to appease their god. They once had a fairly sophisticated civilization, producing an immortality serum as well as clock-work mechanisms. But they went into decline until the few remaining Traxians placed themselves into hibernation, watched over by the remaining human priest. 

The Traxians are about 8 feet tall, very strong, with tough armor like skin and a single horn protruding from their forehead.

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

Destroyer Ants--Elephant-sized sub-species of the Giant Ants, bred to extreme destructiveness by Mole Men scientists as a living Weapon of War.

Gater-oids--Amphibious carnivores about the size of an Earth horse. They are vicious four-legged creatures with an armored carapace and a vaguely shark-like head. They are able to rend and digest nearly anything organic, no matter how tough (including Igoo!)

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 20--Invasion of the Electrode People

Here's another episode that is really cool by itself, but doesn't give us any significant new information about Amzot. I presuming the action takes place in the desert area near the Herculoids' home, so we know now that area contains a fresh water reservoir, contained by a natural dam. Or did contain--Zok blows up the dam to quite literally flush out the villains.

I've updated the entry in the Episode 18 post to include this information. I'll wait until there is something really significant to add before reposting the entire flora/fauna list again. I also have vague hopes of eventually figuring out how to make and include a better quality map.

We do get still further conformation that the Herculoids are all extremely intelligent. They continue to use sophisticated tactics against the bad guys. Heck, Igoo uses a make-shift boomerang at one point!.

It's interesting to theorize about the Electrode People, though they aren't native to Amzot and therefore a side issue as far as this blog is concerned. I wonder if their leader Voltan is also a robot or a human wearing a metal mask?

I'm going to go with robot and give the Electrode People the following back-story: Sometime in the past, they were created as a weapon to be used in an interplanetary war. Voltan was created to be the A.I. that controlled them in battle. Their mission was to destroy enemy planets & bases, using the energy released when they disintegrated something to recharge themselves.

But Voltan went rogue and now attacks planets at random to get the energy he needs to keep his people alive and build more of them. So the Electrode People are analogous to the Doomsday Machine from Star Trek: The Original Series or Fred Saberhagen's Berserkers.

Episode 19--The Zorbots

"The Zorbots" is a great episode in terms of action and great design work of the aliens and their equipment/robots. But it is an episode that gives us no new information about Amzot itself. The map and flora/fauna list from the last entry is still up-to-date.

We do get some confirmation that the Herculoids are extremely intelligent creatures. All of them--most notably this time Igoo--use pretty sophisticated tactics against the Zorbots.

Also, Gloop at one point is hit by a sonic ray and is reduced to several dozen small balls--each of which has a pair of eyes and each of which acts in concert with the others until Gloop reforms a few moments later. We've theorized that the Herculoids share a low-level telepathic link. I think we can assume now that Gloop and Gleep can extend this link to every single cell in their protoplasmic bodies. That's a pretty cool ability.

Episode 18--The Raider Apes

We reach the half-way point in our study of Amzot with the discover of TWO more sentient races on the planet.

But are the humans we meet native to the planet. If you jump down a couple of posts to "The Temple of Trax," you'll see my theory that the human priests who ruled over the Traxians were displaced from Earth--with their ancestors having been captured by alien slavers. I theorized that these humans ended up on Amzot and managed to achieve dominance over the decadent Traxians.

But what if only a small number of them ended up with the Traxians? What if some of them escaped the original slavers at the same time and built a civilization around what I will dub the Northern Sea.

I don't think this is the same "Western Sea" that we saw in earlier episodes, because I think there must be more than the one human village we see. Those humans are mining gold and this is considered as valuable as it is on Earth, so there must be other villages to trade with in order to give it its worth. So the former human slaves have built a small, medieval-level civilization around the shores of this lake.

That's why I think its a different lake than the earlier one, because we had no hint of human activity around that earlier lake. I'm placing the lake in the north based on vague impressions I get from the early scenes in the episode.

But there is a native race nearby--the Raider Apes, who are comparable to Vikings in their culture and technology (though their crossbows are a bit more advanced weapons Earth Vikings would have used). Like Vikings, the Apes often hunt and farm, but will occasionally launch raids on their neighbors. Suppressing these raids was another of the many jobs the Herculoids had when they came to the planet to fight the many injustices laying waste to it.

By the way, I think the Apes purposely launched their raid when they knew the Herculoids were in the area because they were planning their ambush & were overconfident about winning.

So we add the Northern Sea to the map of Amzot, surrounded by woods and enormous caves.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs. This area also contains a fresh water reservoir contained by a natural dam, though this dam is destroyed in one episode. 

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

M—A small mountain range. The Kyanite gladiatorial arena is located atop one of these mountains, though the Kyanites themselves live on another planet and only occasionally visit Amzot.

N--(off map to the north)--The Northern Sea, surrounded by woods and enormous caves. The caves include some gold deposits and volcanic fissures. A medieval-level civilization of humans (displaced from Earth) live in villages along the northern end of the sea, using gold mined from the caves as a medium of exchange. The Raider Apes, who usually hunt and farm, have villages near the southern end of the sea and occasionally launch raids on the humans to steal gold. The Raider Apes are reminiscent of Earth's Vikings, with similar armor and using long-ships propelled by oars. Their primary weapon is a powerful crossbow. Since the arrival of the Herculoids, their raids on the human villages have been severely curtailed. 

W--(off map to the west): The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

T--(off map to the northwest)--The Temple of Trax. This is a jungle area surrounded by mountains. The Traxians built a city here thousands of years ago, with a clock-work idol they worshiped as a god being the centerpiece of the city. The city is built atop fast, underground caverns, many of which contain rivers or lakes infested with Gater-oids.

With human high priests (displaced from Earth), the Traxians used to capture and sacrifice other sentient creatures to appease their god. They once had a fairly sophisticated civilization, producing an immortality serum as well as clock-work mechanisms. But they went into decline until the few remaining Traxians placed themselves into hibernation, watched over by the remaining human priest. 

The Traxians are about 8 feet tall, very strong, with tough armor like skin and a single horn protruding from their forehead.

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

Gater-oids--Amphibious carnivores about the size of an Earth horse. They are vicious four-legged creatures with an armored carapace and a vaguely shark-like head. They are able to rend and digest nearly anything organic, no matter how tough (including Igoo!)

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 17--The Time Creatures

This episode is set largely on Amzot 5000 years in the future, when aliens (or perhaps a mutated Amzotian species?) has set up shop, created a time machine and (for obscure reason) returned to the time of the Herculoids to wipe out the past. They kidnap Dorno and take him to their time.

There's nothing to add about Amzot's flora and fauna from this episode,so the map below is still valid as of this point.

We do get some more insight into the Herculoids, though. We get further confirmation that Zandor and Tara are technologically savvy. Both of them recognize a time machine when they see one and Zandor easily figures out how to work it. Remember that we are working on the idea that Zandor was primarily a geneticist who created the Herculoids, but he's obviously a multi-disciplinary scientist on a Reed Richards-level. In fact, as I think I mentioned in a previous post, since Hanna-Barbara did a Fantastic Four cartoon about the same time as the Herculoids, I think of Zandor as a descendant of Richards.

Gloop shows a new ability--absorbing an energy blast into his body and sending it back at his attacker.

In a previous episode, Tundro fired his energy rocks like mortar rounds, showing an apparent ability to do trigonometry in his head at a moment's notice. Here, he AND Zok AND Igoo all do tricks with their powers showing this ability. They might not have language (though I still think they and the humans share a low-level telepathic contact), but they are very, very smart.

Ep 16--the Temple of Trax

We add yet another sentient race to Amzot.

There is an ancient decaying city located in a remote jungle area surrounded by mountains. Since Dorno and Tara didn't know about it, but Zandor did, then I think that means Zandor did some lone scouting/studying of Amzot before deciding this would be the home of the Herculoids. Putting this together with what we've assumed from past episodes, Zandor then returned to Amzot with Dorno & the creatures and began to put an end to the chaos, with Tara joining them a bit later.

We also get some more indications of Zandor's scientific skill. We've established he's primarily a geneticist, but he has enough skill as an archaeologist to learn something about Trax.

Anyway, I have a proposed back story about Trax. A few thousand years ago, some humans on Earth (during the early Middle Ages) somehow ended up in space--perhaps kidnapped by alien slavers. They end up on Amzot and manage to achieve dominance over the decadent Traxian civilization. But most of the humans died out, so that by Zandor's time only one human is left--kept alive by the last of an ancient Traxian potion that they no longer remember how to make.

The Traxians were dying out as a people, with a civilization desperately trying to save themselves by sacrificing captives to their clock-work idol. But soon there were so few that a survival instinct put them into hibernation for centuries, until the Herculoids arrived and they were awakened by their insane & immortal human high priest.

So we add the Traxians to the list of native fauna, along with the amphibious beasts that nearly eat Igoo, which I think largely inhabit the subterranean rivers and lakes of Amzot. I've dubbed these guys Gator-oids.

___________

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

M—A small mountain range. The Kyanite gladiatorial arena is located atop one of these mountains, though the Kyanites themselves live on another planet and only occasionally visit Amzot.

W--(off map to the west): The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

T--(off map to the northwest)--The Temple of Trax. This is a jungle area surrounded by mountains. The Traxians built a city here thousands of years ago, with a clock-work idol they worshiped as a god being the centerpiece of the city. The city is built atop fast, underground caverns, many of which contain rivers or lakes infested with Gater-oids.

With human high priests (displaced from Earth), the Traxians used to capture and sacrifice other sentient creatures to appease their god. They once had a fairly sophisticated civilization, producing an immortality serum as well as clock-work mechanisms. But they went into decline until the few remaining Traxians placed themselves into hibernation, watched over by the remaining human priest.  

The Traxians are about 8 feet tall, very strong, with tough armor like skin and a single horn protruding from their forehead. 

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

Gater-oids--Amphibious carnivores about the size of an Earth horse. They are vicious four-legged creatures with an armored carapace and a vaguely shark-like head. They are able to rend and digest nearly anything organic, no matter how tough (including Igoo!)

 AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 15--The Gladiators of Kyanite

Another awesome episode in terms of a deliriously fun fight scene. But it does make one think about what we should add to Amzot in terms of its native life.

Here we learn about the Kyanites, who apparently periodically capture some of Amzot's nastier wildlife for use in fighting their gladiators. So is there a native human civilization on the planet? We can't argue that the arena is off-planet. Even if we assume that Tundro is carried off-planet after being captured AND that Zandor & Zok fly after him (since we know Zok is capable of inter-planetary flight)--Dorno & the other Herculoids follow on foot. So off-planet doesn't work.

BUT--the Kyanite arena is all by itself on a mountain top. If the Kyanite civilization is based on Amzot, where's the city? It's not impossible that they build their arena in a remote area, but it still seems odd.

So I propose that the Kyanite civilization does indeed exist on another planet (Kyan?). This is backed up by the fact that their leader Neron does not at first recognize the Herculoids--something that would be very unlikely if he lived on Amzot. On the other hand, Zandor recognizes Neron-- but I think that means Zandor maintains sources of information about off-planet shenanigans that might some day affect Amzot.

So Kyanite is a decadent Roman-esque civilization from another planet. They are a very military society that is proud of their martial skills, so they establish arenas on planets known for dangerous wildlife, then travel between them holding gladiatorial contests. In fact, let's say that different factions from Kyan hold games, with those who have the best win/lose record earning military and political power on their homeworld. They've been to Amzot before and now its come up on their circuit again.

So this episode does not add anything new to Amzot's native flora and fauna, though we do now know there is a Kyanite arena built on a mountaintop (part of a small mountain range) somewhere on the day-side. Based purely on Zok's orientation when he arrives at the arena, I'm placing this mountain range northwest of the Herculoids' home.

This is open for debate--if we assume that Amzot's earth-like gravity means its the size of Earth, then there's plenty of room for multiple civilizations. But the overall vibe of the Kyanites seem to place them off-planet. At least this is true for me and--well, it's MY blog, isn't it? BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

_________

I've tried to improve the ongoing map a little and it does look slightly better, but I'm afraid I simply don't have the talent to produce a map that looks cool enough to really do Amzot justice. Hopefully, my brilliant and fascinating analysis of the planet makes up for this.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

M—A small mountain range. The Kyanite gladiatorial arena is located atop one of these mountains, though the Kyanites themselves live on another planet and only occasionally visit Amzot. 

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

NOT ON MAP: The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.