the papilions

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The

Papilions



Genre

Fantasy

Written and Illustrated by

Roberto C. Alamino

Commissioned by

Elijah Swetnam



CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LIFE AND DEATH....................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 3: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ..................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 4: SOCIETY AND SECRECY........................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 5: ORDERS..................................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 6: POWERS AND ABILITIES......................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 7: LANGUAGE ................................................................................................................................ 29 INDEX ............................................................................................................................................................. 35



1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

On a sunny and fresh morning, a demon and an angel were alone in the forest. The

angel had looked around with a smile on his face, enjoying the beauty and the peace of the

place. The demon, noticing the happiness on the face of the angel, rushed to assure the angel

that beauty and peace were ephemeral things and everything in the world would eventually

become corrupted if let by itself.

'Whatever beauty is created,' said the demon, 'will decay one day. All creatures, even

the most innocent ones, can be corrupted given enough time and a not-so-good reason.'

The angel shook its head in denial. At that moment, a group of colorful and delicate

butterflies was passing by, moving up and down and sideways in a rhythm that followed the

gentle blowing wind.

'Look at those butterflies,' said the angel pointing to them. 'Nothing can take away

their beauty and their joy of living.'

The demon laughed at the angel making a sound that froze the heart of every dweller

of the forest. He then waived his tainted hands around the butterflies, touching each one of

them. In that moment, the Papilions were born.

- Traditional Children’s Tale



2

MYTH

Many ancient legends about the Papilions

go back in time to ages before men even

existed. These creatures, usually describedas demonic, human-like giant butterflies,

are sources of the darkest and most terror-

izing stories ever created.

Because of their appearance, it is believed

by many that they were once indeed com-

mon butterflies, but became twisted by

some ancient evil magic. The common

people claim that they have been touched

by the devil. Wise wizards, on the other hand, believe that they were the result of

some lost kind of black magic.

Papilions are known to prey on any sen-

tient beings that venture alone far from the

cities. They are seen as lonely hunters,

never attacking in groups. They are said to

be as intelligent as they are evil and can be

waiting for their victims literally any-

where, be it in the darkness of a forest atnight or under the burning sun of the de-

sert at midday.

There are four Stages in the life of a

Papilion, each one being more dangerous

than the previous. Even an innocent look-

ing Papilions Egg can spread illness

around the place it has been deployed and

their Larvae and Pupas are monstrous

creatures that are said to feed on flesh andsoul.

The truth is that Papilions live a life of

mystery and secrecy. Their ways are un-

known to the common citizen, but there

are places where parts of the truth can be

found. A truth that is even more surprising

than any one of their legends.

REALITY

All reliable information about Papilions

has its origin in the writings of a wizard

known only as Salvius. Salvius developed

a powerful spell, today lost, which allowed

him to disguise himself as a Papilion andlived inside their society for many years.

The final fate of Salvius is unknown, but

pieces of his writings began to appear all

around. Most of the denominations used to

describe the Papilions, as for instance the

name of their Orders, come from Salvius

writings. The full collection of what he

wrote, however, has never been united in

one single place.

Salvius texts describe Papilions as half-

insectoid half-humanoid creatures of ex-

treme physical beauty and high developed

intellect. It was this last trait that allowed

them to spread and adapt to virtually any

environment.

Papilions have extremely long life, the true

extent of which remains unknown. In

some fragments of his texts, Salvius de-

scribes his encounters with elders who

claimed to be thousands of years old.

The life cycle of the Papilion is known to

be composed of four Stages – Egg, Larva,

Pupa and Imago – all of them being very

similar to the stages in the life of butter-

flies from which Salvius borrowed their

names, adding another reason to believe

that these two creatures have at least a

common origin.

In each Stage of their life cycle, Papilions

have different physical appearances, abili-

ties, powers and a different level of sen-

tience. Full sentience and the high level

intelligence are only achieved in the adult

Stage, the Imago.

Not only they are highly intelligent, butPapilions also have extremely powerful



3

psychic and telepathic abilities. The most

feared of them is that of absorbing psychic

energy from other sentient beings, which

is their usual way of feeding. In fact, dur-

ing the Egg and the Imago Stages, thePapilion feeds exclusively on psychic en-

ergy, and only consumes flesh during the

intermediate period it remains in the Larva

and Pupa Stages.

The Papilion society is highly organized,

which is one of the great paradoxes in-

volving them as most Papilions live their

lives isolated from the rest most of the

time.Salvius describes huge Papilion cities hid-

den in the most inaccessible places, like

the highest peaks of the mountains, isolat-

ed islands in the sea and even in deep

caves in the underground. Each city has its

own local council, but each one answers to

a higher authority.

Even with their highly political and orga-

nized societies, Papilions have no diplo-matic relations with any other species, dis-

trusting them all and cultivating an ever

increasing aversion of mixing with. Fortu-

nately, this is the only reason why

Papilions avoid entering other species’

crowded cities.

Papilions are a very diverse species com-

posed of many different ethnic groups

known as Orders. However, most

Papilions belong to the four largest of

them, which are the ones that dominate politically and economically their society,

the lesser Orders being much less repre-

sentative in terms of numbers.

Each Order is characterized by differences

not only in physical attributes, like color

and shape, but also in the special powers

and abilities they possess, their overall

personality and also in their main role in

the society.As Salvius wrote in the most well known

of his excerpts:

“No other creature is a better embod iment

of paradox than a Papilion. They are the

source of wonders that my eyes had never

seen before. They created cities which put

shame to our greatest capitals. Their sci-

ence and knowledge surpasses everything

ever written in our books. At the same

time, they are capable of incredible evil

and treachery. May the gods have mercy

of any being who ever crosses their path.

May the gods have mercy of me.”

Salvius



4

CHAPTER 2: LIFE AND DEATH

The full life cycle of a Papilion is com-

posed of four separate Life Stages. At each

Stage, the Papilion’s psychic powers and

sentience level increase towards full de-

velopment. Although the general physical

appearance, as well as some of the powers

and abilities, can vary for the different Or-

ders, there are some characteristics that

remain the same for all of them.

All four Stages of a Papilion’s life can be

found in the wild and have been describedmany times by those who had the luck of

being alive after such encounters. Howev-

er, the first detailed descriptions of each

one of these Stages were due, as many

other things about the Papilions, to

Salvius.

EGG

Papilions can only mate and reproduceduring the Imago Stage. Two weeks after

the female has been fertilized, she searches

for the home of some other sentient being

and deploys either one or two eggs in a

hidden place nearby it. Any sentient spe-

cies, except Papilions, can be the target of

a female.

There is no specific amount of time for an

Egg to hatch. Recently deployed, or

young , Eggs are about as large as a water-

melon and can grow up to double that size.

From the moment it is deployed, the Eggstarts to feed from the psychic energy of

any sentient being around, a psychic pow-

er called Edos. Usually, the inhabitants of

the chosen home start to feel tired and de-

pressed as the Egg requires ever more en-

ergy when it approaches the hatching time.

However, the Egg is still not strong

enough to absorb all the psychic energy of

another creature and no permanent damageis suffered by the victim. If the Egg is de-



5

stroyed or taken away, all creatures affect-

ed recover their normal health in a matter

of a few weeks.

The external shell of an Egg is extremely

resistant and can usually sustain a lot of

damage without breaking apart. This char-

acteristic makes the Egg a valuable com-

modity which is used by some high skilled

smiths to create extremely resistant ar-

mors, shields and even swords. However,

this can only be achieved with techniques

known to very few grandmasters.

Although most cultures and creatures

would immediately destroy it once it is

found, an intact Egg is a highly priced

item either by wizards interested in study-

ing their psychic abilities or by collectors

as they are usually extremely beautiful and

with shiny and bright colors.

The egg, however, is very difficult to re-

move from its place as it is usually at-

tached to rocks, trees or even the groundwith an extremely resistant kind of adhe-

sive substance secreted by a glandule that

exists only in the hands of the female Ima-

go.

Powers: Edos (Basic)

L ARVA

When a Papilion Egg hatches, the creature

that emerges from it is called a Larva. The

Larva spends its whole lifetime feeding

continuously and is always hungry for

flesh and psychic energy.

Independently of their Order, the Larvae

have a physical appearance resembling

that of a giant caterpillar. They have the

average size of a large boar, but with a

long body that can reach up to one and ahalf meters long.

The appearance of a caterpillar can be ex-

tremely deceptive, especially for those

who meet a Papilion Larva for the first

time. Although it looks slow and lethargic

at first sight, the Larva is extremely fastand agile when hunting its prey. Larvae

are also extremely voracious and might

need to eat up to four individuals a day to

sustain themselves.

The Larva is the first of the sentient Stages

in the Papilion life cycle, but its sentience

level is very superficial. Even among

Papilions, the Larvae are considered wild

animals rather than intelligent beings. Thefact that the Larva attacks only sentient

beings is the result of its Basic Level of

the Mens power and not the result of any

deeper thinking.

Like the Eggs, the Level of Edos pos-

sessed by the Larvae is not enough to kill

its victim, but can render it unconscious.

Still, Larvae have very strong jaws that

can cut any kind of material and they can

devour a prey as large as an elephant in

just a few minutes.

The Larva steadily grows, both in size and

sentience, as it continues to feed. When its

mind acquires a certain level of awareness

and sentience, it finally starts the change to

the next Stage.

Powers: Mens (Basic), Edos (Intermediate1).

PUPA

After the Larva has fed enough, its mind

finally acquires self-awareness and a basic

understanding of the world around it. It

can then recognize itself as an independent

being and acquires a limited ability to ra-

tional thought. When it reaches this point,its body becomes ready for a further met-



6

amorphosis. The Larva will look for a

suitable place to hide and wraps itself in a

cocoon made of the flesh of any approach-

ing being, not necessarily a sentient one.

Once the cocoon is ready, the Larva isconsidered to have gone to the next Stage,

the Pupa.

The color of the Pupa varies not only with

the Order to which it belongs, but it also

depends on which type of flesh was used

in its tailoring. The cocoon surrounds the

entire, continuously changing, individual,

but there remains a vertical opening in its

middle. From this opening protrudes amouth with many rows of sharp teeth

which are as strong as the jaws of the Lar-

va.

Although the Pupa cannot move, it still

needs to feed itself both on psychic energy

and flesh. It accomplishes that by emitting

a psychic signal which attracts other sen-

tient beings in a radius of around one hun-

dred meters to its hiding place, a power

named Lure. This power creates an insa-

tiable curiosity towards the Pupa and, once

the lured creature is close enough, it be-

comes paralyzed.

The Pupa slowly drains the psychic energy

of its paralyzed victims, but this power is

stronger at this Stage. It now allows the

Pupa to feed on pieces of the soul of its

victims, leaving permanent damages on a

surviving creature that range from memory

loss to madness. However, the Pupa’s

Level of Edos still does not allow it to de-

vour the entire soul of a being and there

are magical powers that are rumored to be

able to fully restore it, although they are

known just to very few wizards.

After the Pupa has drained the maximumamount of psychic energy and soul its

powers allow it to do, the vertical mouth

of the Pupa finally attacks and devours the

body of the victim.

The Pupa does not grow at this stage, the

size of the cocoon being usually the same

size of the Imago that will emerge from it.

Even though, the Pupa needs at least one

full individual per day to fulfill its psychic

and physical needs to mutate into the final

Stage.

Powers: Lure (Basic), Mens (Intermedi-

ate), Edos (Intermediate 2).

IMAGO

When the Pupa has fed for enough time,

its mind finally awakes to full sentience

and intelligence, most of it absorbed from

the sentient beings it consumed during its

previous Stages. The vertical mouth closes

for the last time and the whole cocoon

starts to be consumed until, finally, a full

developed adult Papilion tears its thin re-

mains away and emerges from it.

The Papilion that emerges from the cocoon

is a creature about two meters high, with a

body divided in three main sections, simi-

larly to an actual butterfly.

The uppermost section is an insect-like

head bearing two large composed eyes on

its sides, but no mouth. It has a group of

antennae on the top of its head, the number

and shape of which varying with the

Papilion’s Order. These antennae are sen-

sory organs that allow the Papilion to

sense both sounds and smells.

Right below the head, the next section is

called the thorax, to which the main struc-

tures of the Papilion body are attached,

namely, its two legs, four arms and itsmantle.



7

A very important characteristic of an Ima-

go Papilion is the hand-like structures lo-

cated in the extremity of the upper pair of

arms, called primary arms. These struc-

tures, with a shape similar to a maple leaf,have palms covered by hundreds of small

articulated filaments which can be moved

independently, giving to the Papilion a

precision in manipulating objects that can-

not be achieved by any other species.

In addition to that, the females have in the

hands of their secondary arms, the pair of

limbs just below the primary arms, a glan-

dule that excretes an extremely adherentsubstance. This substance is used to glue

their eggs to any surface, but can also be

used as a self-defense mechanism when

needed.

The wings of a Papilion protrude from the

back of their thorax and fold themselves

around the rest of the body creating a kind

of mantle. The mantle can have varying

colors and abilities, the most cherished of

all being that of working as full function-

ing wings, granting to the Papilion the ca-

pability of flying. However, the ability to

fly is only present in a little less than half

the Papilion individuals.

The differences between male and female

Papilions appear only at this Stage. Con-

trary to most insects and similarly to hu-

mans, the female Papilion is smaller in av-

erage than the male. Their mantles also

have more discrete hues of colors than

those of the males, which is usually asso-

ciated to the fact that the looking of a male

mantle is one of the most attractive fea-

tures for a female choosing her prospective

mate during the Mating Festivals.

The lowermost section of a Papilion bodyis its abdomen. As a Papilion has no diges-

tive tract in its Imago Stage, the main

functions of its abdomen are the reproduc-

tive and the respiratory ones.

The abdomen is composed of several ring-

shaped segments of a very resistant, mate-

rial. These segments are arranged one over

the other similarly to a Venetian blind and

joined together by a soft tissue which is

hidden beneath them. It is through this tis-

sue that the air diffuses in and out of the

Papilion’s body.

Most Papilions within a specific Order will

have their physical characteristics roughly

similar, but there are exceptions. A

Papilion which feeds mainly on one single

species during its first three Stages of life

might acquire many of its features. For

instance, there are known cases of

Papilions with demonic wings or horns.

These however are considered as abomina-

tions and scorned by the Orders, being

forced to live in isolation, disconnected

from the rest of the Papilion society.

The fully developed mind of the Papilion

has, at the Imago Stage, not only the

knowledge, but also many of the abilities

possessed by the preys consumed on pre-

vious Stages. There are reports of some

very rare cases when the Papilion even ac-

quired permanently special or magical

powers.

Once the Papilion reaches the Imago

Stage, psychic energy becomes the only

source of food for the rest of its life. Their

Edos power is so strong at this Stage that it

not only absorbs the prey's psychic energy,

but can devour its entire soul, leaving be-

hind a lifeless shell that many wizards

search for using as animated servants.



8

Most Papilions, however, lose the ability

of acquiring either the knowledge or the

abilities of its preys at this stage, this pow-

er remaining active only in the Candis Or-

der and for a few other individuals.

The only way Papilions can absorb fluids

is by diffusion through their skin, this pro-

cess being able to occur throughout their

whole body.

Having no mouth anymore, the Papilions

communicate only through Telepathy. At

the moment a Papilion emerges from its

cocoon, its mind immediately receives a

telepathic call from its Order. The Papilion

is then led for the first time to what is go-

ing to be its Colony, the place where it will

undergo the Ritual of Initiation which will

introduce it to the rest of its society.

From that point on, every two years the

Papilion will be telepathically called back

to that same city to participate in the Mat-

ing Festival, where the females choose the

mates who will fertilize them and the life

cycle starts all over again.

Powers: Mens (Advanced), Telepathy,

Edos (Advanced).



9

CHAPTER 3: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Although Papilions are powerful and resil-

ient creatures, like any other species theyare not free from Nature’s dangers.

There are many challenges in the life of a

Papilion and survival needs to be guaran-

teed not only by their physical and psychic

abilities, but also by a combination of their

high intelligence and their social behavior.

In the following, some of the greatest dan-

gers faced by Papilions are listed, althoughthere might be many others of which not

even they are aware.

N ATURAL PREDATORS

The natural enemies of the Papilions vary

according to their life Stages, the most

susceptible one being the Egg.

Confined to the place where it has been

deployed, the only defenses of the Egg are

the passive ones. The most effective of

these defenses is the extremely resilienteggshell. However, there are some crea-

tures with strong enough teeth or claws

than can penetrate it. Examples are many

species of dragons and some varieties of

giant spiders and insects.

The Larva is usually self-sufficient in

terms of survival. Its fast movements and

strong jaws are extremely adapted to bat-

tle. The Pupa is an intermediate case,which can defend itself by using its strong

mouth and its psychic powers, but has the

weakness of not being able to move in

case these primary defenses fail.

The Imago Papilion is the least susceptible

of all Stages and has a full range of abili-

ties, powers and also its intelligence to de-

fend itself. Still, this does not prevent it



10

from having natural adversaries as formi-

dable as itself.

The most common antagonists of

Papilions are the Driders. Their rivalry

mirrors that of the animals they are most

related to, butterflies and spiders, and

Papilions are a highly enjoyed delicacy of

the Drider diet.

Driders can be as intelligent and as power-

ful as Papilions and are sometimes known

to band together to raid Papilion colonies

for their resources and for feeding.

The fiercest of all the Papilion’s natural

enemies are, however, the Dragons. Drag-

ons are mostly immune to Papilion’s psy-

chic powers and, with some exceptions,

cannot have their energy drained by them

in general.

WIZARDS

The powerful psychic abilities of the

Papilions and the many secrets and treas-

ures that they are said to hide are very at-

tractive features for wizards, not all with

only a thirsty for knowledge like Salvius.

Parts of the Papilion body, their fluids and

in particular their eggs are not only highly

appreciated by wizards, but also by alche-

mists and healers that can put them to

many varied uses.

HUNTERS

Given the high value of Papilion parts not

only for magical and medicinal uses, but

also as treasured items by collectors, many

hunters of many different species special-

ize themselves in Papilions.

Even Papilion Eggs are highly threatened

by hunters as their varying colors and pat-terns, associated with their incredible du-

rability, make them well sought pieces of

jewelry once they pass through a process

specially created to kill its interior without

destroying the external eggshell.

Eggshells are also desired by their endur-

ance properties. Techniques developed by

and known only to very few blacksmith

grandmasters allows for the creation of

extremely strong armors and shields and

deadly weapons from it. The same use can

also be given to the jaws and teeth of the

Larvae and Pupa respectively.

Some of these hunters, however, are driv-

en mainly by the challenges involved in

battling a Papilion rather than by the prof-

its of doing so. It is a common sign of sta-

tus among them to wear clothes bearing

patches of Papilion mantles.

WEAKNESSES

The task of either capturing or killing a

Papilion is not an easy one due to their

physical and psychic attributes.

Wizards invariably use magic rituals and

spells specially tailored for Papilions,

while hunters resort to heavy weaponry

and ambushes.

Individuals of the Nox Order, in particular,

are many times the preferred target of

hunters and wizards given their character-

istic of being attracted by lights at night,

which provides an easy way to attract them

to traps.

The most vulnerable area of a Papilion’s

body is located on its abdomen. If one is

able to introduce a cutting or puncturing

object in between its ring-like segments,

the tissue that joins them can be easily rup-

tured due to its softness.



11

Harboring the reproductive and respiratory

systems of the Papilion, the abdomen is

such a delicate and painful area that a

Papilion can easily be rendered uncon-

scious with a relatively light level of dam-age on it. That is why Papilion armors are

carefully designed to protect this area, alt-

hough the fact that they have to allow for

their breathing adds a complication to their

protection.

With exception of Papilions adapted to

desert regions, most of them are also easily

susceptible to dehydration. In the same

way as Papilions absorb fluids through

their skins, they also loose them very

quickly and can even die if they are kept

for long periods in dry areas.

Another very common way to kill or poi-

son a Papilion is to entrap them by wrap-

ping their bodies into tissues embedded

with toxic solutions, which are readily ab-

sorbed by their skin.

It was the first time I received that kind of telepathic call. Both the Tradition and the

Political Circles arranged an urgent meeting, but it did not last more than half an hour. Less

than one hour later, I was at the observation stations on the Colony’ s walls.

When they appeared, it was like a wave of chaos. There was no front line, no battal-

ions, only a living carpet which started to climb up the walls. Some had swords, some bows

and some axes. They were as fast as us, and they were many.

The battle took hours and at the end many of us perished, but the Colony was safe

again. The remains of the enemy were brought inside to be put to many uses. I have never seen such a savage fight. The sight of two of the most powerful creatures in our world facing

each other at the battlefield was a sight that I will never forget. For the first time since I

joined them, I realized that there were other powers as dangerous as them.

At the end of that day, I started to regard Driders as the most frightening enemy a

Papilion could face. That was until the Dragons came.

- The Battle of Shadah by Salvius



12

CHAPTER 4: SOCIETY AND SECRECY

There are very few other beings that were

able to infiltrate in the highly secret and

xenophobic Papilion society, the only one

leaving any register of it being the human

wizard called Salvius.

Salvius himself left no indications of what

kind of magic spells he used to grant him-

self not only the appearance, but also

many of the abilities of a Papilion. It is

also unknown how he managed to insert

himself so deeply in their society. His textssuggest that he occupied some high posi-

tion in the Tradition Circle of his Colony

and, as such, had access to many of its

most valuable documents.

Contrary to what most other species be-

lieve, Papilions maintain a very organized,

structured and tight society. Although

most common Papilions live their lives in

loneliness, they are continuously aware of

the needs of the others and can be telepath-

ically called at times of need.

COLONIES

The backbone of the Papilion society is

maintained by a peculiar kind of commu-

nity called a Colony.

Colonies are usually built in places which

are hidden and of difficult access to other

species. Most of them are very large and

modern cities, with beautifully designed buildings and structures.

Paradoxically, most of the time, the Colo-

nies are virtually empty, being inhabited

only by its administrative body. The most

important part of a Colony’s administra-

tion is mainly shared by two great groups

of Papilions, the Tradition and the Political

Circles.



13

As everything else in Papilion society, the-

se two Circles are mainly dominated by

members of the Four Great Orders (see

Orders).

THE TRADITION CIRCLE

The responsibility of the Tradition Circle

is to guarantee the continuity of the tradi-

tions of the Papilion society, what includes

their religion.

Every city has a Tradition Temple, usually

a sumptuously decorated and very large

building where the Tradition Circle is

based and many of the rituals and festivals

take place.

In particular, all religious ceremonies are

carried on in a central room in the Temple,

including the highly important Ritual of

Initiation.

Another vital ceremony taking place inside

the walls of the Tradition Temple is the

Mating Festival, which happens once eve-

ry two years.

After each Mating Festival, the leader of

the Tradition Circle is changed and a se-

cond member belonging to one of the Four

Greater Orders, different from the previous

three leaders, is chosen to assume the posi-

tion.

THE RITUAL OF INITIATION

The first contact of a Papilion with the rest

of the society occurs as soon as it emerges

from its cocoon.

A special group of powerful telepaths from

the Tradition Circle is continuously aware

of any new Imago and immediately sends

a strong telepathic calling to them. This

calling is so powerful that usually cannot be resisted by any Papilion, although there

are rumors of some who did. These rumors

are however completely denied by official

sources in the Papilion society.

A summoned Imago has to reach its call-

ing Colony by himself, without the help of

any other Papilion. Many die in the at-

tempt. Those who survive are led to the

Tradition Temple and finally accepted as a

full member of the society after a week

under the preparation of the members of

the Circle. This preparation has as its aim

to teach the Papilion about its duties, about

the traditions and to make it aware of its

powers and abilities.

Once a Papilion is initiated, it becomes

telepathically connected to its Colony for

the rest of its life. The nature of this bound

is known only to the Tradition Circle tele-

paths and is one of the most well kept se-

crets of the Papilions. By means of this

bound, the telepaths of the Tradition Cir-

cles can recognize which individuals be-

long to that particular Colony and call up-

on them wherever they are.

During the Ritual of Initiation, Papilions

who demonstrate higher intellectual capac-

ity or seem to have special abilities are

then kept in the Colony to be trained by

one of the two Circles, or in some occa-

sions, to become part of the army which

will be responsible for the defense of the

Colony in times of war.

THE M ATING FESTIVAL

Once every two years, the telepaths of the

Tradition Circle send a call to all Papilions

belonging to that Colony. This calling is as

strong as the one for the Ritual of Initia-

tion and attracts all Papilions in a matter of

a few weeks.



14

From the moment the Mating Calling is

issued, the Colony starts to be filled with

Papilions coming from all around the

world.

Instead of an empty ghost town, the Colo-

ny starts to look like a crowded capital full

of life and festivities everywhere.

The core of the Mating Festival occurs on

the gardens of the Tradition Temple,

where fairs, games and other entertain-

ments bring males and females together.

Once a female chooses its male, she is fer-

tilized by him still inside the city in spe-

cially prepared chambers. After that, the

couple separates and leaves the city. The

male immediately returns to its previous

life. The female stays in the Colony for

two more weeks in a maturation period

after which she leaves to find a place to

deploy the eggs.

RELIGION Each Colony is allowed to have its own

religion. The common element in all of

them is a giant tree with black trunk and

black leaves, known as the Tree of Crea-

tion, which occupies a central position in

every Tradition Temple and is considered

the supreme deity and creator of all

Papilions.

There are rumors that Salvius wrote a very

complete book on the origins and basic

structure of Papilion religion. This tome is

believed to contain also a description of

the most worshipped of their deities. How-

ever, as most of Salvius works on

Papilions, the whereabouts of that docu-

ment remain unknown.

THE POLITICAL CIRCLE

The Political Circle is the one responsible

for creating and observing the laws inside

each Colony.

In the Papilion society, each Colony has a

large political autonomy; being allowed

the freedom to create its own laws as long

as they are not in contradiction with the

traditions.

The Political Circle is hierarchically orga-

nized in two Levels of power. The Upper

Level is composed by three members who

have the highest executive authority.

The members of the Upper Level are cho-

sen by those of the so-called Lower Level.

The Lower Level has usually from twenty

to forty members coming from all Orders

represented in that Colony and they accu-

mulate the functions of legislative and ju-

diciary bodies.

Although the Political Circle has the high-

est decision power inside the Colonies,

they are forbidden to interfere with the af-

fairs of the Tradition Circle. This creates a

never-ending tension between those two

Circles which, in many situations, has

been responsible for the fall of several

Colonies.

THE ORDER CIRCLES

In addition to the two main Circles that

control each Colony, every Order has its

own Circle. The Order Circles are com-

posed by the most influent Papilions of

each Order and have strong decision pow-

ers in every subjected related to that Order

inside the Colony

The Orders also have Supreme Order Cir-

cles, which are responsible for coordinat-

ing the action of the Orders between dif-ferent Colonies.



15

THE SUPREME CIRCLE

The highest authority in the Papilion socie-

ty is the Supreme Circle. It is also separat-

ed in two Levels of power, with the differ-

ence that the members of the Supreme Up-

per Level are unknown even to the rest of

the society.

The only contact with the Supreme Circle

is through its Lower Level of power, com-

posed by the envoys of the Upper Level

who visit each city once every year to re-

ceive a report of its status and its activities.



16

CHAPTER 5: ORDERS

Papilions are divided in several ethnic

groups according to their physical appear-ance and abilities, these groups are known

as Orders.

Although there are many recognized

Papilion Orders, their society is dominated

by the four largest of them, known as the

Four Great Orders. The smaller Orders,

collectively called the Lesser Orders, are

individually very weak politically.

Purity of Order is a cultural value deeply

ingrained in Papilion society and individu-

als of born from parents of different Or-

ders are often marginalized by society to

the extent that they never enter Colonies,

some of them forming their own isolated

mixed communities.

Orders have their own political organiza-

tion either inside each Colony and in a

general level (see Society and Secrecy).

THE FOUR GREAT ORDERS

There are four Orders that dominate

Papilion society in all its main aspects.

They are the Nox, Fucus, Toxis and

Candis Orders.

Although the Four Great Orders form the

vast majority of Papilion society in terms

of numbers, the most striking difference

between them and the Lesser Orders is the

purity of their lineages. Individuals be-longing to one of the Great Orders have

very specific physical and psychic charac-

teristics not shared by the Lesser ones.

In fact, the purity of Order is the main tool

of domination of the Four Great Orders

over the rest of the society. The high level

of intolerance for mixed individuals is

constantly incentivized by them.



17

The aim of this discrimination policy is

twofold. From one side, by discouraging

mixing, the Great Orders prevent individu-

al from Lesser Orders to enter the higher

circles of power.

The second reason is that it is known that

mixed individuals can manifest exotic

powers and abilities. Some of them are

even more powerful than the ones of the

Great Orders and, are considered by them,

dangerous and potentially threatening to

their control of the society.

Most of Papilion important treasures,

which seem to comprise secret documents

and powerful magical items, are guarded

by families belonging to the Four Great

Orders. The number and extent of im-

portance of these treasures are, however,

highly kept secrets.

THE LESSER ORDERS

In practice, any other Order of Papilion

which is not one of the Four Great is

called a Lesser Order.

Individuals belonging to these Orders usu-

ally share the same Colonies with the Four

Great Orders, although some of them are

known to create isolated communities for

themselves usually far from those places.

The physical characteristics of individuals

in many (although not all) of the Lesser

Orders are more varied than in the Great

ones, which makes identification a diffi-

cult task.

The range of abilities and powers is also

wider, with individuals of the same Order

many times possessing a different set of

them. However, these are generally much

less powerful than those of the Great Or-

ders.

Lesser Order individuals, in general, occu-

py positions of very little political and re-

ligious significance in Papilion society and

many times, although strictly speaking this

would be forbidden by Papilion law, aretreated as second order citizens by those of

the Great Orders.

THE MIXED

The existence of mixed individuals with

powerful abilities is known to the Great

Orders since ancient times. Many of these

powers can be highly dangerous and pose

a serious threat to the dominance of theGreat Orders.

Because of this, the Tradition Circle has a

policy of spreading the prejudice towards

mixed individuals. These indoctrinations

start already at the Ritual of Initiation and

are so effective that even the Lower Or-

ders, which would benefit from such mix-

ings, are deeply against mixed mating.

Although Papilion law does not officially

discriminate mixed individuals, in prac-

tice, when one of them has the misfortune

of entering one of the colonies, the indi-

vidual is invariably mistreated. It is not an

uncommon practice to falsely accuse a

mixed Papilion of severe crimes and put it

to death.

FIGHT FOR EQUALITY There are many groups known to fight se-

cretly for seeing in practice the equality

stated in Papilion law. These groups fight,

sometimes violently, for larger political

representation in the Papilion society, but

they are usually branded as criminals and

fiercely suppressed and hunted by the Four

Great Orders.



18

NOX

The Nox is an Order of mainly nocturnal

Papilions. They have the ability of seeing

even in total darkness, an ability called

Nightsight, and are usually attracted by thelights of homes or night travelers which

then serve as their prey. Papilions belonging to this Order usually

have a very cold personality, sometimes

bordering the evilness.

The individuals belonging to this Order

have the special psychic power of inducing

fear in other sentient beings, called

Tenebra.

When living inside the Colonies, they

share the main political roles in the

Papilion society with the Toxis Order and

both are continually struggling for its con-

trol. They are however much more con-

cerned with matters of material wealth

than the Toxis.

Order Power: Tenebra

Order Ability: Nightsight

APPEARANCE

Egg: completely black or dark grey with

very rough surfaces.

Larva: it has a completely hairless, seg-

mented brown or grey body, with a very

rugged skin.

Pupa: the cocoon of the Pupa in this Order

is extremely dark and has the aspect of rot-

ten meat, although it is just the appearance

due to its color.

Imago: dark brown or grey mantles with

streaks of varying tonalities. They have

only one pair of antennae, each one of

them branching into many other small

ones.



19

FUCUS

Papilions belonging to the Fucus Order are

masters of camouflage and deceit. In terms

of personality, individuals of the Fucus

Order are known to be also extremely non-

trustworthy.

The Fucus has the psychic power of creat-

ing mental confusion and inducing sensory

hallucinations in others, called Projection.

This guarantees that a hunting Fucus will

only be noticed by its prey when it is too

late to run.

In the Papilion society, the Fucus Order isspecialized in espionage roles and their

individuals are used by all Great Orders.

The Order is also responsible for the intel-

ligence of every Colony it belongs to.

Order Power: Projection

Order Ability: Camouflage APPEARANCE

Egg: their surface is extremely smooth and

shiny and it instinctively changes colors to

match the environment around itself.

Larva: not differently from the Egg, the

Larva also has a smooth and shiny skin

and its body has no segmentation at all. It

can also change its colors to camouflage

itself in the environment.

Pupa: in this Stage, the Fucus usually ac-

quires a fixed color that blends with the

environment in which it constructs its co-

coon. For instance, forest-dwelling Fucus

building their cocoons among leaves are

usually green, while those who live in de-

serts acquire a sand-brown color.

Imago: they possess extremely colorful

mantles which change colors and patterns

to match the surrounding environment, an

ability dubbed Camouflage. They have

two pairs of very small, retractable anten-nae on the top of their heads.



20

TOXIS

The Toxis Order is dominated by extreme-

ly political and controlling individuals.

They make large use of their psychic pow-

er, called Lure, to control the mind andsecure the loyalty of other Papilions.

Due to their ability of secreting a highly

toxic substance, Poison, and their usual

high physical prowess and agility, they are

highly searched for all Orders to serve as

efficient hired assassins.

The Toxis Order occupies positions of

power both in the Tradition and the Politi-

cal Circles and has a millennia-long rela-

tionship of hate and competition with the

Nox Order.

Order Power: Lure

Order Ability: Poison

APPEARANCE

Egg: the eggs are smooth and shiny, usual-

ly exhibiting the colors yellow, orange and black. Their appearance rendered them the

name of flaming eggs by other species.

The Eggs are themselves poisonous if in-

gested.

Larva: this Stage is characterized by a

black and yellow or orange furry body

from which many venomous spikes pro-

trude. The poison delivered by these

spikes is extremely painful and causes a

sensation of burning that usually paralyzes

its victims, possibly killing them in higher

quantities.

Pupa: the cocoon is usually dark orangewith black streaks and has, like the Larva,

many protruding spikes capable of inject-

ing poison.

Imago: their mantles have as predominant

colors yellow, orange and black, and are

usually very shiny. They have two pair of

extremely sharp antennae with stings in

their tips from which they can inject their

poison on their victims.



21

CANDIS

Individuals of the Candis Order are usually

extremely intelligent and widely recog-

nized as knowledge seekers. They are both

scientists and mystiques and some of them

are known to even study magical arts. This

behavior is highly facilitated by the known

ability of the Candis Order of having per-

fect memory, appropriately called Omnia.

Candis are the least aggressive of all

Papilions, although that does not guarantee

that they are harmless. They usually hunt

individuals with highly intellects or with

very special abilities, which they can ab-

sorb using their Order psychic power

Sophis.

In the Papilion society, they are the keep-

ers and developers of knowledge, usually

being responsible for libraries and ar-

chives. Although they are not interest in

the Political Circle, they usually fight for

the power in the Tradition Circle with the

Toxis Order.

Order Power: Sophis

Order Ability: Omnia

APPEARANCE Egg: they are completely white and usual-

ly spherical. The surface is rough and

opaque.

Larva: the Larva stage is usually thinner

than in the other orders and is covered by a

thin and soft white fur.

Pupa: the cocoon of the Candis has usual-

ly a very pale appearance, with the flesharound it assuming a grayish tone.

Imago: Candis have white mantles, most

usually with black outlines although com-

pletely white ones are not uncommon.

They have only one pair of long and white

antennae which fall on their backs like

long hair strands.



22



23

CHAPTER 6: POWERS AND ABILITIES

PSYCHIC POWERS

The most dangerous and terrifying charac-

teristic of Papilions is their psychic pow-

ers. At each different Stage in their life

cycle, these powers evolve and change in a

way that depends on their Order and their

level of training.

EDOS

This is the power of draining psychic en-

ergy and eventually the whole soul fromanother creature.

This power is the only way an Imago

Papilion can sustain itself. It is the first

Papilion psychic power to develop and ap-

pears already in the Egg Stage at the Basic

Level.

Edos is then present in all Stages of a

Papilion's life, changing in strength andrange as the Papilion becomes older. As

the other powers, it also can be enhanced

by training.

Basic: psychic energy is drained from a

nearby victim in small amounts. The vic-

tim feels increasingly weak and can devel-

op many health problems as the drain con-

tinues. It is present in the Egg Stage and its

range is about 100m.

Intermediate 1: reached at the Larva

Stage, it is the same as in the Basic Level, but with higher draining strength. A victim

can be completely drained from its psychic

energy in a small amount of time falling

unconscious, a state from which the victim

can take several days to recover. It cannot

be killed by it though. The range, however,

becomes smaller and falls to only 10m.

Intermediate 2: acquired in the Pupa

Stage. The range of the power drops to

contact now, but the draining strength in-



24

creases to a level where a limited part of

the victim’s soul can be a bsorbed in addi-

tion to its psychic energy. This Level still

cannot kill the victim, but surviving ones

are known to have their minds permanent-ly affected in unpredictable ways.

Advanced: the first Advanced Level of

this power is reached at the Imago Stage

and still works only by contact with the

victim. The Papilion can now devour the

entire soul of the victim, which provides it

with enhanced nutrition. The victim be-

comes a hollow shell with its mind com-

pletely erased forever, although it stilldoes not die. This power, however, can be

enhanced by training to higher ranges and

also can be developed to the level of actu-

ally killing the victim.

LURE

Lure is the power to attract and control

other sentient beings. It develops for the

first time at the Pupa Stage on its Basic

Level and, for most Papilions, completely

disappears when they enter the Imago

Stage.

The only Order of Papilions that maintains

this power at the Imago Stage is the Toxis

Order, which then evolves to the Interme-

diate Level. At that Level, the power

grants a limited capacity of controlling the

mind of other beings.

By training, this power can reach Ad-

vanced Levels. There are many sublevels

known on it and there is no known limit to

the extent it can be developed. Great mas-

ters of Lure are said to be able to enslave

even powerful magical creatures for ap-

parently an unlimited amount of time.

Basic: range of about 100m radius. The

victim can try to resist. If it cannot, it feels

a strong curiosity that leads it to approach

the Papilion. Once in a touching range of

it, the victim then becomes paralyzed.

Intermediate: the range of the power in-

creases to 500m. The creature can still try

to resist, but the difficulty is higher than in

the Basic Level. In addition to attracting

the victim, the Papilion can now force it to

obey simple orders.

Advanced: both the range and the strength

of the power can be enhanced indefinitely

once the Advanced Levels are reached.

The mind control now allows the Papilion

to give more complex commands to the

victim turning it into a complete slave.

There are no known limits, but extremely

powerful Papilions are very rare.

MENS

This is the power of feeling the proximity

of another sentient being. It appears for the

first time during the Larva Stage and be-

comes more developed with time.

Basic: the Papilion can sense the presence

of a sentient being within a range of 100m.

The Papilion, however, cannot sense how

many creatures it is detecting or what is

their nature.

Intermediate: the power extends to a

range of 200m and the Papilion acquires

the ability of discerning between one sin-gle individual and many.

Advanced: the range becomes 500m and

the Papilion can now discern what kind of

creature it is detecting and their exact

number. There are rumors that some great

masters can extend the range of this power

to many kilometers, pinpoint the exact lo-

cation and even tell what kind of powers

the detected creature possess.



25

PROJECTION

This is an Order specific power which

manifests only at the Imago Stage in the

Fucus Order. It can be used to cause sen-

sory hallucinations and confusion in thevictims.

Second Cycle Levels are known to in-

crease the strength of the illusions with

great masters being able to completely trap

a victim in an imaginary reality inside

their minds.

Basic: within a range of about 50m, the

Papilion can induce slight hallucinations in

its victim that can affect any one of its

senses. The effect of these hallucinations,

however, has a duration of only a few se-

conds and is used mainly to distract the

victim.

Intermediate: the range increase to 100m

and the hallucinations now are only inter-

rupted if the victim is distracted by another

external interference. The power can also be used to cause the victim to feel con-

fused and disoriented.

Advanced: the starting range is 500m and

the hallucination can only be broken by

the Papilion itself or other psychic power.

At very higher levels, this power can be

used to completely trap the victim in an

alternate reality created by the Papilion.

SOPHIS

Sophis is a power specific to Imago

Papilions of the Candis Order which is

reminiscent of the Papilion ability of ac-

quiring the knowledge and abilities of its

devoured victims from its early life Stages.

At those Stages, the absorption is com-

pletely random and chaotic, but in the

Sophis power it can be directed and con-

trolled.

Basic: by standing next to a victim for a

continued amount of time, the Papilion can

absorb one ability or knowledge about a

specific subject from it.

Intermediate: the Papilion acquires the

ability of absorbing knowledge and abili-

ties by touch, the longer the time the con-

tact is made, the larger the amount ab-

sorbed.

Advanced: the power of absorption of

knowledge and basic abilities increases to

the level where it can be accomplished

with a single touch. Continuous training

and study can develop this power to the

level of allowing the Papilion to absorb

magic and psychic powers and abilities

from any creature.

TELEPATHY

The ability of reading thoughts and com-

municating without speaking is the most

basic psychic power of an Imago Papilion,

appearing as soon as it leaves the cocoon.

With a basic level of this power, a Papilion

can communicate its thoughts to any near-

by sentient being at a maximum range of

one kilometer. It can also read minds up to

half this distance. If the creature whose

mind is being read is unwilling to allow

access to its thoughts, the Papilion engages

in a willpower contest with the victim until

one of them cannot resist the will of theother.

The range and effectiveness of this power

can be enhanced by training. When used

against other beings with psychic or magic

powers, however, the effects vary accord-

ing to the nature of these powers.

TENEBRA



26

This power is only possessed by individu-

als at the Imago Stage belonging to the

Nox Order.

Tenebra allows the Papilion to induce fear-

like feelings in other sentient beings and

works even with other Papilions.

Basic: this Level works only under eye

contact and allows the Papilion to induce

fear in its victim.

Intermediate: the range extends to 100m

and no eye contact is required. Any harm-

ful feeling can now be induced in the vic-

tim, like anxiety, jealousy and envy, but

only one can be induced at any time.

Advanced: the Advanced Level starts

with a range of 500m. A finer manipula-

tion of dark feelings can be achieved now

and even a combination of them can be

created. By continuous training, a Papilion

can increase the strength of the induced

feelings to the point of making the victim

completely loose its mind and become de-

ranged for the rest of life. It can also be

used to induce long-term conditions like

depression.

ORDER ABILITIES

Abilities are physical characteristics de-

veloped by the Papilions for many differ-

ent purposes. They do not depend on mag-

ic or psychic powers and are completely

related to the Papilion biological develop-

ment.

The most common ability of each one of

the Four Great Orders is listed below. All

members of the Order usually possess that

ability. A Papilion of a certain Order lack-

ing its Order Ability is considered handi-

capped by the others.

The Lesser Orders usually have mixtures

of these abilities, but with some less pow-

erful characteristics. There are stories of

Lesser Orders with abilities as powerful as

those of the Four Great Orders, but theyare generally unconfirmed.

CAMOUFLAGE

Members of the Fucus Order are able to

change the colors and patterns of their

mantle to mimic the colors and shapes of

the surrounding environment.

This ability is instinctively used from the

Egg Stage to the Pupa Stage, but the Ima-

go acquires the capacity of controlling it.

It is known that some very special individ-

uals of the Fucus Order indeed possess the

ability to become invisible, but the exact

means by which this is achieved is sur-

rounded by mystery.

NIGHTSIGHT

This ability is exclusive to the Nox Order

and is active from the Larva Stage.

It allows the Papilion to see in the com-

plete absence of light. In addition, at any

time of the day or night, the Papilion is

able to detect light polarization and has an

extended vision range which includes in-

frared and ultraviolet light.

OMNIA

This ability appears only in the Candis Or-

der and develops for the first time at the

Pupa Stage.

A Papilion with Omnia is capable of re-

membering everything that ever happened

to itself. This is equivalent to the human

eidetic memory.

POISON

Only present in the Toxis Order, this is the

ability of produces an extremely painful



27

toxin that cause a burning sensation on its

victims that can even cause their death at

high quantities.

The toxin is already present in the Egg

Stage and is known to cause death to crea-

tures that succeed in ingesting a Toxis

Egg. During the Larva and Pupa Stages,

the toxin is delivered by spikes scattered

along the Papilion’s body, while in the

Imago Stage the toxin concentrates in the

mantle and is either delivered by stings

localized at the extremities of their anten-

nae or excreted by thin ducts at the bottom

of the mantle.

UNCOMMON ABILITIES

There are other abilities that once were

common among Papilions, but are nowa-

days much less widespread.

Some of these abilities are so rare that in-

dividuals possessing them are highly

looked for, both by those who want to use

these abilities and those who want to steal

them.

There is no known explanation of why

these abilities became uncommon, but

some theories attribute this to the efforts of

the Four Great Orders to maintain the puri-

ty of their lineages at any cost.

BLADE

Some Papilions are born with extremely

resilient and still flexible mantles.

These mantles can serve both as an almost

impenetrable armor and as a deadly weap-

on. Papilions who possess this ability are

known to sharpen the edges of their man-

tles and then use them as blades in combat.

Papilions from the Toxis Order who also

possess this ability are extremely feared

assassins and are highly valuable individu-

als.

FLYING

Ancient Papilion texts seem to indicate

that in the past all Papilions had the ability

to fly, but this started to become less

common with the passage of time.

Presently, a little less than one half of all

Papilions is born with a mantle that can

actually unfold and be used as real wings.

It is also rumored that there are Lesser Or-

ders where all individuals can fly, but this

is considered a myth by most Papilions.

NEBULA

Closely associated with Poison, Nebula is

the rare ability of being able to spread a

cloud of poisonous or blinding powder by

waving ones mantle.

The powder usually emanates from the

internal surface, forming a forward mov-

ing colored cloud, which can assume dif-ferent colors depending on the actual pow-

der effect.

The powder can also harvested by scrap-

ping the internal surface of the mantle,

which however is said to be a very painful

procedure.

SHAPESHIFTING

Some rare members of the Fucus Order are born with this ability instead of Camou-

flage. These individuals can change the

shape of their bodies to mimic any animat-

ed or inanimate object or creature, being

able to halve or double their actual sizes if

necessary.

There is no agreed explanation what is the

origin of this ability. Some Candis theorize

that this is a result of a Fucus Papilion

feeding on the energy of shapeshifter crea-



28

tures, like werewolves or doppelgangers,

during its earlier Stages of life, but there

are no proofs that this is actually true.

OTHER POWERS There are many stories about encounters

with Papilions which have fantastic pow-

ers and abilities not described here.

Most of these sightings are believed to be

of individuals of the Candis Order who

absorbed those powers from other crea-

tures, but many cannot be explained by

that.

Contacts with magical creatures during the

first three Stages of the Papilion life cycle

can produce strange effects in the Imago

phase and many powers and abilities can

be born from them and passed down the

generations afterwards.



29

CHAPTER 7: LANGUAGE

B ASIC WRITING

Because Papilions communicate only tele-

pathically, being able to transmit images

and sensations alike, their language be-

came based on intricate and colorful trian-

gular ideograms called Chromograms, as

the one below:

Chromograms are usually either based on

natural patterns or painted with one single

color. Apart from the oldest monochro-

matic ones, traditional Chromograms in

the Papilion language have their origins on butterfly wings, but there are other classes

with different patterns used to write for-

eign words or to codify sounds.

Although a single Chromogram can by

itself represent a complete idea, full words

are formally written by arranging four

Chromograms together in what is called a

Tetrachrome.

When a Chromogram represents a single

idea, the Tetrachrome is simply formed by

repeating the Chromogram four times in

the required arrangement. An example of

this is any of the words used to describe

one of the Four Great Orders, for instance,

the Fucus Order:



30

Note that the other three pieces of the

complete Tetrachrome are copies of a sin-

gle Chromogram reflected through their

edges.

The Chromograms can also be mixed to

form composed words. One of the best ex-

amples of how Papilion words are created

is the single word meaning “Four Great

Orders”. This word is formed by arranging

together the characteristic Chromograms

of each separate Order as follows:

Sentences are then written by tiling

Tetrachromes in a zigzag, up and down

pattern without leaving blank spaces

among them, this zigzag supposedly being

reminiscent of the flights of moths and

butterflies. Because of this peculiar ar-

rangement, Papilion texts are usually

known as Papilion Tilings.

The reading of a Papilion Tiling starts

from the first Tetrachrome in the upper left

corner and proceeds to the right. The first

Tetrachrome is read in a clockwise direc-

tion, starting from the Chromogram in the

bottom left. The next one is arranged adja-

cent to it and read in the anti-clockwisedirection and so on. The sequence of read-

ing the first line of Tetrachromes is repre-

sented in the diagram below

When a line of Tetrachromes reaches its

end, the new line starts below it and is read

in the opposite direction. This continuity is

represented by a Connector, which is a

black Half-Tetrachrome. The next diagram

shows how this is done.

The first line is painted in yellow and the

line below it in red. The black triangle

connecting the two lines is the Connector

and the blue arrow shows where to start

reading the new line.

A full Tiling is always enclosed inside a

box. The first small triangle in the Tiling is



31

painted in black to indicate the beginning

of the text, which always finishes with a

Connector after the last Tetrachrome.

All remaining triangles left in blank

around the Tiling are painted in white.

Papilions are always very careful to ar-

range the text in such a way that all lines

in the whole Tiling have the same number

of Tetrachromes. A diagram of how a Til-

ing would look like is given in the picture

below, where alternate lines are depicted

in different colors for easy visualization.

MONOCHROMES

According to Salvius writings, the origin

of the Papilion writing system seems to be

known to the Tradition Circle, but is kept

as a secret and revealed only to those who

dedicate their life only to its study.

Salvius, however, was able to access some

secret documents. One of them revealed

that early Papilion Tilings were written

almost exclusively with one-color

Chromograms, which he called Mono-

chromes.

Very common in the beginnings of

Papilion history, Monochromes slowly

give way to more complex Chromograms

and are nowadays mainly used to describe

colors.

The word used to designate any specific

color is then simply the Tetrachrome

formed by juxtaposing four Monochromes

of that same color. For instance, the

Tetrachrome for the color white is simply

One important characteristic of Mono-

chromes, highlighted by Salvius, is that, as

Papilions can see a larger range of the vis-

ible spectrum than humans and even dis-

cern the polarization of light, some Mono-chromes which are actually different from

each other are perceived as the same by

humans. This color misinterpretation ef-

fect also happens with the other

Chromograms, but is less problematic in

them as their complex patterns make them

very different from one another.

Monochromes are also used in simple

grammatical or orthographical functions,as in the construction of the black Con-

nector and the white blank spaces in a Til-

ing. They can appear as any other

Chromogram in the formation of other

Tetrachromes, but they are much less used

than the other ones.

SOUNDS

Papilion Telepathy allows them to transmitmuch more than only sounds directly to



32

the mind of another individual. Conse-

quently, only a fraction of all

Chromograms actually are associated to

sounds.

Still, Papilions are fully able to detect

sounds coming from the environment

around them through their antennae and

developed a particular Class of

Chromograms to depict them.

Chromograms depicting sounds, even very

simple, can however be very detailed and

complicate as Papilions usually construct

them by following mental images associ-

ated with that sound which, for many for-

eigners, might seem to be senseless.

As most other species make use of sounds

to communicate, foreign words are usually

written using this kind of Chromogram.

Differently from the traditional Papilion

writing though, foreign words sometimes

may require more than one Tetrachrome to

be written. The sequence of Chromograms

forming the sound of the words is then

simply written in sequence until it is com-

plete. If there is any space left in the lastTetrachrome of the sequence, it is filled

with as many white Monochromes as it is

needed to complete it.

NOTE ON GRAMMAR

Papilion grammar has a very complicated

set of rules probably fully known only to

individuals of the Candis Order. It is ru-

mored that one of the lost documents of Salvius is a full Papilion grammar, but this

text remains, up to this date, lost.

Below, some examples of commonly used

Chromograms are given.

Examples of Traditional Papilion Chromograms



33

Examples of Sound Chromograms

THE P APILION TETRACHROME

Among all the Tetrachromes, there is one

in particular that is used only on very spe-

cial occasions.

In Papilion Tilings, when referring to

themselves, the Papilions make use of a

Tetrachrome with the general meaning of “peo ple”. However, in highly important

Tilings, a special Tetrachrome, called by

Salvius “The Papilion Tetrachrome” is

used.

Documents containing the Papilion

Tetrachrome are extremely rare and be-

lieved to contain many of the Papilions

more well-guarded secrets. Among them,

Salvius listed ancient historic documents,

maps and descriptions of sacred places and

some strange Tilings which he could not

identify, but believed to be powerful

spells.

The Papilion Tetrachrome is

This Tetrachrome is not allowed to be

used unless permission is granted by the

Tradition Circle, which occurs very rarely.

Being a sacred and important symbol,

many times the Papilion Tetrachrome is

drawn with one or more individual

Chromograms separated to avoid the pro-

hibition. Some of these depictions are

demonstrated in the following picture



34

These forms of depicting the PapilionTetrachromes, and many other variations

of them, are used as symbols in walls,

doors and flags, but obviously cannot be

used in Tilings as they are not actually

proper Tetrachromes.

The true origin of the Papilion

Tetrachrome is unknown, but the Tradition

Circle teaches that it was the first

Tetrachrome ever created, taught to the

Papilions by the Tree of Creation, and is

believed to be a sacred and powerful sym-

bol.

Although Salvius consider the above de-

scribed origin as just a myth, he recognizes

that it might indeed be one of the first

Tetrachromes ever written. The fact that it

is composed by the two simplest Mono-

chromes is considered as evidence in favor

of it as Monochromes were the first

Chromograms created by Papilions.

Salvius, in his writings, tried to interpret

the Papilion Tetrachrome as a symbol rep-

resenting the very nature of Papilions:

“If one examines it very closely, two inter-

twining butterflies, one black and one

white, can be seen. Each one symbolizes

one facet of the Papilion existence, the

good and the evil. Its message is that nei-

ther can exist without the other, a dichot-

omy which defines everything in the

Papilion way of living.”

Salvius



35

INDEX

Battle of Shadah, 11

Blade, 27

Camouflage, 19, 26, 27

Candis, 8, 16, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32Chromograms, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Colonies, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18

Connector, 30

Dragons, 10, 11

Dridders, 10

Driders, 10, 11

Edos, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 23

Egg, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27

flaming eggs, 20

Flying, 27

Four Great Orders, 13, 16, 17, 26, 27, 29,30

Fucus, 16, 19, 25, 26, 27, 29

Hunters, 10

Imago, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 18, 19, 20,

21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28

Larva, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24,

26, 27

Lesser Orders, 16, 17, 26, 27

Life Stages, 4

Lure, 6, 20, 24

mantle, 7Mating Calling, 14

Mating Festival, 8, 13, 14

Mens, 5, 6, 8, 24

Mixed, 17

Monochromes, 31, 32, 34 Natural Predators, 9

Nebula, 27

Nightsight, 18, 26

Nox, 10, 16, 18, 20, 26

Omnia, 21, 26

Order Abilities, 26

Order Circles, 14

Orders, 16

Papilion Tetrachrome, 33

Poison, 20, 26, 27

Political Circle, 14, 21 primary arms, 7

Projection, 19, 25

Psychic Powers, 23

Pupa, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23,

24, 26, 27

Religion, 14

Ritual of Initiation, 8, 13, 17

Salvius, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 31, 32, 33,

34

secondary arms, 7

Shapeshifting, 27Sophis, 21, 25



36

Supreme Circle, 15

Supreme Order Circles, 14

Telepathy, 8, 25, 31

Tenebra, 18, 25, 26

Tetrachrome, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Tilings, 30Toxis, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27

Tradition Circle, 12, 13, 14, 17, 21, 31, 33,

34

Tradition Temple, 13

Tree of Creation, 14, 34

Weaknesses, 10

Wizards, 10



37

The Papilions is a fantasy species developed by

Roberto C. Alamino

under commission.

Contact and commissions:

[email protected]