Nightglow Floes
The Nightglow Floes are an unusual terrain feature located on Northern H6. Ancient lava flows comprised of flourescent obsidian appears to have carried huge chunks of volcanic rock and glass down the slopes of the nearby corner mountains, creating the impression of stone icebergs on a scintillating red-black sea.
Before The Curved Time, the Manifold was a place of intense geophysical turmoil - party as a result of its unnatural geometry, partly because of the influence of long-decayed radioactive isotopes in its inner crust, and partly due to the extradimensional gravitational influences of the early Celestial System. While the Ventral Tesseract and regions proximal to it are best known for their extreme geology in the modern era, volcanoes once sprung up all throughout the Manifold, creating many edge and corner mountain ranges beyond the Ventral Tesseract's influence. The Nightglow Floes are an example of where evidence this ancient volcanism is still visible to modern observers.
Geography
The Nightglow Floes is a shallow mountain range of dark rock and sand around halfway between the corner mountains of Northern H6 and the commissure leading to the G1 face. This is the exposed remains of an enormous prehistoric lava fieldm the presence of which preceeded an explosive eruption. Enormous chunks of semi-hardened basalt, granite, and volcanic glass crashed down in the cooling extents of the the lava flow, creating the impression of dark 'icebergs' where they vitrified; the molten softness of this ejecta, coupled with the cushioning effect of the also-molten earth, allowed the huge fragments to squash rather than breaking apart completely.
Uranium inclusions in the obsidian that decorades the landscape makes it flouresce under the ultraviolet ambient illumination of the Distal Tesseract. Shadowy orange light emanates from within the volcanic glass as other inclusions alter the transparency color of the material. Thin pieces have a greener tint, while the largest chunks (the 'floes' themselves) have a deep reddish glow to them. From a distance, it can be difficult to tell that the lava field has been cool since long before the arrival of sentient visitors.
Fauna & Flora
Shardleaf grows in great profusion wherever the rocky surface gives way to sand and porous basalt. This makes getting to the Nightglow Floes surprisingly difficult without a map, as most fleshy creatures must find a way around the fields. Gas spore plants and other tall trees do not grow near the fields because the soil composition is too acidic.
Distal urticators live near patches of shardleaf in the Nightglow Floes and use the shelter of the floes (see Geography) to complete their reproductive cycle. The bioaccumulated radioactivity of the urticators native to the Nightglow Floes has changed the color of their natural phosphorescence. This color change serves as a form of aposematism, dissuading predation from Distal polyps and Distal razorbacks from the surrouding cube who would be poisoned by consumption. Thus, in the Nightglow Floes, the population size of the urticators is controlled by availability of shardleaf dross and fresh water rather than predation. The urticators have been known to shoot down and eat curious flashravens that fly too close to the dens under the floes, but this is not a major source of sustenance.
Natural Resources
Huge pockets of crystals, including precious minerals, remain hidden beneath the surface of the Nightglow Floes. The hazardous nature of the environment does little to dissuade ambitious prospectors, but it does preclude industrial-scale exploitation of the mineral wealth to be had there.
Small pieces of the luminous obsidian found in the Nightglow Floes are popular souvenirs for inclusion into Seeker's Packs. The minimal radiation let off by these fragments is easily absorbed by the material of the pack itself, though more cautious explorers might envelop the pieces in thin gold leaf.
Type
Lava river
Location under
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