Calor

This world, which looks barren at the outset, is surprisingly vibrant with life. The majority of the planet was dominated by a massive body of deserts. These deserts were impossibly hot, not allowing for humanoid life of any kind under normal circumstances. Those humanoids that did exist in the community did so in small communities gathered around craters with unique geography that allowed for greater than normal amounts of shade, or otherwise, burrowed down into the rock itself to form communities away from the harsh sunlight. This left the larger, above-ground areas of deserts, flats, and mesas to be dominated by all manner of desert beings, especially tlincalli, bulettes, thri-kreens, various elementals (particularly air and fire), some dragon beings (including half-dragons), some yuan-ti, and even fearsome tarrasques. The planet itself shifted violently from day to night however, and few races were spared if they inhabited the central plains. In the day, the heat was excruciating, letting only beings appropriately protected or who could withstand it alive. But as day turned to night, all beings would scatter to their burrows, craters, or homes, as the night would bring purifying cold temperatures that would kill even the most rigid creatures. The day-night cycle on Calor lasted 54 hours, with 27 hours of sunlight and 27 hours of nighttime. At 12h local time, the sun would slowly begin to rise and heat up the world. This gave races not accustomed to the heat 5-6 hours of sunlight to traverse the dangerous plains before the temperature began to reach lethal levels, although even these periods of low and morning light would be as hot as the hottest desert by noon on Rakuen. Nighttime was harder to traverse; at sunset, a window of around 3-4 hours depending on the season would be available to traverse the plains during sunset before the weather harshly dropped to lethal cold temperatures.
The poles of this world were more fortunate, however. Because of the lack of an axial tilt, both poles of the planet received an extended period of twilight and a less harsh day. The sun would rise slightly on the horizon (as if sunrise) for the normal period of the day, and then settle back down beyond the horizon at night. This more gracious temperature change meant temperatures rose to approximately 150F near the furthermost edges of the poles, with temperatures decreasing the closer you got to the center of the pole. This meant craters and valleys facing that were facing away from the sun were ideal for colonization, with many cities being built along this border region.
Beyond the polar borders, the desert gave way to lush tropical jungles, and then into verdant grasslands, which feature many warm-water freshwater lakes. These bodies of water are fed by a mountain at each pole, which the locals describe as having been “pinched up from the ground by the very gods.” These perilously tall mountains sit extremely high, and because of the cyclical nature of weather patterns, have a constant series of ice forming great amounts of ice which melts as the planet turns, and reforms in the night. This constant process allows the poles to remain ideal for habitation, and are largely occupied by halflings, gnomes, centaurs, minotaurs, tabaxi especially around the jungle tropical regions, and a very small population of dwarves. The planet also boasted a lively underdark, but far more dangerous than Rakuen.
The mountains of both poles were seen as holy. In dwarvish society, the mountains were strictly off-limits to any habitation, despite their ideal make-up. The northern mountain was named Ala and the southern mountain known as Tahuta. They were seen to have been created by the gods of the planet as guiding beacons to fairweather races. Climbing these great mountains are seen as a legendary pilgrimage for all races, as it is a remarkable feat for anyone to make. Any hero who was able to summit both peaks were seen as legends, although fewer than a dozen had ever been able to accomplish this feat.
Because of the relative sunlight in the poles, underdark races such as duergar, deep gnomes, derro, and xvarts were known to live above ground. The consistently long periods of twilight and lack of direct sunlight allowed them to habituate to surface-life with no detrimental effects. Unfortunately, this also meant other underdark creatures often made their way out of the planet’s crust onto land to wreak havoc.
Monsters upon the poles were varied. Hags, especially night hags, were extensively common. All manner of underdark creatures would wander fields, especially at night, with impunity. Furthermore, races from the deserts suffered few ill-effects from crossing the tropical boundary that separated the poles. Intelligent races, especially the yuan-ti, sought to subjugate border towns when they were able for all manner of supplies and foodstuffs, or simply slaves. Rumours also speak of Shifters and lycanthropes existing among the population, but societies are strict about enforcement of these beings so as not to let diseases spread.
The equator features the hottest temperatures on the planet, and even most desert-living creatures dare not go there. This harsh climate has attracted some of the most fearsome beasts of the entire land, and make any passage across the equator the most dangerous part of a journey between poles. This is also where adventurers have claimed to see tarrasques, and even stranger giant beings taller than canyons themselves.

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Planet