Otter Island

Otter Island is a story world created by Oren Otter. Although it includes stories and art by other contributors, its main expression is through a combination of images and comic strips presented by Pandora Comics.

The Pre-history
The story of Otter Island begins with Oberon, King of the faeries. When the king became possessed of a wanderlust and desired to explore the multiverse, he had his people construct a system of interdimensional gateways powered by the magic which flows from the higher dimensions. When Oberon came to our dimension, he found it uninteresting and continued on his way.

Oberon's gate continued to function long after his departure and the the magic which powered the gate soon suffused the island on which it had been placed. This island became a sort of mecca for all manner of wizards and sorcerers. At one point, the entire magical community set off on an expedition through the gate. They were never heard from again.

Many years passed and the island which had been suffused with magic was now saturated with it. This magic caused it to become a living entity. However, it also caused the mutation of eels living in the reef. The eels became were-eels and using their human forms, conquered the island. These creatures, the nageels, were savage and cruel. Filled with an intense loathing, the island used all of its energies to drive them back into the sea.

Then one day, a river otter who had become lost at sea washed ashore, barely clinging to life. The island took pity on the creature and nursed it back to health. That otter became a fast friend of the island, and was such a delight that the island began to call telepathically to other otters.

Otter Island, which has come to strongly resemble an otter itself, is home to many species of otter, including kushtaka, microlont, star otter and cookiesnitcher.

Enemies
On another plane of the multiverse lives a tree spirit named Nexicul. Once a harmless oaksidhe, Nexicul's tree became so large, its roots so deep, that it began to soak up the very energies of the biosphere. Soon it had subsumed the entire world and the inhabitants thereof had become zombies- puppets controlled by the creature who had absorbed their life force.

Nexicul has since gone on to spread himself through the multiverse. His interest in Otter Island is simple. It lies between him and a world now devoid of magic, which offers him ideal laboratory conditions in which to test new magics and thus expand his power even more.

Other emeries include the marauding astruchin, the voracious tetranids and the greedy spiders from the low dimensions.

In response to these threats, Otter Island has joined an multi-dimensional alliance which includes a federation of elves, a world of androids, Rat City, Insectivore City and even a sentient restaurant.

Life on the Island
Otters who live on the island benefit in many ways. First, the ambient magic increases their intelligence, giving them the means to greatly enhance their own quality of life. It also allows them to instantly understand any language they see or hear.

Otters native to the island have their own language. This language is real and is reccomended for study by anyone wishing to build foreign language skill, as it is very simple, yet helps one to understand the mindset of a totally foreign people. (The Transformation Studies institute will soon be offering a course in Islandish.)

Otter Island is ruled by a king and queen who actually have very little to do with running things. The king deals with the outside world, making alliances and trade agreements, and serves as a military leader in wartime. The queen is in charge of the coastal patrol (a standing army consisting of one champion from each village) and insures that everyone has a means of contributing to society.

The economy of Otter Island can be described as an ideal communist society. There is no money. Everyone contributes to society in his or her own way and in exchange is permitted free access to all the goods and services which others offer. While this plan has always been disastrous in human societies, the non-materialistic nature of otters at their willingness to respect others' freedom makes it work.

There are ten villages on the island, each with unique characteristics and surrounding lands. They are the Kushtaka Village with it's hills of ice, Chanel Village with the sandbar and forest, Fjord Village, with its cliffs and orchards, Marsh Village with its swamp, River village with its meadows and markets, Reef Village with its islands, Lagoon Village on the shore of the shallow lagoon, Lake Village with lake and castle, Fish Farm Village with its gardens and sports arena, And lastly, the Star Otter Aerie atop Mt. Sploosh.

Fun places to visit on the island include Mt. Sploosh, a natural indoor water park; the Hot springs, the art museum, the Maxwell Memorial, and of course, Oberon's Gate.

Prominent characters
Among the most prominent characters on Otter Island are...


 * Oren - the magician of transformation. He has no actual powers, but has made a thorough study of TF magic.  Amanda the plushie lives here with her father, as does his apprentice, Frost.
 * Sam - The conjurer. Born a human with the magical talent of conjuring, Sam experimented with other types of magic.  In a spectacular blunder, Sam permanently turned himself into Oren's nearly identical twin.  He is now married to a sea cat and has an adopted son named poof-poof.
 * Tak - the jovial fruit farmer. Tak loves fruit and could easily eat as much as he grown.
 * Blalok - The teacher, and best friend of Tak.
 * Sayna - The athlete. Often seen hanging around with Tak and Blalok, she is the most physical of the bunch.
 * Zarro - Formerly a gardener, Zarro is now ambassador to at large.
 * Fgori - An alien of the kendru species, Fgori was unique among her people in that she actually likes otters. Now she lives among them.
 * Alinor - Kept for years as Fgori's pet until she discovered that he was actually a sentient person. Alinor is a navigator, but as a microlont, stands about three inches (76 mm) tall.
 * Cafe - The sentient restaurant. Cafe communicates by exchanging bits of matter which carry thoughts with them.  He sometimes accompanies otters on their excursions by placing his personality into a bag of lozenges which interact with the otters by creating a mental projection.
 * Jarna - a young female river wolf who likes to sing... but doesn't do so very well.
 * Kahuna - a sea otter who doesn't quite understand the inhibitions river otters have concerning sex.
 * Pan - The aged ambassador to Cafe.

Radio show
Otter Island has expanded into audio territory via a monthly internet program, the Otter Island Radio Show, produced by the amateur dramatics group, the Riverside Players, with theme music by Chama C. Fox as of Episode 4: Aftershocks. Seven episodes have so far been produced, ranging in duration from 25 to 40 minutes.