Alternia



Alternia and Homestuck are Property of Andrew Hussie, All Rights Reserved.

A highly-polluted planet in an unknown location from what appears to have been another Session of BZPB, Alternia is the homeworld of Vriska Serket and almost certainly Sollux Captor, being a member of the same race as the former. Youths of the main race on Alternia were, at least at the time of Vriska's flashbacks, placed in the care of monstrous creatures known as lusus. The reason why is yet unknown. As well, it appears that this same race were/are nocturnal. As of Vriska's final dreaming flashback, it would appear that Alternia was destroyed when it was leveled by faling meteors; only a handful of its inhabitants somehow managed to survive.

Environment
The skies of Alternia were heavily polluted, filled with scarlet and dark purple smog which the green moon cast an eerie light upon. No grass or any kind of shrubbery grew on the planet; only sickly, twisted trees clawed up from the foul dirt. It also seems that Alternia was dotted by mesas and ravines - Upon two such mesas, Vriska Serket and Equius Zahhak built their castle-like homes at the top.

Inhabitants
Other than the aforementioned main intelligent race, the lusus were major inhabitants of the planet. Huge creatures colored a ghostly white, with matching eyes, for reasons yet unknown, they were placed as caretakers/pets of youths. Young members of Alternia's major race would be raised by their lusus and taught how to survive and interact with others, while their wards would be pressed with feeding and caring for their lusus. Failure to do so resulting in the lusus's death was apparently punished by being "culled." In cases like Vriska Serket and her massive spider lusus, extreme measures occasionally had to be taken in the beasts' feeding; in the example case, Vriska had to kill other youths of her own race to keep her lusus sustained.

Culture
Little is known of Alternia's culture. However, inhabitants like Vriska Serket took to building tall, ominous castles to live within, and as repeatedly detailed, lusus were left to take care of the young. It also seems that "FLARP" was incredibly popular - Basically a version of Live Action Roleplaying, with what could be very lethal consequences for losing to certain players.

Vriska's Hive
See more here. Built atop one of twin mesas, Vriska's hive was very opulent and designed to resemble an ominous castle. However, later comments would imply that she had grown tired with its design, as her tastes had changed since childhood when it was built. Among its structures was a central tower, a massive balcony with pillars and arches astride its main mass, several circular windows, and a secondary tower connected by a narrow bridge.

Within the ravine between the two mesas (reachable either by a staircase within Vriska's hive itself or a rickety mechanical elevator at the edge of the ravine outside), Vriska's lusus normally slept while awaiting her to bring it food. It kept the ravine filled with countless large webs of its own making, though it never seemed to venture beyond the one spot where Vriska consistently fed it at.

Equius's Hive
Situated across the ravine from Vriska's hive, Equius's hive was very similar in basic construction to her own. It possessed a balcony with a number of pillars - Though covered by another room - A pair of towers in its undivided mass, and overall a much more compact and boxy shape. It was situated on the higher mesa of the two.

Within the hive, among other rooms, there was a workshop where Equius would fashion for Vriska Serket her mechanical arm following a disastrous, unknown event which led to her left arm and eye being destroyed. It also had what seemed to be a large number of robots inside, and Equius's lusus Aurthour running errands.

Trivia

 * Alternia is the first planet from another Session of BZPB gone into with detail.