As the initial concept for Racciman's world, was that it would be run by a family of gods who were still children, and were making it as a 'Practice World'. This led to the notion that it would be flat.

Gravity on a flat world would, under physics as we know them, behave quite oddly. (See Kraytr for more detail on this.) I didn't want that. I wanted a world that would appear on the surface to be a 'normal' world, but that every so often you would run into some aspect where the gods had goofed. So I declared by authorial fiat that the gravity had been magically 'fixed' by the gods on ONE side of the world, the other side of the world has insufficient gravity to maintain a breathable atmosphere, and is uninhabitable. The gods also magically provided a small sun and a moon and put them in orbit around the planet. The sun and the moon actually share an orbit, and are exactly opposite each other at all times. This means that the moon never gets any sunlight and thus remains dark. Oops!

To create 'normal' seasons the gods set the world to swaying back and forth like a teeter-totter. If you look at the world from above, so that it appears perfectly round, the pivot point goes across horizontally. This imaginary line also marks the sun/moon orbit path. During the year or 'cycle' the top part of the world swings up and the bottom swings down, moving the top closer to the sun's daily path across the sky and the bottom further. This creates summer in the north and winter in the south. Then the world swings back the other way, and you get summer in the south and winter in the north, just like you would on an ordinary round planet.

Obviously such a world would be lacking the normal compliment of solar system, and star systems and so forth, so the gods set it floating about within an ordinary galaxy in the hopes that the night sky wouldn't get too boring, and actually the night sky tends to get quite bright, if somewhat unpredictable. There is no following a conveniently placed north star on *this* world, as the stars that come within view tend to migrate about the sky in an apparently aimless manner. Belatedly realizing that this would make extensive calendaring difficult, the gods provided a century tree in the middle of the world, that blooms every hundred years, and the phoenix who rests in its branches, and flies around the world in a day every thousand years. Just so that there would be some sort of marker longer than a year to help the inhabitants keep track of the passing of time.

And finally, in a burst of caution, the gods decided that it would be best not to let the inhabitants of this peculiar little place mix freely with the rest of the universe, and they placed a barrier around the inhabited half of the world, that prevents the passage of matter, magic or souls without the assistance of a god or immortal, but allows light to pass freely.

Flora & Fauna

All the plants and most of the animals on Racciman's world look very similar to ones found on our own world.

Mammals: Carnivores

• Bears
  • Ice Bear. North Coast. 7-10 ft tall when standing. All white, or white with brown patches. Preys primarily on seals, but also eats fish, Horned Tundra Deer, or Wooley Ox.
  • Giant Blue Bear. South Alpine. (Rare). Dark grey coat with silver guard hairs. Omnivore. Eats fish, grubs, roots and honey, carrion, and honey.
  • Spineback Bear. North Alpine. 6-8 ft tall when standing. Coat varies from gold-brown to chocolate brown, with dark guard hairs. Longer guard hairs form a ruff around neck and a ridge down the spine. Omnivore. Eats fish, grubs, roots and berries, carrion, and honey.
  • Common Grey Bear. 4-5 ft tall when standing. North and South lowland forests. Narrower head and lighter build than Blue or Spineback. Coat is Grey/Dun on back and Creamy Tan underneath. Omnivore. Eats fish, grubs, roots and berries, carrion, and honey.
  • Masked Honeybear. 3-4 ft tall when standing. Omnivore. Dark Brown or Black Coat, with cream paws and cream 'mask' around eyes. Eats Honey, Insects, Fruits, and carrion.
• Canines
  • Wolf. Temperate Forest and Plains, Alpine, and Tundra. Colors vary. Hunts in packs and eats primarily large hooved ungulates but will occasionally resort to smaller prey.
  • Russet Fox. Plains. Mottled Red and Grey coat with white ear-tips and bib. Eats rabbits, prairie dogs, ferrets, prairie grouse, etc.
  • Wood Fox. Lowland Forests. Medium to dark grey with black ears and points. Eats small rabbits, squirrels, etc.
  • Pocket Fox. Lowlands, forest borders. A tan fox with dark brown spots. Eats small prey, such as mice, shrews, birds.
  • Sand Fox. Desert. Grey coat with tan guard-hairs. Eats mice, lizards, snakes, etc.
  • Scrub Dog. Pivotal Grasslands and Scrub. Hunts in packs and singly. Eats any kind of meat.
  • Snow Pup. Tundra. White Fur. Eats small game such as Mice, Shrews, Snow Grouse.
• Weasle-kin
  • North Mountain Wolverine. North Alpine. 4-6 ft long.
  • Common Red Wolverine. North temperate. 2.5-3 ft long.
  • Giant Spotted Martin. Pivotal Forest. Arboreal.
  • Wood Martin. South Temperate. Arboreal.
  • Gold Mink. Northern Riverbanks and Marshland.
  • Blue Mink. Southern Riverbanks and Marshland.
  • Red-eared Ferret. North Plain.
  • Masked Ferret. South Plain.
  • Common Stoat. Everywhere. (Called ermine when living in cold climes, and wearing a winter-white coat.)
  • Salt Otter. Sea-coasts. Quasi-communal.
  • Dog Otter. North Rivers and Lakes. Communal.
  • Banded Otter. South Rivers and Lakes. Solitary
  • Skunk. Everywhere except desert and deep rainforest. Black coat with three white stripes going lengthwise over the face along the back and down the tail (which is broad and flat.)

Other Mammals

• Ungulates: Wooley Ox, Horned Tundra Deer, Moose, Mountain Sheep, Gorge Goat, Spring-deer, Spotted Deer, Fern Deer, Marsh Deer, Hill Goat, Masked Antelope, Buffalo, Domestic Sheep, Domestic Goats, Domestic Cattle,
• Pig-kin: Wood Hog, Giant River Hog, Armored Hog, Horny Mud Hog, Domestic BaconBack, Domestic Miniture, Loam Hog/Hunting Hog.
• Monkeys
• Rabbits,
• Squirrels, Groundsquirrels, Rats, Mice,Shrews, Moles
• Porcupines