The Palagonia Page

Palagonia is a world of shapes hidden within the tiles of a Palago set. It was first stumbled upon by intrepid explorer Captain Bolitho while playing with some tiles one day, and is described in his journal:

Palagonians are most welcoming of visitors but have one strict requirement for membership: only closed shapes formed by Palago tiles can live there. However, there appears to be an endless variety of these, and the longer you spend there, the more exotic shapes and creatures you'll discover.

This page describes some of the main inhabitants of Palagonia based on Captain Bolitho's notes, who was overjoyed at discovering an entirely new world without having to leave his chair.

Young Palagonians: Playful little creatures that get into all sorts of mischief as they explore the shapes around them and learn their place in the grand scheme of things.

Adult Palagonians: Adult Palagonians are still quite carefree but must have acquired some wisdom in order to reach this stage.

Adolescence is marked by the growth of long prehensile ears, useful for swatting flies, painting ceilings and cleaning out ear wax. An individual reaches adulthood when able to tie their ears in a knot and undo them again unaided.

Paladins: A holy order composed of individuals who have chosen a life of quiet contemplation and permanently knotted ears... or simply couldn't get them undone in the first place, which is the main reason for joining.

Palaminos: Horse-like animals much like our palominos only smaller and bumpier.

Palapets: Palagonian pets are faithful familiars that combine the best traits of dogs and cats: friendly and smart enough to fetch the paper, but clean enough to bury their own business.

Pregnant females have the useful ability to extend themselves long enough to hold as many babies as required.

Palagoats: Distinguishable from palapets by their horns and the fact that they make dreadful pets.

Paladeer: Deer-like creatures that include the shy paladoe and the spectacularly antlered palamoose.

Palaquarians: Palagonian fish come in various shapes, sizes and tastes. There are cute ones - and there are ugly ones.

Palavians: Large birds with flappable wings, they include the palacan which is notable for its large mouth.

Palabugs: Giant insects that look scarier than they really are (though I wouldn't recommend stepping on one of their smaller cousins within view).

Palagophers: Small, stupid animals that sit on the tundra with their heads stuck down small holes. Easy to catch but not very tasty.

Palaturtles: Able to solve most problems by withdrawing into their shell. I'll have to try that.

Palacites: Carnivorous trees that catch food by looking like giant bugs (similar to the symbiotic relationship between our bugs and trees but the other way around).

Luckily, palacites are rooted to the spot and easily avoided once identified. A simple rule of thumb learnt by most Palagonians (i.e. the older ones) is to stay away from trees with eyes and mouths that try to grab things walking past.

Palagators: Hungry predators whose last meal is visible from outside. Useful if you quickly want to lose your own last meal.

Palagorillas: Giant apes who like to tear things apart to see how they work. Little is known about these magnificent creatures as the best thing to do upon seeing one is generally to run in the other direction.

Palasnakes: Care must be taken to avoid the smaller, venomous palasps. The longer non-venomous palacondas are less dangerous and in fact enjoy nothing more than getting legless and having a good time.

Palagores: Secretive, bad-tempered monsters with long double-jointed arms and legs. Best avoided around tea time.

Care should be taken not to confuse palagores with paladins. Mistaking a paladin for a palagore would offend them terribly, while making the reverse mistake would probably be the last one you ever made.

Palaghosts: Disembodied entities that drift around aimlessly moaning about this and that. Not so much scary as atmospheric (and quite like some people I know).

Palabodes: Palagonian houses mostly follow a standard design with one room for each member of the family. They may look a little squishy from the outside but open up surprisingly once you get inside.

Palagonians have a cooperative and classless society in which prestige is not important. Individual design touches are generally made not to outdo the neighbours but to express some keenly felt aesthetic ideal; extensive palaces are rare.

Palaglyphs: Palagonians aren't particularly superstitious or religious but they do like to doodle, and anywhere they go will leave drawings of strange but beautiful shapes with no particular meaning.

Palamoney: The local unit of currency is the pal and the preferred method of transaction PayPal (thanks for that observation Yves!).

Each pal is actually a dormant egg that may hatch into any of the native flora or fauna at any time, so no Palagonian knows if (or when) their change from the morning's loaf of bread will suddenly sprout an ear of corn or a giant gorilla. Palagonians therefore avoid using money whenever possible and will often just dump the contents of their pockets to get rid of the stuff and simplify their lives.

Palarang: Three-sided boomerang that doesn't come back. More of a toy than a hunting implement and a big hit with the kids.

There are no doubt countless other inhabitants of Palagonia yet to be discovered. If you come across any interesting ones worthy of mention, please drop me a line.

The following murals are free for download as a memento of your visit to Palagonia.

Flat strokes.

Thick strokes.

Click on any image for the full size mural.