Thanks guys...

Yeah webs... But unfortunately, they were some sort of wacky hybrid web-spinning and water spider (thanks, GM). So there were still more of them when we discovered the underwater river to the east...

Torstan-
I do most of my work in Photoshop CS. These were both done completely in PS. Occasionally I'll do bits and pieces in Illustrator or Vectorworks (a CAD program) - I especially use Illustrator when I need a Vector-based outline of something (i.e. a landmass) that I might want to zoom into and detail at a later date.

Depending on where and when I'm doing the work (at home, at a cafe, etc), I use either my trackball or my 10x12 palette (which i LURVS, and is also great for doing coastlines, rivers, or any sort of "organic" outline).

PD