Legacy of Zenderael Mod Account (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zenderael_mods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
zenderael_ooc2011-11-25 12:15 pm
zenderael_mods) wrote in zenderael_ooc2011-11-25 12:15 pm
Entry tags:
Zenderael's Setting
A visual map.
Inside Zenderael
Let's be frank. Zenderael isn't breaking any new ground on environments. Some are truly unique, but a good majority are just that. Majority. Rolling hills. Trees. Mist. Sometimes a stray antelope or perhaps a zebra if you're in a more heated climate. You might see a storm form. You might see a rainbow. The houses are made of falling apart wood and brick, and all the NPCs have little chickens. All of them. And don't kill them, either.
No, really, don't kill the chickens.
The problem with Zenderael is that as a vast, ever growing, ever evolving landscape created by both players of this here literal LJ game and the game itself, it has an infinite capacity for reinvention, and so classifying it is a little difficult. Instead, we'll focus on various countries, and then focus on a few important spaces that require description. To attack the description of the world, we'll focus on the nations and their capitals, as well as major border towns.
All other locations are player created, and will be listed at the end of this setting page.
The Nations
The Holy Country, Everea
Home of: Clerics, Hunters, and Paladins
Everea is the closest to typical fantasy you can get. Tudor construction with worn red bricks, elegant spires and busy, cobblestone streets, it's a continuous city where underbrush and wild vegetation only break through in quick bouts. The land itself can be described as mildly hilly to rolling, usually green, suffering regular seasons and with a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Flora and fauna are typical, if not boring: rabbits, deer, elk. Sometimes the occasional water fowl.
There are three rivers in the country, none are named, but they form a triangle around its capital, Bastan. Because Everea is the holy country, there are stricter bounties placed on violating character's heads, as well as an overall sense that "you don't belong here unless you definitely like the effin hell out of Xumurdad." Minor Gods are frowned upon in this region.
Queen Omid
Queen Omid is seen as something of a token leader. Her utilization as ruler of the kingdom is often undermined by the Vahishta, a truly spiritual and terrifying leader who commands most of both Bastan and the country's loyalty. If the Vahishta and Omid were to disagree, (which wisely, they have yet to do), the country would side with the Vahishta. There is no doubt.
The Capital, Bastan
Bastan is a city surrounded by rivers, and nature consistently interrupts the flow of its classic Tudor architecture. Buildings have trees forming an entire corner, or bushes that look like wigs on their roofs. The religious fervor here is strong, with the focal point of Bastan being the church, focused at the "head" of the isosceles triangle that the rivers make.
The church itself has an architecture that cannot be described in OOG terms. With pointed roofs and harrowing, floor to ceiling stained glass panels, the church is a multi-faceted dreamwork of color and light. Deciduous trees line every spire. Every spire, all ten of them, are connected by intricate, cobblestone pathways littered with nature and beauty. Flowers that cannot be glimpsed anywhere else in game bloom and flutter in the breeze. There is a forever calm.
In the center of the collection of faceted spires lies an enormous tree with the likeness of Xumurdad carved into its bark. It's said it happened through lightning.
In fall, the city is a myriad of deep reds and shocking oranges. It is a major tourist attraction for citizens from all over the world of Zen, and many festivals and street markets occur during this time.
The Borderline
The borderline with Pakerion starts to do two things: first, it begins to grow into an untangled mess of green, thorns, flora and fauna of the intense variety. Second, it begins to be populated by Druids and Berserkers, crossing the lines regularly for either mercenary work or quests. A small settlement has been set here but it can't decide whether it's Everea or Pakerion, what with ladders leading to deciduous treetops, vines crossing over tudor roofs and cobblestone roads dissolving into muddy, debris strewn pathways.
On the Everea side, one of the rivers crosses directly by the border, and half the town, instead of just building on the other side of it, put itself on rafts. These homes are especially cheap as they regularly fall into the river.
The Kanareh
The border with Safta is much more orderly than the border with Pakerion. Here, the undertow becomes manicured, and the cobblestone pathways treated with utmost precision. What seemed a random pattern is now micromanaged, ordered by the millimeter. The Tudor architecture is gone, in favor of an incredibly modern architecture featuring a mix of heavy, dark woods and metals.
The metals, they say, are meant to deflect magic, and this is a magic city, even in Everea. The mention of Xumurdad will be mixed between individuals here. Evereans who are stationed here are often at odds with the seeming "lawlessness" of the educational, magic oriented milieu, and it's more often than not that a report of a flaming elk running into Everea proper reaches Bastan.
Another river runs by this border, but unlike those near Pakerion, the homes on the river bed are extremely expensive, as they are designed to harness water elementals for the owner.
The Research Country, Safta
Home of: Alchemists, Mages, and Spellswords
*aka the magic country, as per assuaging a guindo
Safta is a functional country. Its roads are paved, clean, clear and under control. The underbrush is managed. The side facing Everea is smooth and flat, and the side facing Pakerion is mountainous and rugged, and the Saftans have manicured that transition as if someone'd taken a smoothing tool in photoshop to the entire territory. The architecture is dark clay and metal and beautiful glasswork, done in the traditional, 8th century Persian (Iranian) architectural style. This style is greatly modernized, featuring dark wood accents and variant shades in stained glass, along with hardwood floors and a traditional, dark blue persian style rug in each home.
The flora and fauna of Safta are magically geared to be the most meaty and the most sufficient and sustaining with the least difficulty hunting, so several players have to go to other areas to acquire initial XP, but have no trouble finding luxurious pelts from rabbits and badgers and Safta Deer, a special kind of stumpy-legged, rather portly antelope.
Wolves also prowl the flatlands, and are vicious but luxuriously coated.
In the mountains, goats and mutated crickets dominate the landscape. (These crickets are a terrifying thing to see, take it from the "modhand.")
To the north is an amazing vacation destination, referred to in shorthand as the Safta Coast, but in general is known as The Shoreline. For a few short months in summer this is the most beautiful place to be around, though some prefer the chillier months, when the rocks and white sands are covered in a fine mist.
The Sharifa of Safta, Khshathra Zaida
Zaida can be heard laughing from a mile away, and her reign has been gentle, intelligent, and prosperous for Safta. She is respected, listened to and her advice is often sought by other Guild leaders and Saftans alike, and she spends a good chunk of her day in "listening hours," designed to hear audience and address complaints. She prioritizes sustainability and efficiency, and uses her superior alchemy to create cures for her people, liberating them from the Cleric caste in Everea outside of one thing: Resurrection. This is still the role of the Vahishta and of the Clerics, but it's said Zaida spends a good deal of her time trying to create a potion that can, indeed, resurrect the dead.
The Nenakret
The Nenakret is home to the World Library, and as such is the most traveled to city in the entire world. Its roadways are wide and deep, with shops and tourist traps and temples for all sorts of deities and research locations and magic conduits and... anything you want to find you can find in the Nenakret. The architecture is remarkably consistent throughout, with low, arched buildings and large windows.
The World Library is a spacious building surrounded in columns; ten sets of two. On each set of columns an article of the Xumurdad history is carved, both in text on the right and in pictorial on the left. The archways lead to square paneled windows detailing the scenes talked about on the pillar, with each of the original guild leaders attaining their power. Of particular interest is the detail of the Assassin/Paladin struggle.
Inside the world library, everything is dark wood and clay and dark blue and magic, magic, magic. Things move when you call them. Lights turn on and off willy-nilly depending on silly code-words (often a treat for children, a nuisance for studiers). The librarian, the A'zam Mogh, or the Asha, or the Mage Guild Leader, is privy to knowledge that no member of Zenderael wants to know. He commands the administrative mages, or the Moghan (individually the Mogh), and is known for his taciturn rebuttal of questions that are "too mysterious."
The Kanareh
The Kanareh on the Safta side holds little to none of the Everea, outside of the occasional not-awesome deer. The Evereans on this side of the border tend to be homely, patient, and irreligious. They're often trying to learn magic, but because they're typically Clerics or Paladins, they've yet to acquire the adequate skill to learn the upper-tier magic used along the border.
One interesting note: due to the lack of interesting architecture or in fact interesting land, the Safta side of the Kanareh has been talked about as the "safest" border area in the entire world. Few "illegals" are interested, and the Evereans who'd balk at atheism want nothing to do with living in Safta full-time.
The Saghar
The Saghar on the Safta side is under constant construction. Warning signs are posted everywhere as irritated Saghar mages fight the growth of the wild jungle and the damage that the Berserkers often do to Safta. It is a point of pride (and sometimes initiation) for young Berserkers to destroy something on the Saftan side, and so often there is rubble, broken window, branch through a door... etc.
As the Saghar crosses in the low-point of the Saftan mountains, it is often described as "one trip to a broken collar bone," as the steep foothills leading into Pakerion and the rubble left behind tend to be dangerous for swift-moving PCs.
The Wild Country, Pakerion
Home of: Assassins, Berserkers, Druids, and Rogues
Pakerion is a country of levels. High, low, medium; cities in trees, cities in the wild, cities in valleys, cities within cities. There are ropes and vines and creatures you can't even imagine, or maybe you can, as they will be largely created by players. The flora and fauna are mainly tropic, with a few standbys from Safta on the border, and the underbrush is never tended. Roads are questionable and paths often have random nailed planks into the earth where there was once a trap.
Architecture is hit or miss, but largely cobbled together. Tree houses, thatch huts, this and that. The capital is the only city that sees any permanence here.
King Aerveas
King Aerveas is a handsome, elderly man with a wild beard and even wilder eyes. He believes in anarchy with slight restriction, largely in the form of taxation, and will take it out of your hide if you don't have it in your fingertips. All classes from Pakerion pay a monthly fee for the right to beat up, murder, slash and dash and destroy anything they like, and King Aerveas is certain to exact his fee.
The tax is a 5% fee on all gold on hand. However, Pakerion classes don't have to pay anything extra in shops, and any bounties or fees placed on their head for various infractions are waived. It is a balancing mechanic, but still several players of Pakerion attempt to dump their gold onto a farming alt at the deadline each month.
The Capital, Enghelab
The Capital is structured out of tar paper and blood, sweat, and tears. It seems taped together if not for the foundations of each of the buildings, and there are consistently wanted signs with laughter scrawled upon the faces. The people here will cut you should you blink, and will cut you even if you don't, so few casual visitors set foot in Enghelab. Instead, they are there on mercenary business, or they themselves are a local, set to cut the next purse traveling their way.
The roads are still dirt with the occasional plank, and damned you if I'll pick up the garbage! It is sometimes reeking of filth, and sometimes super clean, depending on the moods of the trash-runners that day.
The Undertow
Located on top of the treetops despite its name, the Undertow is the Berserker city, so opposed to being part of society they are. Here, Berserkers exist in a strange synthesis with nature that seems more befitting a Druid, but a wild, impatient nature. Between each tree a rope bridge is attached, and fireflies are collected to provide light at the gate between each tree top. The name of the dweller is carved into the bark below. There is a quest specifically for Berserkers to get their tree.
The Borderline
The Pakerion side of the Everea border is lawlessness. You won't catch an Everean alive in this side of town, but you might find them dead. Assassins and Berserkers bring their catches over the country line to murder them here to avoid the Everean law, and you thought Enghelab was terrifying?
Here, the Tudor architecture's deterioration leads to several empty and abandoned buildings where a fire could start and no one would be the wiser. There are no traditional merchants, only NPC Rogues reselling wares from Alchemists or from expeditions gone awry at awful mark-ups.
The Saghar
The rolling foothills of the Saftan mountains end in the Pakerion side of the Saghar, where a tamer Pakerion is seen. The influence of the Saftani logic has spread over Pakerions here, and those who are "cold calculating killers" or just "mild-tempered Rogues" prefer the no-nonsense, manicured approach of the Saghar.
Architecture looks strikingly like Saftan architecture, but the roads are no longer paved, as a compromise to the largely barefoot Berserkers.
Inside Zenderael
Let's be frank. Zenderael isn't breaking any new ground on environments. Some are truly unique, but a good majority are just that. Majority. Rolling hills. Trees. Mist. Sometimes a stray antelope or perhaps a zebra if you're in a more heated climate. You might see a storm form. You might see a rainbow. The houses are made of falling apart wood and brick, and all the NPCs have little chickens. All of them. And don't kill them, either.
No, really, don't kill the chickens.
The problem with Zenderael is that as a vast, ever growing, ever evolving landscape created by both players of this here literal LJ game and the game itself, it has an infinite capacity for reinvention, and so classifying it is a little difficult. Instead, we'll focus on various countries, and then focus on a few important spaces that require description. To attack the description of the world, we'll focus on the nations and their capitals, as well as major border towns.
All other locations are player created, and will be listed at the end of this setting page.
The Nations
The Holy Country, Everea
Home of: Clerics, Hunters, and Paladins
Everea is the closest to typical fantasy you can get. Tudor construction with worn red bricks, elegant spires and busy, cobblestone streets, it's a continuous city where underbrush and wild vegetation only break through in quick bouts. The land itself can be described as mildly hilly to rolling, usually green, suffering regular seasons and with a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Flora and fauna are typical, if not boring: rabbits, deer, elk. Sometimes the occasional water fowl.
There are three rivers in the country, none are named, but they form a triangle around its capital, Bastan. Because Everea is the holy country, there are stricter bounties placed on violating character's heads, as well as an overall sense that "you don't belong here unless you definitely like the effin hell out of Xumurdad." Minor Gods are frowned upon in this region.
Queen Omid
Queen Omid is seen as something of a token leader. Her utilization as ruler of the kingdom is often undermined by the Vahishta, a truly spiritual and terrifying leader who commands most of both Bastan and the country's loyalty. If the Vahishta and Omid were to disagree, (which wisely, they have yet to do), the country would side with the Vahishta. There is no doubt.
The Capital, Bastan
Bastan is a city surrounded by rivers, and nature consistently interrupts the flow of its classic Tudor architecture. Buildings have trees forming an entire corner, or bushes that look like wigs on their roofs. The religious fervor here is strong, with the focal point of Bastan being the church, focused at the "head" of the isosceles triangle that the rivers make.
The church itself has an architecture that cannot be described in OOG terms. With pointed roofs and harrowing, floor to ceiling stained glass panels, the church is a multi-faceted dreamwork of color and light. Deciduous trees line every spire. Every spire, all ten of them, are connected by intricate, cobblestone pathways littered with nature and beauty. Flowers that cannot be glimpsed anywhere else in game bloom and flutter in the breeze. There is a forever calm.
In the center of the collection of faceted spires lies an enormous tree with the likeness of Xumurdad carved into its bark. It's said it happened through lightning.
In fall, the city is a myriad of deep reds and shocking oranges. It is a major tourist attraction for citizens from all over the world of Zen, and many festivals and street markets occur during this time.
The Borderline
The borderline with Pakerion starts to do two things: first, it begins to grow into an untangled mess of green, thorns, flora and fauna of the intense variety. Second, it begins to be populated by Druids and Berserkers, crossing the lines regularly for either mercenary work or quests. A small settlement has been set here but it can't decide whether it's Everea or Pakerion, what with ladders leading to deciduous treetops, vines crossing over tudor roofs and cobblestone roads dissolving into muddy, debris strewn pathways.
On the Everea side, one of the rivers crosses directly by the border, and half the town, instead of just building on the other side of it, put itself on rafts. These homes are especially cheap as they regularly fall into the river.
The Kanareh
The border with Safta is much more orderly than the border with Pakerion. Here, the undertow becomes manicured, and the cobblestone pathways treated with utmost precision. What seemed a random pattern is now micromanaged, ordered by the millimeter. The Tudor architecture is gone, in favor of an incredibly modern architecture featuring a mix of heavy, dark woods and metals.
The metals, they say, are meant to deflect magic, and this is a magic city, even in Everea. The mention of Xumurdad will be mixed between individuals here. Evereans who are stationed here are often at odds with the seeming "lawlessness" of the educational, magic oriented milieu, and it's more often than not that a report of a flaming elk running into Everea proper reaches Bastan.
Another river runs by this border, but unlike those near Pakerion, the homes on the river bed are extremely expensive, as they are designed to harness water elementals for the owner.
The Research Country, Safta
Home of: Alchemists, Mages, and Spellswords
*aka the magic country, as per assuaging a guindo
Safta is a functional country. Its roads are paved, clean, clear and under control. The underbrush is managed. The side facing Everea is smooth and flat, and the side facing Pakerion is mountainous and rugged, and the Saftans have manicured that transition as if someone'd taken a smoothing tool in photoshop to the entire territory. The architecture is dark clay and metal and beautiful glasswork, done in the traditional, 8th century Persian (Iranian) architectural style. This style is greatly modernized, featuring dark wood accents and variant shades in stained glass, along with hardwood floors and a traditional, dark blue persian style rug in each home.
The flora and fauna of Safta are magically geared to be the most meaty and the most sufficient and sustaining with the least difficulty hunting, so several players have to go to other areas to acquire initial XP, but have no trouble finding luxurious pelts from rabbits and badgers and Safta Deer, a special kind of stumpy-legged, rather portly antelope.
Wolves also prowl the flatlands, and are vicious but luxuriously coated.
In the mountains, goats and mutated crickets dominate the landscape. (These crickets are a terrifying thing to see, take it from the "modhand.")
To the north is an amazing vacation destination, referred to in shorthand as the Safta Coast, but in general is known as The Shoreline. For a few short months in summer this is the most beautiful place to be around, though some prefer the chillier months, when the rocks and white sands are covered in a fine mist.
The Sharifa of Safta, Khshathra Zaida
Zaida can be heard laughing from a mile away, and her reign has been gentle, intelligent, and prosperous for Safta. She is respected, listened to and her advice is often sought by other Guild leaders and Saftans alike, and she spends a good chunk of her day in "listening hours," designed to hear audience and address complaints. She prioritizes sustainability and efficiency, and uses her superior alchemy to create cures for her people, liberating them from the Cleric caste in Everea outside of one thing: Resurrection. This is still the role of the Vahishta and of the Clerics, but it's said Zaida spends a good deal of her time trying to create a potion that can, indeed, resurrect the dead.
The Nenakret
The Nenakret is home to the World Library, and as such is the most traveled to city in the entire world. Its roadways are wide and deep, with shops and tourist traps and temples for all sorts of deities and research locations and magic conduits and... anything you want to find you can find in the Nenakret. The architecture is remarkably consistent throughout, with low, arched buildings and large windows.
The World Library is a spacious building surrounded in columns; ten sets of two. On each set of columns an article of the Xumurdad history is carved, both in text on the right and in pictorial on the left. The archways lead to square paneled windows detailing the scenes talked about on the pillar, with each of the original guild leaders attaining their power. Of particular interest is the detail of the Assassin/Paladin struggle.
Inside the world library, everything is dark wood and clay and dark blue and magic, magic, magic. Things move when you call them. Lights turn on and off willy-nilly depending on silly code-words (often a treat for children, a nuisance for studiers). The librarian, the A'zam Mogh, or the Asha, or the Mage Guild Leader, is privy to knowledge that no member of Zenderael wants to know. He commands the administrative mages, or the Moghan (individually the Mogh), and is known for his taciturn rebuttal of questions that are "too mysterious."
The Kanareh
The Kanareh on the Safta side holds little to none of the Everea, outside of the occasional not-awesome deer. The Evereans on this side of the border tend to be homely, patient, and irreligious. They're often trying to learn magic, but because they're typically Clerics or Paladins, they've yet to acquire the adequate skill to learn the upper-tier magic used along the border.
One interesting note: due to the lack of interesting architecture or in fact interesting land, the Safta side of the Kanareh has been talked about as the "safest" border area in the entire world. Few "illegals" are interested, and the Evereans who'd balk at atheism want nothing to do with living in Safta full-time.
The Saghar
The Saghar on the Safta side is under constant construction. Warning signs are posted everywhere as irritated Saghar mages fight the growth of the wild jungle and the damage that the Berserkers often do to Safta. It is a point of pride (and sometimes initiation) for young Berserkers to destroy something on the Saftan side, and so often there is rubble, broken window, branch through a door... etc.
As the Saghar crosses in the low-point of the Saftan mountains, it is often described as "one trip to a broken collar bone," as the steep foothills leading into Pakerion and the rubble left behind tend to be dangerous for swift-moving PCs.
The Wild Country, Pakerion
Home of: Assassins, Berserkers, Druids, and Rogues
Pakerion is a country of levels. High, low, medium; cities in trees, cities in the wild, cities in valleys, cities within cities. There are ropes and vines and creatures you can't even imagine, or maybe you can, as they will be largely created by players. The flora and fauna are mainly tropic, with a few standbys from Safta on the border, and the underbrush is never tended. Roads are questionable and paths often have random nailed planks into the earth where there was once a trap.
Architecture is hit or miss, but largely cobbled together. Tree houses, thatch huts, this and that. The capital is the only city that sees any permanence here.
King Aerveas
King Aerveas is a handsome, elderly man with a wild beard and even wilder eyes. He believes in anarchy with slight restriction, largely in the form of taxation, and will take it out of your hide if you don't have it in your fingertips. All classes from Pakerion pay a monthly fee for the right to beat up, murder, slash and dash and destroy anything they like, and King Aerveas is certain to exact his fee.
The tax is a 5% fee on all gold on hand. However, Pakerion classes don't have to pay anything extra in shops, and any bounties or fees placed on their head for various infractions are waived. It is a balancing mechanic, but still several players of Pakerion attempt to dump their gold onto a farming alt at the deadline each month.
The Capital, Enghelab
The Capital is structured out of tar paper and blood, sweat, and tears. It seems taped together if not for the foundations of each of the buildings, and there are consistently wanted signs with laughter scrawled upon the faces. The people here will cut you should you blink, and will cut you even if you don't, so few casual visitors set foot in Enghelab. Instead, they are there on mercenary business, or they themselves are a local, set to cut the next purse traveling their way.
The roads are still dirt with the occasional plank, and damned you if I'll pick up the garbage! It is sometimes reeking of filth, and sometimes super clean, depending on the moods of the trash-runners that day.
The Undertow
Located on top of the treetops despite its name, the Undertow is the Berserker city, so opposed to being part of society they are. Here, Berserkers exist in a strange synthesis with nature that seems more befitting a Druid, but a wild, impatient nature. Between each tree a rope bridge is attached, and fireflies are collected to provide light at the gate between each tree top. The name of the dweller is carved into the bark below. There is a quest specifically for Berserkers to get their tree.
The Borderline
The Pakerion side of the Everea border is lawlessness. You won't catch an Everean alive in this side of town, but you might find them dead. Assassins and Berserkers bring their catches over the country line to murder them here to avoid the Everean law, and you thought Enghelab was terrifying?
Here, the Tudor architecture's deterioration leads to several empty and abandoned buildings where a fire could start and no one would be the wiser. There are no traditional merchants, only NPC Rogues reselling wares from Alchemists or from expeditions gone awry at awful mark-ups.
The Saghar
The rolling foothills of the Saftan mountains end in the Pakerion side of the Saghar, where a tamer Pakerion is seen. The influence of the Saftani logic has spread over Pakerions here, and those who are "cold calculating killers" or just "mild-tempered Rogues" prefer the no-nonsense, manicured approach of the Saghar.
Architecture looks strikingly like Saftan architecture, but the roads are no longer paved, as a compromise to the largely barefoot Berserkers.
MONSTERS
Re: MONSTERS
Type: Brute, physical offense, land/flying
Level: 70-80
Stats: ↑ strength, endurance / ↓ intelligence, dexterity, magic / ↕ speed
Description: Think over-sized flying foxes with hind legs that resemble those of a canine. The claws on their winged arms are large enough to trip fleeing prey when extended and tear into flesh. Their teeth mark them as undoubtedly carnivorous. They possess a set of long canines with which they use mainly while they're young to pierce flesh and drain prey of their blood. The eyesight of a vrylak is poor, to the point of near-blindness. Instead, they rely on their superb sense of hearing and smell. They switch between walking on all fours and walking on their hind legs. In the case of the latter, their shoulders hunch forward. They have short, stubby tails of seemingly little importance. They appear emaciated, regardless of how well they've fed.
Vrylaks possess indeterminate growth. As long as they acquire adequate feed, they will continue to grow in size at a rate of growth inverse to their age. They're born around a foot in length. Generally they reach five to six feet in height before being eaten or killed. The population tends to keep itself in check through cannibalism. If a local population gets out of hand, they will spill over into human territory, in which case a group of mercenaries or soldiers are hired to exterminate them. To date, the largest sighting of a vrylak reported the monster to be approximately eleven feet high with a total wingspan of fifteen feet.
Vrylaks will travel alone or in packs of seven to ten members. Packs determine leaders by size and mettle. Occasionally a smaller vrylak will become pack leader. Interestingly enough, once a pack leader is determined, a highly organized society is born. Leadership rarely goes challenged except in times of food or habitat shortage. They thrive in warmer climates and do poorly in extremely cold places.
Vrylaks are difficult to kill permanently. They must be completely incinerated, pierced through the heart with a holy item or eaten by one of their own to remain dead. They will regenerate otherwise. Wounds dealt with a holy item will take longer to heal. Their nutritional requirements increase when healing from major wounds. They can also die from starvation.
--
Acird
Type: Brute, physical/magical offense, land
Level: 80-90
Stats: ↑ dexterity, intelligence / ↓ strength, endurance / ↕ speed, magic
Description: A monster found in the Whimsical Woods of Safta, with the skeletal frame of an eagle, but lacking in muscle and skin. Instead, the acird's skeleton is surrounded by a translucent kind of gel that seems to repel outside elements, but a chemical reaction controlled by the acird turns the gel into a poisonous material that can melt through bone. It walks upright, with longer legs and talons to support bipedalism, and stands five feet in height. It neither sees or hears or tastes, but its gelatinous skin can detect even the faintest change in air pressure, and it is on that which the acird depends for hunting.
The alchemist who had dumped the first acird in the woods had thought it dead, as the gel had disappeared and the skeleton had fallen apart, but apparently it wasn't, and now the woods are teaming with an overpopulation of acirds, devastating the flora and getting dangerously close to people.
Interestingly enough, when an acird truly dies, its gelatin coating melts its own bones into the shape of a feather.
--
Venom Wyrm
Type: Dragon, physical offense/status ailment, land/flying
Level: 70-80
Stats: ↑ speed, strength / ↓ endurance / ↕ magic, dexterity, intelligence
Description: Five days foot travel, south of Pakerion past the dwarven hold. Shadow panthers, hydra, venom wyrm, kelpies.
Dark, wine-colored scales; spiked tail tip, loaded with venom; saliva is poisonous; relies on climbing more than flying; adolescents are truck-sized; adults can reach cargo-truck sizes; considered on the 'smaller' scale of dragon family
--
Necroticorn
Type: Brute, magical offense/defense, land
Level: 80-90
Stats: ↑ dexterity, intelligence, magic, speed / ↓ strength, endurance
Description: Two days foot travel, northeast of the towering brambles near the Pakerion/Bastan border. Shadow panthers, twisted willows, elegantagonists, necroticorn.
Appears as a purple-grey unicorn, black spiraled horn, wispy mane of pestilence. Brings illness and misfortune to anyone nearby. Few and far between. Considered "rare".
--
Wolpertinger
Type: Brute, physical offense, land/flying
Level: 40-50
Stats: ↑ dexterity, intelligence, speed / ↓ strength, endurance / ↕ magic
Description: Wikipedia (appearance).
no subject
They're weak to fire, and when frozen can be shattered with a solid hit.
Arachnidrakes - also located near Jioret. These large winged drakes
are fucking terrifyingcan spit acid, and produce a very strong silk that sees myriad uses in both alchemy and crafting. They carry with them a horde of palm-sized spiders that live inside a hive in their backs. The spiders can be directed offensively.The spiders catch fire easily and this can be utilized against large swarms.
Manaeaters - monsters that superficially resemble pangolins. Three feet tall, ten feet long, with nine-inch claws. Their scales are frosty white and absorb any magic thrown at them.
Found in southeast Safta, near the Saghar.
Dromaeoavids - Bear a strong resemblance to a feathered variety of velociraptor, known for their vicious claws, pack mentality, and their ability to harness wind magic.
Wailing cockroaches - not terribly dangerous, but a nuisance to fight. They bear a resemblance to hissing cockroaches, but are the size of a dachshund. They come in groups of at least a dozen. They're named for the loud, mournful cries (magical in nature) that come in a chorus--the more wailing cockroaches in an area, the louder and more piercing the wail.
no subject
Headcanon though: They look like other drakes in that they are draconic, but are actually covered in shaggy fur that tends to cover their eyes
like an Old English Sheepdog. Huge, fluffy beasts with tusks.Panthropes: Humanoid panther beastmen that live deep in the jungles of Pakerion. (Alternately, think gorillapanthers.) Less intelligent than the average beast given their mindless violence when a territory is invaded. Stealthy despite their size and capable of moving soundlessly.
Peryton: The winged deer from mythology. Can come in a variety of colors unseen in natural deer, but are usually more golden. Generally not hostile, and though they are not widely domesticated, it is possible to use an individual as a mount. (Especially for hunters and druids, who are good with this kind of thing.)
BATTLE RHINOS :D
Pakerion Rhinos differ from Earth rhinos in that they are MORE HUGE and MORE PLATED and MORE SPIKED. (They also tend to be a little more affectionate, which is a problem when they are covered in spikes.) They can be used as battle mounts effectively because they sure do charge straight into groups of armed men without being very worried about it. If you see one out in the wilds, they do not tend to attack unless provoked.
Re: MONSTERS
A creepy, vaguely humanoid monster about twice the size of an adult human. It has translucent skin through which you can see acid blood coursing over its organs. It sort of wobbles and lurches with an oversized head that dips forward as if asleep.
Glass mandras terrifying to behold, but not super aggressive -- you usually have to go out of your way to get into a fight with one. Its primary mode of attack when threatened is its claws, but the real threat of this monster is that when its skin is punctured, it releases a pressurized stream of powerful acid. The prescribed way of defeating one is to freeze it solid and destroy it before it thaws, but other creative methods can be used as well.
Both the acid and the glass mandra's skin are valuable alchemical components.
Gloomfang
This creature has the snapping jaws of a wolf and the dexterity of a monkey -- it can go on two legs for brief periods and can cling to trees and climb them. They are fast and aggressive and tend to attack and retreat in a flash, since they can skitter up and down nearby tree trunks.
Their name seems to come from their giant, mournful eyes and the jarringly sad noises they make while they're trying to eat you. Although they have no obvious magical attributes, the powder made from grinding their teeth is a versatile alchemical dampening agent due to its latent shadow elemental qualities.
no subject
Vishue: A wildcat about the size of a house cat that can jump like a cricket, with cricketty legs to match. The claws are nastier than you'd find on a house cat, and its personality is typically slashy and ferocious.
They do chase bugs in an almost adorable manner, though. Or larger prey, like you.
no subject
Tiny, imp like creatures no taller than a foot. They look more like teru teru bozu than realistic humanoid. Each have varying blossoms/leaves as skirts and matching little hats which are a part of their bodies. In the dark, their eyes glow.
They are shy and passive, but will team up on an adventurer if one of them is provoked. They can control the plant life around them. They work in perfect sync with one another, so the more of them there are, the more powerful they become. Folklore likes to suggest they have their own city buried deep in the Pakerion jungles, but no one's ever seen it.
Re: MONSTERS
A big, saber-toothed cat. It is lean and fast, but has a leathery, furless hide and a single large horn. It can generally be found in grassy areas; it prefers to sneak up on prey and ambush them with fangs, claws, and horn, for a quick take down and meal.
They are in the same area as glass mandras.
no subject
The blazebeast can breathe deadly fire, hot enough to melt rock. It will use it to melt rock in order to sharpen its large claws, and can get them sharp enough to slice through metal. Their tails can be used as flaming whips in combat, and while the things generally avoid human settlements, they would make formidable foes to the unwary traveler.
They wander the lands alone, only meeting up once a year at the fiery Kandre volcano to mate. Their hides can be used to craft armour with some natural fire protection, or as an enchantment ingredient. The claws can be turned into daggers, and their black teeth make excellent flints.
--
Dyadavias - A two-headed, carnivorous bird, averaging 2.5 metres in height and resembling the extinct terror bird Titanis, with large, deadly beaks and sharp claws. This is a dual-element creature, with each head taking up either wind or earth element. Each head has its own element-based ability, while both heads can use the dual-element ability. If a head is incapacitated, it loses access to that ability.
Its abilities include a wind attack that can throw an enemy away (knockback), an earth attack that can shatter the ground at an enemy's feet (knockdown), and a combined earth-air earthquake that includes sonic elements that can shatter windows and cause audio impairement (deafening/knockdown). It can also headbutt, its skulls being exceptionally sturdy. Generally, the bird will attempt to disable an opponent before closing in for the kill with its beaks/claws.
--
Lamia - The lamia is a serpentine monster, similar to a naga, with greyed scales over its snake-like lower body and greyed skin over its upper, humanoid torso. The head is that of some serpentine beast, and it has extended digits with long claws on its hands.
It has the ability to disguise itself as a teenaged, human girl. In this form, it can enchant men into a fatherly protectiveness that, in time, can lead to agressiveness towards anyone who nears her, even other enchanted men. Once the men are thoroughly enthralled, the lamia will attempt to lead them away one at a time to feed off of them, draining them of their life energy. This process leaves the men in an enchanted comatose state. Left alone, they will die within five days. Killing the lamia will cure any afflicted by its touch imediately. Another method of curing the afflicted is through disenchanting.
Only a spellsword can detect a lamia in its disguised form, as otherwise they appear to be nothing but quiet and reserved teenagers. However, the lamia's powers are permanently active, which causes magical, serpentine tendrils to emanate from their bodies.
The lamia's powers are useless against women, and those with any magical powers, which includes most guilds. As such, the lamia tends to hunt in the outskirts of civilization, where adventurers rarely travel. They avoid Safta in general, as it is the home of the spellswords, and tend to dwell in the depths of Pakerion, though now and then one may venture into Everea.
--
Saftan Swamp Drake - Six feet tall and ten feet long, the Saftan swamp drake resides in the swamps of Safta, as if that weren't obvious. Its eyes are as black as night with tiny silver slivers of moonlight for pupils, and it is known to be able to see in the dark. The thing has six limbs - wings and four legs - but can climb better than it can fly, using its wings more for that bit of extra oomf as it pounces its prey, or to glide when it leaps out of a tree. It is covered in thick, scaled hide that is impervious to bullets and most weapons, except for two weak spots: the underbelly, and the spot right between the wings.
Black oil oozes out from between its wings, as well as running through its veins. The thing is weak to fire, as the oil is highly flammable. However, it can be really difficult to put the flames out once they've started, and anyone hoping to collect parts from the drake, or hope to save some of its oil for use, may want to stick to more conventional weapons. Its own weapons include large claws, razor-sharp teeth, and jaw-strength capable of shattering bone. It has no supernatural powers.
--
Undead: Skeletons and Zombies - These creatures are created when a blight corrupts the land, warping the natural energies into unnatural and unholy magic. Skeletons are simply that, the bones of the dead risen with one purpose in mind: to kill. They will fight until they have been obliterated, or the magic that sustains them has been vanquished - holy spells are especially powerful against them. They don't have any special powers, but come with either ranged or melee weapons.
Zombies are another matter. These still have flesh on their bones, and are able to poison or curse enemies upon touch or spit, due to the toxic nature of zombie flesh. Like skeletons, they are weak to holy magic, though not quite as weak. Unlike skeletons, zombies are also weak to fire magic, as their volatile flesh is highly flammable. Some have even been known to explode due to fire damage, spreading the fire to surrounding zombies (or anyone in melee range).
no subject
Sometimes called Jungle Worgs. Found primarily in Pakerion rainforest regions, these are some massive wolf beasts. They're the size of horses and look like their ancestors had a fling with grizzly bears. Their manes are especially thick to protect their throats. They live and hunt in family packs and prefer larger monsters to adventurers, but if adventurers wander too close to the den, they will become aggressive.
Some berserkers train them to use as mounts and pack animals because of their stamina and willingness to fight while ridden. And usually only berserkers: domestic dire wolves still like to play rough.
Scarlet Drake
Native to the Pakerion jungle. Red, wingless dragons that have some yellow and blue scales blended on their sides that makes them look suspiciously like macaws. They are quick like cats with long necks like cobras, mimicking the hunting behavior of both and relying on their great speed. They are also skilled climbers and are rarely found on the forest floor, many spending their entire lives in the canopy.
Like parrots, they can mimic sounds, including human speech. Some more clever of the species have learned to mimic human cries for help to feed on adventurers. They are extreme omnivores and eat vegetation as happily as meat, but have also been found trying to eat armor or chewing on rocks.