Post by Gaea on Jan 28, 2017 23:09:38 GMT -8
There are as many species and varieties of monsters across Elibe as there are stars in the sky, but some species are common across much of the Reaches, and are thus fairly well known academically. This list does not purport to be an exhaustive compilation of every kind of monster to ever appear on Elibe, and as more are discovered or at least observed more thoroughly in roleplay or through plot, they may be added here.
Please note that it is explicitly allowed to come up with mutations and variations of anything listed here - an Ice Bael may have adapted to the northern climes and be capable of spewing out icy shards, or maybe a tribe of Tarvos will have a few shamans capable of using powerful Anima or Nature sphere magics.
Basic Monsters
These more common creatures be spawned freely in the Lycian Divide, but all individually pose a threat to weaker adventurers. Best suited to those with 1-4 skill levels.
Revenant - Reanimated corpses sustained by dark magic who use brute strength and sometimes poisoned claws to attack, and often consume, foes. Almost universally completely lacking in intellect and fairly slow, revenants can nonetheless be dangerous through raw resilience and sheer numbers, and some have dangerous venoms that can wear down foes. Revenants are especially common in the wake of large-scale dark magic usage, but are the most common monster type throughout Elibe. Appearance wise, they vary heavily based on what was reanimated, but usually have decaying flesh as a clear marker of their nature.
Bonewalker - Bonewalkers are animated skeletons possessed of a twisted cleverness that can make them more dangerous than their seeming fragility would suggest. Held together or forged entirely by dark magic, they differ from revenants in that they are not merely reanimated corpses, but malevolent spirits of dark magic given physical form. They are capable of wielding all manner of weapons, and possess a certain amount of intelligence and coordination that make them deceptively deadly - unique among basic monsters they actively utilize tactics and strategy. Some bonewalkers wear armor, but they otherwise almost perfectly uniformly appear to be adult male skeletons.
Mauthe Doog - Demonic dogs that travel in packs, using their razor-sharp fangs and claws to tear foes apart and feed their insatiable hunger. As fast as they are vicious, mauthe doogs are relentless hunters and naturally drawn to less physically intimidating prey, making them a natural enemy of mages in particular. Occasionally tamed as extremely effective hunting dogs or used by some armies and even bandit forces as deadly shock troops. Mauthe Doogs are consistently waist-to-chest height canines, usually with black, grey, or red fur, and red or orange manes.
Gargoyle - flying demihumans with tough, leathery skin who are extremely resilient against all forms of physical trauma. Wielding wicked spears with lurid grace and utilizing their malign intelligence like a blade, they coordinate perfectly to launch simultaneous multi-pronged attacks. Among the most dangerous of the common monster types, gargoyles are difficult opponents individually and their lethality is only magnified in groups. They are also extremely effective against mages due to their power and mobility, but far less resistant to magic than weapons, making it a dangerous matchup for both parties. Most gargoyles are tinged grey and appear to be humanoid with demonic features.
Powerful Monsters
Monsters from this section do not naturally spawn in the Lycian Divide, and are extremely dangerous foes who can range significantly in power, able to challenge and potentially slay most adventurers short of Legendary status.
Entombed are far more dangerous revenants whose bodies have begun changing and evolving to accommodate the dark magic that sustains them, monsters with incredible durability and brute strength who fight with the might of ten men. They often bear beneficial mutations, including but not limited to acid blood, acid spew, paralytic poison, carapace armor, extra limbs, engorged limbs, and similar grotesque and dangerous abilities. They vary wildly in appearance and size, and those manually created by mad sorcerers may even add mechanical parts, but powerful specimens can easily reach 8-10 feet in height and be a walking mass of muscle and horror.
Wights are essentially Bonewalkers who have achieved limited individuality and intelligence, allowing them access to far more refined weapon styles as well as the ability to use magical weapons. The dark magic coursing through their bones and armor makes them incredibly durable, and while they may not have the brute strength of the Entombed, they are extremely versatile and deadly fighters capable of out-maneuvering their foes. Some wear the armor that the possessed skeleton once wore in life, but others create Netherforged armor of their own; wights vary in appearance depending heavily on the possessing spirit but generally appear as skeletal humanoids
Gwyllgi are the alphas of the Mauthe Doog race, gigantic three-headed hellhounds with unrivaled speed and tremendous power. Each head is capable of processing information individually; while they are not intelligent per se, they are extremely quick-witted and capable of subtlety and feints. A Gwyllgi on the warpath is a tornado of teeth and claws, an unending assault that quickly overpowers the weak of will. They often lead packs of Mauthe Doogs into battle, and a few rare specimens are said to be capable of breathing caustic flame or wreathing themselves in a burning aura. Ranging from 6-12 feet in height and usually colored red, green, or brown, they are unique and instantly recognizable.
Deathgoyles are evolved gargoyles, whose skin is so heavily reinforced by dark magic that physical attacks are all but useless against them. The magic coursing through them even offers good resistance to most other magics, leaving them almost devoid of weaknesses - and free to use their superlative lance skills and brute strength to tear through all opposition. Much rarer than Gargoyles and even most other powerful monsters, they can nevertheless be found wherever there are mountains - including, occasionally, those surrounding the Lycian Divide. As such, it is acceptable to occasionally use them inside of the walls.
Tarvos are unusual monsters with the upper body of a man and the lower half of a horse. Capable of speech and almost humanly intelligent, they wield large greataxes with great strength and expert coordination, capable of cleaving their foes in twain in melee. While territorial and untrusting, some can be reasoned with... just don't try to ride one. Maelduins are the chieftains of clans of Tarvos, wielding even larger axes or using great bows to impale foes with arrows that could double as harpoons, and perfectly equal or even superior to most humans in intelligence. A few rare specimens of these tremendous beasts are even capable of calling upon one or more elements of magic, and some wield magical weapons. They are all stellar tacticians, hunters, and warriors.
Baels are massive spiders, covered in coarse reddish or orange fur. While they vary wildly in size, starting small and rapidly growing as they age with no apparent size limit, the 'Bael' class can be split into three main archetypes; baby, ranging from normal spider to about face-sized; child, which range from the size of a dog to the size of a horse; and adult, which range from horse to about 13 feet (~4 meters) tall. All Baels possess great strength and durability for their size, but adult Baels clocking in at about twice human height can wield unbelievable physical strength with armored legs that can tears through armor like it was paper. Almost all Baels aside from some mutated cousins also possess incredibly corrosive acidic blood, and most are capable of injecting lethal venom or sometimes spitting acrid poison at foes, depending on how that particular brood evolved and adapted. While not particularly intelligent, seeing even a single Bael means that there is a nest nearby, and they possess a truly unmatched hunger that can never be sated.
Mogalls are a curious race, completely unique among stereotypical monsters in numerous ways. Floating eyes trailing long masses of tentacles behind them, hovering through their own fell power, Mogalls can wield incredible quantities of Nether and Arcane magic without any apparent cost or limitation. Most of the 'eyeball' is actually a massive brain that gives them great intelligence, but they do not appear to really think at all along the lines of living creatures, leaving their behavior and actual level of intelligence a mystery. Rather than feed on humans, they sustain themselves through magic. Another trait rare among monsters that they share with the Tarvos: they do not naturally attack humans, and in fact seem to possess a sort of open, harmless curiosity towards Nether magic users, though they react EXTREMELY poorly to Aether magic usage and attempt to slay the user immediately. They generally don't care much about anything from the Anima or Natural spheres, though they will defend themselves if attacked.
Mythical Monsters
Creatures of myth that are capable of fighting even Legendary adventurers and warriors, often on equal footing.
Dracozombies are near the pinnacle of 'generic' monster mythology - creatures who are either reanimated dragons or Netherforged mockeries of real dragons, depending on who you ask. What is known is that they are capable of launching an incredibly destructive entropic breath attack that disintegrates anything it touches, steel and flesh alike, and that they are nearly impervious to all damage. Said to be tireless and capable of re-forming from even the worst injuries, few legends even make it clear if it is possible to truly slay them.
Arch Mogalls, evolved Mogalls whose intellectual supremacy and magical potency has ascended to a level that they are partially detached from the flow of time, are capable of telepathic communication - though the mix of arcane imagery and their innately anachronistic existence makes it an extremely arduous process for the recipient and has driven men to madness simply trying to comprehend what they have seen. Wielding every type of magic save Aether and among the most powerful magical beings in Elibe, they are reclusive and extremely difficult to find.
Elder Baels are the logical ultimate destination of their kind; Baels who continued to grow for countless years, reaching the height of even the largest of dragons, who wield strength that could give even a dragon pause and control unending numbers of smaller Baels who bend to their will. Some can grow so large they can no longer move effectively, and are generally only encountered deep underground, surrounded by their truly endless and equally ravenous brood.
Cyclops are monstrous one-eyed humanoids, usually 1-2 stories in height, wielding immense axes or clubs with unfathomable strength. Despite their great size and durability, they are also deceptively fast and eerily skilled with their savage weaponry, and their sheer bulk allows them to shrug off most assaults entirely while carving through squads of warriors with ease - they can shrug off almost any injury and continue fighting, making them nearly unstoppable.
The Medusa are terrifying and universally female creatures with the upper body of a woman, her flesh a mottled grey or green and her hair comprised of hissing snakes, and the lower body of a snake. Incredibly rare even as monsters go, Gorgons wield phenomenally powerful dark magic with casual ease, and can use even rarer forms of magic that have no real analogue in modern Elibe, most notably petrification and poison magic, and some sources suggest access to extremely advanced mental magic as well. While dangerous combatants in their own right, their true threat is the combination of beyond-human intelligence and absolute malice that embodies every remaining member of their race; they manipulate from the shadows rather than ever showing themselves, a cancer that can never be cured unless the source is found.
Greatest among the Wights are the Draugr, skeletal heroes who possess true individuality and actual intelligence - hulking warriors who bear unique and powerful magic weapons, enchanted armor, a powerful aura of fear, and are even capable of speech. Immune to pain, fear, hesitation, and exhaustion alike, they may not have the raw physical strength or invulnerability of some other creatures of legend but are no less dangerous for it, and some tales speak of them leading skeletal legions as though they were extensions of the self. Every Draugr is unique, built like a normal character with additional benefits and powers not available to most.
Legendary Monsters
Each and every creature of this caliber is unique and to some degree intelligent - whether a Draugr so mighty that it carves a swathe of blood and terror through a slice of the Reaches a thousand years ago, a Cyclops Patriarch whose ability to emit burning beams of heat and light from its eye and (supposedly) split a mountain in two with its mace, or a fell dragon whose wingspan darkened the night as its passing brought plague in its wake. Some have names - mighty Bahamut, said to be first among equals among the fire elementals, or the Gorgon, a medusa so powerful she is capable of mountain-scarring beams of black magic and even assuming the shape of a beautiful human woman to hide her passing. Some are beneficent and ultimately harmless to humanity, content to simply sleep or study, while others were sealed away in prisons of divine justice or palaces of broken glass. Some say that there are realms beyond even the Aether and the Nether, home to beings so powerful that even otherworldly horrors would tremble in their presence. Whether used as summoned monsters or as foes, each and every one of these Legendary creatures has a story.
These are the kind of foes that it may take multiple Legendary warriors to even hope to defeat, and should definitely be run by Gaea BEFORE spawning one in the middle of the Lycian Divide.
Please note that it is explicitly allowed to come up with mutations and variations of anything listed here - an Ice Bael may have adapted to the northern climes and be capable of spewing out icy shards, or maybe a tribe of Tarvos will have a few shamans capable of using powerful Anima or Nature sphere magics.
Basic Monsters
These more common creatures be spawned freely in the Lycian Divide, but all individually pose a threat to weaker adventurers. Best suited to those with 1-4 skill levels.
Revenant - Reanimated corpses sustained by dark magic who use brute strength and sometimes poisoned claws to attack, and often consume, foes. Almost universally completely lacking in intellect and fairly slow, revenants can nonetheless be dangerous through raw resilience and sheer numbers, and some have dangerous venoms that can wear down foes. Revenants are especially common in the wake of large-scale dark magic usage, but are the most common monster type throughout Elibe. Appearance wise, they vary heavily based on what was reanimated, but usually have decaying flesh as a clear marker of their nature.
Bonewalker - Bonewalkers are animated skeletons possessed of a twisted cleverness that can make them more dangerous than their seeming fragility would suggest. Held together or forged entirely by dark magic, they differ from revenants in that they are not merely reanimated corpses, but malevolent spirits of dark magic given physical form. They are capable of wielding all manner of weapons, and possess a certain amount of intelligence and coordination that make them deceptively deadly - unique among basic monsters they actively utilize tactics and strategy. Some bonewalkers wear armor, but they otherwise almost perfectly uniformly appear to be adult male skeletons.
Mauthe Doog - Demonic dogs that travel in packs, using their razor-sharp fangs and claws to tear foes apart and feed their insatiable hunger. As fast as they are vicious, mauthe doogs are relentless hunters and naturally drawn to less physically intimidating prey, making them a natural enemy of mages in particular. Occasionally tamed as extremely effective hunting dogs or used by some armies and even bandit forces as deadly shock troops. Mauthe Doogs are consistently waist-to-chest height canines, usually with black, grey, or red fur, and red or orange manes.
Gargoyle - flying demihumans with tough, leathery skin who are extremely resilient against all forms of physical trauma. Wielding wicked spears with lurid grace and utilizing their malign intelligence like a blade, they coordinate perfectly to launch simultaneous multi-pronged attacks. Among the most dangerous of the common monster types, gargoyles are difficult opponents individually and their lethality is only magnified in groups. They are also extremely effective against mages due to their power and mobility, but far less resistant to magic than weapons, making it a dangerous matchup for both parties. Most gargoyles are tinged grey and appear to be humanoid with demonic features.
Powerful Monsters
Monsters from this section do not naturally spawn in the Lycian Divide, and are extremely dangerous foes who can range significantly in power, able to challenge and potentially slay most adventurers short of Legendary status.
Entombed are far more dangerous revenants whose bodies have begun changing and evolving to accommodate the dark magic that sustains them, monsters with incredible durability and brute strength who fight with the might of ten men. They often bear beneficial mutations, including but not limited to acid blood, acid spew, paralytic poison, carapace armor, extra limbs, engorged limbs, and similar grotesque and dangerous abilities. They vary wildly in appearance and size, and those manually created by mad sorcerers may even add mechanical parts, but powerful specimens can easily reach 8-10 feet in height and be a walking mass of muscle and horror.
Wights are essentially Bonewalkers who have achieved limited individuality and intelligence, allowing them access to far more refined weapon styles as well as the ability to use magical weapons. The dark magic coursing through their bones and armor makes them incredibly durable, and while they may not have the brute strength of the Entombed, they are extremely versatile and deadly fighters capable of out-maneuvering their foes. Some wear the armor that the possessed skeleton once wore in life, but others create Netherforged armor of their own; wights vary in appearance depending heavily on the possessing spirit but generally appear as skeletal humanoids
Gwyllgi are the alphas of the Mauthe Doog race, gigantic three-headed hellhounds with unrivaled speed and tremendous power. Each head is capable of processing information individually; while they are not intelligent per se, they are extremely quick-witted and capable of subtlety and feints. A Gwyllgi on the warpath is a tornado of teeth and claws, an unending assault that quickly overpowers the weak of will. They often lead packs of Mauthe Doogs into battle, and a few rare specimens are said to be capable of breathing caustic flame or wreathing themselves in a burning aura. Ranging from 6-12 feet in height and usually colored red, green, or brown, they are unique and instantly recognizable.
Deathgoyles are evolved gargoyles, whose skin is so heavily reinforced by dark magic that physical attacks are all but useless against them. The magic coursing through them even offers good resistance to most other magics, leaving them almost devoid of weaknesses - and free to use their superlative lance skills and brute strength to tear through all opposition. Much rarer than Gargoyles and even most other powerful monsters, they can nevertheless be found wherever there are mountains - including, occasionally, those surrounding the Lycian Divide. As such, it is acceptable to occasionally use them inside of the walls.
Tarvos are unusual monsters with the upper body of a man and the lower half of a horse. Capable of speech and almost humanly intelligent, they wield large greataxes with great strength and expert coordination, capable of cleaving their foes in twain in melee. While territorial and untrusting, some can be reasoned with... just don't try to ride one. Maelduins are the chieftains of clans of Tarvos, wielding even larger axes or using great bows to impale foes with arrows that could double as harpoons, and perfectly equal or even superior to most humans in intelligence. A few rare specimens of these tremendous beasts are even capable of calling upon one or more elements of magic, and some wield magical weapons. They are all stellar tacticians, hunters, and warriors.
Baels are massive spiders, covered in coarse reddish or orange fur. While they vary wildly in size, starting small and rapidly growing as they age with no apparent size limit, the 'Bael' class can be split into three main archetypes; baby, ranging from normal spider to about face-sized; child, which range from the size of a dog to the size of a horse; and adult, which range from horse to about 13 feet (~4 meters) tall. All Baels possess great strength and durability for their size, but adult Baels clocking in at about twice human height can wield unbelievable physical strength with armored legs that can tears through armor like it was paper. Almost all Baels aside from some mutated cousins also possess incredibly corrosive acidic blood, and most are capable of injecting lethal venom or sometimes spitting acrid poison at foes, depending on how that particular brood evolved and adapted. While not particularly intelligent, seeing even a single Bael means that there is a nest nearby, and they possess a truly unmatched hunger that can never be sated.
Mogalls are a curious race, completely unique among stereotypical monsters in numerous ways. Floating eyes trailing long masses of tentacles behind them, hovering through their own fell power, Mogalls can wield incredible quantities of Nether and Arcane magic without any apparent cost or limitation. Most of the 'eyeball' is actually a massive brain that gives them great intelligence, but they do not appear to really think at all along the lines of living creatures, leaving their behavior and actual level of intelligence a mystery. Rather than feed on humans, they sustain themselves through magic. Another trait rare among monsters that they share with the Tarvos: they do not naturally attack humans, and in fact seem to possess a sort of open, harmless curiosity towards Nether magic users, though they react EXTREMELY poorly to Aether magic usage and attempt to slay the user immediately. They generally don't care much about anything from the Anima or Natural spheres, though they will defend themselves if attacked.
Mythical Monsters
Creatures of myth that are capable of fighting even Legendary adventurers and warriors, often on equal footing.
Dracozombies are near the pinnacle of 'generic' monster mythology - creatures who are either reanimated dragons or Netherforged mockeries of real dragons, depending on who you ask. What is known is that they are capable of launching an incredibly destructive entropic breath attack that disintegrates anything it touches, steel and flesh alike, and that they are nearly impervious to all damage. Said to be tireless and capable of re-forming from even the worst injuries, few legends even make it clear if it is possible to truly slay them.
Arch Mogalls, evolved Mogalls whose intellectual supremacy and magical potency has ascended to a level that they are partially detached from the flow of time, are capable of telepathic communication - though the mix of arcane imagery and their innately anachronistic existence makes it an extremely arduous process for the recipient and has driven men to madness simply trying to comprehend what they have seen. Wielding every type of magic save Aether and among the most powerful magical beings in Elibe, they are reclusive and extremely difficult to find.
Elder Baels are the logical ultimate destination of their kind; Baels who continued to grow for countless years, reaching the height of even the largest of dragons, who wield strength that could give even a dragon pause and control unending numbers of smaller Baels who bend to their will. Some can grow so large they can no longer move effectively, and are generally only encountered deep underground, surrounded by their truly endless and equally ravenous brood.
Cyclops are monstrous one-eyed humanoids, usually 1-2 stories in height, wielding immense axes or clubs with unfathomable strength. Despite their great size and durability, they are also deceptively fast and eerily skilled with their savage weaponry, and their sheer bulk allows them to shrug off most assaults entirely while carving through squads of warriors with ease - they can shrug off almost any injury and continue fighting, making them nearly unstoppable.
The Medusa are terrifying and universally female creatures with the upper body of a woman, her flesh a mottled grey or green and her hair comprised of hissing snakes, and the lower body of a snake. Incredibly rare even as monsters go, Gorgons wield phenomenally powerful dark magic with casual ease, and can use even rarer forms of magic that have no real analogue in modern Elibe, most notably petrification and poison magic, and some sources suggest access to extremely advanced mental magic as well. While dangerous combatants in their own right, their true threat is the combination of beyond-human intelligence and absolute malice that embodies every remaining member of their race; they manipulate from the shadows rather than ever showing themselves, a cancer that can never be cured unless the source is found.
Greatest among the Wights are the Draugr, skeletal heroes who possess true individuality and actual intelligence - hulking warriors who bear unique and powerful magic weapons, enchanted armor, a powerful aura of fear, and are even capable of speech. Immune to pain, fear, hesitation, and exhaustion alike, they may not have the raw physical strength or invulnerability of some other creatures of legend but are no less dangerous for it, and some tales speak of them leading skeletal legions as though they were extensions of the self. Every Draugr is unique, built like a normal character with additional benefits and powers not available to most.
Legendary Monsters
Each and every creature of this caliber is unique and to some degree intelligent - whether a Draugr so mighty that it carves a swathe of blood and terror through a slice of the Reaches a thousand years ago, a Cyclops Patriarch whose ability to emit burning beams of heat and light from its eye and (supposedly) split a mountain in two with its mace, or a fell dragon whose wingspan darkened the night as its passing brought plague in its wake. Some have names - mighty Bahamut, said to be first among equals among the fire elementals, or the Gorgon, a medusa so powerful she is capable of mountain-scarring beams of black magic and even assuming the shape of a beautiful human woman to hide her passing. Some are beneficent and ultimately harmless to humanity, content to simply sleep or study, while others were sealed away in prisons of divine justice or palaces of broken glass. Some say that there are realms beyond even the Aether and the Nether, home to beings so powerful that even otherworldly horrors would tremble in their presence. Whether used as summoned monsters or as foes, each and every one of these Legendary creatures has a story.
These are the kind of foes that it may take multiple Legendary warriors to even hope to defeat, and should definitely be run by Gaea BEFORE spawning one in the middle of the Lycian Divide.
