Monsters

Monsters in Riiga go by many names. In Benevis they are called monsters, fiends, demons, and sometimes beasts. The Eber call them sisral, which means "from the deep". People from Qarbak call them mhukur, "people-killers", or qime, "unnatural". Yvabirans call them anomyara, "anomaly", or monnas, "murderers". The Dunin call them curiq, meaning "disturbing ones". Temaneans call them yuo mosu, "end of man". Vamans call them mahar, "demons". Remdorians call them horrors or demons. Other cultures have other names for them as well, but the only thing that unites all these descriptions is that monsters match a set of conditions.

Monstrous History

A monster in Riiga is something that matches the following conditions:

• It is not part of the natural order. Monsters show no consideration for fauna and flora.
• It cannot breed. Monsters are made by other beings, not a result of mating. They are consequentially considered genderless.
• It hates humans. Monsters will go to any length to cause destruction to humans and hybrid races. Records of monsters showing hesitation or mercy are almost completely unheard of.
• It is mortal, and can die.
• It can be reproduced; if only one instance of a monstrous thing exists, it is not considered a monster, but rather a being of some kind.
• It will fight alongside other monsters, given the chance.

According to the Red Temple, monsters are made by a particular being among the Antemplars, which acts out the will of the god of destruction, Garukavar. While Garukavar himself has the ability to create monsters, he leaves it up to two beings: the one who coordinates all monster attacks (including the Darkness), and his designated monster-crafter. The former being is called Votorin, or sometimes simply known as "The Enemy", and was first described to people around 800BD, when Nikina first revealed himself to the people of the Nor Vastin Kingdom. It was explained that monsters emerge from the ground at the behest of the latter being known as Toryalnor -- either from well-known caves referred to as "pits", or from non-specific areas such as sinkholes, lakes, Archaios, cracks caused by earthquakes, volcanoes, or anything that would offer access to the abyssal depths -- and that these monsters would stop at nothing to bring destruction to civilisation. It is not a war to be won, but an unnatural force against humanity that should be defeated at every opportunity. This idea became central to the unification and growth of the Nor Vastin Kingdom, and the same idea carries right through to the Benevis Kingdoms of the modern day, almost 2000 years later.

Monster-Slayers

Given that occasionally monsters will attack in unison, there are several major orders that are dedicated to fighting monsters. Two of the largest surviving orders are the Venquis in Benevis -- a secret order of divine knights who operate under the influence of the Temple; and the Order of Nhorcea -- a powerful body of monster-slaying knights that has become so influential and wealthy that they govern lands as large as a kingdom.

On the other hand, the largest order which has actually supported Garukavar and monsters of darkness is the Antemplars. Though they have had only a few human followers historically, they are made up of other powerful beings deemed to be as strong as demigods, such as Votorin, Toryalnor, and the Black Whale that supposedly caused the Darkness in 0BD.

Monster Areas

A map of current and historical sites of heavy monster or monster-race activity.

Anti-Human Races

Though not monsters in a strict sense, some hybrid races seem to show nothing but contempt and violence toward humans and humanoid people. They are regarded as monsters by some.

Karithians of Yrtkuam.

Fanorans of Jindiara.

Modeoa of the White Islands.

Cullashin of Solcul.

Hamakro of Iyakel Islands.

Bokoro of eastern Moonlight Island.

Fothrozz and fothrazors of the Beasten Mountains.

Gliroch of the Blightlands.

Monster Zones

Areas frequented by monsters either currently or historically. Many unknown or unexplored areas are also believed to be inhabited by monsters.

Northern Yaele near the Vastin Kingdom.

Archaios such as Velena, Dalmuver, Etlas, Sefu Nas, Na Hangme, and the Abyss of Aiaosia.

Bay of the Dead off the shore of the Mintar Kingdom in the Oolu Empire.

Lake Mancisa in Incidu.

Northern Qran.

Beneath the Mezil Pyramid in Eber.

Northern Grave Island.

The middle of the Augair ocean.

Lake Ewkar in Jadar.

Lagsi Island north of Batur.

The southern Great Dustlands near the Braqai clans.

The southern Totani Sea.

Anomeyl forests in northern Armalia.

Anywhere Black Storms appear.

Pervasive Monsters

Pervasive monsters are types that dwell in places where they can be encountered, such as underground, and in many of the above areas associated with monsters. Below is a list of the known types of pervasive monsters, in order from the smallest and weakest to the largest and most powerful.

Folang

An Adult and Child Folang

Some of the smallest and weakest monsters, Folangs are short man-wolf creatures. They often have grey or white thick fur, the head of a wolf, a slender tail with spikes on the end, and long claws, and are often seen wielding weapons made from hide, wood, or bone, or stolen from humans they've slain. They sometimes try to make themselves appear more intimidating by wearing spikes and human body parts. Though not skilled fighters, they are extremely aggressive and have very little sense of self-preservation as adults. In large packs, they will never back down from a target. There are also rare instances of much larger Folang, big and strong enough to reportedly carry a horse. They aren't known to wield weapons like other Folang, and act in a much more animalistic and violent manner.

Folang dwell underground but nearer to the surface than most other monsters are thought to lurk. They burrow under human settlements, tunneling under farmland and city walls alike. Sometimes small child-like Folang are seen among fighting forces. They are thought to be either stunted variants, or younger less "developed" Folangs that have been dragged out to fight. It is for this reason that some think Folang are made as pups, and don't emerge until they are fully grown. They also have their own language, though near nothing is known about it.

The only known Folang city is known as Ethenem City, and is found within the cliffs overlooking the Shard Sea, just east of the Senyn Ranges in Yaele. In around 450AL, a local child playing atop the cliffs accidentally broke the weakened surface of a cave and fell into what turned out to be a vast network of carved caverns and corridors. The villagers from nearby explored further than the child had, and it was discovered that the city was made of several hundred rooms arranged in many layers and networks, with several points overlooking the Shard Sea. Some areas were reinforced with timber, and there were traces of clay pots and stone tools. The skeletons there were part wolf and part human, thought at first to be Gruitin. It wasn't until a larger band of adventurers delved deeper, down into the labyrinthine tunnels where no sunlight would ever reach, that they found Folangs still dwelling there. They were forced to retreat. Ethenem City is a place that is now under surveillance, as people expect that one day the Folangs there will emerge in an explosive assault.

Ungloat

Ungloats are humanoid monsters that dwell underground. They are bulky and often hunched, and have somewhat oily and bulbous skin, frequently regarded to be flammable. This and their aversion to sunlight complements their strange abilities, as all Ungloats are blind and have a very good sense of hearing and smell. Like Folangs, they wield primitive weapons often stolen from humans, and unlike Folangs they are usually seen wearing human armour that they scavenge. Some Ungloats can vomit up a greenish-black substance which is very sticky. They aim it at sources of voices, hoping to hit the face, where the substance can temporarily blind a victim.

They are believed to have their own language, which is mostly heard when Ungloat shamans cast their spells. Ungloat shamans seem to coordinate Ungloats around them, and the spells they utilise generally involve harmful valeturgic spells such as causing harm, creating toxins and disease, and deteriorating biological material. This aligns with their demonstrated resentment for not only humans but for nature overall, as they will go out of their way to destroy fauna and flora. It is said that Ungloats never stop growing, and while the smaller mature Ungloats are as big as a short person, there are reports of Ungloats that grow much larger, standing at an estimated 3 meters (10 feet) in height. their bodies becoming more swollen. It is not known how large Ungloats can grow.

Ymptos

Commonly called imps, Ymptos are small humanoid masculine winged monsters. They have reddish skin and horns, paint their faces white, are always naked, and seem to use their wings to aid in making longer and higher leaps rather than fly for extended durations. They have a strong association with fire and are usually drawn to open flames. They spontaneously self-immolate upon death, and can somehow throw small fireballs from their hands. Some speculate that this is a primitive form of magic, as they are known to utter vocalisations.

Ymptos are known for their cunning behaviour and will often stalk prey in caves where they dwell, looking for opportunities to torment victims rather than initiate conflict. Some of these behaviours include flickering lights in the dark, chattering, stealing items such as food or weapons, disrupting attempts at rest, urinating/defecating on sleeping victims, and extinguishing sources of light. Some Ymptos can grow to much larger sizes, growing scaly protective hide as they age, and becoming much more aggressive and territorial in the process. There are rumours that Ymptos are human children who went missing at the hands of monsters and were corrupted and turned into something else. This idea is possibly due to how visually similar they look to humans, disregarding the wings, claws, and horns.

Korfis

Korfises are monsters that resemble a cross between a stingray and a bat. With a large but fragile frame, webbed wings, a skull-like face, and a whip-like tail, they can swim almost as well as they can fly, but due to the lack of any other limbs, they are almost immobile when grounded. They usually leap out of darkness and wrap their wings and tails around victims, stabbing them with the poisonous barbs on their tails in the process. If this opportunity doesn't present itself, a Korfis will instead fly into unsuspecting victims headfirst, ramming its large single horn into them. Korfis also often press their bodies flat against surfaces, and while the underside of their wings is a bold red colour, their rough and dark backs help them camouflage when against a wall.

Lamius Vulpes

A batfox

Lamius Vulpes, commonly known as the Vampire Fox or Batfox, are small to medium sized, omnivorous monsters. Vampire Foxes have upright triangular ears, a pointed and slightly upturned snout as well as a long bushy tail. Their rear legs are representative of a wolf. Additionally, upon their forelimbs are wings like that of a bat and black razor-sharp claws that can slice through the hide of a boar. Vampire Foxes are known to reside in forests in northern Armalia and Baracsa, and tend to pursue vulnerable targets during monster attacks like livestock and children.

Vampire Foxes are known to hunt in packs, and make use of their exceptional sense of smell, hearing and sight. They can walk silently in the forests they reside in and usually hunt during the dark usually starting around dusk. They use the underbrush as well as trees to hide in wait till the opportunity to attack. They are known to have powerful jaws -- not at the same level as a wolf but strong enough that a grown man could struggle to pull away.

Vampire foxes use their razor-sharp teeth and claws to tear into and grab on to prey. They can cut through soft leather and cloth, so hard armour or multiple layers of dense padding are recommended when in their habitat. They communicate with each other through different barks and yelps, though it has not been established what each of these barks mean. There are claims that the Vampire Fox has a paralytic poison, but it has yet to be proven as they are dangerous to research, and due to their intelligence and ferocity they are good at escaping captivity.

This monster was submitted by Artimijs.

Molbas

On their own, Molbases are rather defenseless monsters that look like a dark brown beating heart crawling around using various claw-like appendages and not doing much else. But once it finds a building, it utilises its unique ability. Molbases -- capable of eating even through stone -- burrow into a deep, safe point within the building and nestle in, leaving only a hole in its wake to breathe through. Once it settles in, it can take control of the building as though it were one entity, moving things like furniture and even pieces of the structure itself to defend its new home. Molbases are believed to be able to understand speech, and they seem to have intimate knowledge of whatever is happening within the inhabited structure. They are most often found living in abandoned farmhouses or the like in remote areas, but there are stories of Molbases possessing entire castles and wreaking havoc upon them. To stop a Molbas, one must generally look for its breathing hole, which is usually in a low point of the structure as they don't like to climb. It can then be dug out, or something can be poured into the hole to damage or attempt to drown it. Once exposed, killing a Molbas is not difficult.

Belbuga

A Belbuga

Belbuga are toad-like monsters that emerge in temperate or swampy regions near bodies of water, especially in northern Baracsa and western Armalia. They can be up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) in height, and can grow to weigh around 200-400kg (440-880lbs), making them large and powerful enough to swallow children or small livestock, and sometimes tear limbs off adults or large livestock. Their tongues can reach 2-3 times their body length, are muscled and prehensile, and are covered in a slimy coating that can inflict paralysis if the Belbuga is large enough to produce potent enough chemicals. When a tongue is cut off near the tip it regrows, but if it is cut off near the base, it can regrow into two tongues. This doubling of tongues can be repeated many times, but the more tongues a Belbuga has, the less prehensile and dexterous the tongues become.

They have very large and strong foreclaws which they use to burrow into the soil. They are thought to live below the surface in underground bodies of water, emerging with their eyes and top of the head showing, where they lay in wait for prey to come along. They are slow, clumsy, and are slow to turn, but have been known to jump unexpectedly and sometimes land on victims, crushing them with their bulk. Additionally, they have armour on the tops and sides of their body, with thick hide covering most of the rest of the monster, aside from the flexible skin of their throat sac. They can inflate this sac and unleash a noise which can be loud and sudden enough to stun victims and throw people off their feet. Despite all this, they are often cowardly, and will retreat if they are injured rather than fight and risk further injury.

This monster was submitted by Scraver.

Korogoro

Korogoro are devilish, fiendish humanoids who only emerge during the Blue Night on the Islands of Night to wreak havoc on humanity. When in their regular form, they are humanoid off-green or blood-red figures with grotesque features, fat bellies, and curling nails. They wear feathers or furs with elaborate designs to strike fear and awe into the hearts of those they encounter. They can be as small as a child or be large enough to kick down a small house, and have very large tusks, which they can use alongside their own weapons, to attack people. They are very unclean and often spread disease wherever they go, most of which have no known cure, and symptoms can often shift unpredictably, making diagnosis very difficult.

They often emerge in small groups and torment helpless villages by harassing, capturing, or murdering the people there. They cannot breed, but they can create a sort of half-human offspring if they mate with a human. Male korogoro will capture female humans, or female korogoro will shapeshift and lure away male humans for this purpose. The offspring is always another korogoro. They can not only shapeshift into humans, but can turn into other animals -- mostly large beasts like garula, bear-dogs, lynx, boars, zebu, or deer. Particularly powerful or ancient korogoro can operate alone, and instead sieze control of a village or group of bandits, and get them to do something horrible in return for some vague promises, like supernatural power or wealth. Despite their horrific reputation and strange abilities, they can be felled with conventional weaponry, but the body must be burned, or it will return during the next Blue Night to relentlessly pursue its killer.

This monster was submitted by Brosifer.

Uniphon

With a body no bigger than a lion, bat-like wings, bird-like beaked heads with jagged beaks, and a long crest of dark feathers, and a single horn protruding from the forehead, Uniphons are terrifying things to behold. The front two feet are like a bird of prey, and the back pair are like a wildcat. They travel in packs of up to a dozen and are one of the few monster varieties to kill one another, though it mostly seems accidental due to how violent and sporadic they are. Despite this, their single horns are often displayed as trophies, a sign of accomplishment for anyone claiming to be a monster slayer. They are very fast both on foot and in flight, and will attempt to eat almost anything.

Gargoule

Known for their fondness of abandoned stone structures like castles and catacombs, Gargoules are large winged monsters that somewhat resemble a beastly canine with webbed wings and long tapering tails. Unlike almost all other monsters, Gargoules seem territorial, and will only tolerate one other Gargoule at most. They have grey-green hide which is very tough and rough, allowing them to shrug off most weaponry with ease, and their claws are known to be dangerously sharp, severing limbs or even cutting armoured bodies in half with a single swipe. They also have a very powerful voice and although they don't seem to have a language, their roars can be loud and sudden enough to effectively stun a victim, and can also be hot and strong enough to burn skin and knock someone over. Their many frightening abilities are often offset by their highly territorial and solitary nature, making them a candidate for many tales.

Fothrazor

A fothrozz riding a fothrazor

Fothrazor are giant boar-like monsters somehow only utilised by the Fothrozz of the Beasten Mountains. Fothrazor birth them somehow and then ride them, either using them as scouts due to their wide paws being suitable for stalking, or using them as combat mounts where they can charge into a fight, goring and trampling people and horses alike. They are fearless monsters with two forward tusks like an elephant and two downward fangs, and they are known to feed on anything deceased, sometimes not even waiting for the victim to die first. If a fothrazor loses its rider, it tends to go berserk, destroying any perceived threat nearby before fleeing, presumably back to its place among the Fothrozz. They can grow to weigh as much as a draft horse, have excellent night vision, and can sprint with short bursts of speed. Their hide is thick and is not penetrated by projectiles unless entering from a perpendicular angle, and it releases a bellow which carries across the snowy mountains for miles.

This monster was submitted by Scraver.

Chimakor

A Chimakor

Chimakors are winged monsters with the body of a mane-less lion but often between five and seven meters (16 - 23 feet) in length, wide membranous wings, a long thick spiked tail, two large tusks protruding downward from the upper jaw, and three spines atop the head. Some also have two arcing spines coming from the side of the skull and pointing forward. They are large and strong enough, with powerful forelimbs they can use to pick up cattle and horses, and usually use this method to defeat mounted knights by picking them up and dropping them from heights. They are often solitary, but will join in monster attacks. They aren't good flyers, and use their wings to glide or make bounding leaps, rather than to remain airborne for extended periods.

They seem to have a fondness of forests and fog, and have a call which sounds like a gargled scream, striking terror into the hearts of any prey nearby. Some say the Chimakor can summon a fog cloud if it winds up alone and unable to use its wings for some reason, as a method of defending itself and scaring away anyone who might be trying to hunt it down. Despite the way Chimakors will pick up and drop mounted knights, being on horseback tends to be the best way to combat a Chimakor, as they have a habit of quickly moving from area to area to try to confuse its foe and keep the terrain in its favour, so catching up to it becomes an issue for monster slayers. Regardless of their bold and reckless nature, they will retreat if the circumstance has turned out to be unfavourable.

Shoamut

Shoamuts are very large beastly monsters. They have a bulky furry body with short stocky legs, a long neck bearing a heavy head with a single eye, a thin curling tail, and large tusks. Aside from using hoofs and tusks to assault victims, they are known for the several abilities of their one eye. Not only does the single eye have fantastic vision, but looking into it can force a victim to lose control of their body, or even physically chill a person to the point where it can cause death. These strange abilities have given Shoamuts a reputation for being horrific things to encounter. Fortunately, they have never been seen above ground. Due to their rarity and solitary behaviour, nothing more is known about them.

Dreturel

A Dreturel

Dreturel are reptilian monsters, but have bodies made of overlapping bony armoured plates with tough scales along the underbelly and back of the limbs. The long tail has blade-like spikes on the end, which it uses like a razor whip. Their claws are especially long and hooked, and they have a mane of clumped, tendril-like appendages. They are proficient burrowers and are usually known to emerge from soft, fine dirt like desert sand to attack. They seem to have an aversion to moisture and water, and will avoid emerging near beaches. Sometimes they lie in wait by disguising themselves as an animal skeleton; their bone-coloured armour helps add to this camouflage. When a victim gets near enough, they will lunge forward with either their jaws or tail and ensnare or slash at their target.

They are very tough and are not perturbed by fire, with armour that shrugs off most human weapons. The only effective methods of defeating them seem to be the crushing or penetrating force from large artillery weapons, or find a weakness in the armour, which is no small feat -- even the insides of their mouths have tough, dry material which is hard to puncture.

Ferehen

A Ferehen

Ferehen are similar in size to Chimakors, but are a bit larger and much lighter, having more of an overall bird-like appearance. They have a beak and crown of feathers, four legs with curved black talons, broad feathered wings with hidden spines, and a long tail with a gathering of feathers at the end. They are covered head-to-toe in dark vertical stripes on top of their earthy orange-coloured feathers, much like a tiger. Ferehens are unpredictable, wild, and very violent; they will attack any other living thing without hesitation, and their superior size over most fauna means it will usually emerge the victor. Despite their fearlessness, they are sometimes deterred by large projectile weapons such as a hurled rock or scorpion bolt.

The most peculiar ability of the Ferehen is that they can create shockwaves by beating their wings in a particular way, and can summon whirlwinds by circling a target repeatedly. Given that the effects they can create don't seem possible for a single monster to do, it's believed that they are using some sort of innate wind magic to perform these dangerous tricks.

Anomeyl

Anomeyl are tree monsters which dwell in remote forests in northern Armalia. They are able to perceive and experience their surroundings, and when rooted they look like a tree with a split in the trunk containing a beating human heart. The sound of the heart resonates through the wood of the tree and is amplified. Anomeyl hearts always beat in unison when they are grouped together. Young anomeyl are thought to grow from seeds and become sapling-type creatures which somehow trick dour and miserable people into giving up their hearts in exchange for peace. Once the infant anomeyl acquires the heart, it gains the ability to root itself and become part of a beating forest, where it can produce its own seeds. The victim's fate is uncertain. Some say it becomes another type of monster; a man-eating tree-person sometimes called a vatnin. Others say the victim's soul becomes trapped in the anomeyl and the body is left behind as an empty carcass.

When anomeyl gather in large enough groups, the unified sounds of their beating hearts are believed to drain nearby life; anomeyl forests are often void of other forms of life including both fauna and flora. Sometimes anomeyl roots are found grasping bones and rotting corpses, suggesting that even once they root anomeyl are capable of attacking and killing other living things within their reach. There are some groups of people who go around with special axes chopping down rooted anomeyl and hunting their sapling infants to prevent them from taking over entire areas. They often wear certain kinds of protection across their rib cages to deter anomeyl from trying to steal their hearts.

Gigas

A dusk gigas

Gigas are enormous monsters which have a stance like a gorilla or giant sloth, boasting large and thick forelimbs with enormous claws, small but stocky hind-limbs, large rocky/scaly plates covering the top of the body and outside of the limbs, a long and heavy tail, a long neck with a crown of asymmetrical horns atop its head, and three eyes. While hunched on all fours they can reach 20 meters (65 feet), but have been seen reaching twice this high when standing on their hind legs. They are very slow and cumbersome, releasing a very deep vibrating sound when angered, which causes great discomfort and pain to those nearby. Due to their slow movement, large size, and often idle nature, many gigas have plants growing on the scaly plates of their backs, giving them a kind of light camouflage when lying down. Despite this, they show no affection toward nature overall, and tend to decimate and scare away any native wildlife with their mere presence. It is also common to find countless weapons embedded into gigas, adding up over the years from people trying to attack them. It is said that despite the scaly plates only covering half their body, the rest of their hide is still strong enough to turn aside all weapons. There are a few variants of gigas, listed below:

Dusk Gigas

A type of gigas which only moves during the greys of dusk and dawn. It has orange eyes and spends most of its time in shallow waters of mountainous parts of Yvatshun, devouring fish and fishermen alike, using shockwaves of its deep call to paralyse its victims with fear before showering them with its boiling hot steam breath and eating the softened body whole while still alive. If it catches scent of a larger meal, like a horse, it can sometimes pursue it at great lengths, despite a horse easily being able to outrun it with bursts of speed. Dusk gigas, like most gigas, create large burrows, but nobody ever enters them so their purpose is unknown.

Glacial Gigas

A type of gigas which lives at high altitudes in northern Armalia and spends most of its time lying dormant under a layer of snow. On hearing anything large enough moving nearby, it lifts itself out of the snow and unleashes a huge shockwave of thundering deep sound which tears up the ground and snow and throws creatures to the ground, sometimes breaking bones if near enough to the monster. It does not create burrows, but is known to follow victims for very long lengths of time, especially when the meal is deemed worth it. They tend to be perturbed by smoke and fire. Their horns are more like great thorny dead trees than the more conventional bull-like horns of a dusk gigas.

This monster was submitted by Artimijs.

Transient Monsters

Transient monsters are types that are only seen during events such as Black Storms, and as such cannot be encountered or observed in any other context. Because of this rarity, they are generally seen as more dangerous and mysterious than pervasive monsters. Below is a list of the known types of transient monsters, in order from the smallest and weakest to the largest and most powerful.

Oroch

Like a mix between a dog, horse, and goat, Orochs are aggressive and strong monsters wreathed in fire. They appear during Black Storms and wreak havoc upon civilisation, spreading fire with their mere presence. They possess sturdy horns like a goat and a long tail, and are about as large as a horse, with a majestic and imposing posture. Reports regarding whether Orochs have clawed or hoofed feet are inconclusive; regardless, they will attack people with all parts of their body, ramming, biting, kicking, scratching, and tackling whatever they can. Larger Orochs have such intense fires surrounding their bodies that they seem to rise up like fiery wings, but it isn't known whether they can take flight. Some Orochs can also breathe fire, and there are less reliable stories of them vanishing in a ball of fire, only to emerge from a different source of fire in a nearby area.

Rekaziel

Among the more humanoid monsters is the Rekaziel. Wreathing themselves in magic fire, they are magic users who dress themselves in dark robes and carry strange wooden structures on their backs that seem to slow them down. Despite this apparent burden, they are known to cast a wide range of spells of the fire, ice, stone, and arcane varieties. They seem to have a spoken language, and there are stories of them speaking with human victims that they capture. Little more is known about these mysterious monster mages, though many think that they were once human, or perhaps still are.

Giakdon

A Giakdon

One of the mightiest humanoid monsters, Giakdon are gigantic beings, usually standing close to ten meters (33 feet) in height. They only seem to show up during coordinated monster assaults against civilisations, and come wielding giant weapons and armour, forged in some unnatural place deep below the surface. Their most distinctive features include the thick metal helmets they wear which are long and beak-like, the two curved horns that protrude in the same manner as a mature bull, and the mane of blood red hair that flows down their backs. They are known to have hides too thick to penetrate with handheld weapons, and will try to brute-force their way through fortifications by smashing into them repeatedly with great axes or hammers. Even orders of monster slayers will usually back away from an encroaching Giakdon; they have no known weak points, aside from the high-up narrow slots in their helmets through which they see.

It is rumoured that a Giakdon without its weapon will charge on all fours like a bull. It's also rumoured that their flesh is poisonous, but this has not been confirmed. A Giakdon's horns, helmet, or bones make for extravagant trophies worth ridiculous amounts of money to the right people. They have never been known to speak, despite their somewhat humanoid appearance.

Stonejaw

Stonejaw is the common name for a monster that has not been seen for many centuries. It shows up in similar circumstances to the Giakdon -- during coordinated assaults against humanity. They are usually described as very large reptilian creatures that walk on two or four legs, with long, thick tails, impenetrable scaly hide, a back covered in jagged spikes, and a mouth covered in armoured plates that opens wide enough to swallow carriages whole. They are cumbersome, slow, and stupid, but a single crunch of its jaws can break a castle wall into fragments.

Another distinct feature Stonejaws possess is the ability to produce sound that is felt more than it is heard. They can make a rumbling vocalisation which can travel quite far, and is said to be able to shock, paralyse, or even kill people if it does it loud and sudden enough. The sounds of earthquakes are often associated with stonejaws, and some folk people think they are caused by herds of stonejaws moving around underground.

Xelevikenar

Rhknar GvoranShun

Origin and History

Xelevikenar -- sometimes called Xelkenar, Greater Demons, or Storm-bringers -- are monstrous war generals of The Enemy. Nikina warns people of the danger of Xelevikenar -- that if one should ever be sighted during a Black Storm, that one should flee and hide. Nikina describes the Xelevikenar as being members of ancient fallen order of Shimteak of especially great ability who were stolen by Votorin and corrupted, turned into weapons to be used against humans. As far as reliable historic records go, Xelevikenar have only been sighted once, though there are many accounts of people having think they saw them. Most of these rumours happen during Black Storms when monsters attack.

The Xelevikenar called Veriviet appeared during the Darkness, commanding the monster attack against the ancient city of Arngos in southern Umberia. So great was the attack and Veriviet's power that Arngos was razed and the land became so scarred that the city was not rebuilt. Veriviet was slain by the high priest of the Kingdom of Elecia -- a man known as Shaurdoril of Wolgommen -- by sanctifying a silver ballista bolt and commanding the soldiers to aim it at Veriviet's great gem embedded in his chest armour. Veriviet's great sword, Miesich, remains at the site of his death to this day, standing upright like a narrow tower leaning before its collapse. As the land itself kills any who step upon it, the sword can only be seen from a distance, and even then at risk to the viewer.

Appearance and Abilities

Xelevikenar are giant ferocious humanoid-like entities, standing tall enough to peer over a two-storied house despite their hunched stature, and are covered head-to-toe in thick, jagged plate armour of grotesque design. They have three arms; whether the third arm is on the left side or right side seems to vary, but the single arm always bears a shield. Some think this third arm is the source of the Xelevikenar's corruption, as Shimteak always have two arms, making the third arm an unnatural addition. Others disagree, saying the source of their power is their great gem, as indicated by the accounts of Shaurdoril of Wolgommen slaying Veriviet GvoranShun. They are known to wield one or two other weapons with their other two hands. Much like Shimteak, it is not known what they look like beneath their armour, as upon death the land around the body becomes corrupted and deadly to living things. This is presumably evil magic leaking from the body, and can leave a stain on the land lasting hundreds of years.

They are said to have unrivalled intelligence, skill in combat, and magical prowess compared with humans; they are believed to be able to cast strong curses that can linger for centuries by uttering a single vocalisation. Despite their great size, thick armour, and apparent bulk, they move like unhindered shadows, agile and terrifyingly graceful. The weapons they possess usually appear to be enchanted with powerful ancient magic that seems to ignite air and matter alike with black fire and sparks.

Individuals

According to Nikina, there have been six known Xelevikenar, each with its own name, gemstone (embedded in the chest-piece of its armour), and aspect. They are as follows:

Rhknar GvoranShun

Onuxutex helmet. Right hand: shield. Left hand: sword, Terihkoma. Second left hand: hammer, Atarigen (lost). Rhknar's faction uses the gold pyrite and represents strength.

Kavika GvoranShun

Chimakor helmet. Right hand: staff, Khabem. Second right hand: flail, Remiksen. Left hand: shield. Kavika's faction uses the green reserorka and represents possession.

Veriviet GvoranShun

Nuinrari helmet. Right and left hand: sword, Miesich. Second left hand: shield. Veriviet's faction uses the blue kijisilira and represents knowledge. He appeared during the Darkness, commanding the monster attack against the ancient city of Arngos in Umberia. So great was the attack and Veriviet's power that Arngos was razed and the land became so scarred that the city was not rebuilt. Veriviet was slain by the high priest of the Kingdom of Elecia -- a man known as Shaurdoril of Wolgommen -- by sanctifying a silver ballista bolt and commanding the soldiers to aim it at Veriviet's great gem embedded in his chest armour.

Ashmah GvoranShun

Cmarla helmet. Right hand: axe, Ibhkimasula. Second right hand: trident, Kornuhk. Left hand: shield. Ashmah's faction uses the red carnelian and represents creativity.

Iethyer GvoranShun

Mavara helmet. Right hand: shield. Left hand: mace, Vahmeaka. Second left hand: halberd, Eangen (lost). Iethyer's faction uses the black hematite and represents wonder.

Vigoruhn GvoranShun

Yrmbaro helmet. Right and left hand: hammer, Vasteatagu. Second right hand: shield. Vigoruhn's faction uses the white latilheris and represents mortality.

Orkatang

An Orkatang

A monster of legend, the Orkatang exists only in old tales and is arguably not a monster. According to these stories, Orkatangs are the size of a small mountain, but other than that the descriptors are vague. To some people, the Orkatang is not a being of the past, but a symbol of a world-ending event to come. Others argue that it is the same entity as the Black Whale Murluron that brought about the Darkness, given the apparent colossal size and apocalyptic power of both entities. The most famous old poem about an Orkatang implies that at least one existed, and was divided into eight parts which were scattered about the land. The poem is as follows:

O Orkatang

And I bid ye heed me, O Orkatang

I ventured through the mountains looking east for your toes

O'er the grey fields in bitter cold for your fingers

And under the heavy seas of the Nest for your wings

But ne'er did I find your tokens

I am unworthy

I am unworthy

Devour my mind for I am unworthy, O Giant of Winds

And I bid ye heed me, O Orkatang

I ventured through the deepest woods of the Red King for your tail

O'er the crescent of the heart for your horns like pines

And under the stars which dance with clouds for your tongue

But ne'er did I find your tokens

I am unworthy

I am unworthy

Devour my heart for I am unworthy, O Giant of Winds

And I bed ye heed me, O Orkatang

I ventured through the winding depths of the dead white for your fangs

O'er the dusty ash for your eyes

And under the dead holes for your heart

But ne'er did I find your tokens

And so you watch from afar and still waiting

Torn apart by the Grand and still waiting

Buried by the palace and still waiting

Bound by magics and split by magics, O Giant of Winds

And still waiting to become one

I am unworthy

I am unworthy

Devour my soul for I am unworthy

Sea Monsters

Mirung

Mirung are large monsters that resemble a cross between an elephant seal and a killer whale. They can swim fast or waddle slowly across land, and are usually around 8 meters (26 feet) long and 6000kgs (13,000lbs). Once they spot prey they pursue it relentlessly, even going so far as to knock themselves into small boats to try to overturn them, or utilise their loud hoots which can knock a rowboat over. Even if they spot sailors on a ship, they will pursue it and try to damage the ship to cause it to sink, whereupon they will devour the crew. They are usually seen around the shores of Grave Island, and don't seem to be able to survive in warmer climates where the sun shines too much, as they have an aversion to sunlight and seem to overheat.

Scumtide

A scumtide is a poorly understood creature which appears as a wide area of ocean covered in a thick jelly-like substance. They are mostly encountered in remote areas of the southern Totani Sea, greatly limiting naval transportation in the area. The greenish jelly eats away at any organic material it comes into contact with and is very sticky. It was thought for a long time to be a plant or a school of jellyfish, but recent studies show it is in fact one creature: If a portion of the jelly is torn away, the rest will move into the vacant space and search for the removed piece. Upon finding it, it will be reincorporated back into the main bulk and it will behave as normal; it will quickly react to what happens on the opposite side of the body, even at distances of hundreds of meters; it will recoil from fire but doesn't seem very affected by it given its wetness.

Small ships often lose their momentum on sailing into the scumtide, at which point the slime will eat away at the hull until the ship breaks apart, and anyone onboard becomes victim to the monster. There are even rumours of it slowly pursuing nearby ships across great distances. Once it eats organic material, anything that can't be eaten is dropped into the ocean below it. Fortunately, they never approach land, and are only found when the ocean is fairly smooth.

Khakankun

Khakankun are monstrous sea worms that live in the Bay of the Dead west of the Sea of Ash. Though their appearance is rare and they are elusive of late, there are detailed reports of a worm occasionally surfacing and wreaking havoc on nearby villages, towns, and cities. They do not leave the water, but can reach over land using their head, which is a horrific arrangement of appendages, mandibles, shimmering armoured plates, and antennae. Their jaws are wide enough to chop a small boat in half, and they can devour smaller prey just by using the suction of their mouth. Their true size is not known, but judging by the size of the head, estimates often put its length around 200 meters (650 feet). There are exoskeletal remains of the khakankun to be found around the bay itself, remnants of monstrous attacks from ancient times.

Sffinok

Somewhere between a bird and a fish, sffinok are large monsters that are equally good at flying and swimming. They resemble something like a hunched bird with a long neck, powerful beak, and fin-like feathers along its back, wings, and tail. Its feet boast webbed talons, and its eyes are said to shine like pearls, even on dark arctic days. They have great eyesight and smell and dwell on the Sffin Islands south of Qran. Though they normally do not stray far from these islands, they tend to search in wider areas for food during winter, making the trip by sea from Benevis to Yvabira even more undesirable during this season. Sometimes they venture further, attacking a coastal village and eating its inhabitants, but this is a very rare occurrence.

Menterram

The menterram is a very large creature resembling an enormous turtle at least 60 meters (200 feet) with a long tail, a very long neck, a large mouth full of teeth, and a shell covered in formations which resemble a rocky island. The menterram positions itself near ships far from land, where it pretends to be an island worth investigating. It arranges pieces of ships, skeletons, shining rocks from the sea floor, bioluminescent material, and other items the likes of which are otherwise inaccessible. Once the monster feels there are enough victims in place, it submerges suddenly, pulling everything -- nearby ships included -- below the surface, where it devours the people and destroys the vessels, adding more material to its back.

Costradun

Costradun are colossal fish monsters found in the middle of the Augair Ocean. The front half of their body is covered in bony plates forming a beak at the mouth, which replaces its need for teeth. It can open its mouth with such force that anything swimming nearby is sucked in, at which point it closes its jaws with enough force to crack open the hull of a ship. They can open their mouths to almost a right angle due to them having two interconnected jaw mechanisms. Due to their bony heads, they are also known to violently ram ships to force them to sink. They appear to revel in destruction and are very violent, and will chase vessels a long way, making this part of the ocean avoided by everyone. Little more is known of them.

Anomalcer

Anomalcers are large monsters which dwell in the middle of the Augair Ocean but are rarely seen in the same place as costradun. Anomalcers are very large, much longer than a big ship, and are covered in hard exoskeleton plates much like a crustacean. But they have nothing in the way of recognisable appendages: The front of the body has an elongated head section with large white compound eyes on either side, and a pair of crescent-shaped arms covered in spines which act like arms or mandibles, delivering food to the mouth on the underside of its head. The rest of its body is much like a lobster tail, with segmented parts bearing two fin-like legs on each segment, allowing for very agile swimming; anomalcers have been seen spiralling and spinning beneath the surface of the sea. It's believed they use this underwater dexterity to create whirlpools to draw in unsuspecting ships.