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Section II: Reference Material
Chapter 12: Creatures
Friendly Creatures
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Humans
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Those unfamiliar with this species are requested to leave a note at their doctors surgery to this effect.
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Dwarves
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'Stunties' as they should never be called to their faces, are a powerful , hardy race suited to harsh elements and physical labour. They support the weight of heavy armour better than horses but rarely find work as acrobats.
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Elves
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'Jumped up Pixies' to the dwarves, this noble race have a culture long used to ritual and elemental magics, and are not relegated to prancing round sylvan woodlands as the human myths would have it. Strong reliance on missile weapons and speed to keep them at distance in combat, they are talented users of magic, but with little aptitude for hard physical tasks
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Hobbits
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Found initial contact with the other humanoid races difficult, as suspicion coloured early contact after the hobbits sought to impress the human with dextrous tricks of sleight of hand, but unfortunately someone juxtaposed 'dextrous hands' and 'soft-footed creatures walking at wallet height' to give humanity the initial impression of Nature's thief.
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Gnolls
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Most secretive and reticent of humanoids, Gnolls are usually found in large underground communities . Small, dwarf-like and able to use their feet with almost as much dexterity as their hands they are masters of rich decorative stonework and jewelry.
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Neutral Creatures and Animals
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Crocodiles
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Think pointy teeth attached to a passive animal trap.
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Snakes
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The Old World is blessed in that the majority of its serpents are constrictors and not poisonous.
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Wolves
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Wary, but not frightened of other races when in packs.
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Pixies
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Magical fairy creatures of woodland and plain, quick with friendship. A major part of Goblinoid diets.
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Sprites
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Pixies with wings.
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Goblinoids
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Kobolds(inc. Guards , Archers, Chiefs ), Goblins(inc.Guards , Archers, Chiefs ),Orcs(inc. Guards, Archers, Chiefs )
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Ugly green monsters of increasing height, weight, girth and strength.
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Lizard Men(inc. Guards, Archers, Chiefs )
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Ugly scaly monsters of increasing length, smell and sharpness of claws.
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Hobgoblins(inc. Warrior and Shaman)
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Biggest and ugliest of the evil goblinoid races, the Hobgoblin is the most at home in combat and the most intelligent of the sub-species, their ability to dabble in magical arts augmented by natural longevity.
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Undead
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Minor Skeleton
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Magically animated skeletons of various animals or small humanoids make these undead at least as dangerous as they were in life.
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Minor Zombie
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Fallen members of the magical races Pixies and Sprites, taken to cannibalism and dark practices
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Skeleton (inc. Warriors and Kings)
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Animated skeletons of the larger human and goblin races, using the same priciples as for creating Minor Skeletons, some of them exhibit animal characteristics such as hierarchy and precedent (mostly in feeding), leading religious cults to differentiate between the 'sizes'.
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Zombie
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Generic term for several groups. There are the willing, still living victims of Vampires, there are the Grave-robbers who took to the wrong kind of dietary supplements, and Groupies who live as if undead (usually privately in the beginning, then away from society as they develop/are discovered), amongst others.
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Dark Zombie
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Members of a deliberate cult of evil and undead worship (whose name has been expunged from polite society) aim to achieve improved status by performing a ritual of transformation upon themselves, often with hideous physical consequences. Their (background in) magical arts may be augmented in the ritual, but there are no apparent guarantees.
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Shadow
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Notoriously difficult to even see from a distance, these play on an ability to fool the eye of the beholder, and have your eyes literally chasing shadows, producing enough self-doubt that you cannot commit fully to any action.
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Banshee
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Thought to be gender specific possession by a lesser devil or demon of a woman, but now known to affect both genders of human. Bansheeism is believed to be a consequence of not correctly using magic in a summoning ritual as described by some ancient texts (but not in its entireity). The unfortunate 'host' retains no control over their body, but the creatures blood-curdling shriek is thought to be expressive of the host creatures presence.
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Ghost
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Dissatisfied or WorksUnfinished souls in most peoples view, there is a growing school of though that says flapping white sheet creatures are the returning apparitions of grumpy drama queens, althought the chill that runs through all in the presence of a ghost is nothing to the glacial touch of their forms.
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Ghoul
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Often confused with Ghosts, Ghouls have the distinction of needing solid ground to walk upon unlike Ghosts, and also need the sustenance of real flesh more than magical life-forces.
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Ghast
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It is unclear whether this creature is a sub-terranean adapted to living with the undead, or undead in its own right. What is certain is its hideous appearance and its nerve toxin touch.
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Mummy
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Re-animated cadaver of someone of importance, the presence of more of the original body in better condition allows stronger magic to infuse the creature, making it physically stronger. The forced nature of this re-animation means the Mummy has a desire to return to the peace of the tomb hence seeks the aid of the living, but the torturous magic bandaged in their frames was not meant to touch living flesh, and significantly weakens it.
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Vampire
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Blood-sucking and vanity, but condemned to eternal night; they have many ways of charming victims into incapacity, allowing then the taking of more time over the dénouement, which appears to give them their twisted pleasure.
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Lich
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Old and Venerable Mages often find the idea of giving up their powers so difficult to accept that they will search for a means to prolong their existences. Most of them believe the removal of their soul to a prepared vessel and the consequent arrestation of normal aging is the best compromise to continued life. Beware these thoroughly evil masters of old magics.
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Subterraneans
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Dark Dwarves (inc. Shamans and Clan Heads)
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Evil and twisted half-brethren of the Dwarves, the most noticable difference between the two is the distinctive sulphurous odour of the Dark Dwarves from the caverns under the earth they inhabit, and their tradition of never plaiting their beards as their higher-dwelling cousins do.
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Dark Elves (inc. Knights and Mages)
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Not seen by many yet, these are known to have hidden somewhere for the vengeance of the good Elves. They fear the sunlight and are as skilled in evil as Elves are in good things.
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Giant Spiders
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Often mistaken at a distance for giant crabs due to their constant tapping on the ground with several 'feet' at once (possibly to attract small prey or 'See' using sounds as bats do), these are not considered aggressive in the subterranean world, but are extremely territorial, and will attack intruders.
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Rock Monsters
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Also known as 'Deep Avalanche' by the dwarves, they resemble a snow-man made of boulders and stones, but are more than capable at the underground version of snow-ball fighting.
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Umber Hulks
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Magnificent mineral veins run through the bodies of these large cavern dwellers, and they use these to refract the smallest of light sources into a blinding pulse of brightness before they attack, to disorientate their victims
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Black Slime
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Hideous, aqeous oily mass of an unknown magical nature - a creature whose stomach is external, digesting all organic matter while propulsing the body forward, and capable of projecting a fearful, acrid gas.
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Minor Earth Elementals
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Tall monoliths when visible, these creatures can submerge themselves in earth, so it is recommended to confront them on rocky surfaces where they cannot disappear. They can summon local tectonic forces to liberate underground gases, obscuring them and producing painful coughing in humanoids
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Minor Fire Elementals
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A large ball of flame, and powerfully directed surges of fire that penetrates even strong magic defences are all that has been seen in relation to this creature.
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Minor Air Elemental
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Visible mostly by the debris caught in the localised whirlwind that is this creature is, it can create a powerful static field within its form and discharge this as a means of defence.
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Stone Golems
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Forgotten magics have imbued magnificent carved statues with movement to serve as silent guardians. Able to cleave stone with a single blow beware of the physical power of these swinging boulders.
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Dragons
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Known to prefer the warmth of deep caverns, they are fearsome creatures indeed, using powerful magic and impressive natural aggression to defend their caves; they are fortunately both rare and solitary.
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Other Old World Inhabitants
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Ogres
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Huge ugly brutes, usually hairy, most often seen around the areas of refuse dumping.
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Trolls
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Huge ugly green brutes, usually scaly.
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Giants
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Smallest of Giantkind, the giants commonly found in the Old World have learnt the value of co-habitation with the dominant humanoid presence, and are less agressive than their New World relations, they are not afraid of any of the surface races. Possibly most directly related to the Hill Giants of Merobrylla.
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Basilisk
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Magical constructs originally, but given enough of a living jigsaw of animals that they have multiplied and evolved into grazing beasts needing the blood of the living to maintain their organic parts.
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Rocs
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King of the Birds, and Master Hunter, these animals can be the death of careless travellers in the mountains of the Old World, whom they look upon as a fine source of protein in the severs conditions.
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Pirates (inc Evil Priests)
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Non tax-payers and wearers of purple pantaloons they may be, but they are the meanest of humanoid kind, trafficking in anything and everything and thus needful of strength and cunning they trust no-one. Being afraid of unknown powers, many groups hide members of cults and disgraced mages to prevent being burned in their holes by tax-collecters.
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Troglodytes(inc. Warriors, Archers, Chiefs and Shamans)
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Humanoids known for cannibalism and slight affiliation with magic, these are regarded by most as the ancestors of the Neanderthalers(who, as far as we known have been eradicated by the Humans). These beings tend to live in dens as their polygamy and communist society grants them maximum multiplication.
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New World and Beyond
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Fire Giants
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Much larger and impressive than the Giants of the Old World, Fire Giants have a penchant for wearing red (they are often difficult to ignore from a distance of several hours walk), and have an apparently highly magical nature, they have been known to keep pets of Minor Fire Elementals and are said to be able to sleep, in all safety, in active volcanoes.
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Cloud Giants
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Further to the possible relation between the Elementals and the Giants is the case of the Cloud Giants, who are often represented in modern art as riding cloud chariots and holding lightning. Cloud Giants freely assosciate with other Giants, and other inhabitants of the New World so while they do not always take personal attacks on them seriously (at their size it is understandable), they can level mountains.
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Raiders (Kobold, Goblin, Orc, Troll, Lizard Man)
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The members of the goblinoid races in the New World have had the advantage of superiority over the humanoid races there, and their proliferation has propulsed the evolution of their species - the strong have eaten the weak, leaving only the strong. Thus the generic term Raider has been employed, for they are rare in the New World where their larger presence would effectively be the declaration of war against the humanoid Old continent.
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Creatures out of tales, myths and legends:
Serpents
Hill Giants
Giant Centipede
Harpy
Ice Wolf
Bugbear
Carrion Crawler
Huge Scorpion
Purple Worm
Giant Frog
Gorgon
Wyverns
Yeti
Cyclops
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