Bestiary

Wildlife

A variety of very skittish short-horned deer are common across the region. Other common prey animals are rabbits, pigeons and pheasants. In the streams, trout and bass are plentiful. Decades of poaching by desperate townsfolk have left the woods near towns decimated of game. Would-be hunters must venture deeper into the wilderness.

The wild areas of the province don't want for predators. Brown bears, wolves, boars and poisonous snakes all live around the lake and up into the highlands. Packs of wild quicklizards (called compsognathus by the wider world) sometimes roam out of the forests' edges where they lair to take livestock.

While usually too small to hurt people, older catfish and giant clams have been known to attack gnomes and human children in the Chillswamp and in deep pools along lake tributaries. Southam locals prize the meat of particularly large clams, and there's usually enough in one for an impromptu feast.

Flail snails are seen regularly along the lake. They are enormous--as tall and long as covered wagons. They are docile and won't attack if left alone.

Garden oozes are a common nuisance for farmers. They are comparatively weak, but bring friends just in case. They migrate in large numbers from the lowlands to the highlands, through Northam and back, each year.

The region's woods are home to all kinds of creepy-crawlies, including their giant cousins: spiders, ants, assassin bugs, rats and more.

Outlaw Humanoids

"Outlaw" is a catch-all term for intelligent humanoids that don't recognize and submit to the authority of the Empire, or whose fealty the Empire doesn't recognize. They have no rights or protections under the law. No act done against them is considered a crime in the eyes of the Empire. The Empire doesn't recognize any claim they make to territory or personal property. The life of an outlaw is miserable with few resources and little support. It's the daily things that make their lives hard; they can't get a room at the inn or purchase supplies at the general store. Waterpoint is a known haven for outlaws.

Goblin bands eke out a meager existence on the fringes of other beings' domains.

Two tribes of giants live among the most inaccessible mountain peaks. Once, they would raid remote villages, but a number of battles against the The Emperor's Viziers and The Capitol Legion ended their incursions. Now, they keep to themselves.

Solitary trolls inhabit the Chillswamp and sometimes emerge to demand tribute from travelers.

Vegepygmies are a plant-like people who speak in clicks and strange signs. They are not well understood, and their hostility makes learning about them difficult. They seem to enjoy kidnapping people, who are never seen again.

Reclusive wild elves lurk deep in the woods and are rarely seen. Wild elf sightings in this region are a recent phenomenon. Local historians speculate they might remnants of the elven rangers who fought in the Wood and Stone War.

Civilized kind (elves, dwarves, humans and so on) sometimes find themselves exiled as punishment for crimes or political reasons. Rarely, someone will voluntarily renounce their place in the Empire and join a community of outlaws.

Known Terrors

Sometimes, a marble statue made in the likeness of a person will walk into a town under its own power. It finds the person whose face matches its own, kills them brutally, and carries their remains off.

The walking dead come in various shapes and sizes. Most people have seen a zombie or a skeleton shambling along in the distance on some unknowable errand. A few say they have seen stranger and even more loathsome things skulking in dark places.

Animals and people who go to Thostyr Lake sometimes come back changed. Some have great strength, or magical abilities, or extra limbs. Others lose limbs, waste away under horrible magical diseases, or simply don't come back at all. Despite the risk, there are too many people who are desperate enough to risk everything for a chance at real power. These changes come about when a being touches or drinks the water, or sometimes merely from being near it. No natural being can survive more than a few agonizing seconds in the lake, no matter what their gifts may be.

Legends and Tall Tales

They say an old tortoise the size of a wagon lives near the lake. They call him "Grandpa."

The Mogov is a tall, hooded figure who approaches people on dark nights to make darker deals.

Some say when a garden ooze gets into a beehive, they sometimes merge to form a beehive ooze.

There are many, many tales of the wrongfully slain returning from the dead to get revenge on their murderers. The Hangman and the Revenant are two oft-repeated examples passed down from parent to child.

Some say they have seen pegasi roosting on the eastern slopes of the Spearwall Peaks, overlooking the desert.

There is one very old story that describes an ancient, nation-destroying monster slumbering directly below the highest peak in the Spearwalls.

Every now and then, someone reports seeing a serpentine, winged shape silhouetted briefly against the moon at night.

Some people swear they've seen a giant octopus or squid in the lake.