Phonoi (Faw-Nee)

One of the most feared types of entities in Eregost, the Phonoi are manifestations of murder created by Eris. They come in many different forms, with many different abilities and weaknesses. They are as ancient as they are mysterious in nature. While their existence and behaviour brings many questions to the minds of scholars from all across the continent, the concensus of most mortals is that they need to be destroyed.
They are known as Phonoi by the Authenians and Caedes by the Venatorians. The natives of the Ceilic Region have several names for the Phonoi, ranging from "Destroyers" to "Wrathful Ones" to simply "Grimm". The singular of Phonoi is Phonos.

Basic Information

Anatomy

While there are many different types of Phonoi, each with different physical properties, they do always have some traits in common. The bodies of phonoi are made out of similar materials to daemons. They are a black, smoky mass taking a solid form, though it should be known that some types of phonoi take less solid forms. Parts of a phonos are composed of bone, often the heads. Artistic depictions and research notes about the phonoi from before the 650's claim that the phonoi have glowing white eyes, like that of their creator, however all modern accounts state that their eyes are amber in colour.
Many phonoi take forms very similar to animals, and many early mortal cultures believed that phonoi were animals possessed by evil spirits, or even the tortured spirits of animals themselves.

Wyverns

Wyverns are a type of phonoi that take the form of a drake. Their bodies are made of a black smoky mass similarly to daemons, with a head that looks like a drake's skull. Their eyes glow amber. Their backs are covered in bony spikes, especially at the spine. Their smoky black tails end in a pointed spike of bone matter. While wyverns take the form of drakes, there are several differences. Drakes can feel fear and can behave with caution, whereas wyverns cannot. Wyverns can fly long distances, whereas drakes can barely maintain flight for more than ten seconds. Wyverns cannot breathe fire, while drakes can. Wyverns have at least three times the physical strength that drakes have. Wyverns are especially vulnerable to radiant magic, unlike drakes.

Biological Traits

When wounded, large amounts of black smoke begin to emit from phonoi, as though they are bleeding. Phonoi are creatures of destruction, not creation, and as a result of this they leave no bodies when slain. When a phonos dies, its body evaporates over the course of approximately one to ten minutes, depending on the size of the phonoi.
Phonoi do not need to eat, drink or sleep. While they can become tired if they overexert themselves, which can lead to their strength failing, they can recover from even to most dire fatigue in less than a single minute.

Genetics and Reproduction

The exact means by which phonoi reproduce is unknown, though there are no reliable accounts or records of phonoi mating ever being observed. Some believe that the phonoi do not need to reproduce and that they simply come back to life after they die, though the Order of the Watchers, who most agree to be the leading experts on phonoi claim that phonoi do not come back from the dead.

Behaviour

When not in the presence of animals or mortals, phonoi tend to enter a dormant state, unmoving and unthinking, like a machine with no way to accomplish its goal. Despite this, there have been events where phonoi to move with great haste despite there being seemingly no reason to do so. There are many different theories behind the behaviour of phonoi, some believe that they are attracted to negative emotions and mass death, and that they travel to these areas, others believe that the phonoi are under the control of another entity. Some believe that the phonoi are under the control of Eris, though this seems unlikely due to her fascination in the choices of others.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Phonoi can be found practically anywhere across Eregost, from the Thymomen desert to the Northern Ice Wastes. They are more likely to be found in less civilized areas, though they seem to congregate around areas with a dark history. There are rather high concentrations of phonoi around Stone Axe Mountain and the ruins of areas previously owned by Clan Spartach.
It seems that the majority of phonoi can be found in the Northern Ice Wastes, and they seem to migrate into the south of Eregost from there. Some scholars theorize that due to the amount of phonoi found in the Ice Wastes, and the fact that large numbers of them regularly leave the Ice Wastes without the phonoi population in the area decreasing, the Northern Ice Wastes may house some method of multiplication for the phonoi.

Average Intelligence

Phonoi do not possess sentience or self awareness, and have only one focus: destruction. They have not one modicum of self preservation or fear, and no curiosity beyond tracking their next victim. They have no consideration for stealth or tactics, desiring only to fulfill their sole purpose.

Civilization and Culture

History

In ancient records dating from before the destruction of the western kingdoms, the phonoi were believed to be obedient to murderers. It is said that once a man had unjustifiably ended a life, a phonos would find him and follow him around will listening to his commands, becoming the murderer's familiar. If a life was ended for any reason other than the protection of another life, a phonos would become obedient to the killer. It is said that those who had a phonos following them around would be ostracized from society. This changed in the early 650's, when without any apparent reason all phonoi became wild, with many of them going in the direction of Theiáfi Canyon before migrating north into the Ice Wastes.
From that moment onwards, any attempts made by mortals to control phonoi have been unsuccessful. From the late eighth century onwards, phonoi have started to move south, into the rest of Eregost, and have even been spotted in Rhodesseum.

Geographic Distribution

• Arcadian Forest
• Calydon
• Stone Axe Mountain
• The Northern Ice Wastes