Chimera

The Fauna of the Near Umbra; Twisted Reflections and Mixtures of Waking Wildlife

Chimerae have been called many things by many people, from mythics to yaoguai to wendigos to simply monsters. Like the fae, these creatures are Duskscape natives that can traverse the Veil relatively easily, and indeed seem to carry physical aspects of Waking creatures, albeit physically twisted and with new, often disturbing behaviours. This seems to match the overall nature of the Near Umbra as a warped sort of "mirror" to Waking Reality (as opposed to the increasingly alien, unrelatable Far Umbra).

Appearance

See also: Chimerae Image Gallery (External)

or: The Wendigo Primogen Image Gallery (External)

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The recorded physiologies and behaviours of chimerae by Material scholars is almost certainly a tiny fraction of what exists across the Near and Far Umbra.

Society

Though there exists the occasional story of neutral or even benevolent encounters with chimerae, most are dangerous monsters who see Material organisms as food or playthings. If a Waking settlement or individual is being harrassed by Duskscape creatures who have breached the Veil, they are likely chimerae.

Most chimerae are bestial in intelligence and nature, though some, like Sirens and Ijiraq, may form simple societies. Rakshasa are extremely intelligent but solitary, and there is some debate as to whether they are demons rather than chimerae: on the one hand they are intelligent and humanoid, but unlike demons they are antisocial, and their bestial aspects (e.g. tigerlike pelts) seem to directly mirror Waking fauna the way demonic appearances do not. The debate is similar for sirens and ijiraq, who have strong likenesses to Material birds and ungulates, respectively.

Known Groups

As the creatures are highly mutable and individually morphic, it is nearly impossible to classify chimerae the way one would Material fauna. Nonetheless there seem to be some broadly recognizable groups.

• Hydra
• Manticores
• Cockatrices
• Basilisks
• Tarrasques

Some classifications are questionable, and the creatures therein may be a different group:

• Kaiju (Material fauna?)
• Hippocamps, Leocamps, Kelpies, Capricorns (Material fauna?)
• Wendigos (Undead?)
• Rakshasa (Demons?)
• Ijiraq (Demons?)
• Sirens & Harpies (Demons? Humanoid Spharai & Qlippoth?)
• Tatzelwurms (Bandersnatches?)

In Waking Religion

The Apex of the Chimerae and Duskscape Regent of hunger, predation and otherness, The Wendigo Primogen, is sometimes worshipped by Waking mortals, particularly evil druids, witches and barbarians who envy the power of these monsters. Powerful followers begin to experience, among other things, more mutable bodies and the ability to cross The Veil more easily.

There is some question about whether Kaiju are chimerae that have taken up residence on Materia permanently, as they seem to resemble the Duskscape monsters more than Waking fauna. If so, that would make Shelas Ob'Silexia a chimeric god as well.

In Marai

In Commonwealth Standard, yōkai and yaoguai have the same root etymology, but have come to mean different things as Material scholars grow more familiar with Near Umbral parabiology. Yōkai has come to generally refer to the fae, while yaoguai now refers to chimerae.

The Totem Kami of divinely-sanctioned clans have occasionally chosen the bodies of fae creatures as their Mantle—namely the Izuka, Iname and Shan— however they have never chosen the body of a chimera; it is possible kami find chimerae distasteful, or it may just be that it hasn't happened yet. Given most yaoguai leave an unmistakable feeling of corruption and aberration, most Maraian witches and shamans accept the former explanation.

Banner art: (Left to right) A leocamp, a basilisk and a tarrasque.

Banner art credit: (Left to right) anon., Ian Miller, Pierre Sala. Background by BogelBear.