Bestiary

This article contains supplementary lore to the bestiary for hostile creatures.

Avians

Furrows

• Type: Flightless Bird
• Size: Diminutive, 8 - 15cm tall, 15 - 30cm long, 30 -50g
• Physiology: A small bird, usually coloured black or purple. Their eyes, tail segment (L5-L8), and Wing Tips have a terracotta colouration. Has a small beak, designed for grain eating. They are known for their extremely hard beaks and soft feathers. Though, the shaft of their feathers are quite hard, only really at the tip. They are bipedal, having small anisodactyl feet. Their feathers cover most of it, but it still exists. It isn't known as to why these exist, not really using their feet for much grabbing.
• Distribution: They thrive in alpine lands where they have many possible hiding spots in the rocks and caves. Though, they can commonly be found in farm lands and forests, eating what they can find. It is extremely uncommon to find unclaimed Furrows in cities, as they would naturally split off to find a bigger friend.
• Prey: The bird is omnivorous, typical diet includes berries, grains, seeds, bugs, and animals. They generally pick on small lizards. Though, new studies find that the bird seems to be stronger when fed aquatic animals, which aren't on their standard palette.
• Traits: The bird has decent night vision and hunt in large groups. They're quite intelligent, able to use basic tools to disturb nest of potential food (like ants) or distract creatures. Furrows are unusually intelligent and tends to attempt to befriend large creatures, bringing them shiny stones, sticks and small pieces of food.
• Loot: Their feathers make a very high quality quill. Their meat is also edible, though it mostly consists of working muscles. Eating furrows is generally seen as a sign of desperation.

A mysterious, widespread bird that is very good at hiding, like a flightless sparrow. The bird is generally seen as a blessing and good omen for a good harvest. They are viewed as friendly pests that get rid of pests - however, they are generally not welcome around fruit orchard as the bird also consume fruits.

Construct

Kuilei

The Kuileis are humanoid war machines that stem from a different philosophy - instead of embracing a specialized, insect-like structure, the Runran decided the humanoid form was the best to imitate and the most flexible, and focused their efforts on refining the process of creating Kuileis until they derived a way to lower the cost of summoning them - with the greatest innovation being the addition of the ability for Kuileis to produce more of themselves. Those Kuileis were imported en masse from the Runran during the independence war - with rumor being that there were more Kuileis in Lymia during the rebellion than in the whole of Runra - a country almost ten times as big and populous. After that event, Kuileis are now scattered across Ramul Ta, often becoming bandits that rob locals for sustenance - while a large number of them still serve in the Lymian army as loyal golems.

Compared to Pebuk, Kuileis are much more intelligent, matching that of a human and are technically immortal and capable of doing much of the same thing. As a result, Kuileis outside of Lymia are systematically persecuted - if not considered inhuman and sometimes killed on sight, while within Lymia they are strictly regulated and controlled to ensure they remain subservient golems.

Pebuk

The Pebuk are the first types of constructs to be created and used en masse in the world of Drase, and were invented by the First Prasian Empire to solve a very pressing issue - that permanent summons are highly expensive. The innovation came when the Prasian realized eusocial insects are individually dumb and perhaps, they can imitate their process - by inventing elaborate rituals in which an entire “Hive” of insectoid are summoned at once, they greatly reduced the magical cost of contracting souls as only one or a few intelligent souls need to be contracted to control the hive, while the rest are controlled by one collective soul - or maybe even soulless, the details of which are unclear even to the Prasian themselves. The Pebuk have a hivelike structure and until the recent 300 years, are incapable of producing more of themselves, reliant on the Prasian rituals. The way to construct Pebuk is still preserved as a state secret by the Prasian, but their capacity to construct them en masse has been greatly diminished by their retreat from the surface and calamitous losses of their aboveground territory - wood being an important and economical material for construction of Pebuk.

Pebuk are insectoid in nature, almost always with six legs, and consist of large amounts of unintelligent or barely intelligent single minded insects, usually controlled by a single queen with intelligence - without their queen, they devolve into routine and become impossible to control. They fulfill a variety of specialized roles. Pebuk are also able to see at night by default.

Goblinoid

Goblins are small, humanoid, sapient creatures that are widespread throughout the world, but of a considerably lower intelligence and reproduce quickly. Goblins are widespread and capable of fashioning simple tools - but incapable of highly complex societal structure. Goblins have large litter and reproduce quickly - usually between 5 - 10 children per litter, and have a very high childhood and adulthood mortality rate, and die at less than the age of 20.

Goblins have matriarchal societies with society and tribes centering around the most magically powerful goblin matriarch, often one with a significant number of children. Magic-mastering goblins can live up to 60 years. While omnivorous, goblins are generally incapable of all but most simple agriculture, and also consume less food than normal human beings. Tribal warfares and hunting kill off most of the goblins population, followed by goblin hunting - but so long as one goblin couple survives, goblins tend to resurge again quickly.

Slime

Slimes are ubiquitous, magical creatures. Slime are bouncy creatures with a gelatinous body, usually in the shape of a dome or a square.

Reproduction

Slimes are born three ways - first is spontaneous generation, in areas of high magical activities and low sapient activities, slimes seem to appear out of “nowhere” in its tiniest form. The second form is splitting - once a slime has reached sufficient size - roughly the size of a human being, most of the time they will ingest a large amount of food and produce slime jelly, which hatch into a new slime that may mutate into another slime type. The third form - the least common, large slimes that have undergone considerable trauma may split into smaller slimes, and if they survive, it may grow up to be a large slime again.

Behavior & Feeding

All except the largest of slimes are generally passive, and do not attack or predate other creatures outside of self-defense, but their definition of self-defense could include intruding on their territory or getting too close. Slime consumes food by enveloping them in their body slowly and secreting digestive acid - a process which is visible from the outside due to their semi-translucent body.

They are herbivorous, though capable of devouring meat when presented, and devours other dead slimes readily (But will not hunt other slimes). They however, will devour anything and everything plant-like, down to the last bit of fiber and the root - which make smaller slimes a considerable nuisance.

Size & Structure

Slimes vary in size from a small dog’s size to human size to even bigger, becoming more aggressive toward sapient beings as they grow. The lowest grades of slimes tend to be undifferentiated, while bigger slimes tend to be split into elemental archetypes with even bigger slimes capable of magic. When cornered and forced to fight, slimes harden their tissue and ram into their enemy, but larger slime are capable of forming slime limbs to stroke out at their enemy, and other larger slimes make use of projectile weapon and toxic or deadly spit, with some known to cast simple magical attacks unique to slimes. Larger slimes have more specialized tissues and inside the depth of their body magical essences that are essential for alchemy can be found - while boiled down “blood” (Which is like water, but glittery with it losing shine as the blood lose freshness) are a base for many alchemical potions and ingredients.

Human Use

Slimes has never been domesticated, but people do ranch and keep slimes because like pigs, they eat anything, but they are less fussy and more nutritionally efficient than slime - most of the time slimes stay rather inactive unless they are searching for food or find some - in which case they’ll start bouncing and jumping en masse toward the new food source and devour it whole. One problem with slimes, however, is their mobility, as they can coil their body and jump a very very tall height - making conventional ranching useless, plus their tendency to devour grass to depletion and then consume the roots too. As a result most slimes that are reached and kept are small and kept in door with farm leftovers and refuse thrown in to feed them, with the slimes periodically culled to provide food. Larger underground pits and structures are made with the goal of harvesting larger slimes - but those facilities are usually found in urban centers and refused and given to those slimes instead.

Their flesh is bouncy, with high water content and with texture like jelly, and is nutritious and full of protein (Though the latter is not known to science of the time), with low fat content. Slime flesh tends to be uniform throughout the body, and rot and decay quickly if not preserved (Or is eaten by other slimes), which can be done by salting and drying them - then rehydrating them like other sources of meat. Slimes are also commonly preserved and boiled to create “Slime Boiled Jelly”, which is a delicious delicacy when combined with sugared water and herbs and is considered a herbal remedy.

As a result, slimes are commonly hunted and harvested for food - but many nobles consider only large slimes as worthy food - and it is true that larger slimes tend to be more delicious and bouncy than their smaller counterparts.

Undead

Undead are creatures that were once dead but brought back to artificial life, sustained by magical means. Some of them are deliberately summoned as by a necromancer, but in places where the dead were not promptly buried or taken care of, or where there are a lot of negative energy or emotions - or tombs of those of great power and regret, undeads can spontaneously revive - once killed though, a non-summoned undead cannot be revived a second time.

Properly buried or disposed body that is undisturbed or one that has decayed for too long tends to be ineligible for revival as an undead.

Wild, non-summoned undead undead are hostile to life and generally incapable of any reasonable bargain or intelligence with human beings. Summoned undeads, however, are more intelligent.

Necromancers are capable of summoning “wild” undead using actual bodies that would go out of control, and doing so is cheaper than permanent summoning of a bound undead. Those undead lack purpose and often wander in improvised, small horde before being picked off, and this kind of actions are mostly done to disrupt or cause terror in local community.

Ungulates

Illhvet

• Type: Magical Ungulate
• Size: Large, approximately twice the size of a typical cattle
• Physiology: The Illhvet resembles a fluffy combination of a cow and sheep, but much larger. It has a thick, plush coat of wool that varies in color, typically ranging from creamy white to shades of beige and light brown. The Illhvet's eyes have a gentle, amber hue, and its hooves are sturdy and cloven, adapted for both grazing and walking in diverse terrains.
• Distribution: Illhvets are primarily found in pastures and rolling hills, where they can graze freely and have access to abundant vegetation. In Ramul Ta - they range from the far west of the Rulminian Plains to the western edge of Silnaria. The further they go from their native range - the less likely the creature is to reproduce, making them unable to spread far without humanoid intervention.
• Reproduction: Illhvets have been magically engineered to maintain a unique reproduction ratio of 4 females to 1 male, ensuring a sustainable breeding population while optimizing milk and wool production.
• Lifecycle: Illhvet can live up to 25 years and generally speaking is reproduction capable from 2 - 3 years old, much like cows. They are generally culled at 6 years old.

The Illhvet - a magically engineered creature that looks like a combination of cow and sheep, is a gentle and docile creatures that likely originated on the Rulminian plains. They are highly revered for thei unique combination of milk and wool production - much like owning a cattle. The quality of their wool are highly prized especially for keeping warm on the cold steppes.

Illhvet have significant economic use - a single Illhvet can yield up to 10 liters of milk per day, and can produce around 15 kilograms (33 lbs) of wool annually. Specialized dairy and wool variant produce more. Some Illhvet are bred for meat - mostly in Western Silnaria or former Silnarian land, and Illhvet meat have a cattle-like, deep flavor. Cuts of a Illhvet are similar to that of a cattle.

Illhvet, while normally docile, have been bred by the Rulmi Brayers as a war mount as typical war mount like horses are too small for their large body. War Illhvets are generally of a different breed than domestic Illhvets, far more aggressive - and generally possess black wool. They are less suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry compared to other Illhvet variants - with their meat often being seen as leathery, whereas their wool tends to grow slowly.

Illhvet Breeds

Commercially or culturally significant Illhvet Breeds includes:

• Western - The "default" variant of Illhvet, widespread in the western steppe. They have relatively poor meat yield - taking a lot of food to grow a small amount of meat, but produce decent amount of wool and dairy both.
• Silnarian Beige - An Illhvet breed known for its beige colored wool. They have poor wool yield but are bred for maximum meat yield - usually being faster to grow to maturity for producing meat.
• Atshim Brown - An Illhvet breed smaller than others - almost only slightly bigger than a cow, known for having almost double the wool yield of other Illhvet variant while producing dairies. Mostly herded in the Atshim coast.
• Black Orna - A black Illhvet breed bred specifically for war. Far more aggressive than others - and known for having dog like behavior and loyalty. They are smaller - but not lighter than other Illhvet, packing a lot of muscles into a smaller body. They have strong back to support a rider. Produce poor amount of meat and wool. Viable breeding stock of this breed exists in Southwestern Silnaria, East Rulminia and across the steppes.

Underground

Shrooman

Amongst the most prominent of underground creatures are the semi-intelligent shroomman, semi-intelligent, fungus-like people who look like mushrooms with two fungus-like legs, two arms and cute looking, oversized eyes and mouth. The shroomman are generally peaceful, but can be induced to violent attack if they perceive their territory as intruded on. Sometimes shroomman also go on a warpath and attack nearby settlements, but usually don’t do lasting damage beyond smashing everything, as they are incapable of using fire. They can disguise themselves as normal, giant mushrooms.

Once a shroomman dies, they turn into an inanimate mushroom and their eyes and mouth disappear. And since they spread their spores and grow in large numbers, they are a surprisingly popular..food source in the underground.