It’s been a couple of busy days, so this is a bit of a
delayed article. Fortunately, it has a bit of everything… monsters and magic
from around the Olden
Land … it even has a few small
charts. So here are the ABC and D’s of a few monsters of the Olden Lands.
The Olden Lands Map Pack includes a complete listing of
major (and many minor) monsters encounter in the Olden Lands and where they are
generally located, so you can find out more about the monsters of the Olden
Lands in that PDF.
APES
First up, we have the Great Apes found in the Olden Land
– the Chimpanzees and Gorillas; their close relatives the Man-Eating Apes, the
Dakon, and the Giant Apes; and Albino Apes and White Apes. Orangutans are not
found in the Olden Lands; they are native to the islands of the Far West , beyond the Purple Plains and Deshret, and are
only rarely encountered in the Olden Lands, usually in menageries or in service
to a Western sorcerer. Also, Albino Apes and White Apes will be dealt with
another time, as they have little in common with the other Ape groups. And of
course, Humans and the Demihuman and Humanoid races all, according to various
sages and sorcerers, are distant relatives of these creatures, as the common
theory is that the Elder Titans adopted the more successful and widespread
proto-Human Ape-like ancestors of these races as their servants.
Most Great Apes are found exclusively in the South;
Chimpanzees and Gorillas are native to the Isle of Apes and Mandayan, though a
few are found on the various other islands of the Sea of Steam .
Once their range was far greater, into Eosha, Kryx, and even Deshret, but in
the last few ages these populations were crowded out and exterminated by
encroaching Human and Humanoid groups. Chimpanzees and Gorillas of the Olden Lands
are more intelligent than their real-world counterparts (Intelligence 8),
likely due to evolutionary stress and the direct intervention of deific powers.
The Isle of Apes, quite naturally, is their remaining heartland; here it is
said that they are protected by their very own deity, the Ape God, though no
living man has ever claimed to have seen him with his own eyes. It is on this
island that the Dakon, an intelligent race of Apes, can be found, serving the
Ape God as acolytes.
Man-Eating Apes, distant cousins of the Chimpanzees, are
aberrations of evolution or magic, though not Chaos-magic, as such. Their great
size and ferocity is often due to long generations of isolation and inbreeding,
combined with being hunted or abused by nearby Human or Humanoid groups. As the
common Chimpanzees are more intelligent than real-world counterparts, so the
Man-Eating Apes are usually (though not always) also more intelligent, up to
and including Human levels of intelligence, including the ability to speak or
at least sign. Some of the more isolated groups have developed a full culture,
complete with tools, weapons, armor, and architecture, or borrowed such from
the nearby Human and Humanoid peoples. Those found in the Yasdunn Jungles of
Eosha have been known to fall under the influence of the White Apes of that
land.
Giant Apes are rarest of all. These distant cousins of the
gorillas, like the Man-Eating Apes, are aberrations, descended from isolated
groups of Gorillas cast ashore on distant islands or trapped in rugged interior
jungles. Towering creatures capable of fighting giants hand-to-hand, these
beasts are, like their Gorilla cousins, usually peaceful, though quick to rage
when they are troubled. They are often the objects of veneration and worship by
the primitive tribes of Humans and Humanoids that live on their island homes.
BELKER
These strange beasts are not native to the Olden Lands; they
are not, in fact, native to this world at all. They fall under the wide and
far-reaching rubric of “Cosmic” entities, being not of this world or the
elemental fundamentals of this world, nor even of Chaos, but of something else
entirely. Sages believe these creatures, made of pure ash and willpower,
originate in the great clouds of depleted Stardust that surround the Stars
Above. They are created by the passing thoughts of an Elder Titan or similar
creature, which gives life and animation to the depleted Stardust.
These creatures must exist in great numbers in the Void
Between the Stars, as there have been numerous reports of their falling from
the Skies Above down to the World. There they are usually captured and grossly
abused by wizards and sorcerers, or flee to some hidden place, where they live
out their immortal lives in a pitiable fashion, alone and never able to return
to their starry abode in the Void Above. Thus, though not of Chaos, they are
hateful of all living things of this World, and though by preference would flee
any encounter, of necessity often attack interlopers, seeking a surcease to
their bebotherment.
If a belker is slain, its ashes can be used in scribing
arcane spells in spell books and on scrolls, being used to create the ink.
Every hit point worth of ash of a belker counts as 50 gp in value toward the
cost of the scribing of a spell in a spell book or scroll.
CARBUNCLE
The origins of these strange creatures are lost in the mists
of time; sages speculate they may be descended from some sort of pet kept by
the Titans in the Dawn Ages, while the clergy of the Gregorian Church
believe them to be heralds of Chaos. Carbuncles are found on the islands of the
Serene Sea and the Sunrise Isles; they can also be found from time to time
along the shores of the Sunrise
Sea , as they enjoy
sneaking on ships to go exploring in the wider world.
Carbuncles of the Olden Lands can range from Small to Large
size, with the rarer larger breeds having commensurately larger and more
valuable gems; some are even magical in nature, though the creature has no
ability to command the magic. Their gems are also variable in color and form;
most are like rubies, but some are like sapphires, or emeralds, or opals, or
other, rarer sorts. The carbuncle’s rugose skin is colored similarly, with gray
or brown stripes, fading to grayish-white shades on the belly.
Though they are not innately Chaotic in nature, their one
joy is causing chaos and confusion, sowing distrust and discord, and causing
horrible tragic bloody battles and feuds. Though there is no evidence to
suggest such, the superstitious believe that their gemstones are as dangerous
as the creatures themselves, and bring with them a curse of chaos and discord.
Thus the saying among common folk along the Serene Sea, that a person or thing
“isn’t worth a carbuncle.” Superstitious peasants avoid those who openly
possess or especially wear a gemstone known to be taken from a carbuncle.
* The gem, when soaked in a glass of wine for a day and a
night, transforms the wine into a random potion. The potion is determined once
when first acquired.
** D8: 1-3 Wizard, 4-5 Illusionist, 6-7 Clerical, 8 Druidic.
Divide the carbuncle’s HD by the spell level and round up to determine how many
times per day the spell can be used.
DRAGONNEL
Dragonnels are found in great numbers on the Dragon Isles,
and in lesser numbers in the Starcrag
Peaks , the Dragon Hills
in Aurlandia, and the Drachenfels in Gyrax. Dragonnels of the Olden Lands are
little different in appearance than their more potent great dragon relations,
save that they are smaller in general, more gracile of form, with smaller heads
and longer snouts in proportion, and longer legs with smaller claws (note that
dragons in the Olden Lands have four legs and two wings). Unlike true dragons,
which favor a build more like that of the lizard crossed with the feline or
canine, the build of the dragonnel is more along the lines of the lizard crossed
with the horse; they stand tall rather than crouch near the ground. They are
compared favorably in form as draconic pegasi, though there is no relation
between the two creatures.
One in 36 are of superior sort, and possess a fiery breath
attack, like but lesser than that of Draco Conflagratio Horriblis (the red
dragon). Most are of animal intellect, though some of the greater sort can
approach a human level of cunning. None has ever mastered spell-casting, though
most have a dim intelligence and can understand complex commands, moreso than a
horse, and the more intelligent can actually understand various languages and
pantomime conversation. Unlike their chromatic dragon cousins, these creatures
are not by nature of Chaotic sort, though most of the wild variety are inimical
to Humans and Demihumans, having in the past been trained by or allied with
various Humanoid races; plus, most humans cannot tell the difference between a
dragon and a dragonnel, and thus they are more often hunted than sought as steeds.
Dragonnels come in a variety of chromatic colors, including
not only the usual red, blue, green, black, and white, but also purple, yellow,
orange, gray, and brown. Dragonnels born from a single clutch are all of the
same color, or a mix of brown, gray, and one other color. There is also a
breed, derived from the orange, which has a golden sheen; these were bred by
the knights of Aurlandia for use as steeds by the Knights of the Golden Dragon;
all such possess fiery breath. The gold dragon allies of the knights are not
friendly with these, considering them to be little more than brutish beasts.
Dragonnel eggs can be sold at the appropriate markets for
anywhere between 800 and 3,200 gp; hatchlings can be sold for twice as much.
Most civilized lands and even many semi-barbarous ones severely restrict the
sale and possession of live dragonnels; attempting to sell eggs or hatchlings
on the open market can easily earn the wrath of the local authorities.
Hmmm, I think you need more apes!
ReplyDeleteWait'll I write-up the Apes of the Midzee Lands of the Realms of Murikah! Got all SORTS of apes running around there...
ReplyDeleteMaybe even almost enough to satiate your need for apes... :P