#10 – CREATURES

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It's been a while since we wrote the last blog post, as we got overwhelmed both with travel (F&S indie festival in Bilbao) and with the pre-Christmas push to finish all the open tasks before taking some holiday time to re-charge. But we're finally back, and today we will talk about the world of the game – in particular, about some of the living (and dead) things that populate it.

Illustration 1: Mushroom-eaters.

Mushroom-eaters are one of the non-human races that has been created by the mages of earlier times with a specific function in mind: to cultivate, and harvest, rare mushrooms. Since mushrooms need a very special environment to propagate, it pays off to grow them in the deep forest rather than to try to replicate their eco-system in the Spires.

Mushroom-eaters know how to cultivate and harvest lots of different types of mushrooms, and mushrooms are their primary food source, so following the Cataclysm, they survived without much trouble by continuing to do what they've been created to do all along. They live deep in the forest, settling in nests made of branches, and form a collective organism similar to ants and bees: there's little personality in any specific specimen, but you can negotiate with the whole dwelling that has a conscience of its own.

Mushroom-eaters are not aggressive, however they might attack anyone whom they would consider to be a danger to their dwelling. Unlike many other non-human races, they do not have a built-in need to worship to any superior being or a specific place. They can, however, be enslaved by a stronger party. Convincing them to form a friendly partnership takes a longer time, though it is also a viable way of cooperation.

Illustration 2: Bone Creatures.

Bone Creatures are one of the magic creatures that are not created by any specific mage, but rather are the product of the Source's own activity (the Source being short for "source of magic energy").

Bone Creatures populate Battlefields – locations where massive battles have happened in the past, as parties fought for the control of the nearby Source. The Source uses its own energy as well as rays of death (where still tangible) to create these guardians made of bones of the fallen, whose only mission is to protect the Source from anyone else willing to take it over.

Bone Creatures cannot see, but are good at detecting life in the their surroundings, which they normally proceed to attack. There are no means of communication with them and no way to negotiate anything. As the spell that created the specific creature starts to weaken, the creature becomes less aggressive, until it falls apart (and is often replaced by a newly cast one).

Illustration 3: Fluter.

Fluters are a new type of animals that evolved in the eco-system of the Distorted Lands. Most likely, they used to be small animals or birds, that found a way of surviving in the new environment.

The main food source of fluters is all kinds of large flowers that are quite common in their habitat. They are also able to directly consume magic energy whenever they come across a thick flow: some travellers mention seeing whole swarms of fluters in the range of thousands, whenever a burst of magic energy is released in the Distorted Lands.

Fluters emit sounds similar to high flute notes, hence their name. Their wings are a valuable ingredient used for a number of magic potions and remedies. It is rather expensive since to obtain those, one needs to enter the dangerous and unpredictable region of the Distorted Lands.

Illustration 4: Drowners.

Drowners are one of the non-human races that were created for a specific purpose: to harvest fish, clams, mussels and all other sorts of produce found in shallow waters. They do well in lakes and in swamps.

Drowners are amphibious and settle in the roots of dead trees. They are a self-sufficient race, getting by with fishing, hunting and gathering. They can be negotiated with, as they have a social hierarchy that puts the older, more experienced individuals into the higher rank of the dwelling.

Like many non-human races created by the mages of the past, Drowners have a deep built-in desire to worship someone or something larger than themselves. They regularly bring gifts to the swamp idols, or to a strong creature – if such creature happens to live nearby.

Illustration 5: The Many-Handed.

The Many-Handed is one of the unique creatures that survived the ancient wars of mages. It (for this creature has no gender) is one of a kind, and there is nothing similar to it anywhere else in the world.

Originally created by a powerful mage to take care of that mage's magnificent library, the Many-Handed survived mage's death, and continues to live in the ruins of that mage's Spire, still tending and protecting the ever-expanding library. The Many-Handed lives off the energy from the Source that used to power the original Spire back when it was originally cast.

The Many-Handed possesses a wealth of knowledge, and knows an incredible number of battle spells. It will attack anyone whom it sees as a threat to its library, but is not an aggressive creature otherwise. The nearby dwellings of some of the non-human races worship the Many-Handed as their god, and whenever they come across scrolls or books, they bring them as their gifts.

Defeating the Many-Handed in combat is an extremely challenging undertaking. On the other hand, the Many-Handed is quite open to diplomacy and negotiations that lead to mutually beneficial exchange of books and special knowledge.

Illustration 6: Stingtails.

Stingtails are a new type of animals that evolved as a mutation on the border of the Distorted Lands and the surrounding Wild Lands. They live in caves, sleeping during the daytime and hunting at nights. Their tails carry poison. Stingtails are blind, but they have extremely sharp hearing.

When an animal or a human is bitten by a stingtail, they fall into coma, and are brought by the stingtail to its nest, where the poison starts to melt their flesh until the victim is turned into a sack filled with meaty fluid, which stingtail then proceeds to drink.

Stingtails lay eggs. Their meat and eggs are a valuable source of protein and are used in cooking by those who travel across the Wild Lands. Their wings and poisonous tails are a valuable ingredient used in creating magic potions and remedies. If you can obtain stingtail eggs, you may be able to breed adult stingtails in your Spire, deploying them around the Spire as one of your defence mechanisms.

Illustration 7: Cyclops.

Cyclops are a race that has been created for a specific purpose: to mine precious metals, and to use them in crafting tools and instruments. They are knowledgeable about iron and ore, and they are good blacksmiths.

Following the Cataclysm, cyclops survived by continuing their usual operations, trading metals and tools with other races whenever required.

Cyclops live in caves adorned with the image of their god (the mage who created the race), and worship this stone idol with valuable gifts. They can negotiate. They can also be enslaved, or have the Cult of the Spire imposed upon their dwelling.

Illustration 8: Pale Ones.

Pales Ones are the race that has been created for a specific purpose: to service and maintain defensive mechanisms of Spires, specifically – underground tunnels and traps. They survived the Cataclysm and currently populate catacombs, ruins and caves.

Pale Ones are a carnivorous and will eat anyone and anything that falls into their (rather primitive) traps that they continue to set around their dwellings. Occasionally, you may meet a creature that retains the knowledge of more advanced mechanisms, but generally the race degraded to the level of minimal skills required to simply get by.



The next post in this blog will deal with the relationships between the Empire, the Inquisition and the Lords, as well as provide more details about the Guild of Mages and why certain mages end up branded on their foreheads with the pentagram (not a nice thing, not at all).

And one more thing: we received a lot of questions via Discord about the fate of the poor disciple Mizengul, who, as you may recall, died at the end of Blog #09. People ask if there's anything that can be done for the poor soul, given the lack of medical knowledge or hospital room in the Spire at the time of his death. Well, actually, there is something: we see that you, the mage, know one of the basic spells of the Domestic Magic – Preserve Food.

So if you cast this spell on the corpse of Mizengul, it should be enough to keep him from rotting until such time when you, hopefully, learn the spells that bring back the dead. Unless you store Mizengul's corpse in the cellar warehouse where he may end up being gnawed away by the rats. So the current update on the Mizengul situation is: he is dead, but he's under the preservation spell, locked into your Treasury (as he's such a valuable friend), awaiting better times.
In the next blog post, we will look into the future and explain the challenges and risks of bringing back the dead, even with the best of intentions.

Until then – see you on Discord! And don't forget to check out the newly updated Q&A forum.

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