#14 – CREATURES

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It's been a while since we introduced a few of the creatures that you will meet in Spire of Sorcery. It's time to lake a look at some more!

Illustration 1: Tasljuk.

Tasljuk is a medium-sized omnivorous mammal. It eats mostly fallen fruits, and digs for nutritious roots – wherever those can be accessed easily. They inhabit forests, ancient forests, hills and plains. Tasljuks are generally not aggressive (unless they feel threatened or find themselves in the state of panic).

Tasljuks are hunted for food. Their fat is also sometimes used in alchemy, as one of the ingredients for various healing ointments.

Tasljuks can be domesticated. In the Wild Lands, it is quite common to see a number of tasljuks being a part of household animals. Moreover, tasljuks can be trained to search for Hidden Roots – a rare and expensive delicacy, which is a parasitic plant that grows wholly underground; because tasljuks love to eat them, they became extremely good at smelling these out.

A special characteristic of tasljuks is their symbiosis with Death Flower: tasljuks are immune to the hallucination-inducing pollen of this tree, but they enjoy eating its tasty fruits. Because of this, tasljuks help Death Flowers to propagate across the land, depositing its seeds in their poop, often miles away from the place where they ate the fruits in the first place.

Illustration 2: Death Flower.

Death Flower is a carnivorous tree that flowers and bears fruit all through the year. The trunk is rather elegant, covered by a thin layer of reddish bark. The leaves are quite intricate, often described as airy; the flowers are big, intensely yellow; the fruit somewhat resembles a large pear, and darkens when ripened.

The roots of Death Flower are thin and elastic. The tree can extract them from the ground, and uses them to immobilise and consume its victims (the movement of the roots is so slow, that an outside observer will be hard pressed to notice any movement at all).

The flowers of this tree offer a pleasant, sweet smell; their pollen contains a very concentrated hallucination-inducing poison (however, the fruits are safe to eat). When even a microscopic dose of this pollen is inhaled by an animal or by a human, the victim begins to observe a series of attractive mirages, seemingly emanating from the tree itself. In the state of trance, the victim approaches the tree and lays on the ground to sleep. During such sleep, the ever increasing concentration of inhaled poisonous pollen leads to a heart failure, while the roots of the tree pierce the victim's body in multiple points, to drink its blood.

Tasljuks are the only large animal that is immune to the pollen of Death Flower. They love to eat the tree's fruits, helping it spread across the land by depositing its seeds in their poop.

The fruits of Death Flower are an exotic, and very expensive, delicacy; the pollen of Death Flower is a rare, highly valuable ingredient used in alchemy.

Illustration 3: Forest Cat.

Forest Cats are a large predator with greenish fur that makes them difficult to spot in the woods. They inhabit forests and ancient forests, climbing old trees to build large nests that they make from skins and bones of killed prey.

Forest Cats are able to move almost without a sound, often stalking their targets for miles on end. Their preferred approach to attack is jumping from high trees, knocking the victim out before it can even begin to defend itself.

These animals pose a substantial danger to lone travellers attempting to cross forests on their own; however, they rarely attack groups of people, so most parties will be safe.

The skins of Forest Cats are a highly valuable trade item, and are easy to sell on any market. While their teeth find certain use in alchemy, they are neither a strong nor a valuable ingredient.

Illustration 4: Mermaids.

Mermaids are one of the dweller races that were created in the Age of Mages. They were made to tend to valuable underwater plants, and to hunt for larger types of fish. Mermaids live in lakes and rivers.

Their skin is of blueish colour, their bodies are a combination of a female torso and a fish-like lower part. They are viviparous hermaphrodites.

Mermaids are generally known as rather playful creatures, and will often engage in underwater games. One of their favourite pastimes is luring passersby to play with them, and then drowning them as a part of the fun.

Illustration 5: Creepers.

Creepers are medium-sized slimy creatures that have two limbs in the front, and a snake-like tail in the back. To get around, they use a combination of limb and tail movements. Their limbs are strong, ending with sharp fangs that come handy for digging tunnels. Creeper's head is on the small side, and is mostly taken up by a large round mouth surrounded by a number of mobile tentacles.

Some people say that Creepers were created in the Age of Mages for a long-forgotten purpose. Some say that they were created not for help, but rather as a pest – and set to attack the cellars of rival mages. Others think that Creepers were always a part of this world, and existed for centuries – before being disturbed and discovered in their underground tunnels that stretch below the land of Rund.

Creepers prefer humid spaces, from lakeside caves to swamp burrows. Nowadays, they are also found in sewers and cellars, often causing significant damage before being found out. "Complete eradication of creepers" is one of the bestselling services from the Guild of Mages all over the Empire.

Creepers are not choosy eaters. They would eat almost anything, as their gastric juice is able to dissolve even the hardest of materials. When Creepers are defending themselves, or going after a victim, they squirt acid, causing significant burns. In close encounters, they also use their fanged limbs.

The gastric juice of Creepers is used in alchemy as one of the basic ingredients for some of the more potent potions.

Illustration 6: Weavers.

Weavers are the race of dwellers created to produce top-quality cloth. Originally supported by the mages who created them, after the Cataclysm they managed to survive on their own – by using weaving skills to create traps for birds and small animals. With time, they further learned how to breed forest pigeons for their meat and eggs, and how to make poisonous bait in order to hunt larger wild animals.

The bodies of Weavers are generally the size of a rather large pumpkin. The head and the face are human-like, as well as two frontally placed hands. Like spiders, they are able to produce cobwebs, and turn them into cloth. Weavers also posses basic knowledge of alchemy, which allows them to make a large variety of dyes as well as certain poisons.

Weavers love bright colours and often decorate themselves and their dwellings with various coloured patches, flags, feathers and amulets. Their dwellings are typically made of ropes tied around a large tree. In the tree, they would create a hollow to be used as the alchemy lab.

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