Creatures Mundane and Supernatural

by Catherine Newton

Dwarfs

Short, Cold, Hard and Brutal creatures, somewhat related to humans, but different enough in a disturbing way that no one in their right mind wants to explore that relationship very far. Typically pagan or atheistic in their beliefs. Their religious beliefs are complicated, to say the least and often involve blood sacrifices and metals or stone. Heaven help anyone who accidentally interrupts one in process, most likely the intruder would wind up chopped up and eaten. Metal and stone items made by them are superior in quality, but often possess a dark feel to them as well. Dwarfs, if you really wish to look for them, can be found in areas just like them, Deep in the dark, cold, hard and brutal lands. Often deep in mountain areas where its difficult to get to them. They are known to have a hold somewhere deep in the Alps and Deep in the Urals. The Bohemians and Transylvanians are said to share their blood somewhere way back and they can actually be found upon occasion in small villages deep in Transylvania. If you make a deal with one, just remember that they are Craft, Tricky and seldom give up anything without some type of sacrifice to seal the bargain.

Atlantean Tribes

Mostly a proud, aloof people, in tune with the natural world around them. Proud warriors who can vanish in a forest as quickly as most folk could blink. An almost preternatural way with the wild. At least thats what the old timers in Atlantean colonies say. They say the ones most people deal with are pretty much like anyone else, but there are some tribal elders or some of the tribes out to the western areas that are very mystical and savage.

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Giants

There are legends throughout Europa and Persia of men who stand half again to twice as tall as a normal man, giants who often have a fondness for the taste of human flesh and a fondness for robbing the virtues of a maiden. Youll often find a person who will swear that they have met such a person, and often you will hear of a Giant entering a town, but most often that giant is simply a person of a stature only a head or so taller than the folk who are telling. Perhaps they are real, perhaps they are legend, but it is said that they also exist in the great mountain range that runs down the western border of the colonies, the Allegheni, and that while the males of the species are thuggish and brutal in appearance that their females, although of the same stature are, by and large, quite pleasant upon the eye.

A stunted, misshapen, vicious minded people, the Gobolyns, or Goblyns as they are often called, are said to live in deep, dark places in the earth. Cunning and cruel, they are blamed for many things that happen on the edge of civilized lands, whether cows giving soured milk or children and goats going missing. It is said that they have a dislike of the light that is common among creatures associated with Satan, and it is highly doubtful from the tales that exist that these are a goodly or christian creature.

Gobolyns

Ogre

A term used to define men and women who have forsaken the rules of a just God and have developed an unholy and unnatural taste for the taste of their own kind. An Ogre is a horrific creature not only due to its perverted tastes for the meats of their own kin, but because they can, with care, blend in with any normal and goodly society of people. Vigilance is the best weapon against these abominations and it is said that they eventually develop a strange joint in their smallest fingers and toes, likely a sign from God to those upon whom they prey.

Troll

A creature that plagued the Nordic folk and much of Prussia in previous centuries, it is believed that the Troll is either extinct or has been driven deep into wilderness areas by the expansion of mankind into what was once his territory. Known for a penchant
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for the flesh of goats, trolls often demand a tribute of one or more goats from those who pass through their territories. As with many other creatures of Dark natures, the Troll finds the pure light of the Sun to be both repugnant and painful, often paralyzing them with fear until they are as immovable as a stone. They are said to be unimpressed by the bravest of men, but cowed by the least of enchantments. Troll society, such as existed was said to be matriarchal.

Beasts of Great Size

There are, upon rare occasion, exceptional creatures amongst most all species, mammal, insect, ophid or arachnid, among others, that grow to a size most unnatural to behold. Spiders or Ants the size of ponies, rats the size of dogs, snakes that grow to lengths of twenty feet or more and girths as big as a small tree. All of these things exist, albeit rarely and examples have been shown to men and women of Science time enough to confirm that they are not but a hoax or the ravings of drunkards and fools. Most of these creatures retain the weaknesses and tastes of their normal sized brethren.

Dragons and Dragon-Kin

It is said that Saint George slew a dragon, it has also been said by Castillian explorers to the lands below the new colony of Georgia, that there are many dragons, or at least the kin of dragons to be found in the marshy lands of the south. Possessing a very durable, scaly hide, large claws, teeth, and according to some stories, the ability to breath forth fire or noxious fumes, Dragons are formidable foes, so take care if traveling the marshes of the south lands, for not only dragons are reported there, but snakes of Great Size are reported to be most common in those climes.

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The Restless Dead

There are times when the souls of the dead are not accepted into either Heaven or Hell, nor do they spend their time learning from their sinful ways in Purgatory, but some souls are so vile and reticent that they refuse to leave their decaying bodies and drag themselves from their graves and either attempt to follow some twisted semblance of their previous existence or seek vengeance upon the living. These dead, or Undead as some priests have called them, take many forms, from rotting corpses dripping bits of flesh from their decaying bodies, to those so long passed that they are naught but animated skeletons, occasionally wearing some bits and rags of their former garments and possessed of a malevolence that betrays itself with eye sockets in the empty skull that glow with a glimpse of pure hellfire and twisted evil. There are said to be the occasional individual whose will to defy death was so strong that their bodies do not decay as normal and that they maintain a semblance of life by draining the very blood of the living to sustain themselves. The peasants of lower Prussia and the Transylvania region call these creatures Wamphyr. It is said that the Restless dead cannot stand the touch of holy items, pure sunlight, silver and that the force of faith of a truly faithful man can render them fearful and cause them to recoil away from the proof of true goodness. Salt and running water are also defenses against these vile creatures, and dogs, cats and horses will oft give warning of their presence as they find them as repulsive as any living, thinking creature should.

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Shapeshifters Were Wolves and the like

There are those who are cursed with receiving the wild, hungry spirit of the wolf, so strong that it actually changes them. The Romani have a legend; Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. These individuals change into a full grown wolf, although some take a shape somewhere between that of man and wolf. These individuals are often more dangerous than those who become fully wolf formed, for they have within them the bestial urges of the wild wolf and the darker urges of man uncontrolled battling within them. It is said that magick, silver, fire and wolfbane are the only things that can harm them, although some say that feelings of selfless love can also make them vulnerable to physical harm.

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