Rotta Mii Kus

Small scavenging rodents, Rotta Mii Kus, are capable of creating great mischief. The devious nature of the Rotta Mii Kus has deluded many travelers in forests throughout Farion. While their adorable appearance and civilized mannerisms may fool even the strongest of warriors, the Rotta Mii Kus only lust after treasure.

Standing on two feet with short, stubby hands and a long, thin, hairless tail, the meager, furry creatures forage clothes from their forest environment. They wear tunics and hats made from tree leaves and nutshells. Their fuzzy, round ears can hear the tiniest of noises, alerting them to imminent danger.

Greedy in nature, it is rare to see a whole community of Rotta Mii Kus. They tend to live in solitude to ensure the protection of their plunder. They feed on berries, tree nuts, and small insects but have developed a lavish taste for prepared meals and will often sneak into travelers’ camps to pillage and stash a variety of their food. Females protect their young within their nests for less than a cycle before they chase them off or allow them to adventure on their own.

Essentially independent, the Rotta Mii Kus live alone or in small numbers.  They dwell in small homes made of twigs and sap constructed inside thick bushes along the forest floor. The Rotta Mii Kus carve a small, arched doorway, hidden from view, leading into their den. The crafty scavengers steal trinkets and stash their trove along the inner branches of their shrub houses.

They are extremely possessive of their cache, often battling to the death to protect it. Rotta Mii Kus are known to enjoy the thrill of battle, challenging small factions to combat, and wagering their riches to the winner. They craft armor out of tree bark, and forge miniature swords and spears from the precious metals of their booty. Rotta Mii Kus also use berries to stain the wood with powerful, vibrant designs. Excellent at crafting and concealing decoys as well as pitfall and snare traps, the creatures are extremely difficult to catch.

Faexis

Faexis are winged, flying creatures that enjoy playing magical mind tricks on their victims. They are scheming and mischievous, often leaving traps or changing their victims’ surrounding environments to confuse them prior to attacking. The distinct, eerie giggles of Faexis echo delightfully as their disoriented prey search for the source of them. Once they trap their victims with their magical abilities, they paralyze them, rendering them immobile. Faexis then steal the souls of their prey, granting themselves stronger magic and slight increase in size. The Faexis’ magical origins are unknown, but it is said that they are conjured by warlocks who are unable to control their devious natures—resulting in Faexis’ release into Farion.

Young Faexis can possess a single magical attribute such as fire, water, ice, shock lightning, or physical elements. Their magic abilities can be thrown as a projectile, or besiege an area of focus. They appear as small flying orbs of light that corresponds to their attribute. By their nature, fire wielding Faexis will glow brilliant red, while Faexis possessing water magic will glisten radiant blue. Inside the orb, their petite bodies are small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. They have round faces; small, pointy ears; gnarled teeth; and a thin layer of short fur that covers their skin. Nearly impossible to trap, their fluttering wings are tough, boney, and do not grow. The toxic blood of Faexis is the same color as and possesses the attributes of the creature’s specific magical attribute and can cause damage if the blood becomes exposed.

Elder Faexis are two to three times larger than young Faexis and can possess more than one magical attribute. Their furry bodies are completely black and radiate a purple glow. Faexis grow little by little as they consume the souls of their victims. When they reach the elder age, their wings can no longer support their weight for extended periods of time, forcing them to expand their strategies for ground attacks. Most elder Faexis carry crystal staffs to focus their magical abilities. Usually, one elder Faexi uses its experience to rally together smaller Faexis to launch organized attacks, guiding them and acting as their leader.

Freadows

The volatile land of Phortaigon is home to the most dangerous creatures of Farion. Among them, the perilous Freadows are unpredictable, and their figures are constantly morphing. Their bodies are made of radiant, molten rock, and they have four eyes embedded in their solid foreheads. They reside in pits of fire and scorching lava streams. As their bodies emerge from the boiling depths, they are able to weightlessly hover above the ground, leaving behind a trail of splattered lava.

A thick, gaseous, crimson cloud blankets the desolate land with plumes of gas that continuously rises from bubbly, slurping pits of burning rock, making it difficult to see the Freadows floating around the jagged rock formations. They hunt small creatures that scavenge the region and have even been known to devour young dragons. Hovering from lava pit to lava pit, they hurl molten rock at their victims and cause them to panic from severe burns. The Freadows then approach their writhing meals and consume them whole. They can widen their mouths without restriction, torching their prey as they engulf them. Each devoured victim feeds the Freadows’ internal flames, causing them to grow.

Should the Freadows spend too long away from the molten rock pits and rivers, they begin to harden and lose their ability to hover weightlessly through the air. These creatures cannot naturally move with ease through the rocky terrain of their environment and, if hardened, will be rendered motionless until heated again by the fiery liquid that flows freely through Phortaigon.

Many warriors have faced Freadows in search of the elusive mystical dragons, only to become lost in the glowing scarlet fog. The floating Freadows descend through the clouds, on their unsuspecting prey. If the fiery monsters are dismembered, the fallen appendages will form new Freadows, while the original regenerates rapidly. Together, the Freadows will launch coordinated attacks to take down those who threaten them. Although Freadows are not an intelligent species, they are community-oriented beings with very strong survival instincts.

Tympanasiring

In Ciliantar, the Tympanasiring bury their large bodies beneath the sand, leaving a single antenna above.  The antenna detects a meal or danger as it approaches, which prompts the attack. Large sacks of venom located in the back of the Tympanasiring’s mouth project an acid that quickly paralyzes the victim alive as the Tympanasiring’s young surface to devour the flesh. Few have escaped an encounter with a Tympanasiring, but those who have survived carry deep scars of the acid burns.

Because the Tympanasiring require very little food or water, they can remain dormant for at least two mooncycles. Each has six legs, a hulky body, and an elongated head. They have been known to grow taller than humans. Six eyes, three on either side of the head, can move independently at the beast’s will, leaving little room for a sneak attack. Its senses are heightened thanks to an attentive antenna located in the center of its head. Tiny hairs protect the hard shell-like skin from drying and cracking in the hot desert terrain. The front two legs have small claws that help the creatures bury themselves deeply and quickly in the sand.

The Tympanasiring are vicious creatures that have been known to devour each other when there is a lack of food. After mating, the mother lays one egg sac that can produce at least thirty offspring and in some cases, fifty. The mother finds a cool, dry place, tunneled and protected, in the sand to hide her egg. After five mooncycles, fully developed Tympanasiring emerge from the sand in search of food. Some younglings begin to eat their siblings during this journey to the surface. The young require sustenance at least twice per mooncycle for the first three to four cycles of their lives. They learn to nest and hunt from their mothers and usually eat the fathers to survive. After reaching maturity, Tympanasiring normally live in solitude unless they are ready to mate.

Norogs

The Norogs of Farion generally dwell in marshy bogs and sleep in caves or underground. They enjoy collecting shiny things, so they occasionally invade new territory to plunder resources. Although they prefer the cool dampness of the caves on their thick, rough skin, they set up camps aboveground while traveling, preferably using sticks and brush propped up against large boulders. Their skin color ranges from dark blue to greenish blue through grey and a rare white. A rare mutation in the Norog breed turns the skin white and the eyes red. White Norogs are mysteriously intelligent and tend to take leadership over the lower Norogs, giving direction and reason to the brutal crossbred creatures.

In the Fourth Age of Farion, the dark álfar established a settlement near the wetlands of Galnabrok where they conjured creatures without interference from the Álfar Council of Elamire. They eventually bred with goblins, creating the new race of Norogs. Galnabrok is a desolate, swampy land of bare trees with a salty stench of death. The sun rarely touches the land through the thick, marshy fog, keeping the ground cool and the brush sparse. Few ever travel to Galnabrok and fewer still return from this harrowing place due to the aggressive nature of the beasts that reside there. Most of the dark álfar have since vacated the land they poisoned with vicious monsters and dark magic.

Having little intelligence for civilized negotiations, the Norogs rely heavily on survival instincts due to their large size, great strength, and thick, impenetrable skin. Communicating by a serious of grunts, body gestures, and simple words, their intentions are often misunderstood. Many Norogs have been known to fight to the death among each other for simple trinkets such as coins and scrap metal. For a settlement to survive, they need a leader, usually a White Norog or deity.

Raising offspring often seems to be a chore for the female Norogs. Although they are protective of their own, many times the young are abandoned after two to three cycles and left to survive on their own. The young reach maturity after five cycles, and those who have not learned to scavenge often starve or die in the misty marsh.

In battle, Norogs rely on their brute strength. Wielding heavy clubs with protruding spikes, they smash their way to victory. They are unable to coordinate large-scale attacks and normally raid small villages or isolated travelers. Arrows are rarely able to pierce through their stone-like skin, and fire has little effect. Surviving solely on rats, fish, and other small marsh creatures, they are easily distracted by the aroma of breads and sweets, and they indulge in the flesh of the fallen after victory in battle.