!!!Samoth's Plane's Creatures

!!Minotaurs Minotaurs are odd creatures half-human, half-bull, half-bat, and entirely nuts. Finally rather stupid, their greatest game encapsulates very well their state of mind (1).

Inhabitants of the huge steppes of Samoth, minotaurs are gifted with an awesome strength and an oustanding thoughtness. Moreover, they can't bear everything red, two-legged, or, more simply, alive.

(1). Its name could be translated by "Let's catch the two-legged gizmo moving on the road, and the first one who crushes his head wins."

!!Owchshits This animal is likely to be the dumbest in the universe (with the standing exception of the Fixateur). Indeed, he has developped a kind of self-protection as efficient as stupid : as soon as he feels threatened, the owchshit explodes into fur and fleshshrapnels. To the great displeasure of the explorers who discovered this specy, incidentally.

An illustration is available in the image gallerie.

!!Centaurs These beings, halfway between man and pony (1), are generally gentle, pleasant, and tolerant. At least, that's what they claim; aventurers who have met them rather talk of a "darned bunch of psycho wackos".

Centaurs demonstrate an accute sense of pride as well as an excessive community spirit: one a sociability scale from zero to twenty, most specialists put the centaurs around minus ten. However, as has so well summarized Dania Tyzol, first and last Samoth ethnologist: "They can't be that bad, they're so cute these ponies". Those were her last words (2).

(1). and let them stay there. (2). Well, with the except of "Arrgh", of course.

!!Trolls Fairly rare creatures, they are on the whole baddies (the others are really evil). Unable of socializing with other species and violent, they aren't in the least devoid of intelligence! They live in groups in Eastern Samoth; Giftedd with a impressive strength, they build quite tall buildings, but on the other hand not very sound. However, don't expect to get magically zapped when fighting them! Trolls has as much thaumatons as an oyster.

Never get too close to a Troll! Unless you're an exceptionnal warrior, a overly powerful wizard, or a suicidal loony, you'd better keep a low profile if you see one…

Type : Varelse 1

(1). Varelse : Sentient, but asocial, being. Unable to act calm, respectful, and peaceable towards other species.

!!Auks Auks rule over most of Samoth's economy. On the whole, they are merchants. The other races envy their intelligence and otherwordly beauty. They can always talk you into buying anything, and they can even convince you that you're one of them! And you'll be on the inside track of that… (being a auk, you'll get their skills, so great is the force of the aukish patter...)

Type : Raman 1

(1). Raman : Sentient creature, able to bond with creature from other species than their own.

!!Drows More simply called Dark Elves, they are dreaded by all. Their stealth is flawless, they can even catch off guard a first class Ranger. That's why they are so dreaded! Even the Djinns fear them, as, though less powerful than them, the Drows are still considered strong and they have the habit of attacking in teams, furtively, in the back, in the dark, and preferably twenty to a half one! In plain language, if you are ever lucky enough to see one (because they are, don't forget it, very discreet), keep clear.

Type : Varelse

!!Medusas Medusas, from afar, are quite hard to distinguish: their silhouette is that of a young Elf-maiden (1), and seemingly nothing belies their monstruosity. Except for, obviously, their faces as pale as a corpse, and the dozens of snakes writhing on their heads. Medusas live on average for two and a half centuries, and show a limitless ambition; they vow a cult to power. Experts in treachery and schemes of all sorts, they make excellent, merciless, and shrewd assassins.

It is adviced against to go too close to a medusa: although their eyes are maginificent, the fate of a statue is not very enviable.

(1). Whom Lady Nature hes generously doted upon, I've got to say.

!!Ogres Measuring from ten feet up to seventeen, ogres are a blend of a phenomenal strength, a never-satiated hunger, and a complete inability to form sentences of more than eight words. They can be recognized fairly easily by their repulsing ugliness, their void gaze, and their tendancy to thrown themselves at anything alive. And not to play some card game.

Feeding on human flesh, or on any flesh, ogres love children – especially skewered ones. They can generally be found in hills, in caves, or at the end of a huge club.

!!Golems Created by priests and alchimists from clay or metal, golems draw thei life force from the word written on their forehead: the c'hem.

Without any notion of good and evil, these ten-foot-tall creatures answer blindly to their masters. Fearing no disease nor poison, never feeling tired or cold, knowing not fear nor doubt, golemw are formidable, powerful foes.

Some accounts tell of emancipated golems, acting only o thier own principles. One can wonder what kind of principles can prevail to a bit of clay.

!!Dragons Of all the magical beings on Samoth, dragons are doubtlessly among the most noble ones. Intelligents, cunning, and proud, these giants (3) reptiles are gifted with impressive powers, as well as incommensurable riches and big, ugly scales. As for riches, that can easily be explained: during the course of their endless life (4), dragons accumulate hoards and jewels like others collect stamps. Then, they watch over their treasure with a mix of paranoia, of paranoia, and of paranoia. Their legendary greed and cupidity incite them to gather heaps of gold and of showpieces, something that revolt many adventurers (5). On the other hand, no one has nay explication for the big, ugly scales.

There is a great variety of dragons, some of which, moved by a accurate sense of justice, declare themselves their defenders; these are the Golden Dragons, loyal and proud. Others, like the White Dragons, are only moved by their stomachs, and are barely better than animals (6), solely preoccupied of gold and of food. Finally, some, irate and arrogant, spread terror through the population, malevolent tyrants who demand a maiden a month (7). A s a rule of thumb, stay clear of these Red Dragons, supporters of Loki: too dangerous.

Of course, lots of other kinds of dragons roam the soil of Samoth: Blue Dragons, masters of lightening; Green Dragons, which inhabit marshes; Black Dragons, somber adepts of death and destruction; Spectral Dragons, evanescent and impalpable ...

During its first five centuries, a dragon is called a dragonet; once its second millenium has come and gone, it's now an ancient dragon; when the third millenium has elapsed, people talk of a venerable dragon. After its death, a dragon is considered a corpse.

(1). They are furiously convinced of it, in any case.(2). (2). Convinced enough to reduce any contradicter into a bloody puddle. (3). From twenty feet up thirty-three, in adutlhood. (4). Three millenia. If they don't get lucky. (5). Who generally think these riches should be more equally distributed; in fact they are volunteering for the distribution. (6). You shouldn't point that to them. (7). None knows what they make of her. What a shame.

!!Zombis Some people, by sheer strength of will or under the sway of a powerful spell, manage to overcome death and keep their corporeal body after their demise.

Having sometimes trouble to assert perfect mastery over their body (and a annoying tendency to squander bits of it everywhere), zombis are often considered complete morons. Wrongly so; in truth they are as intelligent as during their lifetime, maybe even more; it is simply more difficult for them to use their vocal cords (as well as most of their muscles). Hence their slow, unsteady gait, their obvious lack of conversation, thier pitiful appearance, and thier loathing towards these dratted livings who do nothing but make fun of them.

Advice : To slow down a zombi, make him play the harp. It'll take him a lot of time to get back his digits.

!!Liches In thier quest for limitless power, some magicians modify their very essence and give up thier humanity, so as to become a Lich.

Escaping the clutches of Time, gifted with huge thaumaturgical powers, Liches neglect just one small detail: eternity, for an ex-mortal, is quite protracted.

To spend time, some Liches, not hindered anymore by mortal ethics, go over to the Evil Side, eternally searching for some additional scrap of power.

Some other play the Scrabble: those are the worst.

!!Unicorns As said so beautifully, in his infamous Ode to wondrous creatures, the necromancer-minstrel Del-Zhur :

Symbols of beauty, never coward nor cruel Their Heart is purer than an unblemished jewels' Zealot protectors of Good, creatures of the air If I can snag one, I'll take its life, hide, and hair

He died before capturing one of there rare '(1). and magnificent animals, speared on a five-foot long, white-enamel, and convoluted horn. This demonstrates that one can be a symbol of beauty and still be hold its own in a fight.

Note than as a rule of thumb, unicorns don't let near anyone, except for young maidens. Yet again, except those wielding an ax.

(1). Less rare than Del-Zhurs, however. Especially since this incident.

!!Mummies Some civilizations had the habit of, to preserve the bodies of high dignitaries, mummifying them ''(after getting them through a jolly ritual in which come up the words "brine", "evisceration", "one more finger, please" et "stir the brains a bit more, would you?")''.

The said civilizations stopped this practice, after realising that it precisely preserve the deads. Preserve them alive. Strangely enough, a lot of mummies had grievances; especially those having died because of a sad and unlucky hunting accident.

!!Vampires Cursed evil-doers that wowed their lives (or rather deaths) to hate and despair, vampires drink the blood of their victims to become stronger. Fearing silver, garlic, sunlight, and most physical wounds, a vampire nonetheless never dies completely as long as his heart is intact.

Fast, strong, and endurant (1), vampires can transform themselves into bats, wolves, or any nocturnal creature. However, they generally prefer not to: afterwards, they get fleas, and it itches.

To be noted : to destroy a vampire, all you have to do is drive a stake through his heart, while he sleeps in his coffin. As well as evade the canines if he wakes up.

(1). And, accessorily, incredibly classy. I love cloaks.

!! Lawnms Originating in the Er région, these perpetually-hungry animals are generally, and rightly so, qualified as, "''walking alimentary canals''".

Indeed, it is not rare to see browsing, huge herds of these as-intelligent-as-a-brick bovines, which have only four main occupations in life, chew grass, graze, feed, and ingest plants (1). It is adviced against to go between a Lawnm and its food, unless considering in a near future getting treaded to death.

(1). Hence the saying : "this garden is in of a Lawnm of Er."

!!Old Heroes Wrinkled, shrivelled, gnarled, Old Heroes don't look much of anything. More or less alive legends, clother in shabby and patched animal hides, they generally only instigate condescending smirks and sneers from young, impetuous warrioirs (1).

Young warrioirs who should wonder how those pitiful old men manage to survive into such an old age indeed. And why they laugh as they draw their swords.

On Samoth, natural selection happens in the midst of the corpses of all these former young, impetuous heroes (2). Thus, "Old Hero" tends to be pronounced "Aargh".

NB : the most famous of these old heroes is doubtlessly Olyrh The Killer.

(1). At least, from those who know what "condescending" means. (2).' Now dead, young warriors.

!!Metalpeckers Lovely creature which looks live a woodpecker except for its granite colouring. Its beak, which is seemingly made out of metal, can bore into the hardest of rock, so as to find the metal he feeds on, or more exactly the ores. Unluckily, those ores are often too poor to really satiate the metalpecker, which is generally famished.

Given its modus vivendi, it obviously inhabits tunnels. However, its wings aren't atrophied, they allow it to stabilize itself when walking, as well as to glide from rock to rock. On the other hand, the bird is sightless. He finds the metal by smell (who said a gold pound has no odour?)''.

That means that when it smells a particularly-pure source of metal in its proximity, like an armour, it'll swoop down on it and bore into it, no matter if there's something alive inside… Anyway, given the power behind the beak strikes, the content being alive is only a temporary issue.

Metalpeckers can understand human language, and to some extend talk it, with an accent similar to that of parrots.

!!Gazura The gazura is a furry animal belonging to the beamid family, gifted with powerful hind legs and no front legs. Moving around would thus be a serious problem without its three dorsal, flat tails, that he uses to counterbalance itself and accessorily to swat away meteorites.

The animal has a long, curly, generally bright-red fur, and big, green eyes. He is moreover provided with two incredibly-huge ears, each one attached to a series of extremely developed muscles: the gazura is probably the only animal of Samoth's plan that can hit a moving target from 300 yards away with a projectile thrown via the auditive way. Plus, he reloads very swiftly, the cunning bastard.

!!Lapp Beaver Inoffensive, quite-small-sized, grey-furred animal, the Lapp beaver is quite widespread in cold regions of the Disc. Although its flesh is nourishing and particularly tasty – especially grilled, with some herbs and berries, as well as anpossible spray of lemon, but I'm getting carried away - the Lapp beaver is very rarely hunted, due to the dangers of its pursuit: the Lapp beaver has indeed the habit of, as soon as it detects a menace, to run down to the nearest minotaur herd and to gnaw at their ankles.

Hunting Lapp beavers requires therefore a huge experience in fighting, or a racing speed greater than that of a irate minotaur.

!!Oristoucs These big palmipeds are gifted with a gait to render a paralytic ostrich green with jalousy. Oristoucs are moreover completely unable to fly and as brainy as half a pea. In fact, their very existence is a complete mockery of all Darwinist and related theories. Some thinkers advance the theory that their coming into existence was the result of a momentary lapse in attention from the Multiverse. Which is completely false, of course: oristoucs own their existence to their complete lack of survival abilities – each and everyone of their predators end up pitying them.

!!Tyrnions Tyrnions are charming creatures that are generally found in the shadows and ruins of ancient places of powers. Thirsty for death, they strengthen tenebrae and only revel in despair and in the last breath of whoever cross their paths. The odds are, this inclination for destruction comes from a childhood, post-traumatic complex.

They could be mistaken for simple spectres, seeing their bodies – sort of a flotting, frayed sheet, like a priest clothing forgetten for millenia and dappled with reddish stains. However, very few spectres have a long, skeletal, snake-like neck, that constantly writhes in lancinate throes. Very few spectres are topped with a sort of blind skull whence spring dozens of tentacles that end in repulsive eyes. And very few spectres cast as many death and terror spells.

Tyrnions would be, according to old men and storytellers, the remnants of an ancient, darkness-adoring, and void-revering race. It may be completely false, but it is advantagingly credible – far more than claiming they are joyous party-goers.