Cosmic Model of the Naryan Planescape and World Map

COSMIC MODEL 

OF 

THE NARYAN PLANESCAPE

The exact nature of the universe, due to its impossible and infinite scope of both time and space, is impossible for the minds of mortals or immortals to comprehend. The best scholars of Narya have managed to, with the help of holy and unholy scripture, correspondence with the gods and other outsiders, and direct experience through inner and extra planar travel, managed to put together maps that explain the relationships and nature of the known universe. The irony is that, via this research, the picture they have of the universe is simultaneously smaller and more complex than their understanding of astronomy: they know more about this world, the material and immaterial, than they know about the nearest planets.

With so much to discover so near, why would they waste resources on discovering the rest of the universe? The gods dissuade interest beyond the subject of the world of Narya because space, that is to say the rest of the universe outside of Narya's planescape, holds threats that only the gods can comprehend and nearly tore this planescape apart during the Wyrd Wars. The chaos of those millenia nearly flattened, tore apart, and/or imploded the planescape and only through the intervention of the gods, led by Grimnir Bluecloak, has the planescape taken a shape that is unnatural orderly.

The understanding of the planescape begins with the material plan and works inward/outward.

MATERIAL PLANE

NARYA:

ANARYA & UNARYA

The world of Narya has changed over the two epochs since the Mother created it. Some even theorize that Narya was once spherical and traveled around the Sun. But, as far as the gods know, the world has always been flat, stationary and the Sun & moons rotate around Narya.

The planet resemble two world-size discs, each 40,000 km from edge to edge, with a slightly smaller disc sandwiched between them. The surface wolrd of one disc is called Anarya and the other Unarya. The surface edge of the disc between them is called Ginungagap.

Gravity, polarity, atmospheric pressure, horizon lines, weather and other complex physics that affect the world are controlled by a combinations of divine meta magic and natural forces.

Since Grimnir took the wheel of time into his hands, the Sun rotates around the world every 25 hours, taking 6 hours to travel from the edge of disc before slowing for an hour over the center and then traveling another 6 hours to the other edge before disappearing over the horizon. The moons follow a similar pattern but their visibility varies. Each year is 400 days long and dictated by the cycle of the four seasons, each 100 days long, and made up of 4 months. Each week is 10 days and each day references of the week is named after a meta plane except for the 10th day which is dedicated to the work of the gods called the Holy Day.

Each world, Anarya and Unarya, are divided between regions based on geography and culture.

ANARYA

Clockwise from North

Sublanarya. The realm of Sublanarya is an especially diverse region that has been dictated by conflict and, most recently, the actions of Queen Tytanya of the iaurdin elves. Her alliance with Red Typhon and the evil dragons of Smolder, called the Tytanyan Pact, has set the aging empires and squabbling kingdoms of man on alert as it dominates the east. In the north, the human kingdoms of Thule are modernizing and uniting into nation states. In the south, the Hamutian empires of Ptah- and Raj-Hamut try to play the other powers in the interests of their ancient rivalry. In the west, the Holy Imperium, crusaders from Xalhotecca, struggles to maintain their foothold between these conflicts and the threats that lie in the chaotic expanse of The Hold.

Xalhotecca & Matal. The smaller nation of Xalhotecca is dedicated to the cult of the Nameless God, the creator of humanity, and the ultimate goal to conquer the world and purge it of magic to bring about the return of their lost god. Matal is an expansive continent made-up of jungles, rainforests, deserts, mountains, and other wild environments and home to ancient empires of sophisticated Matal people that have built their civilizations to survive, using magic and technology, in each of these exotic biomes. The Xalhotecca have committed countless atrocities against Matal in a series of conquests and diseases brought by the Xalhotecca have devastated their population. The future of these region is in flux as the disparate Matal consider the best way to counter the invasion of the Xaholteccan conquistadors.



Lapizia. The diverse peoples of Lapiza live a life on the sea from the frozen southern mainland to the expanse of islands that reach into the central sea of Anarya. They are nomadic, traveling from island to island, in their hunt for resources. They are some of the most capable sailors in all of Narya.


Geleda. The warring city states of Geleda are set on a circular chain of island in a turbulent but wealthy sea. This region's history is tied greatly to the gods and their influence can be seen in some of the oldest temples to the modern gods of Narya. They are innovatively democratic and diverse, a very philosophical people, and have affected the understanding of the planescape.


Guagnir and Kaguya. The ancient rivalry between Guagnir and Kaguya goes back to the Wyrd Wars. To the southwest, is the mainland of Guagnir is a diverse and powerful nation made-up of the dwarf & gnome artificers of Kuku, the knights of Grimfell, and the free city of Run. Off the coast is the island nation of Kaguya ruled by the Tirikujin elf empire with rival daimyo and samurai. Between them, on the mainland continent, are the buffer territories of the jungle empire of Ykraa and the wastes that are swarming with orcs and goblins.

BOTH

Mimia. The frozen wastes that are at the edge of both Anarya and Unarya are strange barriers that prohibit travel off the edge. The harsh environment also invites giants, undead, and otherwordly abominations.

Ginungagap. The strange and dark realm between the discs is home to the airships of the Gith, crumbling ruins of aboleth and mindflayer empires, and the constant threat and machinations of the remains of the clay peoples.

UNARYA

Nohdaria. The arctic territory of Nohdaria is defined by a balance between the races of humanity, blue and green elves, the winged haemir, the stone dwarves, the hulderfolk, and the urak in the face of the machinations of the mad scrapmen, cruel svartalfar, and warring orks. This realm is defined by the warrior culture of each race and the scope of the threats (giants and dragons) they face.


Muspellheim. A vast red sea of sand between two long mountain ranges, on arctic and the other volcanic, Muspellheim is home to the mystic firemen and the three feline races of the phinx. The biggest threat to this land is the expanding fungal forests that threaten to spread like wildfire.


Mugen. This huge region begins with the volcanic region to the west and goes increasingly downhills from the tallest mountains in the world to the hills and steppes in the middle county to the flooding fields in the east. Mugen is ruled by an immortal jade empress and a bureaucratic aristocracy of fiery oni that oversees the actions of its subject and protects them from the threat of barbarians from without.


Felterra. This moderate region is defined by it being recently colonized by humans from abroad; in the west, there is the most impressive and ridiculous city of Beniro and the surrounding kingdoms currying favor with the city that never rests. In the east, there is the criminal city of Kiev in the desert and the merchant power of Tiefl that was once a devil worshiping empire. Beyond the desert, further east, are the mountains that are home to all manner of strange legends and reality warping threats.


Shard. Shard was once the ancestral home of all dwarves but, during the Wyrd Wars, a great gem called the Shard struck the land and made a city destroying crater that devestated the realm. The psychic gem's radiation has since infected the dwarves of Shard, turning them into perverse and evil versions of themselves, and causing them dominate the orcs and hobgoblins of the region and oppress the fire elves and humans unlucky enough to be caught between their warring factions on this unforgiving continent.


Sixxx. A meta joke. Sixxx is a land of sex, drugs, and music.

UPDATE:  Sixxx. has been replaced by Ona.

Ona. Ona was once a massive swampy jungle but over millenia of domestication by various empires has turned it into a diverse landscape, surrounded by diverse islands, with one of the most diverse populations in all of Narya: the Wu-Loong, a race of crafty bureaucratic wyrms help run the empire from behind the walls of the Secret Palace, Xioaung, cockroaches that are as resourceful as they are resilient, Rhodoxi, noble beetle warriors with a strict honor code, Kabuto, water bugs who work the rivers, the nomadic Henod and mystical Yptsi mothfolk, the Kodi-koti feline reptillian merchants, Kinoki, mushroom ninjas, and more!

ENERGY PLANES

All elemental energy throughout the universe from and back into the energy planes that exist not only in connection with Narya but with countless worlds. The existence of Twilight and the Meta Divine Network opens up a connection between Narya and these planes that allow it to have direct effects on these planes.

The Twilight plane is ruled by fey and dread lords that hold court and dominion over their territory. The elemental planes are each ruled by an evil elemental princes collectively called the Eternals that resent the exploitation of the planes by the gods and mortals of the material plane.

Twilight (Light & Dark). Twilight is the time and place created as a shadow twin of Narya. It is a plane of fey and dread. It is the home plane of the elves, hags, tuathans, fairies, satyrs, centaurs and any other number of fey creatures and, in the sea, lie the Isles of Dread, horrible demiplanes ruled by dark and cruel lords such as Barovia ruled by Strahd from Castle Ravenloft.

Aetheria (Air). The home plane of air elementals and djinn, aetheria is an endless sky, with some clouds and specs of floating islands, and is the source of all winds.

Promethea (Fire). The plane of fire, home to the same elementals, efreet, and azer, is a burning sea with cities of brass and volcanic deserts, and is the source of all heat.

Cthonia (Earth). This solid plane is the home to the earth elementals, xorn, dao and other creatures that can move through the earth as if it was air. For outsides, there are only small pockets of air.

Marnostria (Water). This endless sea is home to the water elementals and countless aquatic races that create fantastic outposts and cities that float forever.

TRANSITIVE PLANES

Ethereal Plane. This plane is where the ideas of everything exist simultaneously to the actual existence of everything. It is a ghost realm made-up of an incorporeal copy of everything in the material plane. By shifting somethings properties between matter and ethereal "proto-matter", magic users can manipulate the ethereal plane to phase them in and out of existence. It is commonly used in spells like blink and etherealness.


Astral Sea. This is the space between spaces. Between the inner planes and outer planes, lies the cosmic expanse of the astral sea. It is through the astral plane that planar travel is possible: it involves opening gates in and out of planes and then using magic to shrink the space in astral space between those two points. This is considered dangerous as many being can use these shortcuts to travel and puts planes at risk to invasion.

It is also possible to physically enter the astral sea or project into it. This is considered incredibly dangerous as it risks your soul to the dangers within but the potential, as this plane greatly magnifies the powers of magic, makes it attractive to the powerful and ambitious. Lately, it has become dominated by Queen Tytanya who used her incredible magical power to punish any who would abuse the astral sea and she is considered to be near god-like in her ability to manipulate this realm. She uses her power to protect the material plane from outer planar threats.

Metadivine Network. This is arcane theory but it postulates that magic is the connective tissue of all matter, proto matter, energy, time and, well, everything in the universe. It relies on a combination of knowledge and will to manipulate, granted by education or inherent qualities, anything via magic. Magic spells, as performed by wizards, use formulaic magic while the spells performed by sorcerors come from an instinctual link to affect the network. The ultimate extent of this idea:

"Gods" are not gods. They are just more powerful and knowledgeable magic users that tap into the resource of the domain they mantle.

META PLANES

The meta planes serve two purposes: they are the home of the gods and other outsiders who serve/are created by the gods. The also are a destination for souls of the departed. When a person dies, a combination of their actions, beliefs and the will of the gods determines the destination of their soul. One of the death gods helps them to this destination. 

The soul is the meta identity, the persona that exists beyond the body, that cannot be destroyed.

HEAVENS

Paradise (Chaotic Good). All who value freedom and benevolence above all else are rewarded with an exciting plane of adventure and relaxation. There are plenty of beautiful and exotic locations to explore but also idyllic islands to find peace. This is plane for the soul that doesn't like being tied down.

Elysium (Neutral Good). An endless pastoral landscape of small villages, calm lakes and babbling brooks, and fields of wild flowers provide a peaceful place for the souls of the kind and generous to find peace.

Celestia (Lawful Good). A grand city of impressive works and architecture, this is where the gods hold court, and those who promoted order and justice, for all, find an orderly hierarchy with clear purpose.

OBLIVION

Limbo (Chaotic Neutral). Limbo was once an endless storm. Then, the mechnical beings from Nth Dimension attempted to tame it. They tried to force the entire plane into a spherical shape. This only made things more chaotic. This plane is home to insane beings and souls that cannot be controlled.

Terra Nada (True Neutral). Terra Nada is an almost empty plane that holds Paradox City, a planar city that contains denizens from all planes, and countless homes of neutral gods.

NTH (Lawful Neutral). The City of Nth is a cold and calculating machine, home to mechanical beings ruled by the Prime Intelligence, and is the resting place of souls who revel in the word of the law and order for order's sake.

UNDERWORLD

Abyss of Naraka (Chaotic Evil). The infinitely deep pit of Naraka is where the most wicked souls are punished. Demons drag these souls and throw them into the pit until they land in one of the endless layers. From there they may attempt to climb out via the pillars but countless threats oppose their attempts to escape.


Hades (Neutral Evil). The no-man's land between Naraka and Hell, who are constantly at war, Hades is a grey and dark desert filled with nefarious al-shadim, "false-ones", looking to cut down and take advantage of any wandering souls within.


The Nine Hells (Lawful Evil). Ruled by the dark prince Asmodeus, the Nine Hells are an orderly heirarchy, from the top to the bottom, and home to the devils. Devils seek to corrupt the living, tricking them into signing away their souls into servitude, and constantly fight for power. Unlucky souls in Hell are made to suffer in servitude to the needs of their diabolical overlords.

Monster Mash: H is for Haathraji

Ancient scripture dictates that the beastfolk of Narya are the chosen people of their gods and Heramba's people, the haathraji or "elephant kings", care for the most innocent denizens of the jungle with generous patience and, when needed, protect them with unstoppable force.

These gentle giants  each stand well over twenty feet tall and weigh in at almost four metric tons and have the appearance and gravitas of their elephant ancestors.Their trunks notably split into two, allowing for even better manipulation of this secondary limb, and their tusks are proportionally smaller. They wear ornate outfits of a monk with white, red and gold linens strung up with beads and baubles ranging from materials as common as wood to their ancestor's ivory to jade and gold. These items hold mostly sentimental value, representing relationships and milestones in their life's path, and they have a fondness for gifts of all costs from their friends and allies.

Forest Sages. Haathraji spend most of their time in nomadic familial troupes, often shepherding elephants as a discipline, and their daily routines are focused on meditation, exercise, music, martial arts, and, of course, finding food to sustain themselves. The elephantfolk usually avoid human civilization which, from experience, is driven by material desires, have little respect for nature, and pervert the spiritual truth. Still, they get along well with the humble and poor, especially those living rurally near or in the jungle. The haathraji have no quarrel when it comes to helping others out of trouble but avoid creating a dependence between themselves and humans.

If a human truly wishes to seek wisdom and enlightenment, haathraji are more likely to welcome them into their troupe and share their deep insights.


Warrior Priest of Heramba. While being peace-loving creatures, primarily concerned with enlightenment, when roused the Haathraji are legendary warrior monks that can stand toe to toe with almost any threat to or from the jungle. Despite their size, the haathraji can move as quietly and quickly as a dancer, and on the battlefield toss their enemies, if they don't flatten them, like blades of grass being blown about by the wind.

They especially despise fiendish and unnatural creatures and can be roused to a cause against them.

Monster Mash: G is for Gallu!

Those indebted to the fiends of the underworld can expect to be made to pay up but if a powerful enough villain feels crossed or desires an audience, they will send for the gallu. These al-shadim or "faceless ones" come from the shadowy dunes of Hades, resembling dark, featureless and long-limbed humanoids with an expressionless mask adorning their faces but, rarely, will you see these creatures before they make their move.

Shapeshifting and Planeshifting. The main reason that their prey do not see them before the pounce is because gallu are shapeshifters that can seamlessly take the form of any humanoid in the blink of an eye and use all of their abilities while disguised as an old beggar or priest or whatever stranger they take the form of. Their modus operandi, from there, is to stalk their mark, while disguised, and wait for them to be as isolated as possible. From there, the gallu may take some time to research their target and discover the beast means to capture them, but they are impatient; they are more likely to make their move before their victims realize they're being followed. The gallu grabs their target/s, pulling them into their body and transports itself, and its unwilling passengers, to the designated drop-off point agreed to by their masters.

Monster Mash: F is for Fachin!

Mimia is a land of misbegotten giants and, whether an unfinished creation of the gods or a mad wizard, the fachin is one of the stranger denizens of the wastes at the edge of the world. It has one leg, one arm sticking out of its torso and a big milky eye in the center of it's monstrous head. The appearance of this creature baffles most adventurers and give it the edge before it leaps eighty feet thru air before crushing their defenses with a powerful club and blasts from its blind-eye.

One-Eyed, One-Legged People Eater. The fachin are lonely creatures that hide in caves and canyons when not hunting for food and fighting rivals for their territory. They are not picky about their pray, but enjoy ripping other humanoids apart. When confronted with a threat beyond them, they use their blinding eye-beam to escape.

Monster Mash: E is for Eachy!

Eachy ambush their prey at the water's edge, almost invisible to the senses when motionless --thanks to the thousands of photosensitive cells beneath their translucent skin and the clear layer of mucus that coats their body from head to toe, masking their scent-- before they spew a glob of acid to blind their prey and rush them with sudden violence. The only clue to their presence are the webbed claw prints by the river and the absence of birds-- their favorite prey. These savage predators, more primitive than bullywugs and more vicious than troglodytes, are little more than chameleon crocodiles that can walk upright. They are greatly feared, hated and hunted by grippli.

More Primitive than Primitive. Eachy can live in colonies as large as their territory can sustain and are biologically immortal. They lay their eggs in hollows, either made by digging or re purposed from the ruins they are frequently found living near, and a hatched eachy grows to maturity within a few months. They do not die of old age and invulnerable to poison or disease. Instead, they grow larger and larger until they become a monstrous threat to all swamp dwellers. When an eachy reaches that size, their gluttony knows no end and everything, including other eachy, are on the menu.

This often keeps their population in check.

Living Fossils of a Lost Age. Eachy are believed to be a servant race created by the ancient warty empire of the amphibious bupho, perhaps a hybridization of lesser species or a guided mutation of lizardfolk, and they are often found lingering near the ruins of the bupho. They show little memory of their heritage, even if they were once more than mindless monsters, but they do seem to be attracted to these sites and cultists of amphibious gods, especially Kek, have a way with these creatures and guide them into guarding sacred sites and strongholds of their cults.

Faiths of Sublanarya: The Maiden and the Louse (Boreana, Pomona and Scourge)

The tale begins on a perfect day in first-flower (spring). The sun was bright but fair, a gentle, warm and inviting embrace and the skies as clear and brilliant blue like the most primal and exact shade of that color incarnate. Even the gods have peaceful and lazy days, from time to time, and this perfect day inspired them to play among the mortals.

Even Soffia, the diligent and wise warrior goddess of the air, was overwhelmed with a desire to join the other gods in their frivolity. Experiencing these distracting moods for the first time would not do for Soffia and so she spilled the moods, good and bad, out of her head. The two currents formed into two goddess daughters: Boreana, the ill-tempered and strong, and Pomona, the weak and fair. Both were beautiful but Pomona had the eye of every male. Boreana was austere but too aloof. Pomona, on the other hand, seem to invite their interest, returning their leering gaze, and playfully inciting their desires. They mistaked her friendly and joyous demeanor for an easy target. She was as capricious as her sister but they did not see the trap.

 A few of the bachelor gods began to argue over who would be the first to court her but one emerged, despite the odds, to court Pomona.

Scourge the Violator was an upstart god. A disgusting and disturbing mortal who acquired power by illicit means but was, on the whole, regarded as a loser and a fluke by his rivals. The audacity of the ugly creature, his insectoid features and shrieking voice, made him a target of ridicule. He was a pest but it was too fun to see him fail to crush him. He had a way of failing spectacularly and coming out in one piece. That was how he became a god in the first place...

And so it was that Scourge made it clear that he would be the one to woo the windy maiden and Aurelian found the cocky lesser god's confidence amusing. He encouraged the disgusting creature to try and commanded the other male gods to not intervene in their entertainment. And so, Scourge took the form of his alter-ego, a handsome and wide-eyed mortal youth, and made his way to the field where Pomona could be found.

Scourge's disguise seemed to work. It seemed that the god's experience in his schemes being undermined by a noble young hero gave him insight into his performance as he acted the perfect gentleman, earnest and forthright, and earned the attention of the new goddess. It seemed like love at first sight as the foul god played on the maiden's naivete and he would impress the gods with his romantic pursuit.

But then Boreana noticed the bachelor gods watching the little romance unfold and, curiosity and jealousy, had her demand they explain why they were watching her twin sister's fun with such rapt amusement. When she heard of the game they were playing and of Scourge's deception, the wind turned.

The skies darkened and it began to rain. Their perfect day was ruined. The courting couple tried to run for cover and Pomona did not have a cloak. It seemed that Scourge had allowed himself to become too invested in his game, wrapped around the pretty goddess's finger, and used his cloak to protect her from the rain. As the rain hit his disguise, it washed away and revealed his true form to Pomona. The goddess was disgusted, pushing him away, and fled.

Scourge felt more than just defeat. The lie had become real. He felt something new and, as he knelt in a puddle, looking in the direction that Pomona fled, he would hear the voice of Boreana:

"I hoped you enjoyed your perfect day, Scourge. It will be the happiest day of your life, past, present and future. You will never know a more perfect day. You can chase it but it will always be just out of reach. In the past. I promise you that."

And Scourge the Violator knew the pain of loss and only in seeing others suffer the same  pain would he ever feel temporary relief in his broken heart.

Monster Mash: D is for Dactyli!

Few creatures have the same sort of old wives tale feel to them as the "little people"; there are countless stories of diminutive fairy folk that live in the walls and under the floorboards, like mice, and come out at night to steal away food and trinkets. It's a whimsical excuse for the disappearance of valuable odds and ends from socks to jewelry to the last piece of cake that are, more than likely, the result of bad memory or filching servants or midnight cravings.

But, in a fantastic setting, all fables and myths have a little truth in them. And the little people are real.

They are called the dactyli or "finger-folk" and they are split between three tribes: brownies, duende and fenodyree.

Brownies, duende, & fenodyree.

Brownies are considered to be the "domestic dactyli" subspecies. They are also called "house elves" because they like to live in the homes of humanoids.

Brownies make their homes, carefully, hidden away under the floors or in the walls and, much like the fairy tales, and only come out at night to steal away small things to feed themselves or improve their homes. While this might seem to be the tendency of a pest, brownies are considered good luck by the wise because they keep out vermin like rats and spiders. Furthermore, the stories of brownies fixing shoes and leaving coins on bedside tables are not inaccurate. They usually prefer to stay to themselves and to be allowed to go about their little lives. A brownie doesn't want to cause too much trouble for their housemates.

Each brownie is about four to six inches tall and resemble humans, though they often have exaggerated features, and wear elaborate clothing stitched together from bits of this and that stolen from the household above. Their clothing often says a lot about them. They are craft creatures and are capable of making small machines and gadgets that help them get around the home unnoticed.

If they have a choice, though, brownies prefer the homes of gnomes and elves, who are less superstitious than humans, and have been known to befriend them. In some elf and gnome communities, they even help build little homes for the brownies and cooperate with them. In exchange, brownies keep an eye and ear out for trouble.

When threatened by the residents of a home, they will turn to the wild for safety and have a way with small animals.

Duende are pests.

While brownies try to go unnoticed, duende like to irritate or frighten larger humanoids or "biggins" as they like to mockingly call them. They make messes, break and steal valuables, make noises, invite in vermin (who they also enjoy preying upon), and generally stressing their housemates out. To be frank, duende give their kin a bad reputation.

These foul sprites are the smallest dactyli, standing around three to four inches tall, with exaggerated fey features and bitter little eyes. They prefer to dusty attics and dank basements, riding spiders and rats to get around faster, and steal more precious materials and jewellery to make their ornate outfits.

They particularly dislike their kin and go out of their way to run any brownies or fenodyree out of their territory.

Fenodyree are even more reclusive than their smaller kin.

Fenodyree can stand about eight to ten inches tall and are distinctly different than their domestic kin with long faces, furry bodies and tails. They do not like wearing pants, perhaps as a result of their fur and tails, but do wear smocks and robes. Despite their more exotic and animalistic features, fenodyree are the least likely to bother humanoids or animals for that matter.They live in burrows and caverns under the ground, only leaving their homes out of curiosity or to steal vegetables and fruit from local farms and orchards.

While seen as less industrious, fenodyree are known, strangely enough, for being the most artistic of the dactyli. They have a rich story-telling tradition, through art and music, that makes them the loremasters for their species. They even like to tell stories about the above-world but often miss out on details or misinterpret events.

All dactyli like sweets and are capable of small feats of magic.

Monster Mash: C is for C'Horthid

There are many strange and horrible creatures lurking in the buried tombs of the Ptah-Hamutian god-kings but, perhaps, none are worse than the transformed priests of Khepis the Scarab God. Like many mortals, they feared death and sought a sort of immortality through the Swarm. These foolish priests were misled by their superiors into surrendering to a forbidden ceremony that granted them immortality but stole from them their humanity, identity, sanity and freedom to serve the dead as guardians and to be used as living weapons by the priesthood. The priests called them C'Horthids (Kohr-theedz], which translates to "Butchers of Souls".

Immortal Horrors.  C'Horthids creep in the darkened chambers of pharoahs, untouched by time or the sun for centuries, and lie in wait for tomb robbers that ignore the warnings painted in heiroplyphics on the walls.

Each C'Horthid is clad in armored plates of black chitine with writhing form of over three meters in length, with a multitude of wretched scythe-like legs running along a segmented thorax that attached to an upright abdomen armed with a pair of toothed scythes for forelimbs. Most horrifying is that rather than an insectoid head it has a large grey humanoid head with cruel red eyes, a mouth full of razors and pincers. They make inhuman coughing noises, like the wheezing croak of a thousand locusts, as they choke on death itself. For it is the breath of the C'Horthid that is the true danger: the black gas it emits from its maw paralyzes its prey. It is then that the C'Horthid's horrifying intent is revealed as it will attempt to devour the soul of an incapacitated humanoids.

The only way to release the souls so they can join the afterlife, once devoured by a C'Horthid, is to destroy the beast.

Mindless Servants of the Scarab. The long term purpose of these creatures is unknown and alien as the mind of their god Khepis but it is believed that they will be rewarded by the swarm lord when he returns to pick the desert clean of all life. Until then, they remain trapped forever in their bodies, which act as a prison for the souls as their prey.

It is believed that some priests of Khepis, as well as other evil beings capable of controlling these insane horrors, are able to use these creatures as personal protectors and have a way to extract the souls to be used as a part of dark rituals involved with the scarab god. Only the most wicked of souls would create or use these monstrosities.

Terrible Weapons. And the have been used for more than guarding dungeons: some priests managed to cultivate and grow C'Horthids of monstrous size for use in warfare. These C'Horthid "invaders" were used as siege weapons, unleashed upon the enemies of the Scarab cult, and a few of them could destroy and consume thousands of souls. These legendary horrors and the rituals to create them have thankfully been lost to the sands of time but there are stories from raving madmen of caverns beneath ruined cities holding these horrors in wait for some darker purpose.

Fun Fact: This week's monster's name was inspired by the ancient Roman word for high heels "Kothorni", which were worn by butchers in places like Ancient Egypt to keep their feet from touching the bloody floor of the abattoir.

Monster Mash: B is for Beastmen~ Part 2 Elite Beastmen

FOR PART 1

ELITE BEASTMEN

The common beastmen are well known to all but the most sheltered of peasants but the elite beastmen are monsters that are a threat to all but seasoned knights, mercenaries and soldiers. From the dangerously powerful bovine/caprine butchers to the mobile equine tramplers to the cunning gnolls and werebeasts that make the Hold a place of untold horrors. A horde composed of common beastmen is a threat but can easily be handled by experienced military. An army composed of the following beastmen are a threat that can wipe countries off the map.

BUTCHERS

Brutality incarnate.

Butchers are the result of a beast hag getting a concentrated diet of quality chevon, mutton or beef and are the meanest brutes of the beastmen. They stand twice as tall as a man, bulging with leathery muscle, and are topped with a bovine or caprine head with cruel eyes and a maw full of sharp teeth made for tearing flesh and crushing bone. Butchers take particular pleasure in seeing the disgust and fear of their foes, reveling for the opportunity to walk into a group of enemies, and making an example of the first opponent: ripping their limbs off, taking bites of their flesh, and crushing them beneath their hooves are all techniques that butchers revel in to soak up the terror of their enemies.

Among other beastmen, their physical strength and sadism often makes other beastmen cower in deference.

 

TRAMPLERS

Tramplers are the cavaliers of the beastmen horde, a cruel mockery of centaurs, with the lower half and head of a horse joined with a human-like torso between. Their mobility makes them excellent scouts and messengers for beastmen groups. In combat they prefer hit and run tactics with bows and pole-arms that take advantage of their speed. They are proud creatures that enjoy showing off their skill on the battlefield.

GNOLLS

A mix of canine and human flesh in a beast hag's diet creates the more cunning and devastating foot soldiers in any army of beastmen. Gnolls resemble humanoids with twisted features of a hyena, dog, jack or wolf with digitigrade back legs and hunched spines. They often have enlarged fangs and some even grown horns. These cackling and barking madmen take more pleasure in the subtle nuances of cruelty, playing with their food, before tearing it to shreds. The nightmares of many soldiers are filled with the laughter of gnolls.

Besides being foot soldiers that are a match for professional soldiers, gnolls are excellent hunters, using their social skills, cooperation and wits to overcome their prey. They are also known to use beasts, particularly wolves, hyenas, and monstrous canines to help them in their hunts and to put fear into the hearts of all innocent men.

Other Abominations

There are as many different and unique subspecies of beastmen as there are animals for beast hags to eat and infused with the fiendish magic of their lord Kalibos. The most feared subspecies are the werebeast:

The werebeast is similar to a werewolf in that they can shift between the form of a gnoll and a human but have a more unique ability: they can transform into any person they've eaten. This means that a clever werebeast can kill a member of a community and infiltrate it. Famously, a large group of werebeasts managed to infiltrate a monster hunting church, taking on the form of pilgrims, before turning on the priesthood and exterminating them.

The most insidious ability of the werebeast is to reproduce via their attacks. If they bite and infect someone with their blood, the person will transform into a werebeast. Most people who suffer this fate go mad from the pain of transformation under the next moon, becoming feral and attacking people, before eventually being drawn to the nearest group of beastmen and joining their ranks.

This is an example of the less natural and horrifying potential of beastmen.

What did you guys think? Any ideas for horrifying beastmen? Do you like my approach to monster creation?

Monster Mash: B is for Beastmen~ Part 1 Beast Hags & Common Beastmen

Orcs and goblins have no home in Sublanarya. Instead, they are host to a uniquely disturbing and dangerous horde of their own humanoid savages; the beastmen.

Less than a millenia ago, Kalibos the Bastard Prince, the god of butchers and cannibals, was reborn in eastern Thule to a barbarian witch. The powerful and hateful brutality of Kalibos's tribe quickly saw The Hold's southern tribes fall to his savagery or join his quickly growing cult. The diabolical and monstrous god infused his servants with blood and transformed them into monstrous shapeshifters able to switch between their human and lycanthropic form. But even a large army of primitive shapeshifters wasn't enough for Kalibos and he intended to tear civilization down and drown it in a sea of blood.

Kalibos's "great innovation" came in the creation of a dark ritual that allowed him to impregnate his priestess with his own demon seed and transform them into the progenitors of a menace that would last long after his second defeat. These priestesses transformed into bloated brood mothers capable of bearing the monstrous spawn of a demonic god. After the ritual, they are able to produce the Cannibal King's offspring indefinitely without repeated ritual. However, they do require copious amounts of blood and flesh to create their spawn. Luckily, barbarian cultists of Kalibos and the beast hag's own children are more than happy to oblige.

While they are hardly picky, cursed with a ceaseless hunger that would see them eat their own children if made to wait to long, the content of their diet is important. In fact, the contents of a beast hag's diet contribute to the exact variety of beastmen formed: a beasthag who is fed rodents, rabbits, and other small woodland creatures produces hobbs, if she eats porcine flesh she produces mobbs, cougars and leopard meet makes prowlers, excess primate and human meat allows them to create orgs, tons of beef and mutton create butchers, horsemeat makes for tramplers, and gnolls are created from dog and hyena meat. This means that raiding for food to feed the beasthag is central to beastmen "society" as the contents of the beasthag's food directly contributes to the creation of specific beastmen subspecies-- the "better" the diet, the better the beastmen a tribe can produce.

Due to their bulk, beasthags are vulnerable in the open and spend most of their time in beastmen lairs to protect them while they spawn more warriors and hunters for the tribe. That doesn't mean they are unable to defend themselves and are not threats on their own: beasthags are capable of wielding devastating magical effects to keep their spawn in line and defend themselves from would be beasthag slayers.

BEASTHAGS

Now, let's look at the beastmen that beasthags spawn in greater detail:

COMMON BEASTMEN

HOBS

Hobs are the common rabble of the beastmen horde and make up the bulk of any group.

Opportunistic, easily-distracted, cowardly, stupid, and nasty are all words that perfectly described this wicked ankle-biters. As they are the result of a diet of rabbits, rats, moles, voles, and other mammalian vermin, they have similar but exaggerated features in the face with uneven ears, bulbous eyes, flat noses and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Hobs are usually about 1-3 feet tall with yellow to reddish leathery skin stretched over the boney bodies that are a mockery of the humanoid form. A trademark and unusual feature of the hob is the small horns or antlers they often have growing out of their temples. Some hobs headbutt each other in silly little games that often devolve into bloody fights between the creatures.

Hunched like apes with short legs and long arms, hobs rely on numbers or ambush to get their better of their prey, as they have neither the size nor the strength nor the intelligence to do much better. They are so common that many farmer's almanacs consider them pests and include handy descriptions on how to deal with hobs poking about your property. Still, like any beastmen, they are dangerous and a large enough group of hobs can go from barn thieves to raiding the villages if not dealt with quickly enough.

In a tribe of beastmen, they are the lowest of the low; hobbs quickly fall in-line under the scrutiny of bigger, meaner beastmen.

MOBS

Mobs have been described as a parody of orcs by loremasters and they're not wrong to categorize them as such. Usually in hues ranging between blue to green to yellow with porcine feature, such as snouts and tusks, mobs are the second most common breed of beastmen and make up the bulk of any tribe's warriors. They are not much smarter than hobs but are clever enough to prioritize, make tools, weapons and armor, and come up with strategies to overcome more than farmers with pitchforks. The biggest thing they have over mobs is size: they are between 4 and 7 feet tall with powerful builds but are prone to fattening themselves up on the spoils of war. They enjoy bullying lesser creatures, especially hobs, and are known to force the hobs to play cruel games for their amusement.

An organized group of mobs can make for a fierce army of brutes.

PROWLERS

Not even predatory animals are safe from the insatiable appetite of the beast hag. When a beast hag has been fed a diet infused with meat from predatory animals, such as mountain lions or wolves, she births prowlers.

Covered in shaggy fur, with powerful limbs and a terrifying fang filled mouth, they are remarkably stealthy for their intimidating builds. They use their natural predatory instincts, enhanced senses and survivalist aptitude to stalk the area surrounding a brood's cave or a beastmen camp for intruders or prey. They are gifted with surprising cunning when it comes to tracking prey and the elite of their kind are infamous for taking pleasure in picking off straggles of traveling party over a several day period before making a more direct move.

Still, they are known to be the most cowardly and lazy of their kind, and are the first to run when things don't go their way.

ORGS

Brute strength incarnate, orgs are the most valuable and difficult members of the common beastmen rabble. Not only does a beast hag require a steady diet of man flesh to birth these huge monsters, they are dull-witted and their power/size makes them difficult to control. Furthermore, their own monstrous appetites can often rival that of the beast hag and, in a pinch, they will kill and eat their own brethren.

Still, you will find at least one org in any band of beastmen. They are used for tasks that require immense strength, like lifting and moving trees or boulders, and in battle they crush all but the swiftest and most experienced warriors with their superior reach and their enormous great clubs. Furthermore, as they develop, their hides becomes so tough that they can shrug off blows from most practical weaponry. While other beastmen are feared for their ability to overrun small villages, a full grown org is enough to terrorize a county on his own.

Next time we will look at the more elite and uncommon breeds of beast men.