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This land wasn't always like this. It was once a spacious continent called Faelight, made up of vast wildlands, high peaks, river valleys, and gently swaying fields of crops tended by rural farming communities. Their harvests traveled by carriage to one of two competing kingdoms filled with knights, priests, mages, and peasants. While dangers did exist in the wildlands between the two kingdoms' walls, life was typically calm and predictable.

Many years ago, the Kingdom of Farsought was thrown into turmoil. Queen Rosetta and Princess Suni were traveling by carriage to a neighboring duchy when a flash flood swept their entire party down the hillside. There were no survivors. The King of Farsought, who had remained in the castle on that fateful night, was beyond distraught. With no one to blame or seek justice against, he went mad with grief.

He mourned and raged for months, then decreed that all his subjects had to seek a way to bring his wife and child back, offering an insane sum of money to whoever succeeded. The reward threatened to drain the Kingdom's coffers, but not even the highest officials could resist the King's absolute authority. The quest was issued across the entire continent, with posters placed in every tavern, public square, and place of study. Even the rival kingdom of A'losh was flooded with messengers sharing the news of 'The Quest' and its remarkable reward.

Throughout the Kingdom of Farsought and beyond, people tried everything. Clever magic users studied and experimented night and day, aiming to discover a new spell that could succeed where nothing else had. Daring adventurers delved deep into dangerous catacombs, hoping to find ancient artifacts that might have the power to resurrect the royal family and earn the lucrative bounty. Any rumor, no matter how far-fetched, became a call to adventure and a glimmer of hope. King Farsought himself helped to spread the most promising rumors, demanding that they be added to public quest boards as potential clues to be investigated.

Many adventurers perished while exploring ancient ruins and cursed dungeons, and some scholars lost their lives while attempting dangerous and experimental magic. But with every spellcasting attempt, every cave explored or dungeon delved, the possibilities narrowed and the key to success seemed to draw closer, if success was even possible.

On a stormy summer evening in the second year of The Quest, a group of two dozen mages from the Order of Eletos huddled inside an abandoned fortress. It stood tall in a forest at the center of the continent, left over from the last great war between Farsought and A'losh.

The Order had selected that location for the powerful ley lines that ran beneath and the wild storms that raged overhead. The mages needed every possible amplifier for their magic to have any hope of success. They were attempting to punch a hole directly into the Underworld, to retrieve by force the lost souls of Queen Rosetta and Princess Suni. In the time before the King's mad quest, meddling with the Veil of the Underworld had been the ultimate taboo and its mere suggestion would have earned death by execution, but now it was just another avenue to be explored, another means to an end.

The mages set to work with all the factors aligned in their favor, as prepared as they ever would be. Then after 24 hours of continuous spellcasting, the mages finally succeeded in opening a portal. It was a small purple disc the size of a hand mirror, hovering in midair in the center of the stone chamber. Its edges were abrupt and unnatural, like a slice through reality itself. As the hole opened, a gust of fragrant wind blew through and extinguished every torch and candle in the spacious chamber, leaving the room bathed in a faint lilac light that emanated from the portal.

None of that matched the mages' expectations. The underworld was not a place of flowery scents and calming light. Something must have gone wrong. What came next confirmed it.

A sensual voice, neither masculine nor feminine, called through the small hole, begging the mages to open the portal further. The mages felt it in their minds more than heard it, and it was dangerously alluring. And somehow the voice already knew of their quest. It admitted that the mages had not connected to the Underworld, but it promised to help them find the souls they sought and to bring them great pleasure in repayment for opening the way into their world. Every word it spoke was like the sweetest honey, filled with potential, promise, and temptation.

Whispered fantasies slipped into their minds, tailored to each man and woman more perfectly than even their most intimate lover could have managed. One by one, the mages felt their resistance weaken and crumble. None felt pressured or forced, instead they were made to see how the innumerable positives of the proposal simply outweighed any possible negatives.

Exhausted from the ritual magic and lonely from months of isolated research, the mages looked to their leader High Mage Eletos, heir to a long lineage of unsurpassable magical talent and owner of a truly brilliant mind. He had to admit that he shared their desires and his resistance to the idea had fallen away, so he announced that they would let the being through. He tapped directly into the ley line beneath the fortress and channeled massive quantities of mana into the portal, causing it to expand an inch at a time. The surface shimmered and rippled like water, but nothing could be seen through the dense purple sheen.

Once the portal was the size of a doorway, Eletos stopped, gasping with the effort. Then a figure stepped through. The being was 6-feet tall and humanoid. And it was simultaneously male and female, toned and curvaceous, meek and insistent. The gorgeous being spoke directly into the mages' minds, introduced themself as Eros, the god of the Realm of Lust, and immediately set to repaying the mages as promised.

A haze of deep magenta fog overlaid the room and all 24 mages collapsed, but they did not hit the floor. Gently suspended in the fog and cradled intimately in Eros' magic, their minds began to feel pleasure beyond anything they could have imagined, beyond anything their world should have been able to produce.

As the mages indulged, Eros fed on their ecstasy and grew in power. With a little encouragement from magical pheromones, the mages took control of their desires and reached out to each other, hoping to act out every sliver of romantic tension that had formed between compatriots over the last several weeks of research. As all their inhibitions faded, tentative kisses became lovemaking, then quickly spiralled into a massive orgy.

Bathed in even more tantric energy, Eros slipped away from their orgy and approached the portal. With newly enhanced power from all the sexual energy in the air, Eros removed the portal's binding spell, freeing it from it's door-sized containment. Then they approached the gateway and stepped not through it, but into it, becoming one with the portal.

In a massive flash of violet light, Eros vanished and the portal exploded outward. Prismatic energy filled the room, then passed unobstructed through the stone walls and overtook the entire fortress, followed by the forest for miles around. Steadily, with a pace faster than a galloping horse, the wave continued until the entire continent fell within the glowing region. Where it passed, the world was changed.

Before anyone even realized what had occurred, the Realm of Lust had overlaid the entire continent, creating a new hybrid realm. The changes manifested slowly at first but the rate accelerated over the next 24 hours. Sapient creatures became more lustful, animals and crops became more fertile, and even rocks and trees were warped into lewd shapes by the sexual energy. All across the world, everyone from royalty to commonfolk intuitively knew this new world's name: Faeros.

Life continued after the event, but everyone adapted differently to their new reality.

Reactions from the mortal races varied widely by species and even within communities. Some embraced the ever-present lust while others fought against it. Sexuality and pursuit of sexual pleasure became a larger part of most people's motivation, and those with skill in the erotic arts were in high demand.

Wild species, those the strongest ties to mana, found themselves transforming to adapt to the lust-infused world. For example, the previously warlike orcs became passionate and devoted lovers who mated for life in symbiotic pairs, and goblins, who had already reproduced with prodigious speed, evolved the ability to breed with nearly any other species, producing more genetically diverse goblins.

Faeries, small magical beings who had previously avoided the prudish mortal races, thrived in the new world. They had already been in tune with lust magic and now they were literally overflowing with it. They happily flooded into the cities of humanity and shared their passion and mana with anyone who wished to join them in lascivious merrymaking.

And across all species, the methods of utilizing magic also changed. The mana that flowed out from ley lines became infused with desire, as if the world itself craved sexual release. Many mages became specialists in lust magic, tapping into ambient tantric energy alongside or even in place of mana, and their new spells proved useful in the wild world of Faeros. After all, dangerous creatures and forces of nature still existed and still threatened the peace of civilization.

Another career emerged in the new world, that of the explorer. Brave souls were needed to venture out into the altered wilds and observe, analyze, and document the new truth. Those intrepid adventurers risked their lives to learn about the mysterious beasts and beings that now called Faeros their home.

The book you hold in your hands is a catalog of their findings, may you find them tantalizing and insightful.

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Animated Armor

For thousands of years, mages have used the Animate Armor spell to great effect. Nearly any metal-based armor can be animated and strengthened, creating a multipurpose golem that can also be worn as armor. The pieces of this suit of armor need not be physically connected as they will be linked by magic into a single individual. Animating armor is popular among mages that wish to bolster their physical defense, desire a basic servant for menial tasks, or both.

Animated Armors possess no intelligence and can only move on their own if they have been magically instructed to follow a simple routine, such as patrolling a hallway or guarding a door against intruders. Due to its extreme resilience, well-crafted armor can often outlive its master and even its home, leaving it to wander ruins until a new master claims it.

Animated Armor can adapt its physical form to suit its wearer’s body shape and size, and it can enhance the wearer’s movement and strength. However, because Animated Armor draws mana and guidance from its wearer through direct physical connection, it loses some effectiveness if the wearer dons any clothing beneath the armor-covered areas. For that reason, incorporating padding into the armor before casting Animate Armor is recommended.

The strength of a given Animated Armor is based on numerous factors, including the quality of its materials, the number of armor pieces in the set, and the magical talent of the caster who animated it. While Animated Armor is sometimes sold in magical item shops or found in ruins, adventurers of means would often prefer to make one from scratch, choosing the materials themselves and paying a mage of known skill to animate it, to be sure of the resulting quality.

Variant: Living Armor

If a powerful enough spellcaster uses the Animate Armor spell on organic matter such as vines, wood, or even an animal carcass, it can create a living golem that can be worn and controlled by the will of the wearer. Similar to the differences between Steel Golems and Nature Golems, Living Armor is more fragile than normal Animated Armor but it is capable of growth and self repair. While it possesses no intelligence, it may retain self-preservation instincts and might take emergency action to save itself and its wearer.

Living Armor is particularly popular among druids and rangers due to its light weight and increased harmony with nature. Additionally, Living Armor has superior ability to transform and does not need to maintain a humanoid shape like a suit of Animated Armor, allowing the wearer to form new artificial limbs and take on forms as exotic as centaurs or giant beasts.

Flesh-based Living Armor, like its equivalent Flesh Golem, is very rare and frowned upon by most cultures because it is seen as disrespectful and disgusting. Only the most dedicated necromancers or beast-hunters are willing to wear reanimated corpses as armor, but in return they can gain aspects and abilities of the original creature, such as acute animal senses or undead resilience.

Variant: Possessed Armor

On rare occasions, mundane armor or clothing has become possessed by a spirit and animated by its spiritual energy. Depending on the being's spiritual power, it can regenerate, grow, and even levitate. Possessed Armor has a will of its own and often possesses lingering intelligence from its previous life, but it will almost always cooperate with a worthy wearer.

Possessed Armor without a master will wander the night in search of a suitable host. Particularly powerful Possessed Armor may be able to take an unwilling host, treating the captive person like a puppet and portable mana source, but Possessed Armor usually prefers a willing partner for greater synergy and cooperation.

While all Animated Armors will work hard to aid their wearer, there are some who believe that Possessed Armor will intentionally seek out danger in an effort to get the wearer killed. If an adventurer wearing Possessed Armor is slain, their soul will be absorbed into the armor, joining with the other souls there and boosting the power of the armor ever further. Additionally, the fallen adventurer may not even notice their death at first, fighting on by controlling the armor around their own dead body until victory is seized.

Some say that Possessed Armor is actually created when a fallen warrior refuses to admit defeat and merges with their armor, but most evidence suggests that wandering spirits simply take up residence in abandoned Animated Armor in their desire to reclaim a modicum of physical form. This is further confirmed by their tendency to peacefully seek out hosts rather than lash out violently. 

There are also rumors of spiritual beings other than ghosts taking over Animated Armor or Living Armor and converting it into Possessed Armor. Demons, elementals, and any other creatures whose power extends beyond their physical form could theoretically choose to occupy a suit of Armor. This is more likely if the Armor’s material components suit the being’s nature, such as a plant elemental taking possession of vine-based Living Armor. However, most spiritual beings are prideful and unlikely to possess a suit of Animated or Living Armor that already has a living master.

Sub-Variant: Tantric

Can apply to any variant.

Origin: Lustification

When the Plane of Lust overlaid our world, the abundance of sexual energy gave rise to a new form of Animated Armor. Some pre-existing sets of armor were converted to this new form, and any new armor created after the Lustification has a chance to become Tantric. When casting the Animate Armor spell, high levels of tantric energy in the surroundings will increase the chance of the new Armor becoming Tantric. Additionally, prolonged exposure to sexual influences and energy can convert existing Animated, Living, or Possessed Armor into the Tantric variant.

Fueled by tantric energy, this armor will adjust its appearance to display outward sexuality and fertility/virility. Often appearing as a bikini or even less, Tantric Armor may appear too skimpy to provide real protection, but its innate magic actually protects exposed skin just as much as the covered areas. Strangely, Tantric armor always covers the genital area on wearers of any gender. Researchers have many theories about the cause of such behavior:

• Like lingerie, this provides mystique and allure that increases overall sexiness compared to complete nudity.
• The armor benefits from direct contact with those areas as a wellspring of tantric energy.
• The armor knows the importance of the genital area to tantric energy generation, so it instinctually grants the area additional protection against harm.

In this author’s opinion, the second theory is most accurate. I also believe that Tantric Armor uses that direct contact to stimulate the wearer’s genitals with a small amount of energy, bringing the wearer constant sexual pleasure and emitting even more tantric energy for the armor to use. This is just speculation, however. Additional research and interviews with first-hand sources are necessary to know for sure. Due to the threat of persecution by the Citadel of Holy Light, very few Tantric Armor bearers are willing to speak openly about their experience.

Legendary Individuals

While the combat potential of Animated and Living armors is limited to the quality of their materials, Possessed Armor is able to grow stronger without bound through the absorption of spiritual energy and souls. This has caused at least two individuals to enter the annals of history and become legendary.

The Soulward

For generations, a secretive order of knights called The Eternal Aegis have passed down one Possessed suit of armor to their best fighter. This suit of full-plate armor is pure black steel with a pearlescent sheen that hints at the souls residing inside. The selected warrior wears it until their death in battle, at which point they join their ancestors inside the armor. The wearer’s formidable skill is further enhanced by the support and experience of the prior knights residing within. 

As of the reclusive order’s most recent interview ten years ago, it was estimated that 32 generations of knights lived on within the Soulward.

The Inner Pearl

There are rumors of a Tantric Possessed Armor that grew so powerful that it shed nearly all its physical form. Now a smooth white orb the size of a large pearl, it is ‘worn’ by inserting it inside a body cavity. This is the only known case of a Tantric armor not covering the genital area. The extreme physical proximity also allowed the armor to communicate directly with its wearer, becoming an intimate and ever present companion. 

The Inner Pearl’s whereabouts have been unknown for some time, ever since an A’losh nobleman gifted it to an unknown courtesan in the year 85 AL (After Lust).

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Eros, God of Lust

Legendary Individual

Type: God
Gender: Male and/or Female (Pronouns: They, Them)
Content Warning: Sexual Content
Encounter Rating: High risk of loss of sanity. Avoid at all costs!
Origin: The Realm of Lust
Habitat: Urban
Note: Reliable information about Eros is incredibly scarce and there is no safe means of conducting first-hand research, so this entry contains more hearsay and rumors than normally allowed in the Mythical Menagerie of Faeros.

Eros is the one and only God of Lust, and the primary cause of the Lustification event that irreversibly changed the land of Faelight into what we now know as Faeros. Foolish mages, seeking to fulfill the Mad King's quest, opened a portal into the Realm of Lust and gave Eros entry to our world. Eros then merged the entire Realm of Lust into Faelight and vanished into the land itself. They later emerged to wander the realm, taking in the wonder of their creation.

Eros is known to change their form at will, but they usually appear about 6-feet tall and humanoid, with purple hair, flawless violet skin, and an alluring figure. They are simultaneously male and female, manifesting whichever physical features are desired in a given moment. They can even appear differently to multiple observers at the same time, adjusting to appeal to each viewer's personal preferences. Eros can also transform themself freely, and has been rumored to imitate normal people so flawlessly that their own spouse was unable to tell the difference.

Personality

From what little this author was able to gather, Eros appears to have little regard for the affairs of mortals. Unpredictable and mischievous, they might save a desperate adventurer from certain death, only to doom them to sexual overstimulation and insanity. While Eros tends to ask for permission before acting upon another person, they will resort to dubious means to get that consent, such as manipulating their victim's perception and desires until they want whatever Eros is offering.

Confirmed Encounters

Year 0 AL (After Lust) - Arrival from the Realm of Lust. Covered in [The Origin of Faeros].
Year 3 AL - Seduction of the Mad King. Covered in [The Faerie King].
Year 52 AL - The Caliola Village Incident. An entire village went mad with lust, fornicating to complete exhaustion. The Royal Knights' medical team was barely able to resuscitate the villagers, who all rambled about a magnificent man or woman who had gifted their village with endless love. Some citizens had also been irreversibly changed into another species or sex.

Unconfirmed Encounters

Year 5 AL - Birth of the new King of Farsought's first child. A mysterious traveler somehow walked through the kingdom's security and kissed the newborn baby on the forehead, then vanished. Because that child went on to be the greatest and most popular King in recorded history, it is widely believed that the kiss was a blessing from a god, but there is little agreement on which god.
Year 85 AL - The A'losh nobleman who owned the priceless and legendary Inner Pearl gave it away to an unknown courtesan, saying he had no need for the artifact after meeting its creator the night before. (see [Animated Armor])
Year 0 through today - Countless travelers and lonely homemakers have claimed to have been visited by Eros in the night, only to be driven insane by the overwhelming experience. Few who claim to have met Eros retained enough sanity for their word to be trusted, and there exists no proof that whoever they had encountered was truly the God of Lust, rather than an imitator.

Capabilities (presumed)

Lust Aura - All beings near Eros feel physically aroused. The mind usually follows suit.
Tantric Absorption - Eros can absorb excess tantric energy from their surroundings to boost their own power.
Temporary Transformation (self) - Eros can change their form to suit their own desires, including size, cosmetic appearance, and sex.
Personal Illusion - In addition to Eros' conscious ability to change their appearance, they appear slightly differently to each onlooker. Observers see whatever appeals to them the most, sometimes revealing hidden interests they didn't know they had.
Temporary Transformation (other) - Eros can change the form of their lovers, including changing sex. The effect usually wears off.
Permanent Transformation (other) - Eros' arrival has permanently warped the world, modifying many species and even the landscape. In the time since, Eros has occasionally permanently transformed a person into a different species or sex, usually aligning with that person's inner desires.
Fusion - Eros can meld with any object, person, or even a magical spell, then emerge later. While combined, the fused being has all of Eros' strengths.
Telepathy - Eros can speak into others' minds and read thoughts at great distances.
Telekinesis - Eros can levitate people and objects, with no known limit in number or weight.
Aphrodisiac Creation - The liquid contents of any containers touched by Eros are converted into a powerful aphrodisiac that never loses potency. To this day, barrels of water and mead from the Caliola Village Incident are highly coveted and occasionally auctioned off for exorbitant prices.
Mind Control - While Eros can usually use telepathy and natural charisma to get what they want, full domination is also within their skills. They don't seem to use this power for sexual ends, instead relying on their sexual prowess.
Invincibility - No one has ever visibly harmed Eros in any way via magic or weapon.
Immortality - Eros does not appear to age or weaken with time.
Sanity-threatening sexual skill - Even without using any magical abilities, Eros is so skilled in the tantric arts that their lovers are never the same again. Many who experience that euphoric high will frantically attempt to reclaim it for the rest of their lives. They become sex-crazed and find mundane lovemaking insufficient, so they crave and seek out increasingly exotic sexual encounters.

Legacy

As a genuine god whose works upon the world are quite apparent, Eros has many mortal followers. Many Hume (half-human) tribes worship Eros as their creator, while some organizations try to spread the messages of love and eroticism.

The Church of Love

This innocuously named organization is actually quite lascivious and obscene. The Church of Love consists mostly of Succubi, Incubi, and other beings who consume tantric energy, but some humans and other high-libido people have joined as well. The Church has no specific headquarters, instead hosting impromptu orgies in cities and villages across the continent.

Due to countless violations of local law, the Church of Love has been banned in both Farsought and A'losh, but their guerilla operations are difficult to predict or stop, and the elite Royal Knights of Farsought have not deemed them a serious enough threat to get involved.

The Citadel of Holy Light

Near an isolated port along the south-east shore of Faeros stands a sprawling castle-cathedral called The Citadel of Holy Light. This massive complex houses a zealous religious organization of the same name. This human-only religion refers to themselves as 'the last bastion of chastity', and they have become defined by their opposition to all things lust-related. Seen by others as prudish and stuck in the old ways, the Citadel despises premarital sex, interspecies relationships, tantric magic, and anything else associated with Eros or the Lustification event.

The Citadel holds no respect for the laws of the kingdoms of men, and will go to extreme measures to seek out and kill 'sinful' beings, such as the members of the Church of Love. And unlike the Church of Love, the Royal Knights consider the Citadel a hazard and endeavor to stop their fanatical actions within the borders of Farsought.

The New Denomination

This religion split from the Citadel long ago, updating their beliefs for the new lustful world. They now worship Eros directly and are devoted to the act of sexual intercourse to an unusual degree. They believe that every successful birth is a gift from Eros and every child's life is sacred. The New Denomination is the fastest growing religion not due to proselytizing, but due to their ever-increasing number of children.

The New Denomination is an effective charity organization that funds countless orphanages across the continent. These orphanages recently opened their doors to children of all species and became a particularly needed shelter for interspecies children, who are often shunned elsewhere in society.

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Litorea

Type: Hume (half-human)
Content Warning: Sexual Content (minor)
Encounter Rating: Generally Safe
Origin: Lustification
Habitat: Ocean Shore

Litorea, meaning ‘shore-dweller’ in the Old Tongue, are an all-female race with both human and crustacean features, capable of breathing underwater and on land. They have the figure of a human woman from the waist up and the body of a massive crab below that. In addition to a pair of claw-like hands on their humanoid arms, their lower body has a set of large and powerful pincers capable of breaking swords and crushing iron armor. Those claws are also surprisingly dextrous, capable of precisely sewing with needle and thread or gently holding a lover in place. An additional eight legs under their rear carapace provide multi-directional mobility on land or on the seafloor. Litorea can swim by kicking their legs, but their speed and mobility is not much beyond the average human.

Litorea are highly intelligent, fluent in the Common Tongue, and typically friendly, but they can be dangerous if threatened as they will defend themselves with their claws. They are also long-lived, with at least double the lifespan of humans. Their human-like upper body features chitin on their hips, back, and arms up to the biceps, but their other exposed skin is nearly as delicate as human skin. To protect their softer areas, Litorea often wear armor made from seashells, ropes, and other materials found in the ocean or on the shore. Their lower body is protected by a durable chitin exoskeleton and doesn’t need any additional armor, but they may wear lightweight clothing for modesty and fashion.

Since the Litorean race contains no males, Litorea must breed with humans to survive. They have human-like genitals just below the waist, but their reproductive organs are otherwise inside the crab-like lower body. An ovulating Litorea may seek out a human male on land to mate with, then return to a secluded shoreline to lay a clutch of 5-10 eggs which she buries deep in the sand. Due to natural predators and storms, fewer than half of Litorea eggs survive to hatching. After one year, the mother returns to witness the hatching and to usher her babies to the sea where she raises them in safe seclusion. The children are always female and take only minor cosmetic traits from their father, such as hair and eye color. The color of their chitin is strongly influenced by the mother’s and tends to be muted reds or blues, but it can vary on occasion, particularly with the Prismatic variant (explained below).

When born, a young Litorea’s surface lungs are not well developed, so they grow up in the ocean and return to the shore only upon maturity at 15 years of age. Because young Litorea are never seen by humans, it was once widely believed that they were actually adult human women who had been transformed into crabs, rather than being born that way. It is almost certain that the first Litorea were created by the Lustification, but the various communities of Litorea disagree on their origin story.

Due to their need for human mating partners, Litorea communities have formed cooperative relationships with human fishing villages and passing sailors. Litorea women often trade fish, pearls, and shells for goods and services, including sexual intercourse. Upon reaching maturity, some virgin Litorea begin collecting valuable pearls so they may one day offer a small fortune to a handsome man in exchange for a wondrous first time.

Long-term romance between Litorea and people of other races is not unheard of, but it is an exception rather than the rule. Aside from reproductive necessity and sexual pleasure, Litorea have little attachment to human men. They rarely marry or otherwise settle down with a single man, opting to live alone or with a community of Litorea. Those with higher sex drives will seek out many partners, even when not ovulating, or find like-minded Litorea for mutual pleasure. Homosexuality is common among single-gender Hume races, and Litorea are no exception.

Variant: Lobster

Like the mundane creature from which it takes its name, the Lobster variant has a wide and muscular tail ending with a horizontal tail fan. It can be used like a fish’s tail to swim and makes the Lobster a superior swimmer compared to other Litorea, but the tail’s true power is in propelling the Litorea backwards at high speed to escape danger. While still capable of moving and breathing on land, this variant prefers to spend almost all of their time below the water’s surface.

Variant: Hermit

This variant lacks an armored carapace on its hindquarters, so it must find a large conch shell to wear for protection and to use as a portable home. Throughout their lives, Hermit Litorea barter or hunt for better and better shells, valuing material strength, size, weight, and appearance. Much of their society revolves around finding and selling high-quality shells, with large marketplaces springing up on the shorelines where industrious merchants can peddle their latest finds. Deep in the ocean, brave scavengers search for abandoned seashells while the strongest warriors battle with giant mollusks to acquire new shells for their people.

As the most nomadic of all Litorea, Hermits do not build permanent villages, instead forming small roaming communities that migrate along the coasts with the seasons. Also, despite their name, Hermit Litorea are the most outgoing variant and have been known to integrate with other civilizations.

Sub-Variant: Prismatic

Can apply to any variant.

Some Litorea are born with a beautiful pearlescent sheen on all of their exposed chitin, making them breathtaking to behold. While it’s unknown whether the opalescent coloration provides any defensive benefits, Prismatic Litorea do seem to have superior magical aptitude and often become skilled spellcasters.

The Prismatic trait is mostly hereditary, with a high likelihood of passing from mother to daughter, but it can also occur spontaneously in other lineages. When that occurs, it can be a mixed blessing, causing unrealistically high expectations, jealousy, or even discrimination.

Legendary Individuals

Most Litorea are reclusive and stick to their own communities, but some have been known to venture out as adventurers, explorers, or wandering merchants. Due to their long lifespans and durable bodies, adventurous Litorea have many opportunities to make an impression on the world.

Diogena, the Wanderer

This Hermit Litorea roamed Faeros from 0 AL to 130 AL, spreading her philosophy and proving that the various new Hume species that had come into the world were not all bad. She never settled down or worked a traditional job, so she survived by exchanging wisdom and witty critique for food or money.

Diogena was also known for her strange propensity to curl up into her shell and fall asleep nearly anywhere, even in the middle of busy marketplaces. Her giant and distinctive blue conch shell often blocked important thoroughfares, but it was difficult to move and attempting to do so was sure to upset her. When harassed, she was known to defend herself decisively with her powerful claws, quickly spreading the message that she was not to be trifled with. One tale claims she clipped off the hand of a man who grabbed her breast without permission, then casually resumed the conversation that the man had interrupted.

She is survived by her tales and philosophy, which were recorded in her journals and the notes of her admirers. She often argued against the accumulation of worldly goods and campaigned for equal treatment of all Hume races, saying, “Plucked and blindfolded, the cockatrice is indistinguishable from a chicken. Strip away the unnecessary trappings of society and we are all revealed to be the same.”

The Spearfisher 

This Prismatic Lobster is known throughout all the seas as the greatest Litorean warrior of all time. Armed with a massive spear made from the fang of a Deep Kraken slain by her own claws, she became known only as ‘The Spearfisher’. She fought sea monsters to protect Litorean settlements and occasionally took on formal quests from the kingdoms of Farsought and A’losh. Between quests, she battled for glory in various underground arenas and was undefeated in combat for over 50 years.

Despite her fame, The Spearfisher was very private and little is known about her personal life. She disappeared in the year 154 AL but there are rumors that she is still alive, willingly retired to a remote island in the Dark Sea where none dare to venture.

Notable Locations

The Isle of Carthaz

This is the largest Litorean city, encompassing an entire island and some of the surrounding waters. The ruling class is comprised entirely of Prismatic Litorea. Anyone born without the feature is pushed out of the upper city and into the working class. Visitors of other races are also limited to the lower city unless accompanying a Prismatic.

Despite the strict class system and segregation, Carthaz boasts a high quality of life for all its residents. Powerful enchantments placed by Prismatic casters defend the city from invasion, while fair and progressive laws give everyone a chance to succeed in the thriving economy. Even the worst parts of Carthaz, such as the docks or the red-light district, rival the noble districts of human cities in cleanliness and safety. The Isle sits within several major trade routes and is a popular stop for passing adventurers and sailors, especially those who do not mind the gender imbalance.

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Arachne

Type: Hume (half-human)
Content Warning: Sexual Content (minor)
Encounter Rating: Sexually aggressive, Violent
Origin: Lustification
Habitat: Forest, Caves

Arachne means ‘spider’ in the Old Tongue, and it is an accurate description of this carnivorous half-human, half-spider race. All Arachne are female, with the upper body of a beautiful maiden from the hips up, and the pedipalps, bulbous abdomen, and eight legs of a spider below. Their upper half also features some inhuman features, such as six to eight eyes, venomous fangs, and sharp chitinous fingers. Using the spinnerets on the end of their abdomen, Arachne can create webbing that sticks to almost anything, except the glossy and rigid chitin that covers their own limbs. Arachne coloration varies widely, but black chitin and pale hair and skin are most frequent among the standard variant.

Most Arachne speak Common, but they tend to live reclusive lives in caves and forests far from civilization. Due to their dangerous features and a general bias against spiders, Arachne have a very negative reputation and are often shunned or mistreated when they dare to venture into society. As a result, many Arachne resort to kidnapping human men in order to reproduce. Armed with their durable and sticky webs, paralytic venom, and many powerful limbs, a single Arachne can easily overpower a well-trained soldier then take him to her lair and force him to impregnate her.

Once pregnant, the Arachne will either release or devour the captive father, then devote herself to motherhood. After nine months of gestation, during which her appetite is voracious, she gives birth to one to three live young who strongly resemble their mother; only minor cosmetic traits are inherited from the father. Arachne children grow quickly and can hunt on their own within five years, but they don’t reach sexual maturity for another 15.

When they aren’t hunting for a meal or mate, Arachne often spend their time weaving clothing and other textiles from their remarkable silk. Arachne-silk clothes are very durable and nearly impenetrable to slashing and piercing attacks, making them highly desirable to adventurers and paranoid nobles alike. A single Arachne-silk shirt can be sold in the Grand Market of A’losh for enough gold to live comfortably for a year, but due to the chain of traveling merchants involved in transporting Arachne-made goods to market, less than half of that money makes it back to the craftswoman who toiled for months to make the items.

Arachne typically shun the tools of modern society, including written records, but they have a rich  history passed down from generation to generation through stories, songs, and tapestries. This unified history chronicles the origin of the first Arachne, a woman of the same name who had been transformed by Eros during the Lustification. That her name means ‘spider’ was no coincidence; Eros has been known to transform people into forms that align with their name or personality. Arachne took many mates in her life and her children spread throughout Faeros. Over the following generations, exposure to mana and harsh environments changed some of her descendants into the Arachne variants we see today.

Variant: Weaver

Habitat: Swamp, Forest

Colorful and slender with long limbs that are excellent at climbing, Weavers live high in the treetops within small tightly-knit villages. They have the strongest silk of any variant, from which they make massive webs that span entire rivers in order to snare flying prey such as birds, fairies, and even drakes. Once prey becomes trapped, the weaver effortlessly traverses their web and delivers a single bite. The unfortunate creature quickly succumbs to the Weaver’s potent and lethal venom, for which there is no known antidote.

Weaver venom preserves the flesh of their victims, keeping it from spoiling and allowing a single large catch to feed a Weaver and her family for weeks. It also makes the meat deadly to any non-Weaver who eats it, preventing competition from scavengers. Weavers are highly dangerous if threatened, but they do not typically prey on people. One Weaver was quoted as saying, “Flying creatures taste better, their meat leaner. Humans are fatty and unsatisfying.”

Variant: Hunter

Habitat: Desert, Forest

Hunters are the largest of the Arachne varieties, with bulky legs, thick fur covering their lower body, and a mildly venomous bite that is very painful but not lethal. They are clever trackers with high endurance who stalk or chase their prey instead of lying in wait, but their true strength is in their powerful muscles. Each of their limbs ends in a thick claw which can pierce wood and stone, or tear prey to pieces

Hunter Arachne primarily live in deserts, but there are some small settlements in the Black Forest as well. They are naturally territorial and prone to aggression, both in the wild and in the bedroom, and tend to react violently when confronted. Adventurers should try to avoid Hunter territory at all costs.

Variant: Jumper

Habitat: Forest, Cliffs

Jumpers have stocky legs and fur just like Hunters, but they are very petite and their upper body resembles a young girl even when fully mature. They make up for their small size, lack of venom, and fragile webbing with extreme mobility. They have lightning fast reflexes, can climb sheer surfaces, and are capable of leaping long distances. However, they are the least dangerous Arachne variant, since they only consume small non-sapient animals that can be captured by pouncing.

Due to their disarming appearance, Jumpers have a slightly easier time integrating with society, but it can be difficult for them to find a mate who is interested in both their youthful appearance and monstrous features. Their silk is too unstable to craft into useful clothing, leaving Jumpers without that method of earning an income. Many end up working in service industries, as maids, waitresses, or brothel workers.

Legendary Individuals

Kriia Tarantella
(character used with permission from Clockwerk66)

This Druid-class adventurer was born in Seshirath, the vast desert region west of the Kingdom of A’losh. After becoming separated from her brood in her youth, Kriia was kidnapped by slavers and sold to the owners of an illegal  underground fighting ring operating within Coralburg, a southwestern coastal port town in the Kingdom of Farsought.

Kriia spent two years being forced to fight for the entertainment of criminals and other unsavory individuals. It was during this violent period of her life that she showed the beginnings of an innate aptitude for Druidic magic, though she did not fully understand what it was at the time. That life of bondage came to an end when the fighting ring was busted by a band of intrepid adventurers. Despite her newfound freedom, the whippings she had endured had damaged her overall opinion of humanity and also harmed her ability to form real relationships with people of any race.

However, the elf druid Galinndan Arborwood, one of the adventurers who originally toppled the fighting ring and defeated the slaver ring, saw potential in Kriia. He arranged for her to travel with him to his place of birth, the forested region of Farsought known as the Mageroyal Woods. She found a new life there in a secluded part of the woods and received further tutelage from Galinndan over the coming years to become more experienced in the ancient art of druidism.

Since then, Kriia made a small circle of friends, including her closest friend and companion, an energetic moth pixie named Moxy. The two have been close companions ever since she saved Moxy’s life from a deadly spider’s poison.

Notable Locations

The Deeps

A massive cave network beneath the Black Forest that houses the largest Arachne civilization, which some explorers estimate at over 40,000 strong. For decades, many male human adventurers who were lost and presumed dead had actually been held captive in The Deeps, acting as breeding stock to sustain the city’s population.

After suffering devastating raids by vengeful adventurers, The Deeps brokered a peace treaty with the Kingdom of Farsought. The Arachne promised to treat all captives well and release them after no more than one year. In exchange, the Arachne are allowed to capture any invaders who knowingly intrude on their domain and they can post job offers on the quest boards of Farsought, seeking paid breeding volunteers. Few men are open-minded and trusting enough to accept the job, but those who do are rewarded handsomely after a pleasurable and intense one-month term of service.

Chapter Text

Dragons

Type: True-Magic
Content Warning: None
Encounter Rating: Do Not Antagonize
Origin: Pre-Lustification
Habitat: Various
Note: Reliable information about Dragons is scarce, particularly regarding the Legendary Six, so this entry contains more hearsay and rumors than normally allowed in the Mythical Menagerie of Faeros.

Dragons are a winged, scaled, reptile-like species of intelligent individuals. Adult dragons range from 15 to 100 feet long from nose to tail. They continue to grow throughout their lifetime, making their size a strong indicator of both age and power. They have four strong legs tipped with claws that can cut through even enchanted metal, and their powerful teeth and jaws are capable of crushing nearly anything. Their hide is immune to most magic and weaponry, making a rogue dragon a true problem for civilization. Most cities choose to negotiate with dragons rather than fight them, and long-term alliances have been formed with most known individuals.

As one of very few remaining True-Magic races, dragons possess powers far beyond that of other mortals. True-Magic creatures are not quite as powerful Gods or Demigods, but they have been known to subconsciously warp reality to suit their desires. For example, all dragons can fly effortlessly despite their substantial bulk. That ability was granted when Tai’fuu the Cloudkeeper, the eldest White Dragon, saw the birds flying overhead and wished to soar through the skies as well.

All dragons belong to one of seven ‘Flights’, tightly-knit families united by their affinity for a particular element. These Flights are referred to by the color most commonly shared by their members, but the shapeshifting abilities that dragons possess makes color alone an unreliable method of identification. While each Flight shares an elemental affinity, they do not necessarily share ideals or opinions. A Black dragon’s power over death magic could lead him toward evil, or he could grow fond of fragile mortals and decide to protect them.

Each Flight is gifted with complete mastery over an element of magic, making even a young dragon comparable to an experienced Archmage in terms of raw talent. Many of the spells used by the mortal races today are believed to have been invented by dragons. One such example is [Animate Armor], first used by a Metallic dragon to protect her lair from intruders.

Dragons are nearly immortal, often living for over 300 years, so there are many alive today who witnessed the Lustification. Six of the seven Flights existed before that, but the Violet dragonflight is new, created by Eros’s arrival. Balancing their long lives, dragons reproduce infrequently. A mother lays a single egg that can take multiple years to hatch, during which time she guards her den fiercely, keeping even the father away. The resulting child usually matches the Flight of one of its parents, but there are stories of dragons being born to entirely different parents.

Dragons are very rare, with fewer than 60 known individuals in all of Faeros, but each one of them is like a force of nature. Whether hostile or friendly, encountering a dragon is sure to change a traveler’s destiny. And the traveler won’t always know it has happened, since dragons can disguise themselves as any humanoid species.

Variant: Metallic

Preferred Habitat: Underground
Possessing power over earth and metal, Metallic dragons are the most at home underground. Mining operations must always fear breaking into a Metallic dragon’s lair on accident, since awakening a sleeping dragon is a sure route to destruction.

Variant: Red

Preferred Habitat: Deserts and Volcanoes
Red dragons hold complete dominion over the destructive power of fire and lava. Their firebreath burns hotter and reaches farther than other dragons, but they can also exert more control over it, such as lighting a single candle from a half-mile away. They are among the most dangerous dragons to anger, but are no more naturally inclined to harm mortals than the other Flights.

Variant: White

Preferred Habitat: Sky and Mountain Peaks
Dragons of the sky with affinity for wind magic, White dragons spend much of their time aloft. Alliances with White dragons are highly coveted in order to protect crops and travelers from storms. However, it can be difficult to negotiate with a being that values little except its own freedom to fly.

Variant: Blue

Preferred Habitat: Ocean
Blue dragons are in tune with water magic and the ocean currents. They are seen as good omens by sailors and even revered by some aquatic races. Capable of moving just as nimbly beneath the waves as in the sky, Blue dragons are among a very small number of beings capable of exploring the Dark Sea that encircles the continent of Faeros.

Variant: Green

Preferred Habitat: Forests
Green is the color of life, including both flora and fauna, and Green dragons have control over the life-associated portions of both Druidic and Vitae magic. Their magic can cause a flower to blossom early, make a tree to grow 100 times its normal height, heal a grievous wound, or spread an invasive pest. Like White dragons, Green dragons are highly sought by farming communities to ensure good harvests. While the Lustification’s permanent increase in fertility did wonders for planting, other complications like prolific wildlife largely offset the gains, keeping life magic in high demand.

Variant: Black

Preferred Habitat: Swamps and Graveyards
Death is the power held by the Black dragonflight, and it has caused the mortal races to fear them. However, much as an adventurer will slay foes for the good of a kingdom, Black dragons can choose to use their power for the benefit of others. Some even work as healers, using their intuitive understanding of disease to snuff out infections.

Variant: Violet

Origin: Lustification
Preferred Habitat: Urban
Little is known about Violet dragons, as they are a relatively new existence: the first Violet dragon was created when the Lustification transformed an existing dragon. Tantric magic is their specialty, giving them great power in the lust-infused world of Faeros. Violet dragons are in tune with their own lust, and they often seek out intimacy in the guise of a mortal. It is believed that most reported encounters with Eros were actually Violet dragons in disguise.

Capabilities

Flight - All dragons are capable of magical flight. Their wings are only needed to control their movement, as magic provides the necessary lift.
Infused Bones - All of a dragon’s bones, including teeth and claws, are infused with magic that makes them stronger than metal. Dragonbones are prized for use in weaponcrafting, but some dragons take great offense to the idea of using them in that way. Dragons naturally shed teeth and claws over time, making them a safer material to procure and wield.
Infused Hide - Dragons' hide and scales are infused with magic that deflects most weaponry and magical attacks. Both can be used to craft armor, but naturally shed scales are less likely to enrage a dragon who encounters an adventurer wearing the resulting armor.
Magic Affinity - Every dragon possesses a powerful intuition for one type of magic based on their Flight. They can easily learn any spell in that school of magic and cast them at terrifying levels of power, and many dragons invent their own spells to suit their needs.
Temporary Transformation (self) - Dragons can change their form to that of any race they have encountered, but their gender and some cosmetic features like eye color remain the same.
Gift of Tongues - Dragons are naturally fluent in every language they encounter.
Fire Breath - Dragons can breath out a stream of fire, either as a direct attack or to create a lingering wall of fire to discourage attackers from getting closer. This fire is tinted the same color as the dragon’s Flight, such as gold for Metallic dragons.

Legendary Individuals

Adamanta the Platinum Guardian

The oldest and most powerful among the metallic dragons. The most religious-minded of the Legendary Six, Adamanta played a large role in the founding of the New Denomination after she lost all respect for the Citadel of Holy Light's zealous direction. Ever since, she has become an exalted figurehead of the Denomination, helping to manage their affairs from behind the scenes and working in secret to undermine the efforts of the Church of Holy Light and other ill-meaning groups.

Rubia the Ash Queen

The oldest surviving Red dragon, Rubia is known for her ruthless pursuit of power. Possessing both monstrous physical strength and a terrifying degree of magical knowledge, Rubia has gathered a prodigious cult of dragon-worshippers, and she rules over them from her hidden volcanic palace, the Pinnacle of Ash. Ever since the Lustification, she has turned her ambitious gaze toward the Gateway. She is determined to find a way to mine the secrets of its power without being altered by its overwhelming tantric energies, so that she might one day control its power for herself and use it to rule over all Faeros. To date, her cultists have infiltrated several criminal organizations within Faeros, becoming her eyes and ears throughout the continent.

Tai'fuu the Cloudkeeper

The oldest and most powerful amongst the white dragons, and second-oldest among the Legendary Six. One of the friendlier legendary dragons, Tai'fuu is a wanderer, never staying in one place for too long. He often travels the continent in the guise of an elderly man with a long white beard and slight draconic features, dispensing some of his fathomless wisdom to whoever is willing to listen.

Aazra the Stormborn

Despite being the oldest and most powerful amongst the blue dragons, Aazra is relatively young among the Legendary Six, at just under 400 years old. Considered a god by many aquatic cultures, the mighty (and slightly-lazy) sea dragon tends to hide out within the deeper depths of the waters surrounding the continent, choosing to not get overly involved with surface-world matters. Occasionally she comes up to accept sufficiently-large offerings, or simply to satiate her boredom by using her powers to spook any sailors that get too close to the treacherous oceans further out. This has led to speculation that Aazra is the only one who knows what's out there in the ocean beyond, while some even go as far as to claim that Aazra herself is the cause of those tumultuous waters.

Vitalia the Eternal

Most powerful of the green dragons, Vitalia is also one of the two oldest legendary dragons, tied with her twin Obsidia. Both have existed for as long as written history can track. A powerful guardian of nature itself, Vitalia is revered among much of Faeros' fairy population. She has even served as a reclusive advisor to some fairy leaders since long before the Lustification. She is one of the few beings capable of casting the spell True Resurrection, a blessing only gifted to those who have proven themselves through epic deeds in service of life and nature.

Obsidia the Soulkeeper

Like her twin Vitalia, Obsidia is older than recorded history. The most reclusive of all dragons, she typically only comes out of hiding when an individual of great renown who caught her interest passes away. In such cases, the great wyrm will come for their body, raise them as undead, and bring them back to her secret demiplane, a dark and desolate place that is anathema to the living. Obsidia has collected many such individuals during her long existence, and her motives for doing so remain a mystery to this day, even to the other legendary dragons. It is said that Vitalia the Eternal is the only other being capable of traversing Obsidia's realm safely.

Amethyss, First of the Tantric Dragonflight

The first ever to become altered into a Violet dragon by the Lustification, Amethyss was halfway driven to sexual madness by the process. But now, having had a taste of Eros's immense power for herself, the Violet dragon has fallen deeply in love with the God responsible for the Lustification. Her role as the mastermind behind the Church of Love is an open secret, and Amethyss is now obsessed with spreading its influence and unrestrained lust across the all of Faeros. She wants to bring every single species into its fold by any means necessary, in the hopes that Eros himself will one day notice her. Knowing this, it is also no surprise that she considers the Church of Holy Light her most hated enemy. She is also intensely jealous of the power wielded by the Legendary Six, and is conspiring to forcibly share the Gateway's tantric energy with all of them, so that they too may serve the eternal, orgasmic glory of Eros.

While there are some lesser Violet dragons who share her goal to tear down the concepts of law and order, most others reject her call for absolute chaos and prefer to use their tantric magics for more constructive purposes. Amethyss regards these ones with contempt, referring to them as "wastes of potential".

Chapter Text

This entry is a first-hand account of a historic moment, provided by the esteemed adventurer, paladin of the New Denomination, and hero of both Kingdoms, Galir the Honest. He recounted the following events in his own words, which have been edited only for clarity and readability.

Content Warning: Implied sexual acts, including non-consensual.

Now, I don't know everything that led up to the Two Tribes incident, since I'm no historian. What I do know is that sometime around the Lustification, maybe before, maybe after, the Westrock Goblin Tribe lost all of its females.

That would normally spell doom for any society, but the arrival of Eros changed almost everything, goblins included. They ended up with the ability to reproduce with almost any humanoid race, and the kids were always more male goblins, just as short and green-skinned as their fathers.

Of course, most people prefer to mate within their own species, and nobody was interested in carrying goblin children to term. So the Westrock Tribe resorted to kidnapping and rape, stealing women away to their village in the foothills south of the Seshirath desert to mother their children. The goblins needed to keep a woman for at least three months for the baby to be born, and ideally another year to raise it until it could walk. In practice, they kept the women much longer, often for the rest of their lives.

Goblins are just smart enough to know it was immoral, but just stupid enough to accept it as the new status quo. Their crimes went unnoticed for decades, lost in the chaos of the Lustification. Until they tried to kidnap the wrong woman. A caravan transporting the First Princess of A'losh was ambushed by goblins. Her escort of elite guards put up more resistance than the goblins had expected. The goblins lost a fighter to a guard's keen steel, but they managed to wound one of the royal guards before fleeing empty-handed. The King of A'losh was enraged, and I was hired to exterminate the goblins for their crimes.

Out of sheer coincidence, around the same time, I also heard an interesting rumor about a tribe of all female goblins. They were near Coralburg, on the south side of the impassable mountain range called The Jaw, and they'd been kidnapping men. Unlike the Westrock goblins, these Coralburg ones always released their captives after a few days, an option the male goblins didn't have.

The men they kidnapped all woke up within sight of Coralburg with foggy memories of having sex with goblins and no idea where they had been kept, but otherwise no worse for wear. The mysterious goblin women were more of a curiosity than a threat, so no official quest to stop them had been posted.

I'm no brilliant wizard, but I can make connections, at least when they're as obvious as two matching tribes separated by a single mountain range. So I put the King's revenge quest on hold and paid a visit to the Coralburg Tribe first. Of course, they weren't too receptive to my sudden arrival in their territory. They threw an alchemical cocktail in my face that was so unnecessarily potent it could have put a dire mammoth to sleep for a week. Thankfully, paladin magic powered by my unbreakable faith protects me from poisons, so I just pretended to be knocked out. The little green ladies then carried me back to their village in The Fangs, the jagged and hazardous foothills north of Coralburg.

When we reached the village and I 'woke up', those green girls were none too happy about it. They had yet to give me the antidote to the sleep potion, which apparently contains a very potent aphrodisiac, and they were really eager for some intimacy. If there's one thing I've learned in my century and a half on Faeros, it's that a woman in need is not to be underestimated.

They tied me up, and I let them, but I talked them out of the aphrodisiac. A motherly goblin they all called 'Matron' knew enough about high level paladins to believe me when I said I was immune to their alchemical concoctions. The ingredients for their potions were hard to come by, and she didn't want them to go to waste. That was fortunate, because back then, I was not as powerful as I am today, and my poison immunity was incomplete. I feared that the aphrodisiac might not be considered 'harmful' enough to be prevented by my paladin magic.

I spent several days there, talking to them, convincing them I wasn't a threat. I didn't mate with any of them, though; I was saving myself for real love. I gave the girls a scare when I broke out of their ropes to stretch my legs, but they'd grown pretty used to me and knew I meant no harm. One goblin in particular, a clever gal named Korja, hung around me every chance she got, peppering me with questions about the outside world and the New Denomination. Goblins are Naturalists, worshipping nature spirits and a recurring shooting star they call The Lifestar, so my faith was new and interesting to her.

One night, during the village-wide bonfire feast to celebrate the end of one season and the start of the next, I made an announcement. "I have important news," I said. "You are not alone. There is another tribe of goblins, straight north of here on the other side of The Jaw. Importantly, they are all male."

"Haha!" the Matron cackled. "If they male, then they not goblins. Everyone knows all goblins are female. They probably trolls or gremlins." She grinned a very wide and very toothy grin. "I could go for some troll right now. I hear they tall like an Iron-Oak, and just as hard."

Korja elbowed the Matron, which wasn't seen as a sign of disrespect in their culture. They believe that leadership can and should be questioned. She said, "Matron, please. Galir is very wise. At least let him finish."

"Thank you, Korja," I said, making her long ears go pink beneath her glossy black hair. "I've looked into this tribe myself, and I believe they are indeed the same species as you, somehow separated from you long ago. They've been kidnapping women to breed and keep their population intact, and it's drawn the attention of the Kingdoms."

"What that have to do with us?" the Matron asked. "They need to be better at returning the people they take. Kings not care about us." She waved a hand at her fellow goblins, who were drinking, dancing, and teaching their young about the significance of their seasons-end festival. There were no other men there, since the tribe usually made sure to return all outsiders before their religious holidays.

"The Kingdoms haven't called for your destruction yet, but they are aware of you. It's only a matter of time until they send someone as strong as me to wipe you all out."

The celebration clattered to a stop, and all eyes were on me as I continued, "I've already been hired to exterminate the Westrock Tribe, but I'd rather find a solution without bloodshed."

"Westrock?!" Korja blurted. "Did you say Westrock?"

"I did. Why?"

"That word is written in the Ancestor Cave, over and over again. I never figured out what it meant, and the rocks to the west of here are all the same, just mountains forever."

I smiled. Now we were getting somewhere. "Not forever," I corrected. "Just about two-hundred miles of impassable peaks and territorial dragons until the Dark Sea. But that's not important. The fact that the other tribe's name is written in your cave is the important thing. Can I see it?"

"See the cave? Never!" the Matron barked. "No outsiders allowed!"

A woman nearby, who was red-haired and tall for a goblin, countered, "You liar. You brought your last man there every night to sex."

The Matron withered a little at that, then rallied and said, "He was potioned. He not remember anything but sex, so he not share our secrets."

"What secrets?" Korja asked. "We've never learned anything useful from that cave. The Gobbish markings are too old and worn away."

I raised a hand to get her attention. "I have a spell for that. My Comprehend Language spell is augmented to translate the original intent, not just the visible words."

You need to understand that goblins are highly curious beings, often to the point of endangering themselves. The prospect of finally understanding the cave's writing had even the Matron salivating. Before I knew it, Korja and the Matron were dragging me to the cave, which was just north of their village, in a sheer cliffside of black stone.

The cave was shallow, but it hadn't always been. After a bit of investigation, I realized that the back wall was actually rubble that had collapsed from above a very long time ago, possibly even around the time of the tribes' separation.

In the flickering blue light of goblin-made Torch Bottles, I saw the markings Korja spoke of, roughly chiseled into the wall at goblin height. They were indeed worn away almost entirely, but my augmented Comprehend Language had no trouble illuminating the original words in glowing white lines, first in Gobbish, then translated into Common.

It read, "Westrock is our home, but it is no longer safe. By order of the Chief, the women must stay here while the men go to fight the slimes in Westrock. Women cannot win against the slimes. Slimes hate the Cold Tunnel, so the women will be safe. The Chief will come get the women when Westrock is safe again. Westrock is our home."

It took the Matron a while to read it, since her reading skills for both Gobbish and Common were rusty, but Korja finished even before me. She blurted, "It's true! The Westrock goblins are the same as us! We used to be one tribe!"

"Bah! This tribe stupid, saying that women not fight slimes. Slimes are mindless, simple. I kill slimes all the time for potion ingredients," the Matron said.

"Maybe it was a very dangerous kind of slime?" I guessed. Slimes were usually very weak, not even worth hiring adventurers to deal with, but some varieties could be deadly.

"Uh, Matron?" Korja started, fear in her voice. "What about that kind of slime?"

The Matron didn't immediately respond, so I asked, "What kind? Have you encountered a dangerous one?"

Korja looked to the Matron with sorrow in her eyes. "It is not my story to tell."

When the Matron finally spoke, the same sorrow was in her voice. "There was a slime that I not kill. When I was freshly bloomed like Korja, I travelled far for potion ingredients. As far as Mageroyal Woods. I was sloppy, let my guard down. I was attacked in the night by a purple slime. It… mated with me. I tried to fight against the pleasure, but it was too deep in me, where the biggest men not reach. It created many more slimes that night, then left. And after that I…" She trailed off.

"It's okay," Korja said, giving the Matron a comforting hug. "You don't have to say the rest."

"I do!" the older woman shouted, echoing off the stone walls. "I must be strong for the village, and here that means accepting truth." She turned to face me, then slowly said, "After that, I not have children. I tried for 30 years, but the slime took motherhood from me."

I didn't know what to say. I was ill-equipped to handle such personal emotional trauma. I tried several times to say something heartfelt, something helpful, but I gave up.

Thankfully Korja was more adept than I. She said, "Matron, if the slimes that our ancestors fled from were purple, then they did the right thing."

"Yes, I see that now." The Matron looked to me and said, "What now? You have a plan?"

"I do indeed. How well do you two handle heights?"

By the time I finished explaining my plan, nearly every woman in the village was demanding to participate. Some wanted to experience a bit of adventure, some wanted to see my scheme fail first hand, and some had genuine hope that the plan would work out.

Unfortunately for them, my gryffon Jax had a weight limit. Goblins are pretty light, but eight was pushing the limit of what Jax could safely lift. Along with supplies and myself, of course. The morning after the festival, while the women argued over who should be able to attend the historic reunion of the tribes, I snuck off to where I had left Jax the week before when I'd flown down from A'losh.

He was a rough old boy who could fend for himself, and I found him happily eating a dead wolf that he'd slain. Outside of magically enhanced creatures like dire wolves, gryffons were near the top of the food chain, and their remarkable flight speed outpaced everything except dragons. Jax knew better than to antagonize a dragon.

I knew Jax could carry the weight of eight goblins and myself over the mountains to Westrock, but convincing him to do it was another matter. Thankfully the Coralburg Goblins were phenomenal cooks, and they had been willing to make one of Jax's favorite foods.

"Over here, Jax, do you smell this?" I held out a fillet of zested manafish, caught fresh from the nearby Bay of Mana. It hadn't been cooked, but it wasn't technically raw either; strong citrus juice made the fish safe for people to eat. Of course Jax could have eaten the fish raw just fine, but he had developed a taste for the tangy flavor on our adventures together.

He whipped his head around, bloody gristle still hanging from his razor-sharp beak. I would have been terrified if I didn't know what a softy he was around people. He practically walked on tip-talons, out of fear of hurting someone on accident.

"Yeah, you do," I cooed as I tossed the fish to him. "And if you play nice with the goblins, they'll make you even more."

He gobbled it down, then nodded in understanding. Gryffons were smart, and I'm pretty sure he understood a fair amount of Common. In any case, he definitely understood my tone of voice. I lead him into town on foot, to keep his heart-rate low and to avoid startling the goblins.

Korja came out to meet us, her bag already packed. "Hello there," she called softly. "You must be Jax."

He returned her greeting with a squawk, then sniffed at her, surely seeking more manafish. His beak alone was as big as Korja, but she wasn't afraid at all.

"It's nice to meet you too," she said, casually patting him on the beak with one hand and ruffling the feathers around his neck with the other. Even I didn't know he liked that.

Then she looked up at me. "The others should be ready soon. It's just me, the Matron, and six other young and fertile women. The Matron wants to make sure that we get some fresh blood even if we don't merge the tribes after this. You really think half the children will be male?"

"Yes, that's how every other race works, and how goblins used to work before the Lustification."

"Alright, I trust you." She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Uh, but how are you going to transport all of us on Jax? I had been imagining a platform or something, but he's only got a saddle…"

I smiled. "We're going to get nice and cozy, all tied together like a bundle of firewood. Now that I think of it, we could use a couple more ladies to help us all get tied in."

Korja nodded. "I'll go get Janal. She loves rope. A lot."

The flight was two hours long and quite chilly, so the women were clamoring for break and a bonfire by the time we landed. But I had newfound respect for them, for handling the trip as well as they did. I've traveled with experienced adventurers of all genders who complained more about the cold and heights than these tiny women did.

There was no small amount of risk to this plan, particularly around the moment of first contact. I couldn't be sure how the Westrock men would react to a group of goblin ladies, especially if they thought all goblins were male like themselves. So once the women had a bonfire going in a clearing a mile away from Westrock, I left Jax with them for protection and went in on my own to break the ice.

I had already spied the village from the air, so I strode toward it at a slow and steady pace with a dozen layers of magical spells shimmering around me like a glowing sandstorm. I wanted the Westrock Tribe to see that I was coming, and I wanted them to know that there was nothing they could do to stop it.

To his credit, the goblins' chieftain came out to meet me himself, with a couple spear-toting guards lagging behind. All three were spitting images of the goblin women I'd been living with, down to their long green ears, big noses, wide eyes, and diminutive height. The only real difference was in their hips and chest. There was no doubt in my mind that they were the same species.

"Hello, adventurer," he shouted as he approached. "I'm the Boss. Why you here today?" Then he turned and glared at the two goblins behind him. "No mind them. I tell them to stay in Westrock, but they refuse."

"It's for your protection!" one of them yelled back. "We won't let you come to harm, Boss." His Common was much better than the Boss's, so I assumed this guard was better traveled, or at least more curious about the outside world, like Korja.

"I'm here to give you a choice," I said, closing the distance so we wouldn't have to shout. "I was hired to kill all of you, but I don't want to do that."

The others raised their spears, but the Boss didn't even flinch. He said, "I know this day is coming. I hear about the symbol on the carriages, and I dread this day. What is the choice you give us, aside from death?"

"I found another tribe of goblins, who are female. If your tribe mates only with them, and stops kidnapping women, I can guarantee your survival." I didn't mention that they'd be paying reparations to the kidnapped women and their families for a few generations. I figured that would be better to bring up after the reunion.

"There are no female goblins!" the other guard shouted, predictably.

The Boss raised one hand and the man went silent. "We tell stories of goblin women, long ago. I always assume they were fantasies of men too soft for our way of life." He paused, then added, "I wish they are true."

I smiled as warmly as I could. "Then you're in luck. I traveled with eight female goblins who want to meet you. Pick eight of your men, and promise me that you will bring the women no harm, I will take you to them right now."

All three goblin's eyes went wide. They pulled into a huddle and whispered loudly for a while, while I tried not to listen in. My hearing is very good, so it was difficult. Then the Boss turned and faced me. "I need to know more about this. What will our meeting be like?"

"Think of it as a party, just a lighthearted way of getting to know some women who might want to have sex with you and raise your children. We also brought food, and these ladies are amazing cooks."

The 'party' was beyond awkward. The two groups of goblins stayed apart, on either side of the bonfire, while I acted as messenger, relaying questions and answers.

"The women want to know how you would treat them if they joined your tribe," I said.

"I treat them like women!" answered a burly goblin with short-cropped hair. "I push 'em down and take 'em every night! One after another!"

An even larger goblin, the tallest in the group, punched that one across the jaw. "No. We would treat them nice. Say sweet things to them, then sex together in love. Just one woman per man."

The fallen goblin got back up with rage in his eyes, but the Boss stopped him with a glance. "Grag speaks of the old goblin ways. Uirr speaks of the human ways. We need new goblin ways, or we might as well let Galir kill us." The Boss was very proud, but cared deeply about his people.

I stepped forward. At twice the height of Uirr, I easily got their attention. "Boss, would you like to talk to the Matron, the leader of the Coralburg Tribe? Talking to her directly would be faster than using me as a messenger."

After a long pause, he answered, "Yes. I will talk to her, and convince her the best way." Then he walked past the bonfire, straight toward the Matron. I tagged along to keep things under control.

The other women bristled and stepped back, but the Matron held her ground. She nodded slightly and said, "Hello. I heard you called the Boss?"

"Yes. And you are the Matron. If our tribes become one, you can keep that title."

"Oh can I?" the Matron asked, voice filled with animosity. "But are you worthy of yours, boss boy?"

"I will take you now, woman, and prove my worth."

The Matron just chuckled and said, "That only prove that you not worthy. My tribe lives on if we not merge with yours. I heard about your crimes. Your tribe would die."

The Boss glared. As much as he wanted to act big and tough, he needed to find a solution, for his tribe's sake. "What? How are you breeding?"

Smugly, she answered, "We use potions to bring men in and make them hard. Use them for days, then let them go. They confused but safe."

I cut in. "That's still a crime, Matron, and it will bring down enforcers on your tribe eventually. You should be trying to cooperate here." Then the smell of cooking venison caught my nose and I was hungry after a long day. "Now be nice and talk this out while I go get some food."

The food had also attracted some male goblins, but they hesitated in a clump a few feet away, muttering to each other. One said, "I heard they like sex, and want to have child with us goblins." Another grumbled, "But I want struggle…"

The cooks for the evening had their own complaints, like, "They so short, and none of them even as handsome as Galir," and, "If they want sex all the time, what good are my perfected potions?"

But the mouth-watering scent of cooking meat eventually overpowered the men's reluctance, and they all gathered in a line to get a serving. They tried to act polite, but it was clear they'd had very little practice. Only Uirr sounded genuine, and I later learned that he had been in charge of tending to the village's female prisoners. He had spent a lot of time with female humans and had taken their words to heart. He was also the most pained by the Westrock Tribe's brutal actions.

While the men lined up for food, a female goblin named Zib was preparing a cocktail of fruit juice and various wines. She had planned to put in just enough alcohol to loosen tongues, but not so much as to get anyone blackout drunk. Goblins are so small that it doesn't take much to get them tipsy.

Uirr approached her, curious about what she was doing. The Westrock tribe knew nothing of alchemy, and even alcohol was a rare treat. He didn't know it, but Zib was the Coralburg Tribe's best alchemist, even if she was too shy to admit it.

Flustered by his attention, Zib grabbed a vial from her pouch and opened it, then squeaked that it was the wrong one. She tried to replace the cork, but her hands were shaking.

Uirr said nothing, just watching from a few feet away. That was still enough to unnerve the flighty little Zib, who panicked and accidentally dropped the entire vial into the bowl. The orange liquid quickly mixed into the drink, and Zib called out in her soft voice, "Oh no, I ruined it. Don't drink this!"

But it was too quiet and too late. Grag swooped in and dunked an entire mug into the bowl, then chugged it. "Wow, this juice is tasty!" he shouted. "Everyone try this!"

The other men swarmed in, pushing Zib and Uirr away. They filled their mugs, tasted it, and agreed with Grag. They said it was the most delicious drink they'd ever had, and it made them feel strangely good.

"Oh no, oh no," Zib muttered, her face gone pale. "This is bad."

"What's wrong?" Uirr asked, his voice gentle.

Zib was shaking with fear. "That potion. It was a sex potion. Those men are going to go wild."

From his higher vantage point, Uirr could see the entire party. He put a gentle hand on her arm and said, "Not just the men. The women all have mugs now. Just me, you, and Galir don't."

Zib looked up at the tall goblin, not as tall as the human men her tribe had grown used to, but almost. "This is terrible. What do we do?"

Uirr walked to the punch bowl and returned with two mugs of orange drink.

"What are you doing?!" Zib whispered loudly.

Uirr answered, "Our tribes need this party to be good. Your potion can do that. Galir will keep everyone safe." He handed her a mug. "Join me?"

Zib glanced around at the other goblins, who were already getting handsy. The physical and emotional distance between them had completely evaporated. With a nervous expression, she reached out and took the mug.

"Okay," she said, then as her face turned redder and redder, she added, "Please be gentle with me."

Uirr's face went just as red. He nodded, and said, "I promise."

Things got pretty wild after that. I stayed away from the spiked punch and acted as both party host and protector for the rest of the night. The sights and sounds of mating goblins aren't particularly pleasant, but I was on a quest and I was determined to see it through. I busied myself with polishing my armor and sword.

And of course, not everything went smoothly. Grag was too forceful for almost all the goblin women, leaving him with only the confident and experienced Matron as a willing partner. But the Boss preferred her too. There was a fist fight, but Grag was put in his place quick enough and he soon agreed to take the 'low road'. He grumbled about not being able to pass on his legacy that way, and the Matron never told him the Boss wasn't going to get her pregnant either.

At first I was worried about the gender imbalance among the other goblins. Then Korja approached me.

"Taking a break?" I asked her, setting my sword aside. Her eyes were dilated and her breathing was fast, so she was definitely still under the effect of the lust potion.

"I haven't actually mated yet…" she said, sounding embarrassed.

"Why not? I thought you wanted a child?" During the gryffon flight, she had confided in me that she wanted to help her tribe's reproduction almost as much as she wanted to experience the outside world. I believed the Westrock mission could satisfy both wishes nicely.

"I do," she said, her voice strangely intense and raspy. "But I have a specific mate in mind."

I glanced around, guessing which goblin had caught her eye. Uirr was certainly a gentleman, but he had already hit it off with Zib. Even if it had been an accident, I owed them both for the spiked drink that had saved the evening. I really didn't want to split them up when they were having so much fun up against a fallen log.

My thoughts were interrupted by a small green hand pawing at my armor. Now, some of my past party members have said that I'm dense and don't grasp the subtle things, and maybe that's true. But Korja was no longer being subtle.

"I want you," she whispered, then started to untie her tunic.

I stopped her, wrapping both her hands in one of mine. "Wait. I need to watch over this reunion. And I'm saving myself for love."

"Is that a New Denomination thing?" she asked. Her desire for knowledge was apparently even stronger than the lust potion.

It took me a long time to answer. Many within the Eros-worshipping, birth-celebrating New Denomination were happy to mate even out of wedlock, but an equal number preferred dedicated partnerships for their prolific procreation. It wasn't uncommon for a married couple to have a dozen children, or for a wandering paladin to father a hundred.

But I wasn't like the eager recruits who joined the New Denomination because it already suited their interests. I had been raised in it, like so many other orphans and half-breeds who had nowhere else to go. And rather than just reproduction, I wanted love. If I had true love, I could raise twenty children, one, or zero, and I would be perfectly happy regardless.

And when I looked down into Korja's vibrant green eyes, what I saw there wasn't the lust potion, or at least not just the lust potion. I saw love there. Love for me.

"No, it's a me thing," I finally said. "It actually makes me a bit strange."

"I know that feeling," Korja said with a smile. "I'm the only one who wants to leave the village, to see the world. I'd probably return from time to time to share my wisdom, but I can't imagine ever settling down there forever."

"Maybe that drink had a wanderlust potion in it," I joked.

Korja giggled politely, but her thoughts stayed on that topic. "I wish I could be an adventurer like you," she said, her voice filled with heartache.

"You can."

She blinked and her pupils narrowed. The lust potion was being completely overpowered by her focus. "No way. Goblins are too weak. Just one human adventurer is stronger than an entire village of us. Two villages, even."

I said, "Ahh, I see there's been a misunderstanding. I am not human."

"What." Korja's tone and expression made it clear that she thought I was joking and that she was not amused.

"Well, I'm half human, and I'm half dragon. Platinum dragon, specifically."

She glared at me. I understood her skepticism, since dragons were incredibly rare. Still are, actually. But nowadays, my mother Adamanta is a little more public about her involvement in the New Denomination.

"You're not lying to me?"

"I promise you I'm not. You're actually one of a very small number of people who I've told the truth."

Her eyes went wide as she accepted it. And her pupils went wider. "I want you more now. Right now."

I chuckled at her eagerness, but I had to turn her down. "No, I have a job to do, and I need more time to get to know you." I waved a hand at the successful reunion around us. "Let's see this little adventure through, then you can join me on my next one."

She wrapped her arms around one of mine, clearly fighting an intense battle against her lust. "I'll hold you to that."

"Please do. I like you, Korja. But dragons are as slow as they are long-lived, and I'm not in love, not yet."

The party was a total success. By the next morning, the two tribes had brokered an extensive agreement: half the men would move to the Coralburg village and half the women would join the Westrock one, and both would call themselves the Westrock Tribe, since that had been their shared ancestral home. There was talk of reopening the Cold Tunnel that connected the two locations, but goblins were not subterranean creatures and had no tunneling experience. It had likely been dug by dwarves in the past, so I recommended saving up and paying dwarves to restore it.

I made sure to insert some stipulations into the agreement as well, to satisfy the law and the King of A'losh. The kidnapped women, who were mostly human with a few elves, were to be offered immediate release or treatment by the female goblins with alchemical healing and memory cleansing potions until they wanted to leave. The women each left with a sizable sum of gold as reparation, with more coming monthly for 50 years or until every male goblin who had participated in kidnap or rape had passed on, whichever was longer. A similar fund was also to be set aside for men who had been taken by Coralburg Tribe. Money could never undo the trauma that those people experienced, but neither could bloodshed.

Korja, Jax, and I ferried the goblins and their supplies back and forth for a few weeks, then I had to make the two-week journey to the Kingdoms to share the news and win the authorities over to my point of view. Korja was reluctant to let me go, but ecstatic when I returned with legal decrees in hand.

It wasn't the decrees she was excited about. "You came back!" she cheered, jumping up and wrapping both arms around my neck.

"Of course I did. I promised, and I never break a promise."

She moved to kiss me, then stopped. We had been spending nearly every waking hour together and were effectively dating, but we had yet to get even that intimate.

I finished what she started, kissing my future wife for the first time. It was wonderful, because it was true love.

The rest is history, and I'll leave that to the historians. Adventure is my family business, and if you'll excuse me, I've got a teenage granddaughter who's clamoring for some sword training.

Chapter Text

Slimes

Type: Animal
Content Warning: Sexual content, including non-consensual
Encounter Rating: Ranges from ‘Generally Safe’ to ‘Deadly’
Origin: Spontaneous generation
Habitat: Various

Slimes are translucent gelatinous blobs with generally low intelligence and a voracious appetite. They ‘eat’ by engulfing their target within their body, then dissolving it with corrosive chemicals. The process is slow enough that living creatures are usually able to escape with only mild injuries.

Other than a uniform body of slimy liquid within a rubbery film, their only other feature is a hard crystalline sphere one inch across, called a core. The core is the closest thing the slime has to a brain, and it moves around within the slime’s body to avoid danger. Breaking the core is the simplest way to kill a slime. Fully separating pieces from the slime can also harm it, but slashing and piercing attacks have little effect, since the inner liquid quickly reconstitutes into the outer protective film when exposed to air.

Most variants of slimes are capable of rapid reproduction as long as their food source is plentiful. Once sufficient material has been consumed, the core is automatically duplicated and the slime splits into two copies of itself. Both copies are at full strength immediately, and can split again as soon as they take in enough sustenance.

Additionally, on rare occasions, slimes can spontaneously generate from mana and resources in the environment. Much to the annoyance of people with a basement or wine cellar, slimes can manifest anywhere, even where another slime had never been.

A slime’s core and body are always shades of the same color, and that color reliably corresponds to the slime’s subspecies. Each variant behaves very differently and requires different safety measures, so it is crucial to identify a slime’s variant before engaging in combat with it.

Variant: Floral Slime (green)

Diet: Flowers, pollen, and fresh fruit.

This is the most peaceful kind of slime, and they are hardly worth exterminating unless they infest a greenhouse or farm. In those cases, unanswered slimes can quickly reproduce and consume every available flower, bringing ruin to the business.

These slimes are completely mindless, with intelligence closer to an insect’s than an animal’s. When attacked, Floral Slimes will retaliate with a feeble body slam, attempting to engulf the attacker in its mildly corrosive body. Amateur adventurers often seek out quests to slay Floral Slimes as a relatively safe way to acquire basic combat experience and financial reward. 

Variant: Cellar Slime (yellow)

Diet: Foodstuffs, wine, or nearly anything else stored by people for later consumption.

Cellar Slimes are very similar to Floral Slimes, but their diet is more plentiful and more disruptive. If a Cellar Slime spontaneously generates in a well-stocked pantry, it will often eat the entire food supply and duplicate many times before being discovered.

Individually, Cellar Slimes are no more dangerous than Floral Slimes, but they tend to come in much larger numbers thanks to the abundance of their favored foods. Some homeowners, enraged at the devastation of their winter stockpile, have attacked what they thought was an isolated slime only to be overrun and eaten by a dozen starving Cellar Slimes.

As a result, the majority of slime-slaying quests target Cellar Slimes. A careful adventurer who applies tactics and maintains an escape route can take down several slimes alone, but a small group of adventurers working together is ideal. The reward for such quests used to be much lower, since it was paid out of pocket by the already struggling victim of the slime infestation. Larger adventuring parties were often unwilling to take up the request, leading to more failed attempts by solitary warriors.

In reaction to the embarrassingly high death toll, both kingdoms now have systems to finance the extermination of spontaneously generated slimes. A’losh has an insurance-based fund, paid into by everyone who desires protection, at a rate based on their risk and past incidents. Farsought takes a different approach, funding the quest rewards through tax income, shared equally among all citizens.

Due to their peaceful nature and simple diet, both Floral and Cellar Slimes are sometimes kept as pets by frivolous nobels. However, accidentally exposing a pet slime to too much food can result in mass genesis and disaster. A’losh’s insurance fund specifically refuses to fund the extermination of any infestation that was caused by attempted pet ownership.

Variant: Toxic Slime (blue)

Diet: Poisons, venom, toxic chemicals, and other hazardous substances.

This rare variant can spontaneously generate in a toxin-filled environment, or it can occur when a different slime variant is exposed to toxic materials beyond what it should be able to endure. Sometimes instead of dying, it becomes a Toxic Slime. For this reason, it is not advised to exterminate slimes with alchemical concoctions.

The toxins they consume become part of their body, increasing their deadliness. Some Toxic Slimes can accumulate a combination of toxins so potent that it will instantly kill anything it touches. When threatened, Toxic Slimes will lash out with tendrils, attempting to touch and poison their attacker. Adventurers should also take extreme care to avoid being splashed by the slime’s inner liquid, which can cause even more harm than the tendril.

While they are typically hostile to other beings, Toxic Slimes can be lured into hazardous areas where they will consume the toxins and leave a safe and clean site in their wake. They are slightly more intelligent than Floral and Cellar Slimes, and with enough dedication and protective equipment, Toxic Slimes can even be trained like a dog. Some slime trainers claim that Toxic Slimes are capable of learning to withdraw their toxins into their core in order to interact with fragile beings safely, but a single mistake could lead to tragedy, so few are willing to risk it.

Variant: Vitae Slime (red)

Diet: Any life-dense fluid, such as milk, egg whites and yolk, blood, or semen.

Sometimes called ‘Life Slime’, this variant seems to come into being spontaneously when large amounts of life-giving fluids are abandoned in an ideal environment. It is unknown whether Vitae Slimes are able to reproduce.

Vitae Slimes are astoundingly rare, but from what little information has been collected, Vitae Slimes who have fed on the fluids of sapient creatures can mimic those creatures, develop advanced thought, and even learn to speak.

Because Vitae Slimes can and will consume fresh-spilled blood, extreme caution should be taken if you ever encounter one. They are capable of extreme violence using their tendrils or by wielding manmade weaponry.

Variant: Grave Slime (black)

Diet: Rotting flesh, bone marrow, and brain matter, particularly of intelligent creatures.

Occurring naturally in tombs, graveyards, and other places of death, these slime’s darkly translucent bodies are often filled with bones and decaying matter. They also frequently use a skull to represent their head, particularly during verbal communication. While this is the most outwardly grotesque variant of slime, it is not actually dangerous since it only consumes the long dead.

Grave Slimes are also the most intelligent slimes because they can gain knowledge and understanding from the brains they devour. A particularly long-lived Grave Slime with access to quality corpses can reason, speak, and even engage in commerce. Because a body that has been consumed by a Grave Slime can never be turned into an undead abomination, many people request that treatment in their wills. The remaining skeleton can still be buried if desired. As a result, Grave Slimes are often considered the honorable keepers of graveyards, and are usually left alone or paid for their service.

Grave Slimes rarely reproduce, since their food supply is scarce and conscious thought consumes much of their resources. However, in times of catastrophe when death is common, they can replicate and spread out to serve more areas.

Grave Slimes and Vitae Slimes are special among slimes, due to their ability to learn and reason. Some researchers theorize that these variants are actually two halves of the same whole, and that combining them would create an entirely new being. Both A’losh and Farsought have instituted bans on creating new sapient life, and all official requests for permission to attempt that experiment have been rejected. Some unscrupulous researchers have been put under close watch to ensure they do not attempt it in secret.

Variant: Lust Slime (purple)

Origin: Lustification
Diet: Female reproductive cells (eggs) of sapient beings.

Lust Slimes are mindless and possess no corrosive properties, so they are easily killed by anyone with a weapon and basic training. However, when the slime senses a fertile woman’s pheromones, it lunges at her with frightening speed, quickly permeates any armor or clothing, and invades her womb.

Once inside, the Lust Slime’s core cannot be removed without causing greater harm to the victim. It rapidly consumes her eggs to provide the material to split into more slimes, which exit the body and flee. The slime paralyzes the victim with sexual pleasure during the experience, via physical stimulation and pheromone injection, then leaves once all available food has been consumed. This harmful process renders the majority of victims infertile for the rest of their lives.

In addition to their despicable method of reproduction, Lust Slimes can also spontaneously generate anywhere there is sufficient tantric energy and humidity. As a result, they are most common near The Gateway in the Black Forest, but there are other tantric hot-spots throughout Faeros, some permanent and some freely drifting across the landscape.

Despite sharing a creator, many Eros-worshipping organizations consider Lust Slimes to be an existential threat and aim to exterminate them wherever they may be found. The Church of Love also practices a variety of cleansing rituals at the sites of their sexual activities to prevent the generation of Lust Slimes from the excess tantric energy left behind.

Lust Slime Sub-variant: Pink Slime

Diet: Tantric energy and water.

While searching for a weapon against Lust Slimes, an anonymous alchemist from the Church of Love created a potion that can be splashed on a Lust Slime to instantly neutralize it. The potion permanently sterilizes the slime and changes its diet, and it also turns the affected slime a bright pink color.

The alchemist also discovered that the potion amplified the Slime’s pleasure-giving instinct, causing it to harmlessly seek out and stimulate sexual organs of all sorts. Diluting the slime with water will cause it to withdraw, then the disarmed creature can be stored in a water-tight container for future use. Since the invention and wide-scale release of the so-called Pink Potion, Pink Slimes have become a regular feature in the Church of Love’s wild celebrations, where they are used as exotic sex toys. Adventurers sometimes convert and capture Lust Slimes to sell to wealthy nobles for the same purpose.

Pink Slimes cannot reproduce nor spontaneously generate, so they must be converted from Lust Slimes. This has created a black-market demand for Lust Slimes to convert into Pink Slimes. In some jurisdictions, such as A’Losh, Pink Slimes are completely illegal to possess or create. In some others, all Pink Slimes must be registered upon creation to ensure that they were responsibly sourced from wild Lust Slime extermination and not from illicit ranching.

It is believed that at least some of the Pink Slimes making their way to market originate from dubious operations that offer free permanent birth control to willing women. They expose the women to a Lust Slime in a controlled situation, then gather up the produced slimes, convert them with Pink Potion, and sell them on the black-market. While technically illegal, these operations avoid heavy scrutiny as long as the participants remain willing. If rumors surface of unwilling Lust Slime creation, the Royal Knights take action immediately, bringing down their terrible might upon the criminal operation.

Variant: Dungeon Slime (transparent)

Diet: Nearly anything, given enough time.

This variant appears spontaneously in dark, damp, and mana-dense areas such as caves and abandoned dungeons, and regardless of its diet, it remains as transparent as spring water. It can consume nearly anything, but harder materials take longer to dissolve, resulting in bones and metal sometimes lingering within the slime as it moves. This can give the appearance of a figure walking through a hallway, when it is actually just a skeleton suspended in slime.

Unlike most other slimes, the Dungeon Slime cannot split itself to reproduce. Instead, it grows ever larger as it consumes matter, often occupying an entire tunnel from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.

Due to their dark habitat and transparent body, Dungeon Slimes are almost invisible. Additionally, their surface is incredibly adhesive; those who touch it will become trapped unless they can pull on something else in the environment to free themselves. Many unsuspecting animals and adventurers have met their end by stumbling into a Dungeon Slime, where they are engulfed, suffocated, and then dissolved.

Sub-Variant: Slimegirl

Can apply to any variant.
Origin: Lustification

Through exposure to a unique blend of tantric energy and mana, a rare few slimes have gained intelligence and personality, along with distinctively feminine features and behavior. Any variant can become a slimegirl, but it has occurred most often among the more common slime species of Floral, Cellar, and Toxic.

Slimegirls are sapient like Vitae and Grave slimes, but must acquire their knowledge through learning and life experience rather than absorption. They begin life like any other slime, then acquire the form of a humanoid child when exposed to an elusive mix of energies. Then they grow and learn at a pace up to four times faster than a typical human. The diet of a slimegirl remains the same as their slime variant, but just like Dungeon Slimes, they don’t seem to be able to reproduce no matter how much they consume.

Every slimegirl is unique, but their personalities do seem to be impacted by their original variant. For example, a Toxic Slimegirl was once interviewed for research purposes, and she was brutally honest, unsympathetic, and cold. On the other hand, the Floral Slimegirls who were hired to tend the gardens of the frivolous noble Sir Korrent of A’losh are famous for being easy-going and kind.

Many mages have attempted to create a spell that will produce Slimegirls, but none have yet been successful. Since creating new sapient life is illegal in both kingdoms, the mages have been operating in secret with limited resources, but it is believed that if a wealthy noble or large organization were to put their full might into the effort, they would eventually find the perfect balance of tantric energy and mana and create a spell to produce slimegirls on command.

There are whispers that the Church of Love is already on the task, seeking to create Pink Slimegirls to further spread their message of pleasure and lust.

Legendary Individuals

The “Rescuer”

In the year 235 AL, this Vitae Slime formed in the dungeons within the Bleakclaw Fortress that stands near the Stonefoot lake, east of the Black Forest. The brutal Bleakclaw Bandits had terrorized the surrounding lands for years, stealing goods and taking slaves for personal use or to sell on the black market, until their slovenly ways and negative karma caught up to them in the form of a powerful slime.

Formed from shed blood, tears, and semen, this mysterious slime wandered the fortress killing bandits and feeding on their blood to grow stronger. It eventually returned to the slave dungeon and stood before the gates as a dark red humanoid shape. The captives feared for their lives after seeing how the monster had violently slain their captors, but the slime smashed the locks on the iron bars and freed them. It then slaughtered any bandits who had foolishly remained in the fortress, and even fended off any returning bandits until an approaching adventuring party was within sight. Then it wandered into the forest.

The party, who had been coming to investigate the smoke rising from the toppled fortress, never saw the so-called “Rescuer” themselves, and the slime was never seen again.

Hambone

This Grave Slime is the gravekeeper for all of Tinpeak, a large city to the southeast of Farsought. Tinpeak was named for the solitary mountain upon whose base it sits, and it grew from a small mining settlement into a bustling trade center, thanks to easy access to both the open sea and the Bay of Mana.

Hambone, named for the pig’s skull they use to represent their head while interacting with people, is highly intelligent and kind. They seek only to serve the people of Tinpeak and to provide peaceful rest for the dead. Hambone is at least 80 years old but has reproduced only once, when the Withering Plague struck the city in 240 AL. Their offspring, who chose the name Yorick, helped manage the influx of dead until the Plague subsided, then left with a passing caravan to seek a new home and purpose.

Mottle

This Vitae Slime was created from semen during a particularly wild Church of Love orgy. Its first act was to kill and consume a Lust Slime that had come into being from all the tantric energy released during the orgy. The two slime cores, both newly formed and still partially incomplete, merged together to form a unique being.

Mottle is primarily red in color with purple splotches, some of which are ringed in white or pink. Mottle is fully sentient and seems to subsist exclusively on a Vitae Slime's diet. However, its preferred method for acquiring food is similar to that of a Pink Slime: bringing sexual pleasure, then consuming the fluids released during intercourse. Mottle has stated that it doesn't know why it behaves in this manner but also that it sincerely enjoys bringing pleasure to others. It has been hypothesized that Mottle’s creation somehow managed to replicate the effects of the Pink Potion, but it has no recollection of its birth.

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Harpies

Type: Hume
Content Warning: None
Encounter Rating: Varies. Many are wanted by the law
Origin: Lustification
Habitat: Cliffs and rocky islands

Harpies were created by the Lustification when the magic that flowed across all of Faelight also permeated a prison island called The Crag. The bleak prison, far from civilization in the Southern Archipelago, was beset by storms and crashing waves year-round. It was dedicated to holding female prisoners who had been arrested for crimes against the Kingdom of Farsought. Those women all wished for one thing: escape.

Eros granted that wish by transforming the prisoners into winged creatures who could fly away from that place. Their arms and legs were replaced by the mighty wings and legs of birds, but they kept their human faces and bodies. To enable flight, their figure grew more slender and even their bones became lighter.

The prisoners overpowered their guards, fled the prison island, and scattered throughout the land, settling wherever they felt most comfortable. As criminals and prison escapees, many of the first harpies had little respect for authorities or laws, and they valued personal freedom above all else. But they also valued socialization and community, and they fought to defend their ‘prison sisters’ against the outside world.

Within a few years, they had formed their own bands of outlaws and pirates, called Roosts, and used their superior mobility to steal from any who crossed their paths. Other races were not entirely excluded from the Roosts, but earning a spot amongst the harpies was very difficult. In practice, the easiest route to joining was to be taken as a harpy’s lover.

Harpies can breed with human men, but they lay eggs rather than giving birth. About a week after mating, the harpy lays a single large egg which hatches roughly one month later. The harpy’s flightless mate usually tends the egg during this time while the harpy continues to procure supplies for her future child. The hatchlings are born with fluffy feathers and a ravenous appetite, and they grow very quickly. Young harpies are able to fly by their second year, and are fully mature within ten years. They take some cosmetic traits from their father, but otherwise resemble their mother.

Many men joined the Roosts as harpy mates and the harpies began to reproduce, gradually transforming their roaming bands of pirates into full-fledged communities. Since harpies aren’t tied down by pregnancy, some Roost matriarchs took many lovers of all genders and spawned numerous children who were raised by her harem while she continued her reign of piracy.

Over the last few hundred years, several distinct harpy lineages have formed with different cosmetic and functional traits, influenced by their environment and diet. Since harpies can’t mate with other harpies to blend their features, it’s expected that these variants will continue to drift apart over time.

Variant: Raptor

Muscular, with powerful wings and talons and a busty figure, Raptor Harpies can carry hundreds of pounds with ease. They prey on wildlife and lone travelers, and they hunt by dropping from the sky at terrifying speed and grasping their target in their mighty talons. Then they carry it off to be eaten, robbed, or taken as a mate.

Raptor Harpies live in small, tight-knit communities of four to twelve people, including their human mates. Raptors are more romantic and loyal than standard harpies; they typically mate for life, but will remarry if their mate dies.

Sub-variant: Nightglider

This Raptor sub-variant is completely nocturnal and primarily subsists on nocturnal animals and those who travel by night. With their excellent night vision and silent wings, they swoop down on their quarry, whether human or animal, and silently steal it away.

Nightgliders enjoy preying upon travelers on lonely roads, but they have been known to enter small unguarded settlements in the dead of night to steal from homes and other buildings. If discovered by a male resident, the harpy will often offer sex in exchange for silence, or even take the man by force.

Nightglider roosts are very well hidden within hollow trees or caves, and are filled to the brim with food and treasure.

Variant: Flightless

These harpies descended from ones who had settled deep inland in areas where flight wasn’t particularly useful, such as the blowing sands of the Seshirath Desert. Over several generations, their wingfeathers shortened until flight was impossible, but their legs grew stronger and faster. A Flightless Harpy can outrun a horse in both speed and distance, making them effective bandits that can pursue cargo carriages, rob them, and escape into the desert with the spoils.

Flightless Harpies are also fierce combatants, with a kick that can shatter bones and steel armor. Those who prefer a more lawful life often lend their strength and speed to adventuring parties as scouts and frontline fighters.

Variant: Songbird

Songbird Harpies have been gifted with a supernaturally beautiful voice that carries for miles and can entrance those who hear it. It is rumored that the first Songbird earned the favor of the goddess of mirth and was given the gift of song in return. While some Songbirds use their voice to earn a living as entertainers, others use it to lure travelers into traps, robbing them of their valuables.

Songbird Harpies also possess the most vibrant and colorful feathers of all harpy variants, making them beautiful to behold. Nearly any combination of colors is possible, from dark red and black to pale pastel green. Their feathers are also very large and durable compared to those of mundane birds, making shed Songbird feathers highly desired among nobles for both decoration and fashion.

Songbirds are the harpy variant most likely to settle among non-harpies, often finding camaraderie within traveling troupes or as staff at a lively tavern.

Variant: Seabird

Seabird Harpies are solitary rather than communal, and they possess a truly massive wingspan that enables them to fly for weeks without rest. They hunt, eat, and even sleep while flying, but they can also rest while floating on the ocean’s surface if needed. Many Seabird Harpies spend entire years without touching land. The only time they must make landfall is to lay an egg and raise their child, but some Seabirds have taken to using small ships as a home for their families, cutting land out of their lives entirely.

This variant is the least likely to engage in piracy or other robbery, as they are self-sufficient fishers and have little desire for societal wealth.

Legendary Individuals

Their predilection to piracy has launched several harpies to widespread infamy. These individuals have carved their name into history with theft and violence, but it should be noted that not all harpies share their disrespect for law and order.

Blackbird

A standard harpy who lived through the Lustification, Blackbird took her name from her distinctive long black hair. Some have said her hair smoldered with fire, while others claimed it was elegantly braided with colorful ribbons. What is known for sure is that she was an infamous pirate, sailing a ship named The Crag’s Revenge with a crew of other harpies. For over a decade, she made a living attacking other ships, and seizing their valuables.

Despite her ruthless methods, Blackbird was known for never killing her victims. After pillaging everything of value from a ship, she returned the crew to their ship and let them return home empty handed. Particularly skilled sailors were sometimes recruited into her crew, which at one point exceeded 150 people across three ships.

Blackbird met her end beneath the cannons of an A’losh naval fleet, which had been tasked with subjugating the growing pirate threat in the northern waters. Their efforts led to a marked decrease in piracy for a generation, but the allure of undefended cargo ships eventually attracted other Roosts.

Lorelei

A songbird harpy with golden yellow feathers, Lorelei used her beautiful voice to lure sailors into crashing their ships upon rocky shores, where she and her family would seize the supplies and kill the survivors. No one knows exactly where her Roost was located, but her domain included the Channel of Mana, the narrow chasm which connects the Bay of Mana to the ocean.

Even today, many sailors refuse to travel the Channel at night, fearing the jagged shores and Lorelei’s cursed song.

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Tribes of Typhoon, the Timelost Island

Type: Wildkin
Content Warning: Violence
Encounter Rating: Sexually Aggressive
Origin: Distant Lands
Habitat: Jungle

The Island of Typhoon lies far to the northeast of Faeros, beyond a patch of sea fraught with never ending storms that made it unapproachable for millennia. But in the year 290 AL, the Eternal Storm miraculously vanished. Faerosian sailors soon discovered the sizable island, its landmass comparable to the entire claimed territory of A’losh. The ships returned to Faeros, gathered crews, and returned to explore Typhoon’s bounteous shores.

The island is covered in dense jungles, deep ravines, and towering peaks. One of those peaks, the massive Mount Pyre, is still volcanically active and constantly spews ash and lava. A sandy and welcoming shore rings the island, except the northern edge where molten lava flows from Mount Pyre into the sea.

To their surprise, the arriving sailors found the island populated by five distinct races of Wildkin, each one muscular, skilled in battle, and standing over seven feet tall. But more surprising, every single warrior who greeted them was female. The beautiful sun-kissed giantesses were equally stunned by the sight of male sailors, and some even pounced upon the arriving men in fits of lust.

Over 50 types of wild and dangerous monsters also live on Typhoon, from Dire Wolves to Maneater Plants. As a result, all five native tribes had to build their permanent settlements high above the ground on plateaus or in trees, accessible only by climbing hundreds of feet up vine ropes. Flying monsters sometimes attack the villages, but are struck down via inventive anti-air weapons, including slings, net-launchers, and giant crossbows.

Local legends say that there used to be more than five tribes on Typhoon, but the others died out after losing their few males to disaster or war. The remaining tribes struck a balance, vying for power without ever again resorting to large-scale conflict. They interact with each other on occasion, trading resources and handicrafts, and they have developed amicable rivalries.

Variant: Rex Tribe

This is the tallest and most physically imposing tribe on Typhoon, standing over eight-and-a-half feet tall. Their other distinctive features are their jaws filled with enlarged pointed teeth and their hulking, muscular legs that make their mighty arms look almost small in comparison. A thick scaly tail provides additional balance, but can also be used to sweep the legs from an enemy combatant. 

As powerful as they are large, Warriors of the Rex Tribe are extremely fearsome and prone to violence. Many of the first arrivals from Faeros were killed in conflicts with Rex Tribe Warriors before an unsteady peace was achieved. The key to this peace was discovering what the Rex tribe valued: strength, social dominance, and surprisingly, delicate and eye-catching jewelry.

The Rex Tribe considers itself the undisputed champion of the island, but the other tribes disagree. Rex Tribe Chieftesses attempted to take charge of negotiations with the foreign visitors through force and might, but the level heads of the other tribes eventually stepped in and brokered a stable relationship built on trade, treaties, and mutual respect.

Variant: Trihorn Tribe

At seven-and-a-half feet tall, this tribe is of average height for Typhoon, but they are easily distinguished by the three prominent horns on their nose and forehead. They also have dense scales on their backs and thick tails, shielding them from attack. Trihorn Warriors are known to drop into a unique quadrupedal stance in combat, maximizing their defensive scales and offensive horns.

Calmer and more cautious than the Rex tribe, Trihorn Chieftesses immediately sought peace with the visiting Faerosians. The Trihorn tribe’s rigid adherence to law and duty exceeded what the sailors had expected from such a wild, untamed land, and peace talks began in earnest. The Trihorns offered exclusive trade agreements to the most agreeable visiting diplomats, and soon had treaties in place with both Farsought and A’losh.

The Trihorn tribe values unity and reliability, and has a very structured society built around the concepts of law and order. Violence is only permitted for self defense or enforcement of laws, and Trihorn culture produces very few who would even so much as consider breaking a law.

Variant: Mammoth Tribe

The second tallest tribe, averaging eight feet in height, Mammoth tribe members are instantly recognizable by their massive fan-like ears which are used to keep cool in the tropical heat of Typhoon, and elephant-like tusks that extend forward from just beneath their ears. They also have thin tufted tails, but unlike the mundane elephants they resemble, the people of the Mammoth tribe lack any trunk appendage.

While the Lustification had relatively low impact on Typhoon compared to mainland Faeros, Typhoon’s people were not entirely untouched. And for reasons unknown, the Mammoth tribe was particularly blessed by Eros, gaining sexual prowess and desire far beyond the other tribes. Eros’ touch is also visible in their bodies, as both genders possess idealized figures and exaggerated sexual characteristics. 

The few men of the Mammoth tribe have massive penises that are simply too large for mating with human-sized women, and even the giant women of Typhoon find them impressive and daunting. The Mammoth tribe’s women are gifted with large breasts, wide hips, and thick thighs, with excellent musculature hidden beneath that soft exterior. The few Mammoth tribe Warriors who traveled outside their homeland were greeted eagerly by Faerosians who were instantly enamored with their idealistic beauty. Their impressive stamina and sex drives ensured that they remained popular among the followers of the Church of Love long after any superficial attraction had faded.

Variant: Sabertooth Tribe

This tribe is the smallest of stature at ‘only’ seven feet tall, but they possess the largest attitudes. These long-fanged and catlike people are remarkably similar to the Wildcats of Faeros, leading to theories that Wildcats were descended from Sabertooth Warriors who somehow traveled through the Eternal Storm. And just like their distant cousins, the Sabertooth tribe is feisty, quick to take offense, and prone to suddenly lashing out at perceived rudeness.

Other than their prominent canines, which can reach lengths of over six inches, this tribe also features round and furry ears, clawed fingertips, and a long prehensile tail with banded black stripes. During mating, this tail instinctively coils around their lover to replace the sense of intimacy normally provided by kissing, which is made difficult by their teeth.

The Sabertooth tribe’s claws make them very adept climbers, and they spend almost all their time high in the massive jungle trees of Typhoon. Warriors often hide on a high branch, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey that passes below. Then the hunter delivers a swift killing blow by biting deep into crucial organs with her massive teeth. 

Variant: Sloth Tribe

Of average size and unusual temperament for Typhoon, this fur-covered tribe lives life slowly and peacefully. They sleep away the days to reduce their dietary needs, and hunt during a small window in the darkest night. They avoid drama and conflict between tribes, and value personal freedom very highly. 

One of the only times in history that the Sloth tribe mobilized for war was when a rogue slaver ship arrived on Typhoon in the year 293 and seized twelve Warriors from across multiple tribes. Only one Sloth tribe member was taken, but the tribe nonetheless fought valiantly and sacrificed several individuals to slay the slavers and free all the captives. 

This tribe’s calm and friendly demeanor gave visiting merchants high hopes for a lucrative trade partner, but they were let down when they realized the Sloth tribe had little desire for material goods. Physical comfort, good conversation, and of course sleep are all that the Sloth tribe desires. For what little wares the tribe did want to purchase, such as soft sheets and feather pillows, they happily exchanged physical companionship. It is said that no greater warmth exists than that of a Sloth woman’s bosom.

Thanks to their slow and relaxed lifestyle, members of the Sloth tribe are incredibly long-lived. While Mammoth Chieftesses have been known to reach 120 years of age, there are active Sloth Warriors who are nearly twice that. Many Sloth tribe members can recall gathering around their elders to hear first-hand tales of the ‘Purple Wave’, which is undoubtedly the Lustification event over 300 years ago.

Sub-Variant: Warrior

Can apply to any variant.

Due to the hostile environment of Typhoon, even the most peaceful tribes need Warriors. After years of training from a young age, these women defend their homes from monsters and brave the wilds to hunt for food. The responsibilities of construction, farming, and fishing also fall to Warriors, but those are always secondary to protecting the tribe.

Warriors are not allowed to mate with the males of their tribe, so they often seek out physical and emotional bonding with other Warriors. Each tribe has its own norms for homosexual relationships and they are very reluctant to share the specifics with outsiders, so the specifics of Warrior courtship remain unknown.

What is well known is what happened when male sailors arrived on the island. At first, the Warriors of Typhoon were suspicious of the small men who scarcely resembled the tall Sires they were used to, but the women soon gave in to their unfulfilled lust. Many sailors were carried away or even bedded right there upon the sand. The sex was wild and somewhat dangerous, but many of the visiting men were willing to take that risk.

Warriors of the Sloth and Trihorn tribes would never take an unwilling partner, but the other tribes have no such qualms. It is recommended for male visitors to Typhoon to travel in groups of five or more, unless they want to be stolen away for a very intense night of forced mating. Once the Warrior’s immediate need is quelled, the captive man is promptly returned to his ship, worn down to exhaustion and often in need of minor medical attention.

Wildkin are unable to become pregnant from human seed, so these encounters are entirely about physical need and desire. Some Warriors, dissatisfied with the limitations of their home and culture, have sailed from Typhoon to Faeros where men and sexual freedom are plentiful.

Sub-Variant: Sire

Can apply to any variant.

Through some hereditary fluke in the tribes’ shared past, males of all five tribes are very rare, occurring in less than 1 in 500 births. As a result, all their men are kept safe in remote temples where they are protected at all times. Though they are lifelong captives, these ‘Sires’ live easy lives of luxury, doted on unwaveringly by women called Attendants. 

Sires do have one crucial responsibility that begins immediately upon reaching adulthood: to mate with their Attendants and produce children for the tribe. Throughout his life, each Sire must father over 500 children in order to sustain the tribe’s population. This means a Sire’s days and nights are filled with fornication. He must mate with as many Attendants as possible until they are confirmed pregnant, at which point they are rotated out for additional Attendants.

Most tribes limit their Sires to eight hours of ‘work’ per day for their own safety, but Sires of the Mammoth tribe are known to be tireless. Gifted by Eros with supernatural stamina, Mammoth Sires are able to mate constantly for all their waking hours, rotating through dozens of Attendants per day.

Amethiss, the draconic leader of The Church of Love, covets this ability and has offered untold riches and pleasure to any Mammoth Sire willing to escape his tribe and travel to Faeros. 

Sub-Variant: Attendant

Can apply to any variant.

Each tribe handles their selection of Attendants differently. The origins of these cultural norms are unknown, but it is clear that interaction between the tribes has caused each of their cultures to evolve over time in unique ways.

The Trihorn and Sloth tribes both allow the Sires to pick their mates from among all the tribe’s adult Warriors, based on their own personal preferences. Warriors of the Sloth tribe are allowed to turn down the offer, and often do, but the Trihorn tribe’s laws and sense of duty leave no room or desire for refusal.

In the Rex and Sabertooth tribes, only the greatest warriors who have proven themselves in combat and contest are permitted to become Attendants. A Warrior seeking to ascend to Attendant must slay fifty different species of wild monsters, then venture into the jungle to find and best a Warrior of the opposing tribe in non-lethal combat, then earn the approval of her tribe’s Queens by winning three single-elimination bouts against other aspirants during the annual Proving event. Only then can a Warrior claim the coveted title of Attendant.

Due to the unique circumstances involving the Sires of the Mammoth Tribe, only the most indefatigable Mammoth Tribe Warriors are permitted to become Attendants. Their unique Proving event pits all the tribe’s Warriors against each other in contests of will, durability, and sexual prowess. After a marathon run around the entire perimeter of the island, each Warrior must endure four hours in the blisteringly hot steam caves of Mount Pyre, then outlast 90% of her peers in a competitive sapphic orgy.

In all five tribes, once a Warrior is selected, she will not return to her previous life unless proven to be infertile. She will bear children and raise them communally with the other Attendants, and return to mating duty as soon as possible. But that doesn’t mean she’s destined to be an Attendant forever, because all five tribes have adopted the concept of Chieftesses.

Sub-Variant: Chieftess

Can apply to any variant.

Any Attendant who bears at least ten children or is fortunate enough to give birth to a male child is put onto the path of becoming a Chieftess. Her daily Attendant duties are reduced by half while she learns the arts of planning, leadership, and diplomacy. She is tutored by the tribe’s current Chieftesses, who curate and pass down knowledge to ensure that the tribe will always have wise leaders who know how to keep their people safe and prosperous. After three to five years of learning, if she meets her instructors’ standards, she becomes a Chieftess and begins acting as an advisor for the tribe.

Aside from her leadership role, each Chieftess is free to choose her own lifestyle without any limitations, ranging from quiet study in the tribal archives to continued mating with Sires to a life of combat among the tribe’s Warriors. This diversity is important, as each Chieftess provides a unique perspective whenever the tribe’s Council of Chieftesses convenes to discuss issues facing the tribe.

Legendary Individuals

Korla, Heroine of Typhoon

This towering Rex Chieftess with a wild mane of bright red hair is renowned among all five tribes as a hero to the entire island. Wearing nothing but strips of Dire Wolf fur and wielding spiked gauntlets made of Sky Terror teeth and Blacksteel from the forge of Mount Pyre, she protects all of Typhoon from its greatest threats. In the last 10 years alone, she has defeated a swarm of Storm Drakes, a Ferrous Hog stampede, and a Greater Magma Elemental birthed from Mount Pyre during a record-breaking eruption.

She is also notable for being the only Chieftess not to have served as Attendant first. After easily defeating every other challenger in her Proving event, including two unbelieving Chieftesses, she asked to be put directly onto the Chieftess path. She remained a Warrior during her Chieftess training, and continues to serve on the front lines as often as possible.

Despite her Chieftess role, Korla does not place the Rex Tribe above the others. She protects all tribes equally, and often acts as a neutral party during inter-tribe disputes.

The Madame 

Some say this Mammoth Tribe Chieftess has been blessed by a Succubus, not because of her gorgeous figure and striking blonde locks, but because she has mastered countless sexual techniques to a mind-blowing degree. She loves to please others and is willing to share her knowledge with anyone of any gender and tribe. Her wisdom and experience are highly valued, and the Attendants she trains have been known to achieve a higher rate of conception than their peers. 

In a historic first, she was even hired by the Sabertooth Tribe to mate with ten of their Sires and educate them on lovemaking techniques. After a month of nightly tutelage, the Sires went on to satisfy and impregnate their Attendants so thoroughly that the Sabertooth Tribe had to hold a mid-year Proving event to bring in new recruits. 

The Madame did not become pregnant during her extended time with the Sabertooth Sires, verifying the long-suspected fact that the tribes of Typhoon are not capable of cross-breeding.

Plum

Famous among the Sloth Tribe for her long purple hair and way with words, this (relatively) young Warrior is making waves as an ambassador to foreign visitors. She’s kind, patient, and hard working, but also surprisingly skilled at getting what she wants. To date, she has convinced several arriving merchant ships to lower their prices, stopped an armed conflict between two rival trading guilds, and received correspondence directly from the King of Farsought after her name and reputation traveled all the way to Faeros. 

The Chieftesses of her tribe would like her to seek the path of Attendant into Chieftess, but Plum has stated that she is satisfied with her current Warrior role and wouldn’t want to hinder her romantic relationship. She is intimate with Korla of the Rex Tribe, as one of several members of the Heroine’s polyamorous harem. The two met during one of The Madame’s sexual technique workshops, and they gravitated together when it became obvious that they were the only non-Attendants in the class, and the only ones looking to please other women rather than mate with a Sire.

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Centaurs

Type: Hume
Content Warning: Sexual Content
Encounter Rating: Safe
Origin: Lustification
Habitat: Plains

Centaurs are one of the most famous and recognizable Hume species, with a human body from the waist up and a horse’s body and legs below that. This standard form is sometimes called an Equine Centaur. Tall and proud, adult male centaurs average 8 feet tall from hoof to crown and females are slightly smaller at 7 feet. Centaurs have short fur on their lower bodies, ranging from black to golden blonde, and they often forego clothing on that half. The hair on their heads and tails grows silky and strong, and can be sold for use in the creation of fine musical instruments.

Centaurs are strong, fleet of foot, and have the endurance to run for an entire day without stopping, making them excellent scouts and messengers. Most centaurs prefer to live among their own kind in small villages in the wide grasslands of eastern Farsought, but those who want to enter society can easily find work in a variety of industries. The Royal Knights are always recruiting cavalry, and shipping companies pay well for skilled couriers willing to brave the wild roads beyond the borders of the Kingdoms.

Additionally, male centaurs are considered a symbol of virility by the lust-worshipping Church of Love. The Church hires particularly handsome and well-endowed centaurs as performers for impromptu public demonstrations, recruitment drives, and orgies. Men and women with penis-size obsessions flock to these events to behold the centaurs’ impressive genitals, which can reach sizes as large as 3 feet in length and 9 inches in diameter at the flared tip. Due to the difference in scale between the centaurs and other orgy attendees, the Church offers magic elasticity spells to enable safe copulation.

Despite their sexual desirability, most varieties of centaurs can only successfully reproduce within their own species and subspecies.

Variant: Cervine

Habitat: The Black Forest

This deer-like variant, with brown and white spotted coats and narrow hooves, is slightly smaller than standard centaurs. Their tails are short and fluffy, and males have large antlers upon their heads that are used for clearing low-hanging branches from their territorial trails as well as for ceremonial fighting. Cervine Centaurs have a strong connection to nature and tend to live deep in the Black Forest, far from civilization.

Upon reaching adulthood, each male Cervine Centaur will claim a region of the forest and cut a path around the outer edge of that territory. He then makes frequent circuits of that trail, clearing branches overhead and roots underhoof. Different centaurs’ trails often run parallel to each other, but never cross or overlap. If a section of trail becomes overgrown or otherwise appears neglected, it is assumed to be abandoned and another Cervine may connect it to his own trail, extending his territory. This prevents a Cervine from keeping more territory than he can handle. If a claim to territory is contested by the previous owner, a ceremonial battle will take place in neutral territory using only their antlers as weapons. The winner will become the rightful keeper of that land. 

Cervine trails make for easy travel through the otherwise tangled and treacherous Black Forest, so some enterprising cartographers sell mapped routes that make use of dozens of adjacent trails to traverse the wilds. Outsiders are welcome to travel on Cervine trails, but travelers are expected to give the trail’s keeper a small tribute of food or goods if they should encounter him.

Female Cervines are free to live wherever they wish, with the cultural expectation that they mate only with the keeper of that land. Males who have claimed particularly attractive land with key resources or desirable features like waterfalls or flowering meadows can end up with four or more lovers. However, since the women are free to leave at any time, men with poor attitudes or behavior will soon have zero lovers, regardless of the attractiveness of their territory.

Variant: Bovine

Bovine Centaurs are broader, more muscular, and slightly shorter than standard centaurs. Their fur is either solid brown or spotted black and white, and the hair on their tails is tufted and bristly. The men sport wide horns that can span up to six feet, and the women have very large breasts that produce milk year-round. Despite the similarities to mundane cows, Bovine women possess just two breasts on their upper half and no udders.

Unlike Cervine Centaurs, Bovines prefer to live within society rather than out on their own. Many Bovine centaurs work in the farm and ranch industries, since their considerable strength is ideal for physical labor like pulling plows. Additionally, the women bottle and sell their milk to be shipped to the city for market. Bovine milk is very rich and nutritious, leading nobles of both Kingdoms to hire bovine centaurs as live-in wetnurses to their children. 

And just as male centaurs are considered the epitome of virility, the massive breasts of female Bovines are seen as symbols of fertility and bounty. Each breast can be twice the size of a human head, and they require customized garments to support their considerable weight. Members of the Church of Love and nobles with certain obsessions will gladly pay Bovine women for services of a sexual nature.

Variant: Pony

This variant is entirely female and very small, standing only 4 feet tall when fully grown. Their upper half resembles a miniature human woman and their legs are short and stout. This has earned them the nickname “Dwarf Centaur”, but they have no relation to Dwarves. In fact, the first Pony centaur was born to normal centaur parents who had absorbed too much mana and tantric energy during their travels throughout Faeros.

Pony Centaurs love to travel and trade, and often form large roaming merchant caravans, pulled by livestock since Ponies are too small to move large carts on their own. These wandering bazaars visit everywhere from large cities to remote villages, bringing fragments of civilization to even the most distant settlements. Many Ponies also deal in magical artifacts, leading adventurers to seek out Pony caravans to sell their dungeon-liberated treasures and buy new items more suited to their class and skills.

Bandits occasionally seek to rob the diminutive Ponies, but soon realize they are both magically gifted and wealthy enough to hire protection. Full-size centaurs outfitted with enchanted equipment will engage robbers or monsters in melee combat while Ponies cast damaging and bolstering spells from the back lines.

The same male centaurs who protect the Pony Centaurs from danger often become their lovers as well. Despite the significant difference in size, the all-female Ponies must mate with standard centaurs to reproduce. Thankfully, their bodies are uniquely adapted to accommodate the large genitals of full-size centaurs: a Pony’s non-reproductive organs are housed within her upper body and the majority of her larger lower body is dedicated to reproductive organs and an extended vaginal canal. 

Variant: Feline (Wildcat Hybrid)

Habitat: Jungle

At some point in the chaotic early years after the Lustification, a [Wildcat] and a Centaur fell in love and mated. It is believed that their union was blessed by Eros, allowing an otherwise impossible pregnancy. The mother gave birth to a hybrid son who had the fur-covered upper body, face, and ears of a Wildcat and the lower body of a large predatory cat, complete with four massive paws and a long prehensile tail.

That Feline Centaur was able to reproduce with both Wildcats and Centaurs, always yielding more four-legged Wildcats like himself. His children had the same ability, and went on to form a diverse lineage of Feline hybrids, sometimes called “Panthaurs”. Despite that nickname, Feline Centaurs are not limited to panther-like features: like Wildcats, they can also resemble lions, lynxes, tigers, and more. 

Similar to Wildcats, Feline Centaurs are temperamental, suspicious of outsiders, and very emotional, but they are not unnecessarily cruel. Most Feline Centaurs now live in the Keryne Jungle of the northeast coastline, and they keep mostly to themselves in order to prevent their dominant ancestry from overtaking existing Wildcat and Centaur populations.

Variant: Pixie Hybrid

Habitat: The Black Forest

It is theorized that these rare and mysterious hybrids share a similar origin story to the Wildcat Hybrids: a daring romance between vastly-different species earned the attention and blessing of Eros. Pixie Centaurs look exactly like standard centaurs, except they are less than 8 inches tall. Their culture, lifestyle, and abilities are far closer to those of [Faeries] than centaurs, but unlike most faeries, Pixie Centaurs have no wings.

This all-female variant lives in secret communities deep in the Black Forest, often inside the largest hollow trees. Each Pixie Centaur only emerges from the forest once every three years to find a mate. Using faerie magic to turn invisible and avoid predators that would otherwise devour her whole, the lone Pixie Centaur must make a long and arduous journey to a human settlement. 

Pixie Centaurs need to mate with human men to reproduce, so their lower half is dedicated to reproductive organs and is also magically elastic. They’ll often slip into a man’s home, entice and bewitch him with tantric magic, and give themselves over to his heightened lust. 

The lust spell lasts only three nights and cannot affect the same man again for some time, so the Pixie Centaur must make full use of the limited duration. She’ll mate with the man several dozen times to ensure pregnancy, then use her invisibility to slip away in the night. She returns to her forest home to give birth and raise her daughters, which are almost always born in pairs. 

Twin siblings have been sighted traveling together, bewitching two men in the same town, then comparing their conquests. They’ll passionately argue about who had the bigger partner for the entire trip home.

Legendary Individuals

Most centaurs prefer to live simply and in the company of their own kind, but a few notable individuals have ventured out into Faeros and earned fame and glory.

Chirea, The Great Healer

One of very few Cervine Centaurs to venture beyond the Black Forest, Chirea made a name for herself as a peerless healer. She used druidic magic to restore life to injured warriors and withered crops, and famously refused to charge for her healing services. Grateful villages who owed their survival to her magic often gave to charities in her name instead.

She wandered the land with other adventurers, but never stayed with one party for long; her refusal to take payment was incompatible with the fortune-seeking goals of most adventurers. It was during one of these lapses in partnership that the inn where she was staying was attacked by bandits. The foolish bandits fired arrows dipped in hydra venom, thinking it would paralyze the targets, but it was actually highly lethal. Chirea and the other inn guests were all slain, and the Royal Knights of Farsought were dispatched to bring the bandits to justice.

But even justice could not bring Chirea back, and Faeros lost a wonderful hero forevermore.

Kypri, The Lighthammer

Often considered the strongest centaur to ever have lived, Kypri is a Bovine Centaur with a respectable 5-foot hornspan and far more impressive muscles. In his youth, Kypri worked as a blacksmith in a small village, but a near-death encounter with a rampaging dullahan led him to take up a self-made warhammer and learn the art of battle. 

He trained with wandering adventurers, members of the Royal Knights, and even a paladin of the Eternal Aegis, and Kypri quickly became a force to be reckoned with. During their time together, the Eternal Aegis paladin cast a permanent blessing upon Kypri’s warhammer, allowing him to fight and wound incorporeal foes. Kypri left his village and sought out evil spirits to slay with his blessed warhammer, ensuring that no other village would suffer as his had.

After forty years of war against the creatures of evil, when Kypri’s body could no longer handle the stresses of battle, he retired to live with his blacksmithing apprentice and lover, another Bovine bull named Gregor.

Felix, First of His Kind

Felix was the original Feline Centaur, and the first recorded post-Lustification hybrid. Born of second-generation Wildcat and Centaur parents, he did not fit in either of their young tribes, so he set out on his own to find a place in the wild new world. In those early days of Faeros, every new species was equally strange and hybrids were not yet despised or treated unfairly. 

Skilled with a bow and more agile than his large form suggested, Felix was able to travel much of Faeros and take many lovers. Only his unions with Wildcats or Centaurs produced children, and he soon learned how his heredity worked. All of his children were four-legged cat people like himself, and they produced more of the same when mating with either Centaurs or Wildcats.

By the year 58 AL, encouraged by the rapidly growing and xenophobic Citadel of Holy Light, the people of Faeros had started to turn against hybrid races. Felix retreated to the Keryne Jungle and founded a sanctuary village, a safe haven for hybrids. He spent his later years tracking down all of his descendants and inviting them to join him there, far from the crazed mobs that the Citadel sent after known hybrids.

In the two centuries since his death, that nameless village grew into a network of small cities, populated by thousands of Feline Centaurs and other hybrids. The power of the Citadel has waned and the rest of Faeros is no longer as severely biased against hybrids, but some prejudices remain and hybrid-kind’s opportunities are still far from equal.

Chapter Text

Eldritch Ones

Type: Demon
Content Warning: Body Horror
Origin: Distant Lands
Habitat: Urban
Encounter Rating: Various

Eldritch Ones are perhaps the most mysterious race dwelling on Faeros. It is believed they come from another plane of existence, but it is neither the Realm of Lust nor the Infernal Plane from which most other demons originate.

Eldritch Ones aren’t fully evil, but they are completely disconnected from mortal concerns. They don’t care about life or society, and don’t seem to eat, sleep, or feel pain. Some researchers speculate that Eldritch Ones’ bodies are merely tiny slivers of their true selves which are projected into our reality from theirs, like tendrils crawling into our world through cracks in the mortar of reality.

These strange beings frequently take interest in a particular person or family and follow them for years, observing and waiting for reasons unknown. In addition to being unpleasant and unnerving for the one being observed, it is believed that the attention of an Eldritch One brings misfortune. As a result, the phrase ‘under an Eldritch eye’ emerged as a way of saying ‘experiencing a streak of very bad luck’.

All Eldritch Ones abhor public attention, and will always flee rather than be discovered in the open. If attacked by one, calling for help and running toward other people is the best option. Their physical bodies can be killed, though doing so may be no more than a temporary inconvenience to the greater being behind that projected form.

There is no standard form for an Eldritch One, and their body can range from inscrutable noise and impossible angles to a simple featureless black orb, but four forms are significantly more common than the others.

Variant: Gazer

Encounter Rating: Dangerous, Do Not Antagonize

Of all known Eldritch Ones, Gazers are the most touched by Eros. They take the form of a beautiful woman with a single large eye in her face and six smaller eyes on the ends of prehensile eye-stalks that emerge from her flowing black hair. Gazers’ skin is inhumanely pale and their eyes glow a menacing red. They are shy creatures who exhibit a surprising amount of modesty for an otherworldly being; a black sludge emerges from their skin to cover their intimate areas, retreating only for the single person they’ve fixated on.

Each Gazer chooses someone to follow and obsess over, sometimes for years at a time. At first they keep their distance and watch from afar, but they grow more bold over time and will eventually begin to interact with their target directly. The obsession is usually romantic and sexual in nature, but some platonic obsessions have been recorded. If a Gazer is rebuked by the target of their obsession, she may go on a rampage or retreat silently. On the other hand, should they actually achieve the close relationship they desired for so long, they often grow bored and choose a new person to fixate on.

Gazers never harm the object of their obsession and if that person is put in serious danger, the Gazer will intervene and fight rather than let them come to harm. This partially disproves the belief that Eldritch Ones bring misfortune, at least with regards to this one variant.

In battle, Gazers are formidable combatants who are armed with a variety of magical beams emitted from their eyes. The beam’s color determines its effect, and it appears that only the strongest Gazers have full control over which color is emitted. Once a beam hits, it applies an effect that lasts as long as the eye that emitted it remains open and intact, or until that eye shoots another beam. Blinking even briefly will cancel the effect, so throwing dust or sand is an effective counter to this magic. 

Since Gazers have seven eyes, up to seven beams can be in effect at a time, either seven different ones or multiples of the same few. Once an effect is active, the Gazer may hide the associated eye-stalk in her hair or swap its position with another to protect it. 

There are eight known Gazer beam colors, each with a unique effect:

• Red - Heat Beam
• Ignites any surface into supernatural dark-red flame. The fire slowly spreads to adjacent material for as long as the beam is projecting, and cannot be extinguished except by disrupting the eye that emitted it.
• Orange - Sleep Beam
• The target becomes incredibly tired and will fall asleep within 15 seconds. Once asleep, they cannot be awoken until the beam effect is canceled.
• Yellow - Fear Beam
• The target becomes cowardly and afraid of anything remotely threatening, such as their own bladed weapons, their own companions with any known crimes, and of course the Gazer herself. Very strong-willed victims may turn this fear into a drive to fight the perceived threats, but most will flee from them.
• Green - Energy Beam
• The target becomes energized and imbued with magical power. While affected, the target’s stamina is nearly limitless and their physical and mental abilities will operate at peak performance. The most powerful Gazers will target themselves with this beam at the beginning of battle, or target their lover during a sexual encounter.
• Blue - Ice Beam
• Freezes the target solid in a block of magic ice. The victim can see and think while frozen and will be unharmed when the effect fades, but a physical blow can easily shatter them, leading to extreme injury or death.
• Indigo - Charm Beam
• Makes the target very friendly toward the Gazer, and unable to harm her.
• Violet - Lust Beam
• Makes the target overwhelmingly and distractingly aroused. This does not affect the victim’s preferences unless paired with the Charm Beam. In that case, the victim will become sexually attracted to the Gazer and pursue her immediately.
• Grey - Stone Beam
• Changes the target to magically hardened stone. The victim can’t move, see, or feel but they are nearly impervious to all attacks, including other beams, until the effect ends.

Variant: Shapeshifter

Encounter Rating: Disruptive, yet usually harmless

No one knows the true form of a shapeshifter because they are always disguised as another person. They can assume the form of anyone they’ve seen, down to the finest physical detail. This includes hair, scars, areas covered by clothes, muscle strength, and even internal anatomy. Some of the most powerful Shapeshifters can even conjure matching clothing. All shapeshifters can impersonate the target’s behavior and speech to a limited degree. A close friend or loved one will likely notice subtle differences in mannerisms, inevitably leading to questioning and the Shapeshifter fleeing.

Shapeshifters seem to enjoy walking in others’ shoes and experiencing snippets of diverse lives. They might attempt to work a blacksmith’s forge or go shopping in a noble district market. After a day or two, they’ll usually grow bored and abandon a form without causing any real harm, but the impersonated victim can have a difficult time explaining the lookalike’s actions to others.

If killed, a Shapeshifter’s body remains identical in appearance to the copied person in every way except their brain, which is a black fog that quickly dissipates upon exposure to air. Shapeshifters are the cause of many false death reports throughout Faeros history, and some cultures have begun drilling small holes into the skulls of their dead, just in case.

Variant: Doppelganger

Encounter Rating: Kill on Sight

Doppelgangers are only superficially similar to Shapeshifters, in that they can both take the form of another person. In every other way, Doppelgangers are more dangerous. Each Doppelganger has the unique ability to take the form of any person it has killed, and by taking in some of their dying essence, it learns how to flawlessly imitate them while it moves to take more victims. They are known to collect appearances compulsively, at the cost of mortal lives. One prolific Doppelganger confessed to over 500 murders throughout both Kingdoms.

Doppelgangers are not limited to the physical capabilities of the body they are copying, so witnessing someone demonstrate impossible strength is a common way of discovering a Doppelganger. Another is stumbling upon its latest victim’s dead body.

When confronted or when they choose to take another victim, Doppelgangers are powerful and savage, lashing out wildly with no regard for their current body. When killed, they revert to their true form, a tangled mass of flesh and sinew with no discernable face or limbs.

The Kingdoms of Farsought and A’losh both offer sizable bounties for the body of a Doppelganger, but money is a poor replacement for the lives lost to these monsters’ brutality.

Variant: Thoughteater

Encounter Rating: Dangerous, Do Not Antagonize

As the name implies, Thoughteaters steal and consume thoughts from the person they are fixated on. Only current thoughts can be taken, not memories, and the process causes no lasting damage. When you suddenly lose your line of thought, it might be a Thoughteater’s doing. While they usually hide in the shadows beneath a cloak while they observe their victim from afar, their true form is that of a pale genderless humanoid with short tentacles where their jaw and lips should be.

Each Thoughteater has their own preferred flavors of thought, and will switch targets to find a victim who produces the desired types more frequently. Some victims have even become prolific artists or authors as the Thoughteater consumed all their distracting thoughts. After years of success, such creators have been brought to ruin when the Thoughteater develops a taste for their creative thoughts, or simply moves on to another victim. This has given Thoughteaters the nickname of ‘Dark Muse’.

If attacked, a Thoughteater will disrupt its attacker’s thoughts and defend itself with martial arts and weapon skills that it learned from past victims. Additionally, if it grabs a person and gets its tentacles on their scalp for 15 uninterrupted seconds, it can consume all their thoughts at once, leaving them permanently mindless and giving the Thoughteater a temporary surge of strength. For this reason, one should never fight a Thoughteater alone.

Sub-Variant: Exiled One

Can apply to any variant.
Encounter Rating: Safe

The name ‘Exiled One’ refers to the way these Eldritch Ones seem to have been exiled from their original plane, or chose to leave, because they don’t fit in with their kind. Exiled Ones display a genuine desire to fit in with human society; they are sociable and try to obey the laws of the land where they reside.

The easiest way to identify an Exiled One is by its undisguised appearance in a public space, something that normal Eldritch Ones fear and loathe.

It’s theorized that Exiled Ones come into existence when an Eldritch One, either inside or outside our reality, becomes enamored with society as a whole or starts idolizing an individual who serves the greater good. They then begin trying to integrate and become a productive member of society, despite the difficulty and biases they invariably face.

Many Exiled Ones have been killed by suspicious people who doubt the being’s intent, but there are no recorded incidents of a normal Eldritch One imitating an Exiled One, even briefly. Some researchers suspect this is due to some extreme social stigma against Exiled Ones within the Eldritch home plane. Despite their friendly attitude, all Exiled Ones have refused to answer questions about their place of origination, often claiming that the mortal mind cannot begin to comprehend it, and that learning too much would surely drive us mad.

Exiled Gazers are not much different than normal ones, but they are more open and honest about their obsessions, going as far as to ask their target’s friends and family for advice on how to win their heart. Their monstrous appearance makes integrating with society difficult, but not impossible. Due to their unique and powerful eye-beams, Exiled Gazers make effective adventurers. The Church of Love has hired Gazers on occasion to provide Lust and Energy Beams for the Church’s wild orgies.

Exiled Shapeshifters are nearly impossible to detect unless they choose to reveal their identity, but it is estimated that over 1,000 of them live on Faeros. To reduce the chance of being discovered by accident, most Exiled Shapeshifters limit themselves to impersonating a small selection of non-descript individuals. The most common disguises include the lost twin of an orphan or a much younger copy of someone from a distant region. Some Exiled Shapeshifters have assumed the entire life of someone who died alone, and on rare occasions, even the family and lovers of the imitated person will choose to accept the imperfect copy, rather than live without them.

Exiled Doppelgangers are very rare and feared by society, but because their imitation ability is far more effective than that of Shapeshifters, they are highly sought by the Kingdoms for use as assassins and double agents. As long as it’s for the benefit of their adopted homeland, an Exiled Doppelganger will infiltrate enemy territory, kill and impersonate important military figures, steal information, or just wreak havoc. Neither Farsought nor A’losh will admit how many, if any, Doppelgangers are under their employ.

Exiled Thoughteaters, like Gazers, can have a difficult time integrating with society based on their appearance. However, their ability can be useful in a variety of situations, such as helping a student stay focused on their lessons or keeping a person in mourning from dwelling on their loss. Exiled Thoughteaters may sell their services to wealthy nobles or wander the land searching for delicious thoughts to eat. They typically pay their targets in compensation for the temporary inconvenience, or even form ongoing contracts with people who have particularly tasty thoughts.

Legendary Individuals

For better and for worse, Eldritch and Exiled Ones have made their mark on Faeros history. Eldritch Ones do not care for the concept of names, but some notorious ones have earned nicknames based on their reputation. Exiled Ones, on the other hand, like to choose a name for themselves and they show some measure of pride when it is spoken by others.

The Korr Street Killer

Also known as the Market Murderer, the Night Creep, and just ‘Slaughter’, this criminal Doppelganger brought fear and death to cities throughout Faeros for 85 years before its capture. Because it changed forms often, its crimes were rarely linked back to the same being and it earned a new nickname each time it reemerged and resumed killing. It wasn’t until it was finally captured by the Royal Knights in an elaborate operation that the true extent of its foul deeds became known. 

When interrogated, it claimed credit for numerous murders previously thought to be the work of dozens of individual killers, and it transformed into each and every victim to prove it. The total confessed murders totalled over 500, leading to public outcry and protests in the streets of Farsought, demanding death for the monster and justice for the dead.

The Doppelganger was put to death within a heavily enchanted chamber that aimed to prevent another incarnation of the same Eldritch One from returning to our reality ever again. It is believed to have succeeded; unexplained deaths and reports of Doppelganger encounters have both dropped considerably in the years since.

Korr Street, a once-bustling market row that was completely devastated by the brutal murder of nearly every shopkeeper, was purchased by King Vandir of Farsought then leveled and converted into a park with a memorial at its center. The memorial contains etchings depicting all 500 victims, based on sketches made by the Royal Knights of the forms the monster demonstrated during interrogation. All known names of the victims are also listed, but over half remain unidentified to this day.

Iris

One of the most famous Exiled Ones, this Exiled Gazer adventurer is known for her extreme devotion to Crown Prince Sanja of A’losh. Unable to get anywhere near the Prince due to the King’s suspicion of her kind, Iris sought to prove herself by protecting his Kingdom from its greatest threats.

Despite being feared by many for her species alone, Iris earned a gleaming reputation through numerous adventures and successful quests. She has worked with dozens of teams of adventurers, and she often pushed on alone when her companions were too afraid to proceed. She is credited for disrupting an Ash Queen cult lurking within A’losh’s banking guild, defeating a Greater Sand Wurm that attacked the western wall, and scores of other significant deeds.

Iris has refused payment for over half of her completed missions, instead directing the funds to the charity of Prince Sanja’s choice. That clever move successfully forced him to acknowledge her achievements. It’s unknown what the Prince thinks of her romantic advances, but he has promised to award her a medal of recognition for her adventuring work, as soon as he replaces his father as King.

Silerius

This Thoughteater has the distinction of being the only Exiled One credited as a co-author on a best-selling novel. By partnering with the author Cort Bachman, Silerius helped create one of the most beloved stories in Faeros history, The Saga of Summer. Not only did Silerius consume all of Cort’s distracting thoughts while he focused on telling the tale, they are also credited for the roles of creative support and editing.

The Saga of Summer recounts the fictional story of two young siblings that foolishly took on a high-tier quest far too soon. They spent their entire summer fleeing from danger and escaping by the skin of their teeth, and eventually returned home battered, bruised, and much wiser for the experience. Cort based the tale upon a similar (albeit less thrilling) event from his own youth and he dedicated the novel to his sister Gabrielle.

Silerius earns a full fifty percent of the royalties from the novel, but spends their fortune frugally and out of the public eye. All requests for interviews have been directed to Cort instead. While Exiled Ones are capable of appearing in public, most still avoid it if possible.

Klimfth the Unsung

This exiled shapeshifter is connected to the adventurer's guild of Coralburg, where they have taken on an untold number of quests. The total number is unknown because Klimfth frequently borrowed the form of an adventurer who was out on a long quest or other journey, then accepted and completed quests in their name. Their quest completion ratio is believed to be one-hundred percent, since all failed quests from the Coralburg Adventurer’s Guild have been claimed by others.

The rare times Klimfth took credit were likely the result of their identity being revealed. Klimfth’s best known achievement is the defeat of Inish'losh, a young but very destructive red dragon. Klimfth was only discovered as the dragonslayer because the adventurer being imitated returned to Coralburg before Klimfth was done with the quest.

Klimfth's identity when not posing as an adventurer is unknown but some suspect them of being an employee of the guild itself.

Chapter Text

The Branches of Magic

Type: Rules of reality
Content Warning: None

Magic is a mysterious and complex system of arcane rules and interactions that allow those with the talent to alter the world around them. Magic has existed longer than recorded history, but we’re still learning new things about how it works, and discovering new ways to apply it.

Fewer than one third of Faeros’s residents are gifted in magic, and the vast majority of those are only attuned to a single branch of magic. While the origins of these branches are mostly unknown, scholars have spent centuries cataloging and testing them in an effort to understand the rules that make up our world. Each branch operates according to different rules and consumes different resources, and each has its own capabilities.

Adventurers seeking to use magic in their fight against monsters and the elements of nature should aim to be well-versed in each branch’s potential and limitations. Even non-Mages may need to identify an enemy spell or support an ally who has pushed themselves too far.

Variant: Sorcery

The most well-documented and practical form of magic is called Sorcery, and its power source is the ambient Mana that can be found throughout Faeros. Mana is an invisible energy that flows like a river, passing uninhibited through solid objects. It originates from deep in the ground and mostly follows natural paths called leylines, but it also dissipates outward until it reaches nearly every corner of the world.

Those with an affinity for Sorcery, called Sorcerers, can sense Mana around them and feel the direction of its flow, but Mana is completely imperceptible to people without the gift. On the other hand, the results of Sorcery are visible to everyone and tend to be quite obvious. 

Sorcery is closely tied to the natural elements and is particularly effective at manipulating them. From conjuring fire to moving earth, Sorcery can control most unliving materials. It can also interact with knowledge and information, allowing a Sorcerer to translate foreign text, predict the weather, and send messages instantly across long distances.

However, Sorcery is completely unable to modify the mind or body; it can’t heal a wound or control another person’s thoughts. The closest Sorcery can come to affecting the mind is via the Illusion spell, where Mana is formed into a false image almost indistinguishable from the reality around it.

Using Sorcery pulls Mana from the surrounding area, channels it through the caster’s body, and emits it in a new purposeful form. Sorcerers have likened the experience to being shocked by a spark of static when casting small spells, or being struck by lightning for large spells. Attempting a spell beyond the caster’s skill level can be lethal when that lightning bolt tears through their body uncontrolled. Additionally, if too much Mana is exhausted from an area, living things nearby may feel unwell until the Mana replenishes naturally.

Sub-Variant: Intuitive Sorcery

Some Sorcerers naturally have a ‘feel’ for magic and can cast spells by intuition and experimentation rather than a learned list of spells. This approach allows for very flexible casting based on need alone; if a caster needs to solve a problem, they may discover a new magical solution without any prior training on the topic.

This flexibility comes at a cost; an Intuitive Sorcerer looking to improve their capabilities has few options other than practice and experimentation, since they can’t learn new spells from others.

Sub-Variant: Structured Sorcery

Most Sorcerers are unable to improvise with their magic, and must instead follow structured recipes as a guideline. This can take the form of a phrase spoken aloud, a physical motion, or a specific mental image. The primary advantage to Structured Sorcery is consistency, allowing the caster to get exactly the planned effect every time. 

These spells must be learned from mentors or tomes, and need to be practiced extensively before the Sorcerer can cast them successfully. To teach future Structured Sorcerers, several universities have been founded throughout Faeros, and some have legacies going back thousands of years.

It is believed that every Structured Spell was originally used by an Intuitive Sorcerer, then researched and standardized by a Structured Sorcerer for future generations to use. This partnership has driven Sorcery forward for thousands of years, creating the useful tools we have today. 

Variant: Tantric

Tantric Magic did not exist on Faelight before the Lustification, with the exception of demons who had been summoned from the Realm of Lust, such as Succubi and Incubi. Without the density of sexual energy present on their home plane, their magic was weak and limited while visiting Faelight. Tantric Magic has grown in power significantly since the realms merged and created Faeros. Now, sexual energy, also called Tantra, is abundant throughout the continent and many beings are born with a natural affinity for it. 

Tantra is remarkably similar to Mana, and in some cases they can even be used interchangeably. If a spell falls within the overlap of Sorcery and Tantric Magic’s capabilities, it can be cast with either resource, even if the caster isn’t gifted with an affinity for the other system. Unlike Mana, Tantra does not follow leylines. Instead, it flows from the bodies and minds of living beings, particularly when they are feeling sexually aroused. Ambient Tantra can also be found throughout Faeros, and it is believed to be most concentrated wherever Eros has visited.

Like sexual skill, Tantric Magic can be learned naturally through intuition and experimentation, but it improves considerably with practice and with guidance from more experienced mentors. Similar to Sorcery, most tantric casters find that spoken words or physical motions can make it easier to cast their spell at a predictable strength. Desire is the primary driving force for a Tantric Mage, and they must want something deeply in order to channel Tantra into a spell toward that purpose. With enough internal desire and sufficient Tantra in the environment, that energy will condense and conform to the caster’s will, causing change in the world.

Tantric Magic can do nearly anything tied to desire or reproduction, such as alter the caster’s appearance, skew someone else’s preferences or perceptions, or make a flower bloom early. However, like desire itself, Tantric Magic is fleeting. The effects are almost always temporary, but the consequences can be permanent. For example, Tantric Magic can boost a couple’s fertility temporarily, and any child they conceive will remain after the magic fades.

Tantra has difficulty permeating and affecting unliving material, so it is ill-suited for conjuring or reshaping objects, even if desire and sexuality are involved. Additionally, it can only amplify or alter something that is already present, so it cannot seduce asexual beings or enable incompatible species to produce offspring.

In addition to desire and available Tantra, the use of Tantric Magic is limited by two more factors: the caster’s skill and their physical stamina. Casting a Tantric spell consumes Tantra from the environment and the caster’s stamina in tandem, and particularly powerful spells can leave the caster panting, sweaty, and exhausted as if they had been through intense physical exertion. But the act of using Tantric Magic is also immensely pleasurable and can be as satisfying as good sex. And like sex, the experience can become addictive and can be taken too far. Casting beyond one’s talent can make them collapse in ecstasy before completing the spell.

Variant: Druidic

There is a nameless energy present in nature and wild spaces, an interconnectedness that fades away within the rigid structure of civilization. Some people who are gifted with a close bond to nature can join that natural network and redirect slivers of its power to their will. They are called Druids, and their power is called Druidic Magic.

Druidic Magic is effective at manipulating and bolstering living things, particularly in directions that nature already desires to go. For example, a Druid can heal a wound, make crops grow quickly, or lure a school of fish into a net. They can also form connections with nature, enabling them to communicate with animals and even plants.

But Druidic Magic relies on both nature and connection to work, so it is ineffective at manipulating manufactured materials and cannot directly affect the mind, an inner sanctum that is isolated from the interconnectedness of nature. Druidic Magic also cannot defy nature entirely, and is thus unable to restore life to the dead. And, while it is a natural phenomenon, controlling fire is beyond the reach of Druids, and raging flames must be dealt with indirectly. 

Druidic Magic brings the user’s consciousness into harmony with the natural world, connecting them to the state of the land around them. If all is right with nearby nature, casting a Druidic spell will bring a sense of peace. But if the natural order has been corrupted by something like necromancy or excessive industry, Druidic Magic can bring its caster a sense of despair and a powerful desire to restore a natural state.

Additionally, Druidic Magic is powered by the natural processes of the body, and casting a spell causes sudden hunger in the caster. If a Druid pushes too far beyond their own limits, Druidic Magic can cause sudden starvation or even a loss of self within the vast interconnectedness of nature. 

Variant: Vitae

Separate from Mana, Tantra, and the energy of nature, there is one other force that can be harnessed by magic, and that is the power of life and death. Some gifted mages can tap into this energy, also called Vitae, and direct it to their will. By most measures, Vitae Magic is the most powerful and most dangerous kind of magic.

It can heal a wound, animate a statue, save a struggling crop, raise a dead body as a mindless zombie, or instantly snuff out the life of a weakened creature. However, all these actions come at a cost which must be paid in the caster’s maximum lifespan, unless they have been granted power from a divine source, such as a god or True-Magic being.

Whether bolstered by a divine patron or not, using Vitae Magic causes the caster a temporary dimming of the senses and forced introspection. For an instant that feels much longer, the world fades away to blackness, leaving only the caster with their flaws exposed for them to see and truly understand. It also instills a hyper-awareness of the caster’s remaining lifespan, and many people with the gift for Vitae Magic find the experience too unpleasant to repeat.

Even with those drawbacks, there are things that Vitae Magic cannot do. It has no power over non-living beings, including objects previously animated by Vitae Magic, and returning life to the dead is beyond the reach of mortal mages.

Sub-Variant: Wild Magic

Can apply to any variant.

Fewer than one in a thousand individuals are born with a talent for Wild Magic, a highly potent and uncontrollable way to cast spells. Rather than choosing which spell to cast, a Wild Magic user can only decide the relative strength of the spell. Some external force, believed by some to be luck, chaos, or a mysterious and fickle god, decides which spell effect will occur.

The chosen spell is almost always at least partially applicable to the situation, and is nearly twice as strong as it would be if cast normally for the same resource expenditure. The spell can be from any branch of magic the caster is attuned to, even if that affinity was previously unknown to them.

Wild Magic will never cast beyond the user’s limits or the available resources, but it can cause harm in other ways. The effects are unpredictable and disruptive, and completely unsuited for any task requiring finesse and precision. For example, a Wild Mage attempting to rid a farmer’s field of a beetle infestation may well turn the crops into predatory Mantraps, or transform the pests into sapient Bugfolk, or just burn the entire field to the ground.

Most Wild Mages quickly grow frustrated at their ‘gift’ and give up on ever using it productively, but some choose to embrace it. With enough determination, Wild Magic can be used for good, especially if collateral damage is not a concern. Some monster-infested dungeons that were deemed too dangerous for anything but containment have been completely razed by Wild Magic, or converted into something entirely different and less harmful. The best known example is Raspberry Castle, which was once an abandoned keep that had been taken over by a powerful lich and its minions. After an encounter with a Wild Magic Druid called Clover the Lucky, the entire structure was converted to a gigantic grove of raspberry bushes, still shaped like a castle. Every undead being within was disintegrated into fertilizer.

Exceptions

All rules have exceptions, and the rules of magic are no different. For every hard limit that casters have hit, someone else has broken through by means unknown. In some cases, it’s a matter of power, where a god can do things that lesser mortals cannot. But in unique situations throughout Faeros history, a normal being has gone beyond the limits of those before them and achieved the impossible.

Eros is the prime example of an exception to the limitations of Tantric Magic. They have bypassed nearly every observed limit, including granting children to incompatible couples, reshaping inanimate objects, and causing permanent change in individuals. Many researchers point to Eros’s actions as proof that there are no true limitations to magic, and that we just haven’t discovered the correct methods yet. A counter argument is that as God of Lust, Eros is the one that defines the rules of Tantric Magic, and can thus carve out exceptions for themself.

Another magical limitation, and one that has tempted mortals throughout all time, is the inability to return the dead to life. While powerful, necromancy is seen as a pale imitation of normal life; even on the rare occasions that it returns intelligence to the raised, it cannot restore the ability to grow and change. Vitalia the Eternal, most ancient of all green dragons, is one of very few beings to have cast True Resurrection. She reserves the tremendous gift of a second chance for a select few who proved themselves in service of life and nature, then died fulfilling that duty.

Legendary Individuals

Magic is a crucial part of day-to-day life in Faeros, and it has also contributed to some of the most pivotal moments in Faeros history. Some individuals and organizations stand out among all others, and are worth calling out here.

High Mage Eletos

Eletos was a Structured Sorcerer, and he’s best known as the man most responsible for the Lustification, due to his role as leader of the Order of Eletos who attempted to connect to the underworld. Instead, the mages created a portal to the Realm of Lust, and Eletos himself opened it enough for Eros to step through and merge the two worlds forever.

For his actions, some consider Eletos an accidental hero who ushered the world into an era of prosperity, but others consider him a traitor and a fool. The Citadel of Holy Light particularly despises Eletos for what he did to the world, and even uttering his name in the presence of one of the devout can spark violence.

Aside from his role in that fateful event, Eletos was a remarkably accomplished adventurer and scholar, and he helped found a school for young Wild Mages. He was considered the most powerful mage of his time, and he possessed a truly brilliant mind. It was often claimed that there was no problem Eletos couldn’t solve with enough time and resources, but he never did succeed at returning the Mad King’s wife and daughter.

Clover the Lucky

This Wild Magic Druid lived before the time of the Lustification, so little is known about her except that she left extensive and permanent change in her wake. She was most likely a Faun by birth, but her propensity for shapeshifting magic created numerous conflicting stories about her species.

Her legacy lives on through stories and evidence of her bizarre solutions to serious problems, including the conversion of Raspberry Castle (mentioned above) and the infamous ‘Midsummer Winter’. When asked by a small town’s council to halt the torrential rains that threatened to wash their homes away, Clover converted the entire storm system into a blizzard that spread the accumulation out over several weeks. The storm coated nearly a quarter of Faelight in unseasonal snow and many crops were lost before other mages managed to melt it.

The Institute of Arcanology

People have been studying magic for all of recorded history, and for most of that history the Institute of Arcanology has been involved. The Institute has been known by several names, but it has continuously operated in some form or another for over 2,000 years. All four branches of magic are studied within their own dedicated wings on the sprawling campus just north of the Mageroyal Woods.

It’s far from the only school dedicated to magic in Faeros, but the Institute of Arcanology is the premiere choice for mages looking to get the most out of their gift. New spells are discovered and documented almost daily, and there are experts on staff with knowledge of every variety and element of magic.

The Institute has occasionally invited controversy with its unhalting quest for understanding, such as their attempt to create a Slime-to-Slimegirl conversion spell. Both Kingdoms had already instituted a ban on creating new sapient life, but the Institute’s mages argued that Slimegirls already existed and thus were not new. However, because the mages couldn’t prove that the result of their spell would be identical to the pre-existing Slimegirls, the courts of Farsought sided against them and the project was shut down.

Chapter Text

Tantric Demons

Type: Demon
Content Warning: Sexual Content
Encounter Rating: Varies
Origin: Realm of Lust
Habitat: Urban

Since long before the Lustification, there have been beings on Faelight who lived in tune with lust and tantric energy. Some, like the faeries, were native to Faelight. Others were merely visitors from another world: the Realm of Lust. Some of those visitors were pulled between worlds by summoners on our side, and some merely followed in their wake.

Regardless of the method of their arrival, those demons rarely remained in Faelight for long because the tantric energy, or Tantra, that they needed to survive was too scarce. They could create Tantra through sexual acts with natives, but it was an exhausting and perilous lifestyle, living on the brink of starvation while avoiding the many natives who rightfully loathed their presence.

But ever since the Lustification, Tantra is nearly as abundant in Faeros as in the Realm of Lust itself. Tantric demons now have access to plenty of sustenance with just the barest effort. And the demons who are willing to put in the effort, or ‘hustle’ as they like to call it, are given more power than they could ever use.

Due to centuries of animosity and negative associations, mostly related to the violent demons of the Infernal Plane, demons of all kinds are still shunned and feared by human society. Members of the Citadel of Holy Light will attempt to slay any demon on sight, and the general public is likely to flee from them.

Variant: Succubi/Incubi

In the time before the Lustification, demon summoners called Diabolists were the only way for demons to enter our world. By forming a contract with a denizen of the Realm of Lust, a Diabolist could bridge the gap between worlds and summon the demon to Faelight. The most commonly summoned demons were Succubi and Incubi, which are gendered names for the same species. These demons have similar bodies to humans, but with red to purple skin, long spade-tipped tails, and dark-colored horns emerging from their foreheads.

Originally, the Diabolist’s contract would stipulate that the summoning would end and the Succubus or Incubus would return home as soon as the Diabolist failed to provide a comfortable quantity of Tantra for the demon to consume. Now, not only is Tantra freely available, but demons can make their way to and from Faeros on their own and even take up permanent residence here.

To tantric demons, Faeros is a post-scarcity dream, where even minimal effort is enough to survive. But that doesn’t mean Incubi and Succubi are content to waste away their days doing nothing. The desire for sex is in their nature and the experience of consuming dense Tantra is akin to eating a professionally prepared meal instead of subsisting on rations. Each demon has their own preferred ‘flavor’ of Tantra, and will seek out compatible Faerosians to produce it.

The most potent Tantra comes from releasing pent up desire, leading some Succubi and Incubi to seek out people with unfulfilled fetishes. They then use tantric magic to conjure clothing and adjust their bodies in order to fulfill almost any fantasy for a partner. If the sexual activity and Tantra flavor are to the demon’s tastes, they might form a recurring relationship with that person. However, since long-pent-up desires are the most delicious, Succubi and Incubi are unlikely to stick with the same lover for long.

Sub-Variant: Tenta-demon

These subservient demons are named for the four long tentacles that extend from their back. They are weaker than other Succubi and Incubi and can’t use tantric magic. Since they have a very demonic appearance and are unable to disguise themselves with magic, they cannot roam Faeros freely without attracting unwanted attention. When a Tenta-demon finally finds a safe home and willing master, they will do anything to stay there.

Tenta-demons are remarkably poor at making decisions for themselves and can become paralyzed if forced to make a tough choice, but they make excellent butlers, maids, or any other form of servant. They are also adept at using their tentacles to give physical pleasure, both sexual and not, and are often hired by nobles as live-in massagists.

( Example Tenta-demon , courtesy of Lettum. Art by Blackraven-Adopts)

Variant: Elder Demon

Also called The Firsts, these demons are ancient and unique, with no two even resembling the same species. Some have wings, some have more than one head, and some aren’t even humanoid. But appearance aside, they are very similar: each Elder Demon has complete mastery over Tantric Magic, commands the respect and admiration of all lesser demons, and seems to be utterly immortal. If their body is slain in Faeros, they merely return to the distant reaches of the Realm of Lust, to the areas untouched by the merger of worlds. Once there, they rest and recover, strategize and plan. Then they return stronger than before. 

Each Elder Demon has a gender, but they are not capable of reproduction. It’s unknown how they came to be, or whether new ones can still be created. Additionally, since Elder Demons can easily and flawlessly disguise themselves, no one knows how many exist or are living on Faeros.

Their form of immortality and unusual appearances have drawn comparisons to Eldritch Ones, but their behavior is very different. Elder Demons are very politically minded and enjoy building up reputations carefully over years, while Eldritch Ones tend to shun the public eye. Some Elder Demons act in ways that can seem evil, but they always act with purpose and careful planning, working towards a goal that they deem worth the possible consequences. 

Variant: Imp

These diminutive demons, recognizable by their wide green eyes and pointed tails, are known for a love of mischief even greater than their considerable desire for sex. Imps are male and female in equal number and despite being only three feet tall, both have sexual features on par with those of humans. 

Before the Lustification, Imps were a terrible blight upon Faelight. Like stowaways on a ship, they would follow other demons through portals to our world, then they would scatter and seek out dense populations to bother. And while those Imps wrought their beloved mischief, they also needed to seek out Tantra to survive. Ungifted in the seductive powers of Tantric Magic, they were often forced to resort to rape. 

But after the Lustification, ambient Tantra was abundant enough for their small appetites. Additionally, the Elder Demon Everleigh, after becoming an influential member of the Church of Love, decreed that no lesser demon shall engage in a sexual act with an unwilling partner. Whether due to a magic bond or just out of respect for Elder Demon authority, Imps are no longer able to commit rape.

Of course, the ever mischievous Imps will still find ways to work sexuality into their pranks, and their definitions of ‘sexual act’ and ‘unwilling partner’ seem to be quite flexible. They find humankind’s fear of nudity particularly hilarious, and will go to great lengths to expose a victim in a public setting. One Imp even convinced a mage to sabotage a popular seamstress’s entire line of spring fashion, enchanting them so they would disintegrate on the next full moon, which happened to coincide with the East A’losh Nobles’ Ball. The prank was phenomenally successful, but the imp and mage responsible were captured and are still serving out a 10-year term of restitution under the employ of A’losh Public Services. It’s estimated that over 50% of A’losh’s public cleaning staff are Imps serving time for their crimes.

Variant: Naga

These serpentine demons are the predecessors to Faerosion Lamias, and have the same snake-like lower bodies. However, Nagas of both genders have a pair of horns that curve around from the back of their head, then arc upward at the temples. It’s believed that before the Lustification, visiting Naga mated with humans and produced children that were able to consume normal food in addition to Tantra. Each generation was less dependent on Tantra, and their horns diminished in tandem, until the resulting Lamias had no horns and no remaining connection to tantric magic.

Naga feed on Tantra and enjoy sex, but their true passion is for organization, rigidity, and law. They act as the administrators and lawyers of demonkind, and can be persuaded to perform similar work for Faerosians as well. The government of A’losh is known to employ numerous Naga, and it is their contracts that keep criminals from causing further harm while serving their sentences as public servants.

It’s said that Nagas’ demonic contracts are literally impossible to breach. Where human laws function by punishing those who break the rules, demonic laws are different. Once a person knowingly agrees to a demonic contract, they will be held to their promise by magic and completely unable to deviate from it. There is rarely any penalty for breaking a demonic pact, because the signatory can’t take any action that would cause a breach to occur. If truly external forces prevent the contract from being fulfilled, such as death or disaster, the contract is nullified. 

( Example Naga , courtesy of Lettum. Art by Blackraven-Adopts)

Variant: Catena

Type: Demon/Fiend hybrid
Origin: Faeros

These violent blue-skinned demons are believed to be half-breeds, created by a union between a demon from the Realm of Lust and one from the Infernal Plane, where the warlike Fiends originate. These masochistic warriors feel no pain and love to torture and dominate people using metal chains that are fused with their bodies and worn like clothing. The chains move and lengthen according to the Catena’s will, easily coiling around and capturing most any prey.

If Catena are summoned with a contract in place, they can make excellent mercenaries, but left to their own devices they are likely to attack innocent people to satisfy their natural hunger for violence. Usually, un-contracted Catena are deemed too dangerous to allow on Faeros and are killed on sight, but a few well-behaved ones operate as guards, adventurers, or even professional dominators. 

Legendary Individuals and Organizations

Everleigh, The Heart of the Church.

Everleigh often appears as a typical succubus, with lilac skin, long black hair, and four elaborately curved horns. She also has functional wings, like those of a bat, which she can withdraw entirely into her body. It’s unknown how long Everleigh has been part of the Church of Love, but it’s well known that she remains one of the most influential members of the atypical organization. She denies being any sort of boss or leader, but her opinions carry immense weight within the Church.

She is the one who, over 200 years ago, proclaimed that demons could not engage in sexual acts with unwilling partners. Her decree saved demonkind from earning the wrath of the natives of Faeros, and firmly established the Church of Love as a proponent of consent and honesty. A segment of the Church, devoted to Everleigh and calling themselves the Heartwives, travel Faeros teaching sexual education and the value of consent to any willing to learn. 

The Crusaders of Love

Within the [Church of Love] is a rogue group of fanatical Diabolists and their demon partners who take it upon themselves to enforce consensuality. Calling themselves the Crusaders of Love, these vigilantes travel the land and kill anyone who would dare commit rape or imprison others against their will.

The Crusaders act faster than either Kingdom’s legal system, enacting their own vengeance long before the government can process a sexual crime. They will assassinate a confirmed rapist, drop the head at the nearest guard station along with any evidence, and walk out. Thanks to the density of their source of power on Faeros, they are too powerful for most lawmen to stop.

They are technically banned in both kingdoms, but the Royal Knights of Farsought are not strongly committed to cracking down on their acts. The Crusaders are popular among the general public, and since they work hard to confirm the criminals using physical and magical evidence, they have yet to kill an innocent person. They are considerably less welcome in A’losh, but some brave Crusaders will risk their lives to bring justice when corruption or incompetence lets a rapist walk free.

Tina and Seventus

Though Tina the Imp and Seventus the human mage are both imprisoned in A’losh, they are considered folk heroes to the imps of Faeros and some of the general populace. 

It’s unknown how she did it, but Tina convinced the talented Seventus to sabotage a popular seamstress’s entire line of spring fashion, enchanting them so they would disintegrate on the next full moon. The moon peaked during the East A’losh Nobles’ Ball and nearly half of its participants found themselves suddenly nude, or worse. Only the dresses, suits, and lingerie made by that single seamstress were affected, leaving some nobles stranded among their peers while wearing particularly kinky undergarments.

Tina couldn’t resist spying on the Ball to witness the chaos for herself, and was captured as a result. Seventus was discovered shortly after and now they are both serving out a 10-year term of restitution under the employ of A’losh Public Services. Seventus discovered a way to use his disintegration magic to clean wastewater more efficiently, and is now expected to be released early for contributions to the kingdom. In a brief interview conducted while Tina was cleaning the Tren Street Canal, Tina revealed that she had bribed a few key people with her body and expects to get released at the same time as Seventus. 

Chapter Text

Humans

Type: Hume
Content Warning: None
Encounter Rating: Mostly Safe
Origin: Pre-Lustification
Habitat: Urban

For all of recorded history, humans have made up the majority of the population of Faelight and now Faeros. Humans have relatively low variation in physical appearance, with almost all adults ranging from five to six feet tall, with blonde to black hair on their heads, small round ears, and soft relatively-hairless bodies. They reach mental and physical maturity around 18 years of age, and can live 50 to 100 years depending on lifestyle. They are social creatures who mostly live together in large settlements, but some choose to live more isolated lives in the remote regions of the wilds.

Many factors that contribute to human-kind’s success in this wild and often dangerous land. They mature relatively quickly, are intelligent and creative problem-solvers, can adapt to nearly any environment or change it to suit themselves, and are driven by a constant curiosity that causes them to risk personal injury in order to further their collective knowledge. Additionally, humans have a natural talent for adventuring, for pushing into dangerous places, fighting unknown foes, and emerging victorious.

Many other species consider humans to be strange and reckless, and that may be true. But it can’t be denied that human-kind has pushed Faeros forward into a more civilized, unified future. Human royal families have ruled both Farsought and A’losh since their founding, but both courts welcome the support and guidance of numerous other species. Alternate perspectives and attitudes have strengthened the two Kingdoms, and made them more welcoming to all species.

It should be noted that not all humans are civilized or welcoming. Like any other species, some members are violent or cruel, and that’s especially true of humans who have become separated from their supporting communities. Desperation has driven many humans to mercenary work, banditry, and even murder. The Kingdoms use laws and peacekeeping forces to keep such criminals in line, but those have little sway in the wilds beyond their borders.

In addition to the standard form of human that makes up about half the population of Faeros, the continent is home to several distinct variations. These bloodlines have prominent features and talents that persist through the generations. Additionally, ever since the Lustification, all variations of humanity are also able to mate with any other Hume species, producing more of that species. 

Variant: Elves

Elves, easily identified by their slender bodies, pale skin, and pointed elongated ears, are believed to have originated within the mana-dense Black Forest over 3,000 years ago. Elves live much longer than other humans, often over 200 years, and they mature more slowly as well. Elves don’t reach mental and physical maturity until 40 years of age, and will often avoid non-Elf society until adulthood to avoid complications caused by their slow growth.

Elves possess a powerful affinity for mana, causing well over half of them to be gifted in at least one branch of magic. Their long lifespans grant them extra time to learn and master the use of magic, and many of Faeros’s top mages have been elves. While some Elves settle in cities and enjoy an urban lifestyle, the majority prefer lives in tune with nature. Rather than clearing land to build upon, Elven settlements are constructed in and around the trees and features of the land, and are not allowed to grow larger than the local ecosystem can support.

Like other variants of human-kind, Elven blood has predictable rules governing its inheritance. When an Elf and another human mate and produce a child, the child has an equal chance of bearing Elven features or the partner’s, and never a mix of the two. But that child still bears both bloodlines, with the unexpressed one diminished to one-quarter for the first generation, and eliminated entirely by the second. The result is that an Elf with Elven and Human parentage who mates with a full-blood Elf has just a one in eight chance of producing a human who would then carry one quarter Elven blood. The Elven children born from such a union would be full-blood Elves, with no chance of producing standard human children, outside of mating with one.

Variant: Dwarves

The origin of Dwarves is well documented, thanks to their culture’s love for meticulous recordkeeping. Just under 2,000 years ago, a group of 15 human miners of both genders were digging deep beneath the mountains near modern day Coralburg when the tunnel collapsed behind them. They ran out of supplies and weren’t able to excavate the way back, and soon gave up hope of escape or rescue. But then Gaea, the goddess of earth and nature, appeared and granted them her blessing. 

The miners emerged a few days later, but they were shorter and stouter, standing under five feet tall with powerful muscles. They had also gained a remarkable affinity for stone and dirt. With their new supernatural intuition, the miners had dug a new path around the cave-in and located numerous valuable mineral deposits along the way. Their supply problem was also solved when they discovered they could eat rocks and gemstones.

These new Dwarves reproduced with each other and other humans, bore children that matured in just 14 years, and quickly established an entire city beneath the mountains north of Coralburg. Since then, Dwarves have spread to nearly all the mountains and cave systems on Faeros, always searching for desirable ores to sell, smith, or consume. Dwarves live less than 40 years on average, so they make sure to write down their knowledge to pass it on to the next generation.

Variant: Giants

Little is known about the origin of Giants, but they used to be far more common than they are now. They age at the same rate as humans and appear almost identical, except they stand an average of ten feet tall. With their increased size came proportional strength that made them highly sought as warriors during the final war between Farsought and A’losh four centuries ago. Giants made up the majority of the front lines of both armies, and their losses during the decades-long war were catastrophic. It is estimated that fewer than 1,000 Giants survived the war.

Most Giants have vowed to never again ally themselves with a kingdom or pay any form of tribute to a government, and they tend to avoid other humans as a result. To keep far away from politics, many Giant families have made their homes in remote and dangerous lands, including the Seshirath Desert and the Keryne Jungle. Those who desire to interact with the rest of the world without forming ties to a government will sometimes become adventurers or bodyguards.

Legendary Individuals

With the majority share of the population, humans and their variants also occupy most of the pages of history. I’ve selected just a small sample to highlight, but further information can be found in numerous other published works.

Brobding the Massive

This legendary war hero fought on the side of Farsought in the Great War, and was personally responsible for many of their victories. But when the dust settled and a peace treaty was achieved, Brobding saw the full scope of the devastation suffered by his people at the hands of both governments. He renounced his citizenship and moved to the wilds of eastern Faelight. With his wife and many other Giants who chose to follow him, he settled a small village in the mountains south of the Keryne Jungle. He called the town Veteran’s Rest, and after four centuries, it remains home of one of the larger Giant populations.

High Mage Eletos

This Elven mage descended from a long line of powerful mages, and was particularly gifted with Structured Sorcery. More information about him can be found in the entries on [ The Origin of Faeros ] and [ The Branches of Magic ].

Jemma Slatecore, The Finder

At just 15 years of age, Jemma the Dwarf became famous throughout A’losh for discovering the largest diamond on record, the Occa A’lesh, or ‘Eye of the Gifted’. The King of A’losh purchased it for enough money for Jemma to retire comfortably, but she used the funds to hire a larger crew and went right back to mining beneath the sands of The Cache. She soon found other record-breaking gemstones, including many that had magical properties and were locked within the royal vaults to avoid misuse.

Now past middle-age for a Dwarf, Jemma can still be hired for mining expeditions for a modest fee. Her only requirement is that she’ll never work for the same person or group twice.

Chapter Text

Hybrids

Type: Hume, Other
Content Warning: Slight sexual content
Encounter Rating: Safe
Origin: Lustification
Habitat: Various

[ Humans ] and their variants are well known for their ability to breed with any Hume species, but in recent years there are a growing number of children being born to normally-incompatible pairings, such as a Human and a Demon or even two different Humes. Those children are called Hybrids or ‘half-breeds’, and their conception and birth often come as a surprise even to the parents. It is believed that Hybrids can occur when a precise mix of mana, tantra, and luck are present during the moment of conception, allowing a normally impossible life to be created.

Hybrids inherit elements of their physical appearance from each parent and they can often end up with abilities that don’t match their outward appearance. For example, a half-Wildcat could retain the superhuman reflexes of a Wildcat without inheriting their tail or digitigrade legs. Those who do show outward signs of their Hybrid nature often face mistreatment at the hands of the public, and many Hybrid children are rejected by their parents. These Hybrids often find their way to New Denomination-backed orphanages, where all orphans are protected and cared for without discrimination.

For the purposes of sexual reproduction, the vast majority of Hybrids function as just one of their parent species. However, in the rarest of cases, usually involving the influence of a god, a Hybrid can create more of its own kind, creating an entirely new species. Pixie Centaurs and Feline Centaurs are the best known examples of this phenomenon, but it’s possible that other species that we don’t think of as ‘Hybrids’ were originally created in such a way.

While Hybrids of nearly any species combination could potentially occur as solitary flukes, there are some Hybrid varieties that occur at a considerably higher frequency. The presence of large populations of these variants has allowed researchers to study and collect enough information to distinguish traits of the individual from those common to all their kind.

Variant: Half-Dragon

In addition to the rare ‘natural’ method of conception, Hybrids can be created by the whims of gods or True Magic beings, such as [ Dragons ]. True Magic beings have a subconscious connection to the rules of reality; should one have a powerful desire, reality itself might bend to accommodate it. Dragons, particularly the lustful Violet Dragonflight, have been known to disguise themselves and mate with mortal races. For those reasons, Half-Dragons are among the most common Hybrids on Faeros.

Each Half-Dragon is gifted with some but not all of their parent Flight’s impressive abilities, such as the Gift of Tongues, Fire Breath, or Magical Affinity. They often have the outward appearance of their non-Dragon species and can only take on their Dragon form temporarily. Half-Dragons are long-lived and age very slowly after reaching adulthood, a trait that will eventually reveal any Half-Dragon attempting to live in secret as a non-Dragon. 

Dragon blood and abilities can pass down to Half-Dragons’ children, regardless of species, but the potency diminishes with each generation. At one-quarter potency, children will have a slightly lengthened lifespan and one or two magical abilities, but are unable to transform into a Dragon. Quarter-Dragons are usually able to blend into society without issue.

After three or four generations, the presence of Dragon ancestry is all but undetectable. However, if two people with even the smallest trace of Dragon blood have a child, there’s a small chance that their Dragon ancestry will flare up and the child will be born as a ‘full’ Half-Dragon instead.

Variant: Half-Djinn

As True Magic beings, albeit limited ones, Djinns are able to change reality through their Wish magic. If a Djinn grants a wish involving childbirth or heirs, the child touched by that magic will often become a Half-Djinn, even if the Djinn was not directly involved in the moment of conception. Additionally, if a Djinn loves a mortal and chooses to mate of their own free will, a Half-Djinn is sure to be conceived.

Half-Djinns are far more physical than the ethereal Djinns, and are unable to fly, grant wishes, or change forms freely, but they do possess a supernatural sense that allows them to see both the desires of others and the actions that could be taken to make those desires a reality. They can envision a path of decisions that will lead to any goal, as well as predict some of the obstacles along the way. This ability makes Half-Djinns highly sought as advisors, business collaborators, and adventuring partners. 

Half-Djinns live a normal life-span for their non-Djinn species, and they are not visibly different from that species except in two subtle ways: their hair grows very fast, reaching the Half-Djinn’s height in just a year and then remaining that long; and their eyes glow a vibrant blue while they are using their inherited abilities.

Half-Djinns can reproduce based on their non-Djinn ancestry, meaning a half-Human Half-Djinn could breed with Humans or Humes. However, perhaps due to no longer possessing any True Magic, Half-Djinns never pass on any abilities to their children. Their children are completely standard members of a single species.

Variant: Lustborn (half-Demon)

When a [ Tantric Demon ] and non-Demon mate, if the non-Demon fully embraces their lust and becomes one with their own tantric force, a Lustborn may be conceived. This can occur with Demons as either the mother or father, but notably it is the only known way for a female Demon to become pregnant, since new Demons normally appear fully-formed in the most tantra-dense regions of the Realm of Lust and Faeros. Some female demons who crave the experience of motherhood will seek out enthusiastic mates for a chance of conceiving a Lustborn.

Lustborns appear to be completely normal members of a single species until puberty, then they sprout one or two Demonic features, such as small horns, a spade-tipped tail, or black sclera in their eyes. Other than an intuitive sense of tantric magic, these half-Demons are not meaningfully different from other members of their non-Demonic heritage, but they face extreme prejudice from the most prudish and superstitious portions of society. 

Demonic blood can take three or more generations to stop being visible, but other demons can sense it long after that. Tantric demons often feel a sense of kinship with Lustborn and their descendents, which has likely contributed to the conception of additional Lustborns.

Variant: Fireblood (half-Fiend)

Just as the Fiends of the Infernal Plane are born from conflict and destruction rather than mating, Half-Fiends are not created through sexual reproduction. Instead, when a mortal being is exposed to enough violence and wrath energy, perhaps as the last survivor of a bloody battle, their very blood can become infused with wrath energy and the powers of a Fiend. From that day forward, whenever they are in the presence of violence, their veins will pulse with an orange glow, their senses will accelerate, and their muscles will double in strength.

This feature then passes down to their children, fading with each generation. After three generations, no visible effect remains, freeing the descendents from the social bias against Firebloods and Fiends.

Some Firebloods hide their nature from the public by living peaceful lives and avoiding all violence, but others embrace it and become adventurers or warriors. Firebloods also possess a natural connection to other Fiends, and will be drawn to fight them for dominance. Full-blooded Fiends, blinded by their own thirst for conflict and superiority, will always accept a Fireblood’s challenge. This allows Firebloods to be very effective Fiend hunters, killing stray Fiends before they can create chaos and destruction on Faeros.

Variant: Feline Centaur

See [ Feline Centaur ].

Variant: Pixie Centaur

See [ Pixie Centaur ].

Legendary Individuals

Galir the Honest

Esteemed adventurer, Paladin of the New Denomination, hero of both kingdoms, and self-confessed family-man, Galir is a gifted and powerful half-Dragon of the Metallic Dragonflight. His mother is the legendary Adamanta, leader of the New Denomination faith, but his human father is lost to history, having passed away nearly 200 years ago. Galir remains healthy and active, though he may be approaching the limits of his Half-Dragon lifespan because he has been spending more time at home with his goblin grandchildren than out adventuring.

Galir’s first and only wife, [ Korja the Westrock Goblin ], passed away of old age recently, but her legacy lives on within the New Denomination and its growing following within Goblin settlements across Faeros. 

Price Dinari of A’losh

Two-hundred years ago, when the King and Queen of A’losh were having difficulty conceiving an heir, a Djinn granted their wish. They conceived a child that very night, and nine months later, Prince Dinari was born, a healthy baby with a strong resemblance to both his parents. But as Prince Dinari grew up and his hair grew to an impressive length, it became apparent that he was a half-Djinn.

Thanks to his Half-Djinn insight, Prince Dinari proved a remarkable leader and would have been a legendary king, but for the Grand Court of A’losh. The Court was biased against Djinns, calling them capricious and untrustworthy. Upon the King’s death, the crown was instead passed to the King’s indolent and uncaring brother. A’losh suffered under 15 years of mismanagement before he died of overdrinking. 

By then, Prince Dinari had married and had a fully-Human son, Firento. Firento became King of A’losh, and with Dinari at his side as advisor, A’losh was quickly restored to its former glory, and more.

Chapter Text

To the south-west of the city of Farsought, about a two day journey by carriage, there is a large and untamed forest called the Mageroyal Woods. Its flora and fauna grow strong and wild from exposure to the dense mana that seeps upward from leylines, ancient rivers of mana that run deep beneath the woods. It's a dangerous place, but also one of great beauty and promise.

Within that diverse forest sits a secluded cottage, barely discernible from the trees surrounding it. The walls are live oak trees, encouraged by druidic magic to grow into the vague shape of a house, and the roof is an expansive canopy of layered branches and leaves that can block even heavy rainfall. The elf druid Galinndan Arborwood created the living home some years ago, but not for himself. It belongs to his protégé, the arachne named Kriia Tarantella.

Of course, maintaining a house that's constantly growing and changing is no easy feat, and it serves as ongoing training for the novice druid. Each day, Kriia spends a moment attuning her thoughts to the nature around her, then channels her will into the intertwined trees that make up her home. She rejects pests and diseases within their bark, guides the growth of new branches to retain the home's shape, and has even started to make additions of her own. She recently added a new walk-in closet to the bedroom by widening a single knot-hole over the course of several days.

House maintenance is far from Kriia's only training. She uses the wilderness and wildlife of the Mageroyal Woods to hone her mind and body, and to provide the prodigious amount of food that a massive Hunter arachne needs to survive. She stalks through the forest practicing her druid skills, hunting anything that proves a sufficient challenge, and avoiding the rare beast too powerful for her to face alone. They aren't common, but mana-infused 'dire beasts' can be a threat far greater than the normal wildlife they resemble.

But on this summer morning, the forest around Kriia's cottage was calm and quiet; no beasts, no hunting, and no house maintenance. The only sounds to be heard were the twitters of small birds, the rustling of wind through leaves, and the soft snoring of a sleeping spider.

"Kriia!"

The birdsong vanished at the sudden outburst, but the gentle breeze and Kriia's snoring both continued uninterrupted.

"Hey, Kree! I know you're in there! I can hear you snoring!" The voice was feminine and friendly, but very loud.

A small figure, equal parts crimson, white, and grey, flitted to Kriia's bedroom window, up on the second floor of the cottage. A tiny fist rapped on the glass, but the sound wasn't nearly as noticeable as the shouting had been, so she switched back to her spell-enhanced voice.

"Kriia! We're late for the picnic! Get your fuzzy grey butt outta bed!" shouted the diminutive faerie, a moth pixie who went by Moxy. Her fuzzy antennae twitched in annoyance, and her wings were a blur of color as she hovered closer to peer through the window and look for signs of life. She could see Kriia in there, a large mound obscured beneath white sheets.

Moxy shook her head of crimson hair. "Ugh, I'm not your mom, Kree. Don't make me come in there."

Faced with the need for drastic action, Moxy started planning a little prank to wake her friend. Fire was off the table, of course, but a nice splash of water wouldn't harm the wooden house. If anything it would probably help the trees.

To her disappointment, she didn't get a chance to put her plan into action. One massive and furry leg at a time, Kriia finally climbed out of bed, tossing her arachne-silk sheets aside. They weren't woven from her silk, of course, since the talents of Hunter-type arachne lay elsewhere. When all eight legs were free of the bed, she yawned and stretched wide, filling almost the entire bedroom with eight large legs, two small ones, and her abdomen, all covered in thick grey fur. But above that spider-like lower body rose the form of a tomboyish woman, albeit with quite large breasts, currently bare and brandished by her languorous stretch.

Cheeks reddening, Moxy turned away to give Kriia some privacy. "I'll be at the front door. Hurry up!"

"You didn't have to come wake me up, Moxy," Kriia said, rubbing her six eyes as she squeezed through the front door and closed it behind herself.

She was dressed now, in a mix of adventuring and casual gear, since you could never let your guard all the way down in the Mageroyal Woods. Her top was a black cow-leather jacket over a plain white shirt that was stretched thin by the astounding breasts beneath. A leather loincloth hung between her front-most legs, or pedipalps, and she had a large pouch strapped around her waist that was filled with natural components for her druidic spells. Her right hand held a large wooden staff with a heavy knob at the end, fit for use as a blunt weapon or casting focus.

Moxy shook her head. "No, I literally did have to do that, or you would have missed the whole picnic." Smiling to show that she wasn't too bothered by the chore, Moxy waved and zipped ahead along the faint dirt path. "C'mon, we're late."

"Well, thanks." Kriia's large stride easily kept pace with the zippy pixie. Eight claw-tipped legs moved in concert to convey hundreds of pounds of arachne with easy grace.

"No problem! So how's life in a tree-house treating you?" Moxy flew backwards as she spoke. That feat was tricky even for a faerie, but she'd had plenty of time to practice in her 89 years.

Kriia hesitated, then said, "It's a lot of work. I'm sure it will get easier with more practice."

"Don't push yourself too hard. Have you done anything exciting lately? Like visit the city?"

"Hmm." Kriia slung her staff behind her head and across her shoulders, then rested her wrists on it as she thought. The pose displayed her breasts more than she realized. "Not really. Just hunting, training, and maintaining the house."

Moxy fluttered in front of Kriia's face as they kept moving, her patterned wings leaving a trail of fae sparkles in Kriia's path. "So… training, training, and training? You need to have some fun too, Kree."

"Isn't that what we're doing today? A picnic with friends?"

"True, but you need to do it more than once a season. I expected a druid of all people to understand the value of life balance."

"Yes, mother," Kriia quipped, specifically because she knew it would get a rise out of Moxy. The pixie's issues with her own mother ran deep.

Moxy pouted and zoomed ahead, muttering, "I should have pranked you after all…"

Before long, the pair arrived at their destination, an open clearing near a small pond. The area was pretty isolated from the leyline, meaning the plant-life was mild and monster activity was low.

Another pair of adventurers were already present and sitting on a large blanket laid out over the wild grass. Perhaps 'sitting' wasn't the right word, since neither of them had legs below their human-like torsos. One rested atop a long and coiled tail of blue scales, and the other had a lower body of thick green vines and a massive pink and purple flower in full bloom.

"Shiho! Prattii! It's great to see you!" Moxy shouted, again using her magic to elevate her voice. She had to be careful with that spell, however: if she got too excited, her Wild Magic could boost her volume to damaging levels.

Prattii, the flower-like alraune with light pink skin and short forest green hair, burst into life. She bounced across the clearing in mere seconds, propelling herself with her vines and her bottomless energy. "Kree and Moxy! So glad you could make it."

She briefly tried to hug Kriia, but she was batted away and had to settle for Moxy. The foot-tail faerie was too delicate for a full-on arms-and-vines hug, so a gentle vine-wrap would have to do. After she let Moxy go, Prattii asked, "So, how's life, the universe, and everything?"

"Huh? I guess it's good," Kriia answered. She never understood Prattii's non-sequiturs and had mostly stopped trying.

"Not good enough! Because you were far from me. We gotta see each other more than once in a blue moon, ya hear?"

Prattii's whole upper body moved animatedly as she spoke, sending her elf-like ears and not-elf-like breasts bouncing. She was rather busty, and her living-leaf shirt didn't do much to hide it. And maybe it was the tantric artifact fused within her, but there was a constant aura of sexiness around her.

Moxy was pretty used to Prattii's strange vocabulary, but that one caught her off guard. "A blue moon? I've never seen that. It sounds gorgeous."

"No, it looks gorgeous. It sounds like—" Prattii opened her mouth and made no sound at all for several seconds. Then she closed it, shrugged, and said, "But I digress. Let's eat!"

Kriia had already walked past the alraune to join the picnic's last participant. "Hi, Shiho," Kriia said as she reached the picnic blanket and sat down next to the shy lamia. "I like your dress."

Shiho's hair, dozens of venomous snakes the same navy-blue as her body, quickly shifted to hide most of her face, but she was smiling. "Thanks," she said quietly.

The dress in question was long-sleeved and forest green, a similar color to the scale mail Kriia had seen Shiho wear in the past. It was also quite short, barely passing her hips; Shiho's shy sense of modesty was less about covering her body and more about hiding the burn scars on her shoulder and face.

Kriia could relate. Her own adventuring gear, a bear-pelt headdress that was still back at the house, covered her scarred back entirely yet showed a significant amount of her breasts. In the lustful land of Faeros, showing that much skin was far from rare, though it could attract some unwanted attention on occasion.

Once everyone was settled in, Moxy glanced around the area. There was an oversized blanket, big enough for three larger-than-human women with room to spare, but she couldn't find any of the other expected picnic amenities, not even a wicker basket. "Where's the food and drink?"

Shiho answered by lightly prodding one of Prattii's flower petals with the tip of her tail. "Prattii's got everything in there. Somehow."

Prattii reached down into the large blossom that ringed her hips and withdrew a bottle of wine, set it on the blanket, then went back in for more. Each time, her hand simply passed right through that part of her body. "I've explained how it works before."

"Have you, though?" Moxy asked, doubtful. "You describe it differently every time."

Prattii smiled and kept pulling an entire feast from her flower, one piece at a time. "That's because no single description can truly explain it. You gotta take all of them together, blend and smooth them, play them forward in sequence like a memory, then you can truly understand how it works."

"Right…" Moxy didn't get it. "Anyway, thanks for bringing all this. It looks delicious!"

"No, it tastes delic—" Prattii cut herself off when Kriia shot her a six-eyed glare. "Right, I already used that one today. My bad!"

Shiho glanced around, feeling like she'd missed something. "Huh?"

"Don't worry about it," Prattii said with a smile. "Let's get eating before my stomach rumbling attracts a horny thunder god."

No one bothered to ask what she'd meant by that one.

"And then, BOOM!"

Prattii waved her arms and vines emphatically as she recounted a friend's birthday party she had attended in Farsought a few weeks prior. "A demon burst into existence, right in the middle of the cake! Or what was left of it anyway. Apparently my singing and dancing summoned it."

"A d-demon?" Shiho stammered. "I wish I'd been there to help you."

Prattii shrugged. "Oh, it was just a tenta-demon, y'know, those little tentacle guys? He helped clean up the splattered cake and served everyone some wine, then gave the birthday girl a backrub and got hired on the spot as her new butler. I never even gave her my real present, since the accidental demon was way better."

"What were you originally going to give her?" Kriia asked. The answer was probably boring compared to the rest of the crazy story, but she couldn't help but wonder.

"A year's membership to the Farsought Adventurer's Guild," Prattii answered proudly.

Kriia frowned. "But isn't she a noble? With no combat training?"

"Everyone needs some adventure in their life." Prattii grabbed Shiho around the shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. "Right, partner?"

"R-right," Shiho said, sharing a knowing glance with the other girls. Somehow, the tenta-demon had definitely been the better present.

Moxy finished off a literal thimble of wine, then said, "So, you two are adventuring together now. Take on any exciting quests?"

"Oh, loads!" Prattii said, then she reached into her magical storage and pulled out a small dagger made of incredibly dark metal. "We helped some huge lady from an island called Typhoon, just hunting beasts for fur to make a ceremonial dress or something, and she gave us this Blacksteel dagger as a reward!"

Then the alraune frowned. "But we haven't had a quest in over a week."

"Um," Shiho started, raising her hand for attention. "I've actually got a new quest."

"Oh?" Moxy hovered closer, her red eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Prattii gasped in surprise and dropped the dagger, which vanished the instant it touched her flower. "Really?! How come I didn't know?"

"Uh, well, my mentor at the New Denomination assigned me the mission just the day before yesterday, as I was getting ready to head here. And in any case, I'm not sure I'm the right person for the job…"

Prattii looked shocked to her core. "What!? Why would you say that? You're awesome!"

Shiho rubbed her hands together nervously. "Well, the mission is to investigate a mansion outside of Caliola. There have been rumors about that place. Scary rumors."

Prattii squeezed the lamia's hand reassuringly, if a bit too hard. "You don't need to be scared if I'm with you, Shiho!"

"Maybe we could all go together!" Moxy added.

Shiho shook her head and her hair-snakes adorably mimicked the movement. "I couldn't ask that of you. It's a mission from my faith, not some high-paying quest."

Moxy fluttered close and lifted Shiho's chin. "But are you allowed to bring help?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Then we're coming!"

"Hold up." Kriia raised her hands, palms out. "I haven't agreed to anything."

"Aww, don't be a party pooper," Prattii said, pouting.

"I've got a lot of work to do at home."

"More like overwork," Moxy countered. "And you need more than the same old druid training. You need varied experience, and time around people."

Pratti pointed a vine or hand at each of the women. "People like us!"

Kriia grumbled, "If I joined you, and that's still an if, how should we prepare? How many rations should we bring, and what kind of monsters can we expect to face?"

"Um, the mansion's about three days' travel from here," Shiho started. "And the rumors are about ghosts and other undead…"

Moxy flitted around excitedly. "Oh, that must be why they're sending a cleric like you! You'll handle them easy, Shiho!"

"I'm still pretty new to—"

Shiho's soft voice was buried beneath a loud crunching sound, coming from somewhere to the south. She stopped talking and joined the others in looking around for the cause.

The sound grew louder, closer. Kriia got to her feet and readied her staff. Moxy flew to her side and stared in the direction of the sound, crimson eyes peeled. Shiho cowered, suddenly feeling very exposed without her adventuring armor. Prattii seemed almost unconcerned, just peering the same way as her friends with a smile on her face.

Then, something crashed through the underbrush and tumbled into the clearing. It came to a stop two-dozen feet from the picnic blanket. Kriia lifted her staff, but quickly decided that this wasn't the real threat.

The new arrival was a man, human in appearance, just under six feet tall and outfitted in shiny steel half-plate and leather. His skin was dark brown, and his thick curly hair was even darker. As he climbed to his feet, breathing hard, he finally noticed the other people in the clearing.

Eyes wide, he shouted, "Run! There's a bear chasing me!" He spoke with a slight accent reminiscent of the coastal towns, and he looked genuinely concerned for these strangers he'd just stumbled upon.

"A bear?" Prattii asked casually. "Shiho and I killed a bunch of those on that last quest."

Kriia's attention was elsewhere, on the crashing, crunching sound that was still coming their way, fast. "That's no bear. Maybe a dire bear."

"That's right!" the young man shouted "It's a dire bear, so run!" He was visibly puzzled that these women weren't more concerned by all this.

Kriia rose to her full height of over 8 feet, staff in hand and eyes fixed on the treeline. She could feel the disruption of nature, the crack of every tree that fell in the path of the rampaging beast. "No. It's better to face it here in the open. It won't stop chasing, and we won't find a better place to fight it."

Prattii mimicked Kriia's stance, using vines to imitate the arachne's legs. "Alright! Let's do this, girls! And new mystery guy!"

"W-what? We're fighting a d-d-dire bear?!"

Moxy flashed Shiho a reassuring smile. "With the five of us, we can take it." Then she turned to the young man. "What's your name and class?"

"Uh, Niles. Niles Miller."

Prattii giggled. "Miller isn't an adventurer class, silly." Then she blinked and tilted her head. "Unless that's your name?"

"I'm a Fighter," he clarified as she drew a wooden shield from his back and a longsword from his hip. They weren't exotic or rare, but they looked sturdy and well maintained. He faced the oncoming threat and swallowed hard. "And I hope you four can fight!"

Shiho slithered into position behind Niles, ready to shield him with protective magic. "I've got your back, mister Miller."

"Just Niles is fi—"

His voice was lost in the crack of a nearby tree snapping in two and the crunch of branches that followed. Before the tree had hit the ground, a beast over 20 feet tall hurtled into the clearing, tearing up the soil with its massive claws. It looked like a bear only larger in every way, and its fur was warm brown except for a swirled pattern of blue lines, like eddies in a current. The swirls covered its entire body from nose to tail, and they glowed faintly even through the bright midday sun.

Those rune-lines were an indisputable sign that this creature had absorbed too much mana and mutated into a dire beast. It was a terrible threat, with both physical might and unpredictable magic abilities. And it would only continue to grow larger and more dangerous until someone dealt with it.

The creature turned to face its quarry, jowls dripping saliva. Its eyes were shiny black and filled with madness and rage, and they flicked to each of the people in the clearing as if analyzing them.

Five adventurers readied their spells and weapons, and the dire bear roared loud enough to shake the treetops. And the fight began.

Chapter Text

Faeries, Part 1

Type: Faerie
Content Warning: Sexual Content
Encounter Rating: Generally Safe, Territorial
Origin: Pre-Lustification
Habitat: Forests

Most Faeries are highly attuned to the tantric energy that permeates Faeros, and they are among the most sexually-minded beings native to Faeros. Only beings originating from the Plane of Lust, such as Succubi, are more committed. Faeries love having sexual encounters for fun rather than reproduction, and are very open to new partners and experiences. Faeries consider the Lustification one of the best things to ever happen to the world, and the population and influence of Faeries has expanded greatly in the years since.

Standard Faeries appear to be tiny 6-inch-tall humans with sparkly butterfly-like wings and very androgynous features. They have a natural gift for Sorcery, particularly any spell that can be cast with either Mana or Tantra as the power source. They prefer environments with dense Mana or Tantra, and they are naturally drawn to both leylines and sexual behavior.

They live on a diet of fruit, nectar, vegetables, and Tantra, but they can consume almost anything a human can if needed. Standard Faeries prefer to remain clothed in the presence of strangers, and Faerie-made clothes are often crafted out of lace, ribbon, scraps of cloth, or even paper.

Faeries reproduce sexually, but will only conceive when both partners consciously desire a child. They’re also very willing to have sex with other species, but no pregnancies will result. If the mating Faeries are from two different variants of Faerie, the child will be one variant or the other with equal chance. Faeries take 20 years to reach adulthood, then their bodies stop visibly aging. They can live another 150 years or more, until they grow weak and fade away into Mana.

Standard Faeries are very outgoing and enjoy interacting with people and society, and will often move into cities to experience the excitement and spectacle. They often earn a living using their magic, as personal assistants or as messengers quickly delivering letters through the air.

In addition to the standard variation, which makes up over half of the Faerie population on Faeros, there are at least seven known variants. This entry will cover three of them.

Variant: Pixie

Pixies are like the default Faerie, but far less civilized and more in tune with nature. They also have extreme diversity of appearance, taking features from one of hundreds of different animals. This ‘animal aspect’ affects many of their physical features including their wings, which can range from moth to dragonfly to bee or even bird wings, and it also influences their height. Mite Pixies are the smallest at 2 inches tall, and Hawk Pixies can be up to 16 inches in height.

Pixies are omnivores who gather wild fruit and hunt small animals and bugs using crafted tools. They make clothes out of animal furs and vines, which they wear for function and protection more than modesty. Many animal aspects provide natural fur that is usually sufficient to cover their erogenous zones. Pixie bodies are less androgynous than standard Faeries, but still on the slender side compared to humans.

Pixies reproduce like standard Faeries, except that their offspring’s animal aspect can either match their parents or take on a completely different one instead, based on unknown criteria. When they reach maturity, Pixies enter their forest communities as soldiers, hunters, crafters, or other roles based on the society’s need. Pixie society treats all Pixies equally, despite the substantial physical differences, and tends to be inviting to other visiting Faeries, but Pixie settlements are completely closed to non-Faerie species. They will defend their homes with magic and physical force if necessary.

Variant: Nymph

Habitat: Deep forests far from civilization

Nymphs are the same height as standard Faeries and are even more nature-focused than Pixies, with wings shaped like leaves or flower petals and a deep compassion for nature. They possess Druidic magic with a Tantric spin making them particularly adept at magic involving fertility of both plants and animals. They live only in untouched natural areas, and if their territory is threatened Nymphs will enter nearby trees, possess them, and use them like a suit of armor to fight invaders. Attacking the tree will have no effect on the Nymph inside, making them very difficult to defeat.

Nymphs eat only plant products that die naturally or are meant to be consumed, such as fruit, and they make sure to plant the seeds afterwards. Nymphs never wear clothing of any sort, and they are not androgynous at all. For example, female Nymphs typically have curvy figures and male ones are lean and muscular.

Nymphs reproduce like standard Faeries, but have an even higher sex drive, with more of a focus on physical copulation than flirtation or romance. Upon reaching maturity, young Nymphs usually join their family or ‘clan’ in protecting their shared territory, but some are forced out due to personal conflict. These Nymphs will often recruit others to form an original clan and claim new territory in the vast untamed wilds.

Variant: Sprite

Habitat: Bodies of Clear Water

Sprites are like Nymphs except they have a strong bond to water rather than plantlife, and their style of Sorcery is capable of manipulating weather on a very precise level. Their wings are shaped like fish fins or ray wings, and by using elemental Sorcery they can move through the water just as easily as air. They can live in any natural body of water, and are willing to share it with other beings as long as the ecosystem isn’t harmed. Some Sprites will travel with a ship and assist on its journey, providing fresh water, warning of incoming weather, and assisting in other small ways.

Sprites don’t like to stray too far from natural water, and prefer to have sexual encounters in or around ponds or other calm water. When a young Sprite reaches maturity, they will follow the flow of water up or down stream to find a new place to make their own. As a result, the majority of the major waterways in Faeros are protected by Sprites.

Legendary Individuals

Thanks to their long lives, even very reclusive Faeries can have an impact on the history of Faeros. The following is a small sample of the famous Faeries who have made their mark on the world.

Moxy

(Courtesy of Clockwerk66. [Full character profile])

This energetic and crimson-haired moth Pixie, whose full name is Moxyria Matilda Dazzleflash the 3rd, is a Wild Magic sorceress and adventurer. She inherited a potent magical legacy, but unlike her parents, her magic was wild and dangerous. This led to her fleeing her forest home and falling prey to a giant spider. After being bitten and poisoned, she was rescued and cured by the Arachne druid [Kriia Tarantella].

That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship, and the two have gone on many adventures together in the years since.

Selee Alore

This standard Faerie with pink wings and long blonde hair made a name for herself as the Church of Love’s best miniature courtesan. She has discreetly served nobles, wealthy merchants, and even royalty who were attracted to her tiny size and substantial sexual skill.

She’s also famous for her confidentiality. Using demonic contract magic that she learned from a Naga, Selee binds herself to secrecy at time of payment, ensuring that she can’t reveal her clients’ identities or proclivities even under threat or torture.

Squall

Squall was a male Sprite with manta ray-like wings who entered history through his participation in numerous deadly pirate raids, usually aboard the infamous pirate ship, Stormblade. Squall used his ability to control the weather to weaken the captain’s targeted port with persistent rainfall for weeks at a time. When spirits and supplies were low, the storm suddenly stopped and the Stormblade struck.

Squall was also notable for being one of very few male pirates in an era when most pirate crews were entirely female and mostly Harpies. And unlike the conscripted crew of The Crag’s Revenge, Squall appeared to have chosen that life voluntarily. That decision did result in a shortened lifespan because a team of adventurers followed Squall’s storm to a targeted town and intercepted the Stormblade’s attack. Squall was struck by a sorcerer’s Lightning Bolt spell and killed, and the rest of the Stormblade’s crew was killed or captured in the ensuing battle.

Chapter Text

The Mageroyal Woods were quiet, yet alive. Pleasant birdsong, the distant trickle of a creek, and the rustle of wind through the leaves overhead all kept Niles company on his hunting outing. The natural sounds also served to cover his own footsteps and the occasional creak or clank of the leather armor he wore and the steel sword at his hip.

Niles went still when a different sound stood out from the natural murmur. It was a low and persistent rumble in the distance, not unlike thunder, except the sky was perfectly clear. The noise was coming from the west, deeper into the Mageroyal Woods, and the young man was very curious about the source. He figured he might as well investigate; regardless of what it turned out to be, it had likely already scared away his hunting quarry.

He started toward the sound, crouching low and moving quietly. The thing making all that ruckus could be a dangerous monster, so he wanted to make sure he saw it before it saw him.

He crept through low bushes and underneath branches, avoiding any stray twigs that might crack underfoot and give him away. As he neared his goal, the rumbling sound grew louder and louder, until Niles could no longer hear anything else. From this distance, he identified the noise as a beast's angry roar, but it didn't sound quite like any animal he'd ever heard before.

Maybe a mountain cat could roar that loud, he thought, but this is pretty far from their natural territory.

His curiosity was soon sated when he reached the edge of a clearing and saw a very strange scene before him. First of all, it definitely wasn't a mountain cat. It was a bear, and no normal bear either.

Standing on its hind legs with its front paws reaching a height well over 30 feet, this bear was covered in glowing swirls of blue light, like spiraling tattoos that shone through its thick brown fur. It roared again and swatted a man-sized paw at the massive tree that seemed to be holding its attention.

Niles took a slow step back and got ready to sneak away in a hurry. The bear was clearly not normal wildlife, and fighting it was far beyond Niles' capabilities. He had heard of dire beasts, animals that had absorbed too much mana from their environment, growing and twisting into genuine monsters. It was a safe guess that this thing was a dire bear.

And though it was definitely a threat that would eventually need to be taken down by adventurers, it didn't seem to be a problem yet, and that duty didn't fall to Niles alone. He was just a single Fighter, and he knew when to avoid a conflict he couldn't win. Then he heard something that changed everything.

"Begone, monster!" shouted a faint, high pitched voice. "Leave us be!" There was panic in that voice, and genuine fear.

Niles stopped his retreat and turned back toward the bear. He returned to the edge of the clearing, crouched behind a low shrub, and looked closer at the towering tree the bear was so interested in. First, Niles noticed that the tree was strangely unharmed, despite the bear's constant attempts to push or claw it. Then he saw small specks of colorful light flitting like fireflies among the branches. Faeries, at least four of them, were using magic to defend the tree.

"Please, just leave!" one of the Faeries cried, voice full of sorrow. The bear's claw tore a shallow gouge in the big tree's bark. "Stop attacking our home…"

Niles was no stranger to caution. He was neither reckless nor hot-headed. And he knew he stood no chance against a monster of that size and strength. But he couldn't stand by while innocent people and their home were in danger.

It wasn't a decision so much as an impulse, and it was instantaneous. He felt his legs and his lips moving, and he found himself standing in the clearing, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Hey! Leave them alone, you monster!"

Just in case his voice wasn't enough, he grabbed a large branch, practically a log, from the lush grass at his feet and threw it. The solid chunk of hardwood hit the bear solidly on its flank, and bounced off harmlessly.

But it definitely got its attention. The beast backed off from the tree and dropped to all fours. Even then, it was nearly twenty feet tall, and now that it was facing him directly with a crazed look in its glossy black eyes, it was immensely terrifying.

Once again, Niles' feet moved on their own, but this time his conscious thought was fully committed to the same cause. He sprinted back into the woods, hoping that the large beast would be slow to follow through the dense trees. Niles dodged tree trunks and leapt over fallen branches, not risking a glance back.

Then he heard the first crack, and the second and the third. Fully grown trees toppled like fragile swamp reeds before the charging monster. Trunks as big around as Niles' shoulders were broad snapped one after another, falling forward through the canopies of their neighbors. Each collision slowed the bear, but only a little.

Well, I really misread that situation, Niles thought to himself as his legs pushed off the ground and his heart hammered in his chest. He had thought the bear wasn't that strong, since it couldn't harm the tree. In reality, the faeries' protective magic was astoundingly strong to have kept it at bay for so long. And now this even stronger bear is probably going to catch and eat me.

His only hope was keeping ahead of it until it tired or gave up on him. If he was lucky, the bear would spy some unfortunate wild animal and chase after it instead. But Niles knew that all the wildlife in the area had fled at the first roar of that monster. Only Niles and the Faeries had been foolish enough to stick around.

As he pushed his body harder, fighting to stay ahead of the rending, crashing sounds behind him, his thoughts emptied. Instinct was in control now, and he devoted everything he had to running, to dodging trunks and low branches and moss-covered stones in his path. Then, just when Niles was nearing his limit, when his muscles screamed and his lungs were on fire, he stumbled into a wide open clearing.

He spared the clearing just enough thought to note that it was a very peaceful and idyllic place, and to give a mental apology for the destruction that was on its way. Then, as he climbed to his feet, breathing hard, he noticed that there were three other people in the clearing, sitting on a blanket spread atop the wild grass.

Oh no, I've led this monster right to a… picnic? In the Mageroyal Woods?

There wasn't time to puzzle out why anyone would try to relax in this dangerous place. Eyes wide, he shouted, "Run! There's a bear chasing me!" He was nearly out of breath, but he had to warn these people, to save them from the calamity he had inadvertently lured to them.

"A bear?" a pink-skinned woman asked casually from her seat on the picnic blanket. She had short green hair, purple bangs, and long pointed ears, and she wore green leaves in the shape of a bodice. More notable was the fact that she was a giant flower from the waist down: an alraune. Grinning, she continued, "Shiho and I killed a bunch of those on that last quest."

A tall and busty woman with the body of a massive, fur-covered spider looked out toward the approaching noise and said, "That's no bear. Maybe a dire bear."

"That's right!" Niles shouted at the three women. "It's a dire bear, so run!" For the life of him, he could not understand why these strange women weren't more concerned by the situation. He fought back the intrusive little voice that tried to blame their non-human natures. He was better than that now.

The arachne shook her head and planted her eight feet. "No. It's better to face it here in the open. It won't stop chasing, and we won't find a better place to fight it."

The alraune took a similar stance, but she was still smiling happily. "Alright! Let's do this, girls! And new mystery guy!"

"W-what? We're fighting a d-d-dire bear?!" stammered the final person he could see, a pale lamia girl who seemed to be hiding behind her hair of dark blue snakes.

At least someone understood the danger.

A small faerie that Niles hadn't even noticed yet spoke up, "With the five of us, we can take it." She was a pixie, just one foot in height with moth-like features and vibrant red hair. She faced Niles with determination in her solid red eyes and asked, "What's your name and profession?"

"Uh, Niles. Niles Miller."

The alraune giggled at that. "Miller isn't an adventuring profession, silly." Then she blinked and tilted her head. "Unless that's your name?"

"I'm a Fighter," he clarified as she drew his shield and longsword. He hoped that these ladies' lack of concern was born from strength and not ignorance. He faced the oncoming threat and swallowed hard. "And I hope you four can fight!"

The lamia slithered up behind him. "I've got your back, mister Miller."

He wasn't sure exactly how she planned to support him, since neither she nor her friends had bothered to introduce themselves or mention their own adventuring professions.

"Just Niles is fi—"

His voice was lost in the crack of a nearby tree snapping in two and the crunch of branches that followed. Before the tree had even hit the ground, the towering beast hurtled into the clearing, tearing up the soil with its massive claws.

The dire bear turned to face its quarry, jowls dripping saliva. Its eyes were shiny black and filled with madness and rage, and they flicked to each of the people in the clearing as if analyzing them.

Five adventurers readied their spells and weapons, and the dire bear roared loud enough to shake the treetops. And the fight began.

Kriia gripped her heavy wooden quarterstaff tightly, every muscle in her body tensed and ready. The beast towered above her, slobber dripping from its jowls as it breathed hard from exertion. It seemed at least slightly winded from its reckless run through the forest, knocking down trees as it had chased this young man.

Taking her eyes off the monster for just a second, she shot the man a quick glance. He looked young, barely an adult. But he also looked weathered and serious, like he'd lived a life just as hard as Shiho's or Kriia's. He faced the monster with his blade drawn and his stance strong. There was no doubt that he had fought before.

But there was still doubt in Kriia's mind. Why was that dire bear chasing him in the first place? Did he lead it here on purpose? There was also the little matter that he was human. Kriia had suffered at the hands of humans before, and she knew that some still despised all non-humans. Is he from the Citadel of Holy Light? After what they did to Shiho's family, I wouldn't put it past them to lure monsters to attack us.

She pushed those thoughts aside for the immediate future. The dire bear advanced further into the clearing, then lifted its head and let out a painfully loud roar.

Kriia focused her will and channeled a bit of mana into her quarterstaff, reinforcing it and empowering it with druidic magic. This was one of the most basic druid techniques, but it was a very effective one; when she stepped forward and swung the staff, she could feel the extra force within it. And when it collided with the dire bear's shoulder, she heard the crunch of the heavy knot on the end of the staff against the beast's yielding flesh. The staff sunk in several inches before it stopped on the bone beneath.

She used the recoil of the blow to pivot away and dodge a swat of the monster's giant paw, just as a small ball of fire splashed against its snout with a sizzle and the smell of burnt fur. Kriia recognized that as one of Moxy's spells, and it didn't seem to be imbued with any of her trademark wild magic.

Probably for the best. An unlucky flare-up of wild magic could turn this sour in an instant.

The brief flame distracted the monster enough for Kriia to ready a strong swing right at its muzzle. Then, just as she was about to bring her full might against the monster, that human jumped in her way. She barely pulled her swing up in time to avoid hitting him.

"Out of the wa—" Kriia started, but before she could finish chastising the man, he'd already vanished from her field of view. She blinked in confusion, then realized what had just happened.

Two shallow trenches in the earth ran nearly fifteen feet from where she was standing to where the man called Niles now stood in a low crouch with his shield raised and braced with his full body. He had just blocked the beast's other paw, and the attack had been so strong it had sent him skidding across the ground.

He let out a groan of pain and fell to one knee. Thankfully, Shiho was ready and quickly placed a hand upon Niles' back. She whispered a brief prayer to Adamanta, and his grimace faded. He stood back up and faced the threat again, undeterred.

"Uh, thanks," Kriia mumbled, probably too quiet for Niles to hear. The beast was far stronger than Kriia had thought, and she'd completely missed that second attack from its other paw.

But she still didn't fully trust that man.

It's definitely strong enough to tear free of my entangling vines. I guess I'll just go for another weapon strike, and I'll watch for both paws this time.

Kriia got another solid hit on the monster before Niles returned to the fray, this time surrounded by a shimmering field of golden light.

That's Shiho's shielding spell, she realized.

With its protection, Niles blocked another attack without even budging, which seemed to surprise the bear. Moxy made use of the opportunity to blast the creature's eyes with another even larger ball of roiling fire, and Prattii followed up with an attack from an impractically large wooden mallet, smashing one of the beast's paws flat against the ground.

Kriia thought they had the monster up against the wall, but then she noticed something strange. The spot that Moxy's fire had singed earlier looked perfectly fine now, and everywhere Niles had slashed with his sword was unharmed. Even the paw that Prattii had just smashed flat with her strange reality-warping powers was fully recovered and functional again.

"It's healing faster than we can hurt it!" Kriia shouted to her companions as she backed away, staff raised in a defensive posture. "We need to try something else."

"Good call," Moxy yelled back. "How about we knock it out?"

Prattii gave the beast's nose another wallop with her hammer before swapping it out for a round pink shield with a rose motif. The oversized hammer completely disappeared into her mysterious storage space, for use some other time. She raised an eyebrow and made a face that would have been comedic if not for the dire stakes of the situation. "With how angry that thing is?! No way is it taking a nap today."

Kriia disagreed. She had a plan. "Moxy and I can do it together," she said firmly. "Prattii, Shiho, Niles: hold it off while we work."

"Yes ma'am!" Prattii said with an exaggerated salute. She hopped over to Niles' side and literally planted herself, grasping the terrain with her vines. She raised her shield and shot a cheerful, confident smile at Niles. "We can do this. Shiho's got our backs."

"Th-that's right!" the cleric added, standing behind the two guardians.

Kriia jumped backwards to get distance from the monster and Moxy flitted over, ready for her part in the plan.

"I can put it to sleep," the pixie said. "Or I could if it wasn't enraged."

Kriia nodded. She'd already figured as much. "Overflowing with mana or not, it's still a beast, so I can soothe it. As soon as it slows down, hit it with your sleep spell, as powerful as you can make it."

Moxy looked unsure. "Uh, okay. But there might be some unexpected consequences."

Kriia gave a shrug and a half-smile. "We'll deal with that when we're no longer about to be eaten by a giant bear."

She set to work, reaching out through the natural energy of the forest and interconnectedness of life, searching for the dire bear's consciousness. It wasn't hard to find; the bear's mind was like a giant red ball of hatred and fire that dwarfed the distant glimmers she recognized as fleeing wildlife. She focused her thoughts and tuned out the physical world, just like her mentor had taught her. This was the same technique she used to tend the trees that made up her house, and now she just needed to do it against a hostile and mana-enhanced foe while in the middle of intense combat. Easy.

Almost immediately, she sensed just how different this dire bear had become from normal wildlife. It had been lost to the overwhelming mana for decades at least, and its natural animal instincts were nearly faded away. All that was left was rage and hunger. Rage, she could try to soothe through magic. But hunger…

"Prattii! Toss it some food. Whatever you've got!"

"You got it!" the alraune replied, already reaching into her flower with her free hand. "It's a good thing I stocked up for this picnic."

She threw a whole roasted chicken first, followed by a watermelon, a large bundle of carrots, and a long, thin loaf of bread. The beast snapped the chicken out of the air, but avoided the melon as if it was a deadly projectile. Only after it broke open on the ground, revealing the ripe red flesh within, did the bear realize it was food.

Niles stared dumbly at Prattii, his eyes wide and confused as she pulled a veritable feast's worth of food out of nowhere and fed it to the monster. He was forced back to reality when the bear took a swipe at them and he had to block it with his shield.

"Uh, Kriia?" Moxy whispered, her eyes fixed on the beast. "It's eating, but it isn't calming down. In fact, that's the angriest eating I've ever seen, and I've been to a fireblood's funeral feast."

"I'm working on it," Kriia hissed back. Her eyes were closed and her forehead was pressed against the top of her staff, which in turn was planted against the soil. She hoped the additional connection to nature would help her get through to the animal within the monster.

There it is! she thought as her consciousness glimpsed a small ball of brown fur deep within the maelstrom of rage. It was so weak, so tired. She called out to it, soothing it and offering the proper state of nature. Don't you want to rest? she asked. To find a mate and raise a family and hibernate in the winter?

"Whatever you're doing, it's working!" came a man's voice, cutting into her thoughts. The little bear inside the monster stirred in surprise, but thankfully it didn't flee the sudden sound.

She cooed to the inner bear, whispering offers of peace and satisfaction, of calm restfulness and the return of its natural state. The bear reached out toward her, craving a normalcy after so long lost in the storm of mana that had infused its body.

"Now, Moxy," Kriia said, her eyes still closed.

Moxy let out a held breath. "Alright. I apologize in advance if things get weird."

When Moxy pushed herself, when she really approached her own limits, there was a chance her 'gift' of wild magic would take effect. Whatever spell she was casting might be boosted in power, or changed into something different yet still applicable to the situation. Or, if she was particularly unlucky, something completely unintended could happen instead. Needless to say, the risks often outweighed the benefits, and her wild magic had been a source of much conflict in her personal life.

This time, when her wild magic surged, it successfully sent the dire bear to a deep and restful slumber, along with everything connected to it at the time. Thanks to Kriia's mental connection to the beast, and her druidic connection to nature, that meant that Moxy's spell affected the bear, Kriia, and every wild animal in a quarter-mile radius. Even Kriia's companions felt a brief wave of drowsiness as the magic rippled outward across the land.

Kriia fought against the pull of the sleep spell, but she'd been deeply attuned to the monster at the moment of casting, and there was no way she could stand against Moxy's magic when it was at full power. She held tight to her staff, still jabbed into the soft earth of the clearing, and slumped forward. Her legs gave out one after another, and soon she was fast asleep, her furry legs sprawled and her face slack and relaxed, her arms still clinging to her quarterstaff.

At least, in the moment before the darkness welcomed her, her connection confirmed that the dire bear had been neutralized. The plan had succeeded.

"I'm so sorry. And I'm very thankful to you all," said a deep voice, cutting through the fog of her dreams. The voice belonged to that man, Niles. The one who ruined their picnic by bringing a giant monster down upon them.

He had helped fight it, of course, but Kriia didn't fully trust him nonetheless. Correcting your own mistake wasn't heroism, just common courtesy.

She opened her eyes, but they snapped shut against the bright sunlight. She had no idea how long she'd been out, but at least she hadn't slept the entire day away. She opened them again, more slowly this time, and saw a slender hand on hers. Shiho?

"Oh good, you're waking up. I wasn't sure I'd be able to undo Moxy's spell, it was so strong."

Kriia stretched her arms to the sky, arched her back, and let out a long, satisfied sigh. "How long was I out?"

"Just a few minutes," Shiho said. Then she looked down at her hands. "I hope it's okay that I healed everyone's wounds before waking you."

"Of course. Any trouble with that stranger?"

Shiho raised one eyebrow. "Niles? I wouldn't call him a stranger anymore. He fought for us. Saved our lives, most likely."

As if summoned by his name, Niles chose that moment to turn away from his conversation with Moxy and Prattii to approach Kriia. He gave a small bow, smiled awkwardly, and said, "I truly apologize for bringing trouble into your clearing and ruining your day. And I want to thank you. I would have been doomed if you hadn't stood with me against that thing."

Kriia considered the man for a long moment, deciding how she truly felt about him. Niles squirmed beneath her gaze, which looked from the outside like a harsh glare of judgement.

I suppose he did put himself at risk. If his plan had been to harm us, he wouldn't have acted the way he—

"Kriia Tarentella! Aren't you going to greet your mentor?" Another masculine voice, and one very familiar to Kriia.

"Galinndan?" Moxy asked, in perfect sync with Kriia's line of thinking. "Why are you here?"

An elf strode into the clearing and approached the group. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark brown skin and purple hair in long dreadlocks, pulled back into a simple ponytail. His eyes were silver and stern, but there was a hint of a smile in them. He had an air of confidence and maturity about him, and he looked middle-aged, but that meant little for elves and their long lifespans.

"Excellent work back there," he said, ignoring Moxy's question. "I saw it all, from a safe distance of course, and you all handled that situation quite skillfully."

Niles took a slow step toward the elf, then another and another until he was standing just a few feet from Galinndan with wide eyes and a wider smile.

"Galinndan?" Niles gasped. "The Galinndan Arborwood?"

"The very one," Galinndan replied with a slight smile of his own.

Niles gaped openly. "You fought in the Battle of Keryne. You stopped the entire invas—"

The elf raised a hand, palm out. "Sorry, but there's a matter of some urgency I must discuss with Kriia. If you'd all accompany me, we can talk on the way to my grove."

Chapter Text

Kriia Tarantella followed a few paces behind her mentor Galinndan as he led the way through the untamed wilds of the Mageroyal Woods to his home. She had visited it before but never by this path, so she wasn't confident that she could find her way there without him. She just didn't have the same level of familiarity with the forest or the deep connection to nature he had.

She wasn't the only one following the elf druid. She was traveling with her friends Shiho and Moxy and Prattii, but there was also the human stranger, Niles. He had literally stumbled into their lives barely an hour earlier, and the verdict was still out on whether she fully trusted him. He might still be an agent from the Citadel of Holy Light or a mercenary working on their behalf, and Kriia refused to let down her guard around him.

Secret threat or not, Niles did seem to be a genuine fan of Galinndan and his work. He had been badgering the elf with questions and compliments the entire trek, and Galinndan was humoring him for some reason.

"Sir, please share a tale of one of your adventures. There must be some heroic deeds I haven't heard about yet," Niles practically begged while walking at Galinndan's side. They were the same height with similar dark complexions, but that was where their similarities ended. Niles was eager and excitable, at least around Galinndan, while his idol was stern and orderly.

But Kriia knew Galinndan well enough to know that he was also a wise and generous mentor, and he loved telling stories.

"A tale, hmm," the old elf hummed. "I have so many it's hard to choose. Ah, here's one that even Kriia hasn't heard before."

Kriia's attention snapped onto her mentor, as did everyone else's. Niles' eyes went wide and he nearly shivered with excitement until Galinndan resumed.

"I'm sure you've all heard of the Dark Sea, beyond the mountains to the west? Well, there's a large island there, outside the domain of the two great kingdoms. Some call it the Shadow Isle, but its official name is Arlesia, named after the first cartographer to fully map the island, Uzina Arles."

Without breaking stride, Galinndan turned and flashed a smile at his attentive audience and added, "Uzina wanted to work my name in there as well, but I turned it down."

"Your name?" Prattii asked, always curious but not the best at connecting the dots.

"Did you help discover it?" Niles asked.

Galinndan chuckled. "I did indeed. I was a member of the party tasked with protecting Uzina from pirates and wildlife while she mapped the entire coastline and interior features. However, we almost didn't even make it to the shore because we ran into some trouble at sea."

"In the Dark Sea?" Shiho asked cautiously. She swallowed audibly. "Was it a kraken?"

The elf shrugged. "I'm not actually sure what it was, because the beast was in the middle of an epic battle with a litorean woman with a gleaming tail, and we had to steer clear. Their powerful attacks sent out huge waves that threatened to capsize our boat. We nearly drowned then and there."

Niles and Prattii gasped at that, but Kriia kept a straight face and thought, There's no reason to be so shocked; he obviously made it out alive or we wouldn't be talking to him.

"We eventually made it to shore, but we were never completely sure who that warrior was. Personally, I suspect she was the legendary hero called The Spearfisher," Galinndan explained. "She was a prismatic lobster-type litorea, famous for her immense strength and durability, on top of her prismatic heritage's magical prowess. They say she retired to the Dark Sea long ago, but litorea can live a very long time."

"Oh, watch out here," Galinndan interjected as he led the group around a sneaky ravine in their path. It looked almost like level ground, but was actually a steep drop filled with brambles.

Then he resumed his tale, saying, "Later on, after a rousing battle with a venomous sea snake and a very cold night sheltering from the storm in a cave, we found a small settlement that may have been her home. The huts were built from the carapace of a great monster, and it was surrounded by a fence of menacing bone spears. We kept our distance and left it off the map, to give her some peace and quiet."

"That was very honorable of you, sir," Niles said, eyes sparkling in awe.

"Sounds like you didn't fully map the island, then," Moxy quipped while zipping around overhead. "All the maps are incomplete."

Niles bristled. "They're good enough. Most travelers would be more interested in the shoreline anyway, so they can steer clear of rocks and sandbars. And how'd you like it if your house was marked on a map that was sold all around Faeros?"

Moxy raised an eyebrow at the zealous young man. "Calm down, kid, I'm just poking fun."

"I'm the kid here?" he replied with a doubtful look. "You don't look much older than me, no offence."

"Based on your looks, I'm over four times your age. You're probably even younger than Shiho and Prattii."

Kriia was tempted to call Moxy out, since she was still pretty young by pixie standards, but Galinndan cut the whole conversation off.

"Here we are. Welcome to my humble grove. I suggest you relax for a while before we get to the topic of the day, as I'm sure you're all beat from that battle with the dire bear."

The bear in question was currently sleeping off a powerful slumber spell and, thanks to Galinndan's magic, it would be far more tame when it awoke. He had siphoned off its excess mana and vented it into the forest, and even gone so far as to modify the beast so it would naturally release pent-up mana in the future. Galinndan believed that with a little luck, that dire bear might develop into a peaceful nature guardian for the Mageroyal Woods.

The group of adventurers stepped through a living archway of purple wisteria flowers and emerged into a clearing that was covered by a massive canopy far overhead. Dappled sunlight trickled through the leaves above, shifting with the breeze. Birds chirped and small animals scurried through the branches. Anything larger and more threatening was kept at bay by druidic wards that Kriia could sense but not see.

This grove still took her breath away every time she saw it; the trees were all magnificent and wild, yet in perfect harmony with each other, creating a unified whole that simply belonged together. Compared to this amazing haven, her own tree-based home had a long way to go.

The six adventurers were all gathered around a large wood table, drinking a delicious and refreshing nectar beverage that Galinndan had served. Kriia suspected it had some magical healing properties, since her aches and pains from the bear battle and the trek through the forest were rapidly fading.

Galindann sat up tall and eyed each of the others in turn. Then he said, "So, what are you planning to do next?"

Moxy set her much smaller cup of juice aside and answered, "I can't speak for the new guy, but the rest of us are going to help Shiho investigate a mansion outside of Caliola. It's an official quest from the New Denomination."

"Oh, Kriia's joining too?" Galinndan asked, a subtle smile on his lips.

"Yes, I am," she said flatly. She was hoping to cut off that line of conversation, to avoid making a big deal of this, but luck was not on her side.

Grinning, Prattii added, "She didn't want to at first, but she agreed after we begged and pleaded!"

Galinndan's smile grew. "That's wonderful. I'm delighted to see you getting back out into the world. But…"

Kriia frowned. "But what?"

"Before you depart from these woods, I'd like you to visit somewhere. Near the northern edge of the Mageroyal Woods is a place called the Barrow Dens, a final resting place for past druids and a place of safekeeping for various druidic artifacts."

He looked directly at Kriia. "There's one particular artifact that I wish to pass on to you. I believe you're ready for the responsibility now."

"Oooh." Prattii leaned far forward, her chest nearly spilling out of her leafy top.

Moxy was nearly as curious. "An artifact! You must have a lot of faith in our Kriia."

"I do," he answered simply, eyes still on the arachne. "And I think this Woad Blade of Zalan is a good match for her."

Kriia narrowed her six eyes at him. "Isn't that an old wooden sword with most of the blade broken off? How exactly is that a good match for me? Or even a useful thing to have?"

"Such a grumpy-pants today," Prattii giggled.

Galinndan silenced her with a raised hand. "Now now, it's fair to be skeptical, but I assure you there is far more to that artifact than meets the eye. After all, it was created by a powerful archdruid, a Mushrum dryad named Zalan the Carver, and imbued with his power to protect the natural world. He disappeared around the time of the Lustification, but his Woad Blade remained behind."

Galinndan winked at Kriia and added, "I could tell you more, but I think it would be best to discover the specifics for yourself. I'll just leave you with this one last detail, the password to the blade's containment, then you and your friends should set off."

As the elf passed Kriia a scrap of parchment with a druidic rune on it, Niles started to fidget nervously. "Um, I was planning to leave the woods from the north anyway, so… do you mind if I accompany you at least as far as the Barrow Dens?"

"Not at all!" Prattii cheered, right as Shiho smiled and said, "That would be nice."

Moxy just shrugged, but Kriia folded her arms beneath her chest and frowned. Then she looked to her mentor. "Galinndan, do you trust this human that much? To send him to visit the resting place of our predecessors?"

Galinndan smiled. "I do. I think Niles is a man of great character, and you should give him more credit. We all saw how he fought by your side."

Kriia grunted and turned away, but offered no further resistance. And with that, the five young adventurers packed up their belongings to set out again.

Niles was in a great mood. He had saved some faeries from a dire bear, lived through the rather harrowing encounter with said bear, and even met one of his idols, who turned out to be just as great as the stories said. And now he was traveling through the forest with new friends. At least he wanted to call them friends, but he didn't actually know much about them other than their names and species.

But he could fix that.

"Miss Shiho, I gather that you're with the New Denomination, as a cleric? How is that?"

The gorgon lamia's hair-snakes turned to look at him, then her face followed. "Um, it's nice. They treat me very well, and I'm happy to do whatever I can to repay their kindness." Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes downcast, like she was either embarrassed or ashamed.

Niles nodded and said, "I really respect the New Denomination, as an organization. It's nice to see that a church can have a positive effect. Unlike the Citadel of Holy Light…" Niles couldn't hide his disdain as he said that last part. He normally avoided mentioning the Citadel of Holy Light entirely, but he was pretty sure these non-human women would share his opinion, albeit for different reasons.

But rather than agreeing with him, Shiho went completely silent and vanished behind a veil of blue snakes.

Niles scrambled to fix the situation. "Sorry! Did I say something wrong?"

Moxy flitted over to gently rub Shiho's shoulder, then she turned to Niles. "No, you're fine. She's just had a harder time with those bigots than the rest of us. But I will say it's nice that you're on the same page as us regarding them. I think Kriia thought you were some sort of Citadel spy or something."

"I did not," Kriia grumbled, but it sounded half-hearted.

"That's not that far off, actually," Niles admitted. Then when everyone's eyes went wide and fixated on him, he rushed to explain, "I was conscripted into their militia, not by choice! I hated their awful ways and escaped from them before they forced me to do anything evil to non-humans."

Everyone relaxed at that, except for Kriia who stomped onward without slowing. Everyone else had to hurry to keep up with her wide strides.

"Don't mind her," Prattii said as she shuffled along at Niles' side. "And I'm sure you want to learn more about the rest of us, huh? We can start with me!"

"Oh, sure," he said, letting Prattii guide the conversation. It was hard to do much else, with how talkative the alraune was.

Prattii launched into her backstory, waving around her arms, vines, and even some objects she pulled from her magical space as she talked. "Well, I used to live in the Black Forest, in the western part, never been to the east side, though I hear there's an entire castle made of raspberries there! Or maybe it's made of raspberry plants, with just a few raspberries on them. Still amazing either way, IMO."

"You're getting off track, Prattii," Moxy said with a chuckle.

"Right! Well, I was wandering around, doing like I do, and I found a weird orb in a cave. I tried to connect with it, like I do, but it didn't like that. Or did, I dunno actually. In any case, it got stuck in me and I went a bit crazy for a few days. I don't remember it, but it must have been intense, and I feel real bad about it. Then Shiho found me. Actually, she introduced herself as Oroshio, since we weren't friends yet, and she calmed me down. It was a lot like how we defeated that dire bear, actually, though with less watermelon and more cleric spells."

"Ah, okay…" Niles said. He was only understanding about half of what Prattii was saying, but he felt like he was getting to know her quite well regardless.

To Niles' surprise, Shiho spoke up then. "I offered to take her with me to the New Denomination, to help her figure out what had happened to her. And we've been friends ever since."

Prattii rolled her eyes and gave an exaggerated shrug. "That's true, but I coulda told that part in a much more exciting way, with mystery and intrigue and the unbreakable bond of friendship!"

Moxy hovered backwards so she could face the group. "You could have, but would you actually tell it that way? Or would you go off on a tangent about how the New Denomination isn't actually very new, or something like that?"

"That's right! It isn't very new. They need to update their name. Maybe 'Good Denomination', but maybe that's too pretentious, sort of like how the Citadel calls itself holy when it's actually super mean."

Kriia stopped and shot Prattii a glare. "Enough about the Citadel."

Prattii bowed at the waist, doing a sort of curtsey with her flower petals. "Sorry!"

Then she quickly bounced back to her lively self and said, "Enough about me, too. How about you, mister Miller? What's your origin story?"

"Um, that's related to you-know-what, but I can talk about my first quest as a freelancer instead."

"That works too!"

Niles cleared his throat, then said, "I had a lot of martial training but no experience with caves or any adventurer stuff like that, so I decided to start off with a bodyguard job. I was hired to escort a human herbalist into the Black Forest." He smiled at Prattii and clarified, "The southern part."

"The herbalist was friendly and I was hoping for an uneventful herb-gathering trip, but we ran into some territorial squirrelfolk and a lone wolf. Not a dire wolf, thankfully. I fought the wolf to a draw and it retreated, but the squirrelfolk were trickier. I had to bribe them with my rations to let us pass through, and I still remember how hungry I was that night. The problem with rare herbs is you can't make a meal out of them."

"Nice story, Niles," Moxy said, floating down from a high vantage point. "I'd share one of my own, or try in vain to get one out of Kriia, but it looks like we're nearly to the Barrow Dens. I saw a huge mossy mound up ahead."

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Prattii said, her flower petals quivering.

"You're always excited," Moxy teased.

"Quiet!" Kriia suddenly hissed. She had stepped close to the mound and approached the ancient moss-covered granite door that marked the entrance, but her tone of voice said that something was very wrong.

She held the druidic password from Galinndan in her hand, ready to speak aloud to unseal the door, but the seal was already broken. The door was already ajar.

Someone, or something, had gotten there first.

Chapter Text

Lamia

Type: Wildkin (human-like, but not closely related)
Content Warning: None
Encounter Rating: Varies
Origin: Pre-lustification, descended from Naga mating with humans
Habitat: Deserts, jungles, and foothills

Lamia are a Wildkin race with the appearance of a human from the waist up, and a very long scale-covered tail from the waist down. This snake-like tail can reach lengths over twenty feet, and Lamia scales can be nearly any color or combination of colors. Their hair often matches the color of their scales, even when unnaturally vibrant. They possess a mildly venomous bite which won’t kill Human-sized people, but can be painful and temporarily debilitating. This bite is used for hunting and self defense, and it has no effect on other Lamia who are naturally immune to many venoms and poisons.

While Lamia seem very similar to the various Hume species created by the Lustification, they are actually much older. They are descended from demonic [Naga] who crossed into our world and mated with humans thousands of years ago. Over many generations, their descendents lost their demonic horns and their affinity for tantric energy, becoming a new species entirely.

Lamia are born male or female in equal frequency, and like Hume species, either sex can mate with humans and produce more Lamia. Despite their reptilian appearance, Lamia are born through live birth rather than eggs. Lamia are primarily carnivorous, but can eat most things that Humans can. They are known to eat voraciously when food is available, storing the excess in their long stomachs for times of scarcity.

Most Lamia live in small, self-sufficient villages in remote regions of Faeros. After numerous conflicts with racist crusaders like The Citadel of Holy Light, the Lamia have mostly retreated from larger society. As skilled hunters and crafters, Lamia have little need for others, but will engage in mutually beneficial trade from time to time. They produce some unique goods that are in high demand in the kingdoms, including the famous serpent wine, a potent alcoholic drink said to drastically increase both energy and sexual desire. 

Lamia also possess striking eyes that are said to be able to hypnotize vulnerable creatures who meet their gaze for too long. Some believe this gaze and serpent wine are proof that Lamia heritage still contains tantric magic, but scholars contend that their wine is a natural product of fermentation and trace quantities of Lamia venom, and their bewitching gaze is the result of combining striking beauty, a gentle swaying motion, and the power of suggestion.

Variant: Gorgon

One of the oldest offshoots of Lamia, Gorgons are both visually striking and widely feared due to still possessing some demonic heritage. Instead of hair, living snakes extend from their scalps. These snakes have some degree of intelligence and will act independently if threatened, but can be controlled by the Gorgon with conscious effort. Their bite is extremely venomous, causing muscles to lock up for hours or days, but Gorgons and other Lamia are immune to the venom. If harmed, the snakes will eventually regenerate, but cutting them is very painful to the Gorgon who can feel everything their snakes feel.

Additionally, Gorgons possess a supernatural gaze, capable of paralyzing any who stare into it. This seems to be an extension of the hypnotizing gaze that all Lamia possess, except it is enhanced by magic to have a powerful and lasting effect not unlike that of their snakes’ venom. Those who fall prey to this gaze can become petrified for multiple days, and can result in starvation if untreated.

This variant is by far the most reclusive of all Lamia, mostly due to self preservation. Gorgons are misunderstood and feared by most Faerosians, but have no natural tendency toward evil or misdeeds. In fact, they have been known to become effective adventurers, pursuing justice and fairness in spite of frequent mistrust from those they meet.

Variant: Sea Serpent

Habitat: Tropical Ocean and Shores

These aquatic Lamia are exclusive to the tropical waters of the northern coasts of Faeros, and they frequently trade with the [Litorea] of Carthaz. Sea Serpents are easily mistaken for a human when emerging from the sea, since they tend to keep their extremely long tails hidden beneath the waves. The tail of a Sea Serpent can reach over sixty feet in length, but its shape and significant weight are ill-suited to terrestrial movement. The tail is round at the hips but quickly transitions into a vertical almond shape, and the tip of the tail ends in a wide paddle-like fin.

Sea Serpents can’t actually breathe underwater and must surface occasionally for air, but they can hold their breath for hours or even days at a time depending on physical activity. This remarkable feat is thanks to secondary lungs that extend down into their long tails, storing air for their dives and providing buoyancy control.

In order to combat the threats of the deep sea, Sea Serpents have long extendable fangs and the most potent venom of any known creature. Anything injected with Sea Serpent venom will die within an hour unless immediate magical aid is provided. A standard antidote spell or potion is usually not sufficient to counteract the powerful venom, but repeated applications have been known to increase the chance of recovery. Fortunately, Sea Serpents are generally peaceful and reclusive, and reserve their venomous bite for powerful monsters that threaten their communities.

Variant: Viper

Habitat: Deserts and Caves

This variant is very similar to standard Lamia, except that their bodies feature rough and durable scales on their tail, back, and arms. They have sharp claws on their fingertips which can be used for digging or combat. Viper coloration is typically more earthy and muted than other Lamia, but their tails feature elaborate patterns of interlocking diamond shapes. Additionally, male Vipers have two upward-pointing horns on their foreheads: a lingering remnant of their Naga heritage.

Due to their harsh living environments and strength-based social structure, Vipers tend to be prone to violence and quick to anger. They solve most disagreements with physical combat, but they never use their venomous fangs on fellow Vipers. Their venom, nearly as potent as that of Sea Serpents, is so painful that most victims faint from the pain before succumbing to the destructive effects.

Vipers are the hardiest Lamia variant, able to survive in hot and arid regions filled with dangerous wildlife and dust storms. In addition to the defensive benefit of their thick scales, they also possess strong arms and tails, making them very effective warriors, miners, or bodyguards.

Variant: Jewel Lamia

Unlike other Lamia that often reach lengths over twenty feet, this diminutive variant seldom reaches three feet long. Their humanoid upper body is the size of a Faerie, and their tail is scarcely thicker than a Human finger. They are believed to be a hybrid of standard Lamia and Pixies, perhaps created by a Djinn’s granted wish long ago.

Jewel Lamia, as their name suggests, are often brightly colored and beautiful to behold. Their small size makes them unthreatening and unobtrusive, and many A’losh nobles have taken Jewel Lamia as companions or familiars, providing food and care in exchange for conversation and the ability to wear the Lamia like jewelry upon their wrist, neck, or head. There is a minor defensive benefit to this arrangement, since these small Lamia still possess an enthralling gaze that can disrupt a would-be attacker and buy time to escape or find help. 

Too small to fend for themselves in the wild, Jewel Lamia have embraced this symbiotic relationship, but they will insist that they are not pets or slaves. The laws of both A’losh and Farsought consider Jewel Lamia to be independent people with freedom and agency, and their employment is treated much like hiring a maid or butler.

Legendary Individuals

Stella, the Oracle

Gifted with a talent for prophetic sorcery, this Sea Serpent became famous after her accurate prediction of the event that ignited the last great war between Farsought and A’losh: the attempted assassination of the King of A’losh. It was only after the fact that her prophecy was understood, but she went on to make numerous predictions about natural disasters and monster attacks.

She claimed to be unable to see the future of the great war itself, saying her sight was blinded by the blood and destruction. Many believe she was lying in order to avoid becoming entangled in the war and reduced to another resource for the kingdoms to fight over. In any case, she laid low throughout the war and used her foresight to avoid capture by either side.

Sandking

In the chaos immediately after the great war, a violent tribe of Vipers attempted to claim the entire Seshirath Desert as their domain, creating a new kingdom of desert dwellers. Their leader was a male Viper who ruled with fear and violence and called himself only ‘Sandking’. He succeeded in capturing the Desert and ruled over all its residents from inside his plateau fortress for nearly five years until he was slain by one of his generals. 

The general didn’t seek to take power, and had instead allied himself with a growing movement of Vipers and other desert-dwelling races that wanted a return to the loosely connected tribes of the past. The Sand Kingdom was disbanded, and by the time of the Lustification fifty years later, nearly all traces of Sandking’s legacy and fortress had been eroded by the desert winds.

Oroshiho, Cleric of the New Denomination

(Courtesy of Clockwerk66. [ Full character profile ])

This young Gorgon was left parentless and scarred by fire after an attack by the Citadel of Holy Light, then rescued by Galir the Honest and brought to an orphanage funded by the New Denomination.

Self-conscious of her scars, Oroshiho secluded herself in the orphanage's library for a time, learning more about the New Denomination’s beliefs and ideals until she decided she wanted to dedicate herself to them. She relocated to a New Denomination church, where she trained under the clergy for a couple more years.

Ever since, she has roamed Faeros as a freshly-recruited cleric of the New Denomination, doing her best to spread their teachings, while also trying to combat her remaining social anxiety surrounding her burn scars. During her travels, she has encountered and made friends with a small handful of fellow adventurers, including the arachne druid Kriia Tarantella, the pixie sorceress Moxy, and quirky and unpredictable alraune Prattii.