Difference between revisions of "Fauna3"

Revision as of 07:14, 21 January 2010

The Felayan fauna is composed of many species from many worlds which makes it very varied and unpredictable. See also carnivorous plants and plant life. These pages feature mostly dangerous or remarkable creatures. There is many many others, from small animals to harmless herbivores, or unreported species that aren't listed here but exist and are part of the great Felarya food chain. Because the page is reaching the maximum size, here is the first part of the fauna : Fauna, second : Fauna2, and fourth : Fauna4

Note about the threat ranking:

It's based on the threat that the creature represents for a normal human. It's not necessarily linked to the strength of the creature. For example the dryad Cypress would rank very low because she is very friendly to humans, yet she is a powerful being.

Rank:

• Minimal: A totally harmless being such as a mouse or a rabbit.
• Very Low: Mostly herbivores but who can still strike back if attacked.
• Low: Various animals such as felines.
• Moderate: A moderately dangerous Felaryan creature can still be very dangerous in another world. For example a great white shark would rank between Low and Moderate here...
• Medium: A predatory, dangerous and often man-eating creature.
• High: A great predator. Crisis is in this category.
• Very High: A top predator. This creature could take on a small army.
• Critical: In Felaryan scales, very few creatures reach this rank.
• Extreme: A guardian or a mythical creature. Only a god can hope to survive a confrontation with one of these.

In evernight forest

Abyssal Slug

Size: 30 to 40 feet
Threat: Medium

These creatures usually live in very dark places such as caverns. They glow lightly and have a beautiful pattern of vividly colored lights on their skin. However when you see these lights it's probably already too late for you. Abyssal slugs can locate their prey far away with a sort of natural sonar, and when the slug knows the exact location of its prey and is in range, it powerfully vacuums it in to it's large mouth. The range of their vacuum can reach 300 feet for the largest specimens.

Shadow Fish

Size: 1 to 40 feet
Threat: Very Low to Medium

The size of shadow fishes varies a lot and this name comprises many sub species. Shadow fish have the unique ability to breath shadow, which means that they can live in or out of the water, so long as it is dark. Exposing them to light will suffocate them, much like what happens to a regular fish out of water. They float in the air and can move quickly if needed. Because they have no teeth, shadow fish swallow whole anything that is the right size. Larger specimens can easily eat an human, posing a serious threat to adventurers.

Glophorbia

Size: 12 to 40 feet
Threat: Moderate to Medium

Glophorbias are strange, alien creatures. During the first stage of their life, they look like a sort of large white flatworm. They live in very dark environments and vivid light is very painful, sometimes even lethal, to them. They crawl slowly and they don't have any particular weapons, but they are voracious and will attempt to swallow anything of the right size. Later, the glophorbia begins to develop additional features such as legs or a tail. Their appearance remains grotesque though, with an eyeless head and a large, gaping maw.

The more they eat, the larger and the more complex they become, sometimes based on the creatures they consumed. Fortunately, once large enough, glophorbias will take flight and leave Felarya. They then start roaming in space where some specimens can reach truly gigantic proportions, becoming a serious threat even for space battleships.

Flash Medusa

Size: 20 to 30 feet
Threat: Moderate

In such a dark place as evernight forest, light can become a weapon. These jellyfish-like creature use a powerful flash of light to dazzle and blind their prey... or suffocate it in the case of shadow fishes. Then they move rapidly in range to swallow their meal.

Lightseeker

Size: 15 inches
Threat: Minimal

A small and extremely fast bird. Little is known about them because once you see a trace of a lightseeker, it's already gone. They possess a strange glowing globe on their belly that emits a blinding light when the bird flies, and they leave a long tail of light behind them, a bit like a comet.

In the eternal darkness of Evernight forest, this is one of the rare sources of light. For some reason, lightseekers seem to always fly very straight trajectories, and turn with very sharp angles, creating long jagged lines of light that remain for several seconds before being swallowed up by the dark.

Night Anemone

Size: 50 feet
Threat: Medium

A dangerous creature lurking in dark places such as caverns or evernight forest. They feed on anything that they catch with their long and agile tentacles and they can swallow very large prey. While their most common prey are shadow fishes, a human would also easily fit in such a large stomach. What makes night anemones really dangerous is their tentacles which are strong, agile, and can stretch to frighteningly long distance. But most dangerously their tentacles are semi-immaterial and can't be harmed in any normal way.

In Threnos island

Size: 2-6 feet
Threat: Threat: Minimal

This dark green colored fish is only found in the Emerald river of Threnos island. It is very sought after by all types of predators, from humans to mermaids. Not only are they absolutely delicious, but they carry the healing properties of the algae they consume, making them very healthy to eat. Their scales can also be ground up to make a very potent healing salve that, when put on a wound, will help it heal twice as fast. The alga pepari is very common and some places in the Emerald river are teeming with them.

Size: 20-30 feet
Threat: Threat: Moderate

A very large catfish that lives mostly in tropical waters. They are of a dark blue-green color, with a powerful tail and a very wide mouth. They are considered a delicacy for their delicious meat, but their size makes them dangerous to hunt. Many people became the hunted instead of being the hunters, and only very skilled fishermen should go after them.

Size: 2-4 feet
Threat: Very Low

This strange and rare fish lives mostly around shores in shallower waters. They possess wide eyelids, which are the same silver grey color as their bodies, and gives them a strange and rather unique look. Their scales are mobile and are not flush with the skin, instead sticking out at a slight angle, which does not affect it's swimming ability. When frightened or threatened, the fish will immediately lay all it's scales down flat and close it's eyes, turning himself into the equivalent of a mirror. This maneuver often confuses and startles an unaware attacker which give the fish time to flee. Some of the smaller mirror fishes are often kept as pets because of there docile nature and because if you make any sudden movements towards them, they become very handy makeshift mirrors.

Size: 1-3 feet
Threat: Very Low

Unlike what their name says, these small creatures are more like gliding snakes. They glide by flatting their bodies out and leaping between trees, fluttering their small wings to catch preys such as birds and small mammals. Serpent flies can't control how far they move through the air very well, so if another creature gets in the way, they may end up colliding with it. They are otherwise totally harmless to humans.

Size: 30 feet
Threat: Threat: Moderate

A giant snake living on the shores of Threnos island. It is of a dark green color as seaweed, and it has adapted so that seaweed will actually grow on its nutrient rich skin, giving it even better camouflage. They are very dangerous for humans and other smaller creatures because they hide frighteningly well in the beds of giant seaweed, to the point it's near impossible to spot one.

In forest of whispers

Tonorion

Size: 40 to 120 feet long
Threat: Medium to High

A sort of armored and spiked centipede with the front claws of a praying mantis. With their razor sharp fangs and multiple glowing eyes, tonorions look positively nightmarish. These agile creatures can move with great speed and strike in the blink of an eye. They usually dwell in hives deep underground and come to the surface to hunt, usually during the night. Tonorions naturally emit an anti-magic aura, strong enough that only a very powerful offensive spell caster can hope to harm them magically. Tonorions are very capable of tearing their prey into bits, but they still attempt to swallow them whole if possible.

Abyssal Tonorion

Size: 80 to 130 feet long
Threat: High

This species of Tonorion only lives deep underground in tonorion hives. They are considered to be guardians of the hive and are extremely dangerous. They are voracious, aggressive, blisteringly fast, and possess an extremely tough chitinous skin. These terrible creatures are basically invulnerable to magic and their natural anti-magic aura nullifies it in a large area around them. They are also more intelligent than lesser tonorions and possess a rudimentary grasp of tactics.

Kowo Cat

Size: 5 feet
Threat: Very Low

A fast and agile feline creature with red fur and a long, large bushy tail. Kowo cats have their backs and tails covered by long and very thin spines that look like hair. Those quills are released by simple contact and are able to embed themselves very easily in the skin of an attacker. They may drop out when the Kowo cat shakes its body or when the creature is under extreme stress, but they grow back in a matter of seconds. Kowo cats feed essentially on small animals and are utterly harmless to humans, unless you ask for trouble. The creature can then turn quite nasty and will whip the air with its quilled tail, lauching spines at the offender, a very painful experience. Kowo cats are rather affectionate when they don't feel threatened though, and the fur on their head is as silky and smooth than that of a real cat.

Echydin

Size: 25 feet
Threat: Medium

This creature looks sort of like a big unicorn with sparkling colors and antenna. The most noticeable thing about them is how silent they are. An echydin can gallop without producing the slightest sound, which is probably a magically enhanced ability.

Echydins are very dangerous. When you encounter one, the creature will first stare at you, trying to determine if you are edible, the right size and if it's hungry. If the answer to all three is yes, then the echydin will instantly teleport you in to its stomach! Most anti-magic protections can't counter that because the spell is actually not cast on the prey but on the space directly around it. Once trapped in the stomach the prey has little to no chance of getting out as the echydin possesses a very tough and stretchy stomach which nullifies magic and a rather fast metabolism.

Echydins are usually very friendly to fairies.

Furred Parrot

Size: 20ft from head to feet.
Threat: Low

This unusual creature is found in the forest of whispers and the western part of the Tolmeshal forest. Interestingly, the furred parrot is not actually a parrot at all; rather, it is a kind of mammal. Its name comes from its ability to "parrot" the sounds it hears with near perfect accuracy. This is its primary defense mechanism-when danger approaches, it hides and mimics the growl of a kensha beast or another large dangerous predator. Should this fail, it then attempts to escape by flight. Furred parrots have bat-like wings, which are covered in colorful and complex patterns, while their body proper is a rather drab shade of brown. The animal actually does have a somewhat parrot-like head, due mostly to its vertically thick snout. Its long tail helps it to steer while in flight. When on the ground, it hops along rather like an oversized sparrow. Its meat has a somewhat sweet taste, due to its diet of ripe and overipe fruit and nectar.

In jewel river

Silver Mycorpe

Size: 15 feet
Threat: Moderate

A large fish resembling a grouper with silvery scales, Mycorpes are a common predator in Felaryan waters. With their large and powerful maw, they swallow whole anything that they find in their path.

Royal Pelican

Size: 3 to 4 feet
Threat: Minimal

This strange creature ressemble a two headed pelican. It's very brightly colored, coming in a rainbow of colors, a true wonder to behold. While the creature is totally harmless to humans, it loves to play tricks, and sailors know to hide valuable things when the facetious bird is nearby. Some royal pelicans can be domesticated and are seen as prized pets.

Pearl Anemone

Size: 20 feet
Threat: Moderate

This large anemone is similar to it's much smaller cousin in all ways except for the feature that gives it its name: the gem it grows on itself. The reason for this is still a true mystery. Some say it was originally a wizard's attempt to get rich that escaped from his lab. Whatever the reason, people go to the anemone to collect its gem, and some get eaten by the creature in the process..

Toxotida

Size: 22 feet
Threat: Moderate

At first glance this fish doesn't look very menacing. Despite its great size, it has a puffy body that floats lazily, and its great round eyes don't seem very predatory. However, toxotidas possess a special mouth that allows them to spit highly pressurized water at a target. The jet is powerful and extremely accurate, and it can easily knock a sailor from the deck of a ship. If the first shot does not knock the target in to the water, the toxotoda will keep trying. Once successful the fish will swim lazily towards its prey and gobble it up. However, because of its slowness, it is not uncommon for another predator to steal the toxotida's meal before it gets there.

Exovole

Size: 27 feet
Threat: Moderate

The most striking features of this long green fish are its pectoral and tail fins, which are unusually large, about 10 feet each. This allows the exovole to leap from the water and glide above the surface of the river for long distances in order to snatch flying prey. Exovoles represent a great danger for humans sailing the jewel river. When an exovole alert ring out, every well seasoned crew member knows it's time to quickly take cover.

Jewel Fish

Size: 30 inches
Threat: Minimal

A pretty common fish in the Jewel river of Felarya, but legendary anywhere else. The sight of a jewel fish is something you never forget. It's an absolute wonder for the eyes; it's iridescent skin shimmers every color of the rainbow when struck by light, and it's golden eyes seem to pierce your soul. Jewel fish skin is used as a currency on several worlds and is easily worth more than its weight in diamonds.

Jewel fish are hard to catch with a spear or a net because of their quickness, and they are impossible catch on a line, because no one has ever figured out what they eat, and so no one knows what to bait the hook with.

Crystal Dragon

Size: 150 feet
Threat: High

Crystal dragons don't actually look very dragonlike, expect for the shape of their hornless heads, looking more like giant sea serpents instead. Their long snake like body is flattened out at the tail to swim faster and they have fins in place of limbs. Down their back are long spines with skin attached between them, that look much like sails and can be raised or lowered while swimming to reduce or increase drag. Their ears also sport fin-like flaps to protect them. Rows of bright crystals are encrusted on various part of their body and they glow when the creature use its strange transmutation-based magic.

Crystal dragons posses enormous strength and a few deadly abilities that make them very dangerous opponents. Their most dreaded trick is to temporarily encase their prey in crystal, to either prevent them from fleeing, or to separate the forces that are attacking the dragon. The creature can use this ability instantly and from a very long range. The crystal is transparent and allows the trapped target to breath, but it is night unbreakable. It turns into dust after a few minutes.

Opal Mingo

Size: 15 inches
Threat: Very Low

A very rare and beautiful bird with silver wings and a body seemingly made of opal and precious gemstones. They are an absolute wonder to behold, and the way the sunlight plays on their iridescent feathers and delicate wings when they fly produces amazing and ever changing colors.

Opal mingos are almost harmless to humans, but are a bane to fairies. Once near one, it will quickly absorb the fairy's magical power, then use the fairy's own shrinking magic against them, before swallowing them whole in flight. The stomach of a mingo is totally magic proof, as is the rest of its body, efficiently trapping its little prey inside.

In Mycoria forest

Fungoïd

Size: 7 to 20 feet
Threat: Low

The Fungoïd are a race of sentient humanoid fungus. Their size varies depending on how much water they have absorbed, but generally they range from 7 to 20 feet tall. There appears to be no standard as to how many limbs they have, with some having the familiar 4 limbs, but others having any odd combination, such as 8 arms or 4 legs! Their head resembles a toadstool, on top of which there can be up to 30 "eyes". Their "mouth" is more or less just a opening to their stomach. They prefer dead or rotting food in most cases, but they will be more then willing to ingest a living being if it suits them. Once inside, the victim is digested by an accelerated process of decomposition. As one can imagine, since they primarily eat rotting food, they usually emit a horrible stench, which is a sure fire way to know if one is nearby.

At first glance, the Fungoïd society seems to be very primitive. They use basic tools to carve out homes in the stalks of the giant mushrooms which inhabit Mycoria forest. Their social structure seems poorly defined as well, and they communicate with each other by using spores or bioluminescent lights that are created on their skin. They have no verbal language or any known form of communicative gestures. Thus, they are seen as little more than monsters and are possibly the most underestimated race of Felarya, which suits them perfectly.

Fungoïds are actually very wise and philosophical beings with an incredible understanding of their surrounding. They live in perfect harmony with mycodryads who love to inform them on what is going in the jungle and receive their thoughts in return. Some of them are powerful, but discrete, spellcasters as well. Many mages would be shocked to know how how much they could learn from some Fungoïds shamans.

Ooze

Size: Varies
Threat: Moderate

Oozes are basically protoplasmic sacs of slime that, not surprisingly, ooze around the swamp in search of food. When food is found, they will engulf it completely. At this point it's very difficult for the victim to escape, as the gelatinous mass is extremely sticky. Once the prey has been completely surrounded, the ooze will stop moving and digest it. Soft, organic material go usually first followed by bones and finally rocks and metals. Travelers have reported seeing massive oozes with the skeletons of entire traveling groups still suspended within them.

Since the ooze is amorphous, trying to cut it or shoot it will usually have no effect. Freezing the ooze is usually your safest bet. That won't kill the creature, but it will restrict it's movement enough to allow you to escape. Adventurers should be aware that since the ooze is a shapeless mass, they can hide almost anywhere. Special attention should be paid to shallow water, because what look like a harmless swamp water could actually be an ooze waiting in ambush!

Oozes are one the favorite prey of mud slugs and Gorudan behemoths.

Forgon

Size: Varies
Threat: Moderate

Forgon is the common name for the Jenkenite Petrifying Fungus (so named in honor of Professor Jenkin, the first person to document its existence, and ironically also its first documented victim). This rare fungus can be found growing on various rocks, which it feeds upon. It vaguely resembles an oceanic anemone, although its tentacles are usually hidden within its pod most of the time. When prey approaches it, it lashes out with its many tentacles, each one tipped with poison. If the prey is injected with the poison, they will immediately be petrified into a stone statue. The Forgon will then begin to grow upon them, feeding off of its new rock perch. Fortunately the victims don't die immediately, and the process can be reversed, but only through a powerful transmutation spell.

Moss Basilik

Size: 25 feet
Threat: Moderate

A large, bulky lizard entirely covered by thick moss and small plants. Their special skin is nutrient-rich and allows vegetation to grow on it, an efficient way to hide themselves completely from predator and to attract small herbivores that make up the majority of the basilik's diet. The lizard however, is very aggressive and won't hesitate to attack humans that come too close. Despite their heavy appearance, they are surprisingly fast and agile. Thus what looks like a harmless heap of moss and brush can suddenly turn into a ferocious beast that leaps at you, maw wide open. While their prey is stunned by the collision, the moss basilik will attempt to devour it in a succession of rapid swallows, holding it with its tremendously strong jaws.

Despite being called a "basilik" and looking a lot like a real basilisk, moss basiliks cannot actually petrify their victim with their stare. They were mistakenly named because of the numerous humanoid statues that are in the zone, statues that are actually made by the much more discrete forgons.

In Pyrale mountains

Cryok

Size: 50 to 80 feet
Threat: Low

Cryoks are mostly found in rocky volcanic areas. This centipede-like creature is notable, less for the fact that it measures up to eighty feet in length, than for its adaptations for such a hot, steamy environment, namely its subzero body temperatures. Its veins are filled, not with blood but with a hyper-compressed gas which pumps into its many legs, not unlike a spider's inner hydraulics. This creature's body contains no water whatsoever, causing many scientists to theorize that it's not truly alive.

The cryok doesn't hunt, rather it feeds in volcanic minerals. Its horrendously cold body not only protects it from intense heat, but has a habit of extinguishing any and all flames that make contact with it. Cryoks are peaceful creatures, having no prey and no natural predators - very few animals find non-carbon-based meat to be tasty.

Platinum Armadillo

Size: 25 feet
Threat: Moderate

Platinum armadillos, as their name implies, are huge armadillos with a heavy platinum shell. They are omnivorous, feeding on anything they find. This sometimes includes humans, but fortunately they aren't very voracious and are quite tamable. The shell of a platinum armadillo possess very strong magnetic abilities that the creature is able to modulate to attract or repel metal, not unlike a silver succubus. They use it both to defend themselves and catch prey. Humans sometimes makes magically imbued armor out of their shell, armor that repels metallic weapons. It works wonderfully well against arrows. Platinum armadillos are tough to kill though, and when facing an opponent, they will curl up into a ball and roll, giving themselves devastating amounts of momentum by selectively pulling themselves towards nearby rocks.

Carbon Hound

Size: 20 to 30 feet tall
Threat: Medium

Often erroneously referred as the Pyrale mountains's Kensha Beast equivalent, carbon hounds are among the top predators of the area. They look like enormous jackals with long ears, no tail, and very dark fur. Their fur is extremely solid, weakening physical assault considerably, and they can light themselves on fire at will. They are very dangerous in this form, able to to breath fire like a dragon. Carbon hounds also possess the terrible ability to run on lava !

Dridder forest

Terror Hyena

Size: 40 feet tall
Threat: Medium

Virtually the Dridder forest’s version of the kensha beast, terror hyenas possess only four legs, though they do have poisonous claws like the kensha beast. Terror hyenas constantly laugh which adds to the eeriness of the forest. Although less strong and having less endurance than kensha beasts, these creatures are intelligent and are even able to speak a primitive which is rather freaky and unsettling in its own right. They often travel in packs of five or more, and when they have cornered their prey they always wear wide grins on their face while laughing, laughter that causes many of their prey to go mad.

Umbra

Size: Varies
Threat: Medium

Long thought extinct in Felarya, several dozen of these creatures still exist in or around the Dridder forest. Because of their unique physiology, their form is never completely fixed. They continually phase in and out of the dimensions of Felarya, with the effect of essentially making them shape shifters of sorts. In their true form you could vaguely describe them as a sort of shadowy fog. Their most common hunting tactic is to conceal themselves in the roots of a tree, or on the ceiling of a cave, and wait for a small living creature to approach before surrounding and enveloping it.

Umbras can stretch to remarkably long lengths, and because of their weightlessness they are able to travel with blinding speed through the air like a cloud. Strangely, their semi-corporeal form is as much a drawback as it is an advantage, as a strong wind that any human would mostly ignore would prove dangerous to an Umbra. They also have only a very small tolerance for injury and tend to flee a tough battle, only to come back and strike later. Indeed, if an umbra does find a suitable prey, it will relentlessly pursue it, feeling an unnatural compulsion to remove all evidence of their existence by devouring any who have seen them. Those who have claimed to have seen an umbra are usually cast out of their society due to the bad luck that the more superstitious people will see as surrounding them.

Because the page is reaching the maximum size, here is the first part of the fauna : Fauna, second : Fauna2, and fourth : Fauna4

• Credits to Veeshan123 for the Forgon, to Icalasari for the Opal Mingo, to Gregole for the Cryok, to Sean Okotami for the Platinum Armadillo and Carbon hound, to Tankmasterxyz for the Terror hyena, to Rythmear for the Umbra, and to Oldman40k2003 for his great help at editing ^_^ Alga Pepari, Giant Green Catfish, Mirror Fish, Serpent Fly, Seaweed Snake belongs to Melancholy-Melody13