Fauna

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 second part of the fauna : Fauna2, third : Fauna3, 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 Tolmeshal forest

Noghdong

Size: 50 feet
Threat: Very Low

Noghdongs are large peaceful turtles who move slowly through the jungles of Felarya, grazing on various plants. They possess a very strong and heavy carapace, and once the noghdong detects any danger it retreats into it. At this point, if for some reasons you want to harm it, you might as well just give up: a rocket launcher won't even scratch the noghdong's shell. They are essentially herbivores, but there has been a single reported case of a noghdong swallowing a human whole. This behavior seems to be extremely rare and, according to the report, the human was clearly asking for it. They are rather easy to tame and, while slow, these great turtles can carry a very heavy load.

Starkala Bug

Size: 1 inch
Threat: Minimal

This creature is extremely common, and often ends up as lunch for basically any other species. Starkalas look like a little blue berry, with small spines all over. These spines are actually their legs, and they also have a pair of wings reminiscent of fly wings. Unlike other animals, the starkala actually photosynthesizes, yet it has animal cells and moves, confusing many biologists as to how to classify it. They congregate in large numbers, forming light blue balls the size of a grape. They have a life span of two days and breed rapidly, providing an endless supply of food for other creatures. They taste "deliciously sweet".

Duiker

Size: 3 feet
Threat: Minimal

Felaryan duikers are a common herbivore of Felarya. Three feet high at the shoulder, the little antelopes survive through by being incredible stealthy and alert. They spring and run at a great speed, easily surprising and leaving behind inexperienced predators. Felaryan duikers taste incredibly good and are Anna's favorite food. She has quite a hard time catching them, though.

Glouteux

Size: 30 feet
Threat: Moderate

A sort of large fowl with strong running legs. Glouteux have been dubbed the 14th dumbest creature in the known universe by the famous biologist Dr. Ebb Anguimon. Their extremely limited brain basically thinks of only two things: moving and eating. Their stupidity doesn't mean that they aren't dangerous: they are voracious and, with their size and strength, they can easily overpower a human and swallow them whole. Still, they are incredibly stupid and very easy to trick: once they spot you, they will run after you, no matter what. If a pit is between you and it, the glouteux will run straight over the edge of the pit. If it survives the fall it will stare blankly at the wall it faces. Moreover, glouteux do not recognize danger of any sort, and will walk in front a pack of kensha beasts, as if they weren't even there!

Spine Beetle

Size: Males 10 feet, Females 9 feet
Threat: Moderate alone - High in group

Spine beetles typically dwell in dark, wet places such as caves and tunnels. They live in mobile swarms sometime numbering in the thousands. They can digest anything they find, from grass to the flesh of other creatures. If attacked they will band together and strike back, using the spines on their backs which they can launch with great accuracy and which are coated with a deadly poison. Their large mandibles can crush even reinforced steel. Their tough shells can withstand most physical attacks, though sharp objects can cut through it if they hit a joint.

Kensha Beast

Size: Males 29 feet, Females 27 feet
Threat: Medium

Kensha beasts are one of the dominant animal predators in Felaryan forests. Essentially enormous six-legged wolves, they hunt in packs of four to twelve beasts, of which three out of four are female. Females will hunt alone on occasion, especially if their pack has fought off a territorial challenge, which usually injures many pack members. Attacks typically involve two beasts chasing their prey into the waiting jaws of the others. Single attacks are fast and depend heavily on surprise when stalking larger prey. Their claws contain a paralyzing poison that can kill in large doses, and they have large fangs which can crush the tough exoskeletons of some of their prey.

Arboreal Frog

Size: 10 to 15 feet
Threat: Moderate

These frogs can be mostly found in the canopy of the trees. They are voracious and usually feed on snakes, though at their size they wouldn't have much trouble swallowing a human whole. They are agile, quick and their brown green bark-like skin grows moss, leaves and small branches, making them very hard to spot when they stand still in spite of their size.

Drakewillow Nexolt

Size: 20 feet
Threat: Moderate

An avian creature which in some ways resembles a goose, but with a long, snakelike, reptilian neck, and a large gaping maw. A nexolt will wrap its powerful neck around a drakewillow tree and shake loose all the dragonapples. After that it will hide and use it's long neck to reach down and gobble up the woodland creatures, or passing travelers, who stop to pick up the fruits on the ground.

Mumansi

Size: 60 to 70 feet
Threat: Low

Mumansis are large and peaceful herbivores, resembling a bulky rhino with a long neck and longer legs. They are territorial and aggressive toward large creatures, but almost harmless to humans. Actually the beasts has no problems with a human's presence at all, and adventurers can take cover under its body. It remains fiercely independent though, and no tamed mumansis has ever been reported. With their extremely thick hide, formidable strength, and sharp horns, they are more than a match for many predators and tales of a single enraged mumansi wiping out a small pack of kensha beasts are not uncommon.

Bugle Lizard

Size: 2 feet tall - 4 feet long
Threat: Very Low

A small lizard found in the jungles of Felarya. It has a bony neck frill and a long, slender body which at a distance gives it the appearance of the small hunting horn that gives it its name. In fact, the similarities don’t stop there, for the Bugle lizard is capable of a honking sound that can sound quite musical and pleasing to some. The lizard is completely herbivorous and is only known to eat bugleberries. The lizard will honk when anything comes too close, or if someone is taking its supply of bugleberries. It won’t attack, and it’s sonic assault causes no harm to anyone, but it typically will attract any predators nearby, usually to the detriment of whoever is taking the bugleberries. Some enterprising species have trained these reptiles to be guard creatures, honking when someone approaches. Rosic nekos have also trained these creatures, but more for musical reasons then defensive. Though with the Rosic nekos, the two things are synonymous.

Boom Bee

Size: 2 inches
Threat: Low

A purple wasp-like insect with a long, narrow section and no stinger. Boom bees follow a typical hive mindset, with a queen-worker hierarchy. Instead of stinging, however, boom bees explode. A single boom bee explosion isn't very powerful, and will give a human a first degree burn, or possibly a light second degree burn at most. Several boom bees exploding can cause more severe injuries though, and they tend to travel in swarms. They are relatively non-aggressive, but some strangely specific actions seem to set them off, making them rather unpredictable. For example, if you cause harm to a flower with red petals in their presence, they will immediately attack you. That's just one of the several known actions that can turn them angry.

Black Skin-Diver

Size: 2 to 3 inches
Threat: Minimal

This insect resembles a beetle with a round body. An encounter with a black skin-diver can be downright terrifying. The creature will enter your body by crawling under your skin, making a bulge as it moves! However instead of causing harm, the black skin-diver secretes an enzyme that eats toxins, cleansing the body of poisons. The insects themselves are harmless, and will die in the body, eventually making their way out through natural means. Still, it's creepy as hell to watch, and indescribably strange to experience.

Squirrel

Size: 8 inches
Threat: Minimal but maybe not..

Squirrels are one of the most bizarre and strange creatures that live on Felarya. Many scientists have agreed that they are not native to the dimension, but are stumped when they try to identify where they came from. They appear like some sort of rodent with a strange, large, furred tail and gleaming black eyes.

The story of their arrival is that one day, a powerful mage attempted a dangerous portal spell to defend himself from a predator, while in the already unstable Miragia forest. What occoured was known as a black day in Felaryan history. Both mage and predator were buried under the furry tidal wave as squirrel after squirrel was flung through the portal. Predators flocked to devour the strange creatures en mass, causing nearby settlements to be put in serious danger. The squirrels themselves got everywhere and ate crops and flowers, ruining the village harvests.

They were dubbed "Squirrels" after "Skwe U'Rell", the lord of the underworld in Sagolian mythology.

After a few days, the flow of the squirrels plague stopped as the portal closed and the predators moved on. Many squirrels somehow survived and continue to live on Felarya to this day. Predators consider squirrels animals of good fortune and tend not to eat them - seeing a squirrel is seen as a sign of good luck. They are considered cute and appropriate animals to give baby predators as pets.

For the smaller species however, seeing a squirrel is the equivalent to seeing a black cat cross your path on Earth and is said to be the harbinger to terrible misfortune. Many nekos and humans refuse to eat them, convinced they will suffer a deadly curse. Even the most professional and hardened adventurers can get a little skittish if they think there's a squirrel nearby. In Negav, there are specially trained exterminators who deal solely with this odious threat.

The squirrels themselves seem only interested in collecting nuts, for reasons unknown. They appear to be preparing for an event which has yet to occur in the Felaryan jungles. Prey species list this as another reason not to trust the furry little freaks.

In great marshes

Silver Scorpion

Size: 6 inches
Threat: Medium

Small but venomous scorpions who dig themselves into the mud. They live in huge swarms and are able to suddenly appear all at the same time, surround their prey, and overwhelm it with their numbers and paralyzing venom. These creatures are absolutely terrifying because the more numerous they are, the more clever they become. Large groups of them seem to acquire a elaborate sense of tactics involving hit-and-runs, ambushes, diversions, lures, sacrifices, encirclement and so on.

Giant Mud Slug

Size: 60 to 80 feet
Threat: Medium

Like the silver scorpion they lurk in the mud, but they dig a whole networks of tunnels in it. Their tunnels don't collapse behind them because of a substance they secrete which solidifies the mud for hours. They have very developed senses that allow them to emerge with great precision, swallow a prey, and go back in to hiding in an instant. Because of their monstrous size, they can easily swallow a vehicle whole.

Korazon

Size: 30 feet
Threat: Very Low

A large lizard, resembling a sort of six-legged iguana. They possesses a dewlap, a row of spines running down their back to their long tail, and two sharp horns protruding from their forehead. Their scales are usually of a dark brown color. Korazons are often used by humans as a mount or as a means to transport goods. They are docile, sturdy and fast creatures, very agile in a swamp environment. Even better, Korazons are almost harmless to humans despite their great size, feeding largely on insects and insectoids instead.

One interesting particularity of the Korazon is its tail. The meat is absolutely delicious once cooked, and the creature doesn't seem to mind at all if the passengers cut it, as it painlessly regrows in a matter of hours.

Saurotauran

Size: 10 feet
Threat: Low

A sort of scaled, spiked centaur with a crocodile head and lizard tail. They are amphibious creatures who lives in tribes. They use primitive weapons and tools like swords, bows, lances, and shields, and are known for their love of traps, such as holes in the ground, dead falls, and snares. Most of them are linked to dryads, whom they worship and to whom they offer prisoners as sacrifices.

Stormseeker

Size: 20 inches
Threat: Very Low - Medium for vehicles.

Strangely shaped red birds, able to attract lightning with their beaks during a storm, "store" it in them, and later blast it at targets with a great precision. They are quite rare in swamps but are one of the most potent threats to any vehicle. They are small, agile, attack in packs and their blast will cause great damage to machines. They don't destroy their targets but totally disable and immobilize them, which is very dangerous in the swamps of Felarya.

Fog Butterfly

Size: 40 feet
Threat: Minimal

A huge but totally harmless creatures as far as humans are concerned, as they feed on birds. They are still scary if you have never encountered them before.

Liethins

Size: 8 feet head to tail
Threat: Low

Snake like creatures with large fangs and feathered wings. They hunt in packs and bite their victims to drain blood from them, sometimes completely draining smaller prey of all bodily fluids.

Giant Marsh Viper

Size: 40 feet long
Threat: Moderate

These giant snakes are common predators of the swamp. They are fast and voracious and will relentlessly chase after a prey. They are often tracked by inhabitants of the Jungle bowl though, and are the favorite food of the great dryad Cypress.

Water Leaper

Size: 15 feet
Threat: Low

A strange creature with the body of a large frog without hind legs, forelegs replaced with bat-like wings, and the tail of a lizard. It can fly and swim, using its wide wings like fins underwater and its rudder-like tail to propel itself much like a tadpole. Because the only real change to its body during its growth cycle is its size and wings, it grows very quickly, letting its species populate new areas with startling speed.

The water leaper hunts both above and below marshes and swamps, feeding mostly on insects, birds, fish and mammals. It has adapted well to Felarya's food chain since its arrival over thirty years ago. The original specimen is rumored to be a colossal version of these lower-tier predators, and the only of its kind. Water leapers are dangerous and have been known to attack humans, although they cannot fly if carrying a human-sized load in their stomachs, and may become stranded on land. A water leaper will instantly regurgitate its prey to escape if it feel threatened. If nothing troubles the creature however, it will just stand there until it has finished digesting its meal.

Gorudan Behemoth

Size: 65 feet
Threat: High

Essentially an enormous frog with a shell, a long body and pedunculated (eyes on a stalk, like a slug or snail) eyes. With its large mouth, it can easily swallow a vehicle and it's occupants whole, and they have been known to hunt small nagas. Its long sticky tongue can be launched up to 140 feet with amazing accuracy and blinding speed. Although rare, gorudan behemoths are one of the most dangerous predators in the swamps. Though not very mobile, they are extremely hard to kill because of their shells, which are as hard as rock, and their very fast natural regeneration.

In jungle of perils

Land Urchin

Size: 30 to 50 feet
Threat: Low

Large globular creatures found mostly in the Jungle of Perils. Their spherical body is a bright red, covered by long and numerous spines. At first glance, they don't possess any visible eyes, legs, or means of propulsion. They do have legs though, but they very small, and allow the creature to move slowly about. Land urchins eat anything that come close enough to their mouth, hidden somewhere on their body. Compared to most fauna of the zone, land urchins are not very dangerous. Some scientists believe they are only eggs for a much larger creature though, according to some shells found broken and empty.

Clobbersaurus

Size: 5 to 7 feet
Threat: Low

This man-sized upright built theropod is mostly found in the Jungle of Perils. It's also widely considered the single most frickin' annoying animal in Felarya by many residents. The clobbersaurus doesn't eat, drink, sleep or do anything except hop around and punch people in the face with its massive, bone-studded fists. The amount of muscle packed into each arm is incredible. It's been witnessed to knock harpies off their feet!

The clobbersaurus tends to pull its punches against humans and the like. No one's ever been decapitated or directly killed in any way by these creatures. Some scientists theorize that instead of pulling its punches, the clobbersaurus automatically adjusts its own personal physical laws so that each punch has only just enough force to knock its victim off their feet (or the equivalent). Nothing else is really known about these creatures. It almost seems as though they derive sustenance from beating people up. Not just people, in fact, as the clobbersaurus will go out of its way to knock anything with a face into the dirt, only to hop away before they can retaliate. Entire platoons of explorers have been given bloody noses by a single clobbersaurus.

Bloodclaw Ape

Size: 5 feet
Threat: Low to Critical in group

A rather small but frightening-looking creature. Bloodclaw apes possess glowing red eyes, ridiculously long arms, sharp fangs and very strong claws, hard as iron. They are very agile and incredibly ferocious, with a blood lust that makes them mindlessly attack the largest of predators... and if these predators see them they will actually flee rather than fight the apes! Indeed, bloodclaw apes are the most terrible threat in the entire jungle of peril. They usually travel in swarms more than twelve thousand strong, and they ravage all in their wake: trees and living beings both. If you ever hear their terrible and recognizable shouts, don't think, just flee.

Where the bloodclaws swarms come from remain a mystery. They periodically warp in to the jungle of peril, laying waste to everything for miles around, then vanish just as quickly as they came. The cycle seems to repeat itself every few years. That seems to be a phenomenon that has repeated itself since time immemorial. Even tablets from the Ur-Sagol era mention them.

In Mysterious temple

Shryne

Size: 15 feet
Threat: Moderate

These strange creatures are shrouded by a cloud of perpetual darkness that moves with them. They live mostly on the ceilings of ancient ruins and caves where they wander in search for prey. They hunt by enveloping their prey in a cocoon of magical darkness, then swallowing their disoriented victim. Only upon the shryne's death does its cloud vanish and reveal its true form: a sort of abyssal fish with reptilian features.

Salamander

Size: 30 feet
Threat: Medium

A large and brightly colored lizard that can be found mostly in mineral rich environments such as caves, volcanos, or certain dungeons. Salamanders possess an incredible mastery of fire. Not only can they shoot flames from their mouth like a dragon, but they can become fire themselves in an instant, be it for hiding, dodging an attack, or surrounding a prey. Salamanders are an significant danger if you come ill-prepared, as they are sneaky and rarely visible before an attack. For instance, in the Mysterious temple, they love to hide and rest in the many torches that light the halls. When a party of adventurers pass them, they silently come out and spread their form behind them, then attack.

Labrisome

Size: Varies
Threat: Low to Medium

A type of ghost with bestial and primitive instincts, Labrisomes are extremely aggressive spirits, mindlessly and relentlessly feeding on the living. Smaller labrisomes eat rats and other small animals, while larger specimens can effortlessly engulf a human. They are invisible most of the time, appearing out of nowhere to swallow their prey. Once they have prey in their stomach they can't become invisible again until the prey is digested or otherwise leaves the labrisomes stomach. Even after eating they are still immaterial and can fly, but what they look like can be seen by all, and they are ugly with a capital U: the spiritual body of a labrisome is a nightmarish mix between a toad, a squid and a centipede with enormous feline claws.

Ibiante

Size: 3 feet
Threat: Very Low alone - Moderate in groups

A small rat-like humanoid. They live in large groups and are mostly found in enclosed spaces like caverns. They are fast, agile and have no problems running on the walls or even the ceiling. Ibiantes are not aggressive at all, however they have brought doom to countless groups of adventurers. This is because ibiantes, as soon as they feel the least bit threatened, emit an aura of "unease". Nearby creatures will suddenly feel uneasy and apprehensive about something. When they are in groups the cumulative effect of the many "uneasy" auras is an aura of absolute terror. It takes a lot of training and strength of will to be able to resist it. Aside from their aura, ibiantes are harmless and obviously on the bottom of the food chain.

Frenzied Ibiante

Size: 3 feet
Threat: Low alone - High in groups

The same species as regular ibiantes, frenzied ones can be recognized by their glowing eyes and much more menacing look. Typically found in the lower levels of the mysterious temple, they have the same power as their normal cousins, but unlike them, they are chaotic and very aggressive, carrying crude weapons such as daggers. Group of them can be incredibly dangerous, decimating a strong adventurer party in mere seconds. Fortunately, for some reason they don't like water.

Swallower Wall

Size: Varies a lot
Threat: Moderate to Medium

A strange creature resembling a sort of amoeba. At first, they choose a wall where they will live, merging into it by dissolving a portion of it. Having "planted" themselves in their location of choice, they never move again. They camouflage themselves by making their skin a perfect replica of the surrounding walls, and the only things that will give it away to the unaided eye (and ear) are the noises of a previous victim digesting, or the fact that they copy their surroundings perfectly, so if you see two identical sections of wall you know that one of them is a swallower wall. They capture their prey by quickly extending a portion of their sticky body and getting the prey stuck on it. They then retract the sticky section with attached prey into themselves and deposit the prey into a freshly created pocket for a slow digestion.

This creature comes in various sizes, and the largest specimens, the ones who have eaten many prey, can become so large that they are "swallower halls" rather than "swallower walls".

Howler

Size: 25 feet
Threat: Medium

Howlers originally came from the same world as the ibiantes did, they are their natural predator. They are basically a large mouth mounted on powerful running legs. Similarly to the ibiantes, howlers create a sound that strikes anyone who hears it with an incredible fear, often causing them to lock up in fear or blindly flee. The howler has then just to chase after its helpless prey, outrunning or cornering it, then gobbling it up with its enormous mouth.

Negative Hydra

Size: 160 feet
Threat: Very High

Negative hydras are legendary creatures dwelling deep in the deepest and most forgotten layers of the negative plane. These dreadful creatures project avatars of themselves to various points in the universe, appearing as huge shadowy draconic silhouettes endowed with multiple long necks and heads. The real creature never leaves the negative plane however, which means that a negative hydra on Felarya cannot be killed by any means because it's simply not here in the first place. The only way to get rid of it would be to temporarily shut down the link between the avatar and the creature, but that requires very powerful dimensional magic. Mages able to perform magic at this level are rare, and generally unwilling to take such risks without a very good reason.

The hydra's avatar is still incredibly dangerous: the multiple heads can strike at lightning speeds, and each of the heads can launch a barrage of strange and deadly negative spells. Even if you manage to survive an encounter with the avatar, chances are high that you will be permanently maimed by one of the powerful curses the beast can cast as well. Even the most reckless adventurers know better than to challenge these formidable creatures, no matter what fantastic treasure lies beyond.

Fortunately, negative hydras are very rare. Only two specimens are known to exist in Felarya, and both of them are in the Tomb of Alcazath. Nobody knows what exactly happens to those who are swallowed by the avatar of a negative hydra but what is known for sure is that these people are never seen again.

Nether Wisp

Size: 10 inches
Threat: Very Low

These ghostly twirling balls of dull light are said to be the restless souls of fallen adventurers. They are actually projections from the negative plane, and thus don't really exist in Felarya. Nether wisps may be small, but they are not harmless. They harass adventurers by burning their mana, dispelling their magic, and launching small magic projectiles at them, making them extremely annoying. Moreover, they serve as spies for the deadly negative hydras, and assist them in battle.

Because the page is reaching the maximum size, here is the second part of the fauna : Fauna2, third : Fauna3, and fourth : Fauna4

• Credits to Icalasari for the Starkala bug, to Zoekin for the duiker, to Randomdude for the Spine beetle and Kensha beast, to Silent eric for the Drakewillow Nexolt and Bugle Lizard, to haar for the boom bee and Black Skin-Diver, to Gregole for the Clobbersaurus, to Wowandwas for the liethins and Giant Marsh Viper, to Jaette-troll for the squirrels, to Fish for the Water Leaper, and to Oldman40k2003 for his great help at editing. ^_^