Fauna3
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, fourth : Fauna4, and fifth : Fauna5
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.
Contents
Marsh terrain fauna
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. Their monstrous size easily allow them to 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 obviously very dangerous in the swamps of Felarya. They are sometimes hunted for their beaks, which is made of a material with excellent conductive properties.
Fog Butterfly
Size: 40 feet
Threat: Very Low
A huge but harmless creatures as far as humans are concerned, as they feed only on birds. They are still quite 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 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, the moment you spot those lights it's probably already too late. 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 and swallow it. The range of their vacuum can reach 200 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 gulp down an human, posing a serious threat to adventurers.
Wandering Nightmare
Size: Varies
Threat: Low to Medium
Wandering nightmares are grotesque creatures, seemingly made out of pure darkness. Their appearance, size, intelligence and agressivity vary a lot. Some of them are merely harmless pranksters, while some others display nothing but pure savagery, hunting in deadly packs. Wandering nightmares are said to be expressions of Déméchrelle's troubled sleep. Some theorize they are originally parts of ther that somehow became independent and now roam Tenebra maze, the Evernight forest, and even others parts of Felarya. It is said that, when a place become dark enough, wandering nightmares have a chance of appearing...
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 around 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. They then 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. Moreover their tentacles are semi-immaterial and can't be harmed in any normal way.
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 growing in 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 often 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, Gorudan behemoths, and slug girls.
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 Sunken forest
Ringhorn
Size: 10 feet
Threat: Low
A strange gravity-defying creature. Ringhorn ressemble a majestic goat with pupil-less teal eyes that seem to pierce your soul. They can scale vertical surfaces with ease, with their strange gravity-based magic. They make their home within the Sunken forest, scaling up and down the ever-growing sides of the gigantic trees above the bottomless pit, searching for patches of moss to graze on. The Antlers of Ringhorns curve and connect to make a ring shape, hence their names. The horn possesses magical properties and can be framed around, say, a mirror. These Antlers are capable of sending out Magic Waves when the ringhorn feel threatened, that alter and modify the gravity of their target for a short instant.
In Malyra fen
Titan Hawk
Size: 50 to 80 feet
Threat: Low
Titan Hawks are rare, but breathtakingly impressive creatures. They are a massive bird that appears to be made of gleaming metals, chiseled marble and beauteous feathers. They are said to have been creatures of the ancient Titans, being designed by Alcazath himself to be defenders of Felarya. Most of them were killed during the Titan uprising, but, for whatever reason, they still exist in some of the Malyra plateaux. They soar majestically in seemingly meaningless routes, as if waiting for a command that will never arrive. While fearsome looking, they are fairly harmless. They would barely notice a human and seem not to mind predators as long as they don't get too close.
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 some human words, 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 thus 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, fourth : Fauna4, and fifth : Fauna5
- Credits to Veeshan123 for the Forgon, to Wowandwas for the liethins and Giant Marsh Viper, to Fish for the Water Leaper, to Tankmasterxyz for the Terror hyena, to Rythmear for the Umbra, to Jaette-troll for the Titan hawk, to ProjectHazoid for the ringhorn, and to Oldman40k2003 for his great help at editing ^_^