Fauna4
From Felarya
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.
- Aquatic fauna
Threat Ranking:
- 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.
Note that threat ranking is 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.
Contents |
[edit] Aquatic terrain fauna
[edit] In lake of illusions
[edit] Thaniathan
Size: 47 feet
Threat: Medium
The Thaniathan is apparently a one of a kind beast that lives in the Lake of Illusion, waiting for prey to be drawn near by the lake's power. It usual form of attack is to wait until the creature is as deep as they can go, then swim up rapidly under them, hitting them with all of it's strength, stunning them and knocking them high in the air. It then catches and swallows them whole. If the Thanatian's saliva gets into a creatures bloodstream, say via a bite, the creature is almost instantly paralyzed until the saliva has run it's course. It's impossible to tell how long this takes, because the creature is eaten soon afterwards. The Thaniathan will devour anything that's alive and meaty, and it's hard scales protect it from most forms of normal attack. This creature is capable of staying completely still for months at a time, and it's metabolism is slow enough that it can survive that long with no food.
[edit] Rainbow Manta
Size: 20 to 30 feet
Threat: Medium
A large creature resembling a manta. They are usually about twenty feet long, with a flat and wide body, and a huge gaping mouth. Their large pectoral fins resemble wings more than fins, and they can use them to leap from the water and majestically glide above the surface for long distances. Rainbow mantas are actually not fishes and can stay out of water for a very long time. They can even crawl on solid ground, albeit very clumsily.
Their names come from their semi-transparent body that is iridescent in multiple colors when in sunlight. A bank of leaping rainbow mantas on a sunny day is a breath-taking sight. As beautiful as that can be, they are also dangerous however, and can easily swallow an human whole. They seem primarily attracted by magic-rich creatures, such as fairies or mages.
[edit] Azure Frog
Size: 15 to 20 feet
Threat: Moderate
A large, shiny blue frog. These creatures can be found only near the lake of illusions. They are voracious and swallow anything that they catch with their long sticky tongue that fits in their large mouth. What make them especially dangerous is the basic spells they use. They can throw a sort of mind blast that makes the target dizzy and confused, and they can use a sort of short range instant teleport spell as well.
[edit] In Topazial sea
[edit] Arthronode
Size: 4 feet tall, 20 feet in length
Threat: Moderate
A sort of electric orange colored crab with massive claws and several metal spikes on their heels. They scour the beaches and seas of Felarya, going about their business. They possess a wide gaping mouth which allows them to engulf massive amounts of food. They hunt various creatures, from barnacles to small mermaids or humans, and they swallow their food whole if they get the chance. What makes arthronodes particularly dangerous is their electrical powers. They can use it to shock and stunt their prey just long enough for them to swallow it down. They can also use it defensively, and the amount of electricity delivered this way is much greater. Sometimes they'll electrify their feet in order to repulse the naturally occurring ions in the soil, slightly levitating their feet and allowing them to "skate" across the land.
During mating season, which usually occurs on a thundery night, male arthronodes create magnificent lightning spectacles in both the sky and the sea, wooing female crabs. During violent thunder storms, their metal spikes conduct electricity and gives them great boosts of power. During these boosts all of the crabs abilities are amplified, from their strength and stamina to their electric power and, of course, their appetite. Often when boosted they will go on feeding frenzies, devouring any creature that moves. It is best to avoid the beaches of Felarya during these times.
[edit] Octohog
Size: 3 to 10 feet tall
Threat: Very Low to Moderate
This nocturnal creature look like an octopus that can be found under the waters of the various Felaryan seas. It possess a specially grafted beak with teeth inside, and eight tentacles, each with a sharp point at their ends, which allows it to burrow into bedrock and destroy various shells. Their tentacles are covered by fragments of crushed seashells and sand that sticks to it, and their bodies have a similar texture, giving the Octohog an excellent camouflage. Its diet consists of small fishes, occasional land mammals, and on special occasions, a passing arthronode. Because of its high density rubberlike skin, it's impervious to the electric crab's thunderous defenses and will feast on them with ease. If needed, it will sometimes crawl onto land for short periods of time. The Octohog hunts during all the night, and will sleep afterward through all the day after burrowing itself.
[edit] Airgle
Size: varies
Threat: Threat: Low to Medium
Large birds with black, blue, and yellow plumage. Their feathers are jagged and sharp, almost like quills. They have long, sinewy bodies, and large crests of feathers around their heads. They possess no legs, instead having several sets of smaller wings along their stomach. They can freely manipulate electricity and use electromagnetism to allow them to fly in the air forever, never landing. Airgles are fairly small throughout their adult lives, especially compared to most of Felarya's inhabitants, and though they are aggressive, they are only minor nuisances to experienced travelers.
However, the rare Airgle that reaches 100 years of age will suddenly quadruple in size and experience a gigantic boost in their electrical powers, making them deadly when they're hungry. They feed by stunning their prey with electricity, then snapping up the helpless meal. Airgle are found throughout Felarya and can be seen sparking through the trees in most jungles, though they seem to prefer the shores of the sea and are mostly found there. Storm sprites love to keep these birds as pets.
[edit] Gulper Eel
Size: 20 to 30 feet
Threat: Medium
This large and eyeless fish are little more than a swimming stomach. With their large and extremely extendable maw, gullet, and stomach, they relentlessly chase and engulf whole anything that seems even remotely edible. This include other gulper eels, or various things that are sometimes significantly larger than them, such as mermaids or light human crafts. Fortunately they are not very fast swimmers and, once you have noticed them, it's pretty easy to escape. A fight between two gulper eels is usually over very quickly : the two fishes will charge at each other from the front, mouth wide open, the winner being the one who managed to open its mouth slightly wider, and was able to engulf the other's head !
[edit] Volasaurus
Size:
Threat: Under Construction
[edit] Flying Whale
Size: 80 feet
Threat: Moderate
Flying whales are strange creatures, vaguely ressembling a flattened white or light blue whale, with very large membranous wings. They use a very uncommon mode of locomotion, attaching themselves to Ley lines, then detaching and gliding, until they either find another line, or reach water. Flying whales are usually rather harmless, preferring to feed on fishes, although the occasionnal story of sailors eaten by one is not unheard off. Flying whales are however good spell-casters, and attacking one can quickly become an hazardous enterprise. Spotting a Flying whale is pretty rare, but once you do, you know there is an important source of Primordial Magic nearby.
[edit] Bejeweled Serpent
Size: 45 feet
Threat: Medium
A reptilian creature with a long, serpentine shape, though they do possess limbs, many in fact, however small. they ressemble a series of claw-like graspers on the serpent's sides, and tip of the tail. The serpent swims down to the ocean floor and searches for glittering jewels, and grasps them with these. The most brilliant gems and jewels that the creature find, it attach them to their body, thus encrusting itself with the most valuable. With these treasures in tow, the serpent swims near the surface where the glittering attracts various seabirds, as well as some curious sentient creatures like humans. When a bejeweled serpent passes by a human vessel, some just can't resist reaching out to try to get their hands on a rare gem. Then the serpent rears up, knocks them overboard and devours them. However, if you can kill the creature you can salvage its collection of gems, making a relatively easy profit.
[edit] Living Whirlpool
Size: 10 to 80 feet
Threat: Moderate to High
Often mistaken for elementals, living whirpools are actually a creature ressembling a sort of huge amoeba. Living Whirlpools are like underwater chameleons, their transparent body blending almost perfectly in the water around them. When feeding, they just open their massive mouth and suck the water in, creating a massive whirlpool. The creature can also move while doing this, albeit very slowly. It will sit still near the surface of the water, blending in for hours until a boat or creature, or unfortunate swimmer comes by.
[edit] Leviathan Gutlord
Size: 15 to 40 feet long
Threat: Medium
A bizarre parasite that makes its home deep within the stomachs of, as its name suggests, leviathan mermaids. Resembling a cross between an eel and a shrimp, this ferocious crustaceous parasite feeds off whatever the leviathan mermaid does and, from time to time, go after the crewman of ships who its host stores in her secondary stomach for safe travel. They are not very detrimental to their host due to their relatively small size in comparison to them, though in large enough numbers they are known to make them terrible ravenous, a horrific concept when one considers the fact that leviathan mermaids are one of the largest creatures throughout Felarya.
[edit] In Sea depths
[edit] Shinade
Size: 10 inches
Threat: Low to Moderate in group
Shinades are essentially deep-sea piranhas equipped with high-beam, forward light-producing organs. They swim in schools, completely unlit. When they find possible prey, they surround it, then harshly illuminate it with a flash comparable to looking at a bolt of lightning striking just in front of you. The sudden change from extremely dim to extremely bright is usually enough to stun most creatures; then they all converge and quickly dine before something that's seen the huge flash comes to investigate. This adaptation has made them well-equipped to prey on such creatures as abyssal discs or shadow fishes.
[edit] Titan Anemone
Size: 500 feet
Threat: Medium
Sometimes referred to as the 'Hydra Tree of the ocean', the Titan Anemone is a very rare and gargantuan creature the size of a small mountain, their exceptionally long, translucent tendrils stretching out for nearly a mile in some cases, blindly searching for prey. These tendrils are both sticky, and coated in a mild paralytic venom, powerful enough to immobile a larger creature long enough to pull them in and devour them. Ironically, due to the extreme length of these tentacles, there are numerous cases where a Mermaid or Chlaena actually recovered from the venom and pulled herself loose before reaching the creature's mouth ! While human-sized prey are generally ignored by Titan Anemones, their venom can be lethal to small creature who brush against its tendrils, and they have been know to sink small ships on occasion, when their tendrils wander near the surface. While the vessel is ultimately spit out as inedible, this is little consolation to the stranded sailors.
[edit] In jewel river
[edit] Silver Mycorpe
Size: 15 feet
Threat: Moderate
A large fish resembling a grouper with silvery scales, Mycorpes are a common predator in Felaryan waters. They move fast, and with their large and powerful maw, they swallow whole anything that they find in their path.
[edit] Suwaro 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.
[edit] 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..
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 also represent a 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.
[edit] 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 what sort of bait to hook them with.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Lacolith
Size: 400 to 600 feet
Threat: Moderate
A rare creature, and one of the larger known aquatic one, the Lacolith appears as some kind of bizarre hybrid of fish and invertebrate, with a head vaguely resembling that of an angler fish, and the rest of the body looking somewhere between a slug and a centipede. Their elongated bodies are estimated to reach over 600 feet long in some cases, and their enormous mouth is fully capable of swallowing a 100-foot mermaid whole. They usually lurk in riverbeds and sometimes exceptionally huge lakes. Lacoliths are pure ambush predators, their skin gradually changes to blend in with the environment through a method that is not well understood. (for example, a Lacolith residing in the Jewel River will begin to actually grow superficial crystals on it's skin !) When prospective prey gets too close to its head, the Lacolith will open its mouth suddenly, producing a brief, but almost irresistible current, sucking the unlucky creature right into its mouth. Ironically, they pose little threat to divers, who are simply too small for the creature to bother with.
Lacoliths do not swim, and in fact possess very slow metabolisms, their usual movements consisting of creeping along the riverbed at a pace of only a few feet an hour. They can, though rarely do, travel across land, amazingly able to hold their breath for several months if necessary. Some rumors speculate that Lacoliths are actually the larval state of a creature not native to Felarya. Lacking some vital trigger to initiate the change to an adult form in this new environment, they continue to eat and grow in preparation for a metamorphosis that never comes.
[edit] 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.
- Credits to Tifalover88 for the Thaniathan, to Icalasari for the Opal Mingo, to Jasconius for Leviathan gutlords, to Prinnydood for the Lacolith and Titan anemone, to Fish for the Shinade, to Pendragon for the Arthronode, Octohog, Angler seaweedle, and Airgle, to Gregole for the Volasaurus, to Archmage Bael for his help on writting some entries, and to Oldman40k2003 for his great help at editing ^_^
