A World of Monsters. (An Encyclopedia on the creatures of the world of Null, Original Writing.)

[TripleMRed]

Killapede.

[Sketches depict a large, centipede like creature with multiple forms. All the forms have a singular pair of glowing eyes, long sharp mandibles like blades, and segmented chitinous armor that interlocks to protect their segments fro damage. The bigger they are, the rougher and spikier their armor becomes.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Things that scuttle are creepy. These things have dozens of legs, so that makes them super creepy. It's basic creepy-science.']

Scientific Name Translation: Many-Formed Killer.

Average Size: Ranges from 15-70 feet/4.572-21.336 meters, depending on what stage of the life cycle it is on.

Average Weight: 2.3-35.5 tons, depending on stage of life cycle.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have bristled antenna while males lack bristles.

Habitat Range: Rain-forests and wet lands.

Summary:​

There are tens of thousands of species of arthropods on our homeworld of Null, across land, air and sea, and many thousands more subspecies and variants therein. Of these, one particular species has come to thrive in the wetlands and rainforests of the continent of Arisa. Long and segmented, with a pair of legs for nearly every segment, the Killapede is a fierce and well armored killing machine. It's deadliness is only compounded, however, by the fact that as it increases it's success in hunting and survives battles, it grows ever larger, eventually changing into a similar but deadlier form. Each form is dubbed with a new title, which goes as follows: Killapede, Murderpede, Butcherpede, and Slaughterpede. Some chuckle at the perceived childishness of such grim names. No one laughs when facing a 70 foot long horror with meter long mandibles and electrified acid spittle.

As previously mentioned, the Killapede line possess multiple forms. The first and most common form is the Killapede itself, a creature that is roughly 15 feet long and who is armed with pair of long, razor sharp mandibles and a toxic, corrosive spit it can launch in a spray for several seconds at a time. It is at the weakest in this form, with its chitin being bullet proof but still susceptible to infantry armor piercing weapons. A well placed shot from an anti-tank rocket is more than enough to cut one of these horrors in half. Its armor covers all of their segments and is interlinking, providing cover for the otherwise armorless intersections between the segments. This interlinking is not, however, flawless: A well placed shove of a spear or a blade can slide in and pierce the flesh below, if one is willing to fight one up close.

The next several forms see an increase in size, durability, and overall deadliness as new abilities are gained. The Murderpede form sees a size increase of twice that of the Killapede, at 30 feet long. They gain the ability to conduct an electric current, which they infuse their corrosive sprays with in order to electrocute prey hardened against both toxins and acid. Butcherpedes increase to roughly 40 feet long and their liquid spray ability is altered to instead fire a sticky, viscous glue like substance that in addition to the previous abilities helps bind and slow down all that is hit by it. The final form, the Slaughterpede, jumps to a 70 foot length and its electrical ability has evolved to be able to be produce an electric field all over its for a limited time, one powerful and accurate enough to effectively act as a point-defense shield, melting both rail slugs and detonating Slugger rounds that attempt to bypass it. By the time they reach this size, it is recommended that field teams do not engage, and instead call in support from Stormcutter Gunships in order to deal with the threat. [A note is attached. It reads 'Giant creepy crawlies that get even more giant. What a world.']

Despite popular myth, Killapedes are not, in fact, the juvenile form of the later stages. Adult Killapedes are naturally 15 feet long, and the advanced forms are the result of some form of mutation that increases their deadliness to unprecedented levels. Unlike other creatures with similar ability, researchers believe this is not the result of radiation induced mutation at some point in the species past, but a mystical genetic fluke that naturally occurred that managed to find its way into the species genepool. The fact that the specimens of later forms remain healthy and potentially live indefinitely as with most life on Null rather than dying sooner or later due to flaws in the changes only compounds the evidence for this being a natural, if horrifically unprecedented, evolution. [A note is attached. It reads 'Nature is reliable like that. Just when you think it's done making horrors on purpose, it one ups itself without trying.']

As arthropods of such sizes, the Killapede line possess fully functional sets of lungs. Several sets, in fact, across its upper segments closer to the head region. This allows them the ability to hold their breath when underwater for extended periods of time. Indeed, they often spend long periods of time swimming through water or crawling along in river beds to get to prey or to bypass predators that would be a threat to them. This makes crossing bodies of water in rainforests and wetlands a hassle, as more than one unit of Hunters or soldiers have literally stumbled into a river-passing Killapede due to not being able to notice them due to brackish waters.

When hunting prey, Killapedes and their variants tend to open up with a sneak attack with their sprays. Those that survive intact and do not run away often are then met by the 'pedes with their elongated and obsidian sharp mandibles, blade like extensions that are upon modified front legs that are capable of, and have indeed in managed to do, duels between themselves and other blade carrying individuals. Butcherpedes and Slaughterpedes that manage to find somewhere large enough to hide in use their new-found goo sprays to store prey for later consumption, often leaving their layers inky goo covered places that can leave those not expecting to walk into a pool of the substance to become stuck.

When mating season occurs, males meet first in places that have in previous years proven excellent locations to call for females. Males then proceed to battle one another, often dueling with their mandibles, for the right to control that particular stretch of territory for the duration of the mating season. The victors then proceed to call out for females and must often fend the location from hostile elements. When a female does arrive, no further actions are needed to commence mating: The male that manages to hold the location until her arrival has proven his capabilities. Parents then share responsibilities in guarding their eggs, often switching roles between guarding the nest and hunting. Interestingly, Butcherpedes and Slaughterpedes rarely if ever engage in reproductive behavior. Given their comparative rarity, it is likely a result of there being too few suitors to mate with than as a change in their instinctive drives, though research is still being done by scientists to determine the truth.

At the end of the day, Killapedes are another monstrous animal that those living in the regions they exist in must learn to live with. Members of the Bughunter Nation take a particular interest in hunting the beasts in their Killapede forms, as they are small enough at this stage that armored cloaks made from their heads and upper segments can be created for their use with ease. This makes the Bughunters the most common, and arguably naturally occurring main predator of, the Killapede line of creatures, keeping their numbers in check lest too many Butcher and Slaughterpedes appear. [A note is attached. It depicts a well done sketch of a Bughunter Oros in Killapede armor hunting and felling another Killapede by piercing it's head with a spear shoved between the armored plates.]

 

[TripleMRed]

Jaco Killer.

[Sketches depict a massive mantis like creature, its upright torso reaching 15 feet high, not including the antenna. Its eyes are like those of other Nullian arthropods, possessing simple eyes with singular pupils. Interestingly, the ones on the Jaco Killer do not glow, leaving only a pair of white iris' on a field of black sclera. The mouth is similar to the jaws of other Nullian arthropods, having an upper and lower jaw, though it is flanked by a pair of dangerous looking mandibles. The creature's forelimbs are covered in many sharp spines, clearly meant to improve gripping while also being sharp enough to cause cuts if yanked when attached to a target. One sketch disturbingly shows a tree whose branches are like with creatures having been run through them. One such branch has a creature being added to it by the Jaco Killer.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I've always had nightmares of being hung up on a tree by one of these things. Still have them, sometimes.']

Scientific Name Translation: Sadistic Branch Killer.

Average Size: 15 Feet/4.572 Meters in height.

Average Weight: 2.5 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females posses feathered antenna.

Habitat Range: Most heavily forested jungle regions in Royalback territory.

Summary:​

The majority of the Nations of the Oros species have peoples who instinctively dislike insectoid creatures. Why this is so has been argued for centuries, with many pointing to the dangers and brutality of the invasive Spider-Ants as a likely candidate. Some, like the author of this encyclopedia, however, have another theory as to why this is. The likely culprit is a massive mantid super-predator known for its horrific territorial displays an unsightly speed: The Jaco Killer.

The Jaco Killer, originally known as 'Jaco's Killer', was first given its modern name some two thousand years ago by renowned Royalback Hunter and biological researcher, Jaco Shen. He was the first to document the life style and cycle of these infamous insectoids, and it is his findings that I shall share within this book, within my own hand. Contrary to popular belief, the Jaco Killer did not get its name for slaying Jaco himself, it is simply the result of his name being attached to the specimens of his studies, the beasts often being referred to in old times as the 'Branch Killer'. [A note is attached. It reads: 'Jaco himself lived a long and fruitful life, dying in recent times following the tragic nuclear terrorist attack on the Royalback Great Walled City of Yang Quartz, which led to its invasion by mutated wildlife. I'm hearing rumors from the Mil-Net that we've finally found the culprits responsible for that, but we're still trying to nail down their base of operations.'-Circa 3149]

The Jaco Killer is notable massive by most insectoid standards, looming in at 15 feet tall at the head. It's long lower torso is nearly two dozen feet long and well armored, meaning often one has to target the relatively unarmored upper torso to kill one in battle. Even regular Slugger rounds can be used for this task, but the incredible speed and regenerative capabilities of the Jaco Killer makes it deceptively difficult to kill for good. The source of this great speed, despite their ungainly lower means of mobility, is partially due to a heavy diet rich in Fulgerite, which drastically increases it's capability for movement several times over.[

The Jaco Killer is thus armed with several weapons. It's foremost and most iconically notable ones are its forelimbs, the outer edge being sharp as blades and the inner edge covered in sharp spikes for better gripping. This, combined with their imposing size, grants the Jaco Killer a set of forelimbs that can pick up a fully armored adult individual of the Civilized Races. In addition, the Jaco Killer can electrify portions of its body, forelimbs included, in order to stun prey.

Once its prey is defeated, the Jaco killer takes it and returns to its home tree, a place hung full of its grisly trophies: On each branch is a prey creature, their bodies run through the center mass and left to hang. Most die immediately from shock and blood loss, but some prey are hardy enough to remain alive for relatively long periods of time. One such prey are the Mortal Races. The Jaco Killers, like many beasts, cannot feed upon our flesh, but this does not stop them from taking an Oros soldier it has captured and running them through the torso on a branch, leaving them grasping at the bloody and gruesome wound they now posses in their mid section. The Jaco Killers are very thorough in removing the armor platings that would otherwise prevent this occurrence on their Civilized prey.

Indeed, the intellect of a Jaco Killer is vast, enough that it possesses a notable amount of emotional intelligence. With this great intellect comes a savagely sadistic streak and a great enjoyment in causing suffering and pain. This, more than any other, is the reason why they perform such gruesome acts of skewering their prey from branches. Indeed, while some believe this serves as a way to warn off intruders from their territory, the evidence suggests these beings want intelligent beings to find these places and realize where they are and what will occur to them before the Killer strikes at them. [A note is attached. It reads 'Sooo, this makes them evil, right? Something like this has to be evil, right?']

In terms of diet, the Jaco Killer is a carnivorous creature, feeding heavily from the edible beings it captures and hangs from its tree. Whatever it does not eat, it uses to fertilize the often highly desirable vegetation surrounding its territory that is used to lure in plant eating creatures into the region, where upon it harvests them quickly and brutally, often toying with whatever unfortunate souls were lured into its territory. More than one innocent soul has been lost over the millennia, unwittingly entering this territory in order to seek out sought after fruits and roots for their kin to feed off of.

The Jaco Killer has no set mating season. Whenever a male and female meet, the male offers a portion of its bounty to her to feed off of before they engage in mating. Several weeks later, the female lays eggs which in turn hatch not long afterwards. The young spend several years remaining near their mother's tree, feeding off of whatever excess prey she collected. Once they mature, those that survive predation go off to find their own trees capable of sustaining their newfound size and weights before beginning the cycle of violence once more. [A note is attached. It depicts a tiny Jaco Kilelr presenting a dog head to its parent, staring in a speech bubble 'mother, I have killed'.]

Jaco's Killer is a widely known and fiercely hated creature by the natives of the Royalback Nation. The species has regularly been the target of extermination hunts across the centuries on the orders of various Emprerors and Empresses of the Royalbacks, often falling short of being able to completely render the species extinct. Following a period of calm, the Killers rebuild their numbers and the cycle begins anew as they once again become a threat to local populations. With the advent of the Great Walled Cities, it is becoming less and less common for towns to have enough people seeking wild food to fall prey to the murderous insects. Despite this, however, the hatred for them is so strong among the Royalbacks, that every few decades, another Great Purge is ordered. In recent years, the Royalbacks have begun to seek aid from the Bughunter Nation, who have had run ins with the beasts themselves, making it very likely they'll be rendered extinct by the end of the next two centuries. [A note is attached. It reads, 'And nothing of value was lost!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Flora, Land.

[Sketches depict a wide, wide, wide assortment of plant-life, from trees and grass, to flowers, to strange and monstrous looking lifeforms that exceed classic plant design. The coloration range from classic green foliage, to sanguine hued leaves and mesmerizing arrays of blues and purples. It is exceedingly obvious that the assortment on display in these sketches only scratch the surface of the amount of plant life on Null.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a very well detailed sketch of a single rose that has yet to bloom, its thorns razor sharp and with droplets of blood on them.]

Summary:​

Complex life, no matter how hardy or capable, relies on feeding on more life to survive. Even creatures that feed directly off the magic of the world requires ingestion of at least some minerals and vitamins that cannot be extracted from raw magic without complex spellwork. As a result, the food pyramid, at its base level, requires plants in order to sustain it. The majority of life on Null is omnivorous, but for the most part, prey animals make the most use of plant matter in order to feed themselves. As such, it would be remiss of me to write about the life forms of our homeworld if I did not make at least one entry dedicated to basic and arguably most vital component of the predation pyramid.

Like the plants of our sister Spirit Realm of Lacuna, plant life in the Mortal side of Null has a wide range of coloration for their foliage. The most common color is green, as these plants use the substance chlorophyll to attain energy from sunlight. These types of plants are considered the oldest and most widespread family of plant life, however they are far from the only one. Red colored plants feed on a potent mixture of raw magic in the air as well as blood drained from the ground, with raw sunlight being a supplementary means of gaining energy.

Others have colors that seem to have no real connection to feeding on light, though all can to some sort of affect as a supplement if it is not their primary means of food production. Purple and blue colored plants feed almost exclusively on the very magic of Null, raw Mana produced by the world surrounding them, the colors being the intermingling colors of wild Nullian Mana. Others drain power from elemental stones, or in the case of the Lightning Rod Tree, directly converts lightning into usable energy in stormy parts of the world. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I have friends who live in Lacuna. They tell me the Mana there is either light blue or green, rather than dark purple and dark blue like here. They also says the Mana of our side is 'weird' and 'funky' and that it makes spell casters who aren't born here go a little nuts and become more aggressive. 'Dark Mana', they call it.']

Unlike the plant life of Lacuna, however, many plants of Null are not purely static entities, passively going through life. Indeed, a notable percentage of flora, like the animals around them, are omnivorous in nature. Most not only passively take in nutrients form the ground and light from the sun, they also use a variety of methods to actively take in nutrition from corpses near them, with others still have developed specialized tools to make more corpses when possible.

Most of the 'Shooter' category of plants are actually just specialized roots that have come out of the ground and have been evolved for a deadly purpose. One of the most common types are the 'Repeaters', which are essentially giant flowers that open up to unleash a hail of sharp, metallic thorns with the speed of a bullet. Most Nullian animals are hardy enough to wade through this, but a weak kind of prey animal such as the relatively fragile Flicker-Tongue would be reduced to a pile of bloody shreds and red mist by the amount of thorns being launched at them. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch drawing of two beings, a Flicker-Tongue and an armored Oros soldier being fired upon by a Repeater. The Flicker-Tongue has exploded into a cloud of blood and fragments, while the Soldier is being knocked back and off their feet by the sheer volume of fire involved.]

Another of the 'Shooter' category of plants is the 'Vampire Thorn'. Where as the Repeater fires a hail of thorns like bullets, the Vampire Thorn is like a missile or cannon. A large spike that is connected to the main body of the plant is fired with enough force to penetrate even most kinds of Nullian animal hides, where upon its serrated edges hold it in place and it starts to suck the bodily fluids from the creature while it still lives. Once completed, it unhooks itself from its prey and resets its spike back into the main body, where it then waits for the next animal to step into its range. A similar but purely melee version of this plant exists, though rather than being used for feeding, it's a purely defensive structure that keeps plant eaters away via a quick and brutal stab.

While not technically a Shooter category plant, the Whip Vine is another mostly defensive ranged option for some types of trees. Rolled into a tight bundle or laying on the ground like a sort of extended minefield, the Whip Vine attacks by unferrling and whipping its target. The force is sufficient to cut a Spirit man wearing old, unaugmented jousting plate armor in half. If it manages to kill something or wraps itself around something particularly weak, the Whip Vine wraps around the target before unleashing thousands of miniature syringe like structures coating its outer layers, allowing it to draw the victims bodily fluids out and feed upon them.

These are but some of the most common structures used by plant life to harvest more nutrients from the very things that feed upon them, rather than waiting for their fermenting corpses to fertilize the ground. Razor grass appears to be normal grass at first, but closer inspection reveals the individual blades to be sharp as razors and rigid as metal. Accidentally walking on it leads to bad things happening to ones feet if said feet aren't tough enough. Sap Mines are a pressure sensitive ground based defensive measures that only trigger when a certain amount of weight is placed on them; the bigger the mine, the more weight is required to set it off, so there are mines for killing medium sized life forms and those designed to drive off Giant and Titan sized monstrosities. Not kill; drive off.

While there is a wider array of defensive and offensive measures plants use, to end off this section so far, there are the 'Blast Fruit'. Resembling fleshy, glowing fruits, these objects are actually large sacks filled with gas. The most common type unleashes a cloud of toxic, caustic gas that is meant to drive away intruders from their territory, though it would reduce weaker creatures to a pile of dissolving matter on exposure. The least common type unleashes a seemingly harmless gas into the air, covering nearly several acres worth of forest in it from a single fruit. This gas, however, is flammable, and their specific fruit has an internal spark maker that lights it after a few moments. That's right; a naturally-occurring fuel air bomb. Worse still, the plants of the Blast Fruit of this type have fire proof bark, meaning that the sections of forest comprised of them remain intact as everything in an over a hundred meter radius is consumed by a hellish firestorm.

Even with these defensive and offensive measures, larger and tougher forms of life have little issue feeding on plant life. The Oliphant and Apo, for example, are unaffected by all but the most destructive means of driving them off, due to their sheer size alone compared to most other animals.

Most plants, however, have long developed alternate ways of interacting with fauna. Any plant with fruits or vegetables, for example, relies on animals to take their seeds to other places in order to spread themselves. The humble Apa is a common example of such fruit, coming in a wide range of flavors and coloration, unified by their caustic juices and single massive seed in their center that is often spat out by Apos due to them finding the high amount of cyanide distasteful. Humorously, many Oros have taken a liking to the almond taste of the cyanide in these seeds and enjoy eating them as a result. [A note is attached. It reads 'I've tried eating Apa-Seeds raw myself, but I can't do it! People say cyanide tastes like almonds, but it just tasted like poison to me! Then again, I am weird, so maybe it's just me?']

Many such plants also are widely used by Civilized Races in farming. Banki plants are curved and their seeds act like a handle that one grabs unto and uses to peel off the skin to eat the plentiful and delectable fruit-flesh beneath, tossing the seed away to become a new Banki plant in due time. The Plumpkin, or Genocide Gourd, gets its nickname due to it ruthlessly and brutally extending its root systems to choke out and kill all other, weaker plant life around it, spreading like a plague through farm fields if left unchecked. Spud-Spuds, also known by their modern name of 'Tatos', are tubers that enjoy a wide range of beloved recipes such as mashed tatos and spud-fries. These are but a handful of many countless types of fruits and vegetables grown and enjoyed the continent over by Civilized Race and wild animals alike, not counting the ones that directly feed off of foliage.

One notable plant that that is difficult to grow but renowned for the flavorful substance within its massive nut is the Paynut plant. Paynuts, as their names implies, requires a form of payment in order to safely remove and enjoy the large seeds they make. Animals with a taste for such a food kill and bring a form of payment to feed the Paynut, whereupon it loosens the seed to be taken away safely and enjoyed. Animals that attempt to take the Paynut without paying for it will find the plant having injected an obscene amount of cyanide into it, ruining the flavor and causing an upset stomach following consumption.

There are simply too many kinds and varieties of plant life to categorize in a book such as this one, though one can find a wide range of tomes that detail the wide, wide world of plant life on Null's land. Regardless of the kind, however, plants are as much living things as any other creature of Null, vital to sustaining the wider ecosystem and many being able and willing to participate in predation as well. For any Oros, they are particularly a vital component of living, as we Oros are truly omnivorous and require at least some of both meat and plant tissues in our diet to survive. Completely deducting one or the other leads to a slow, but eventual decline of health. Theoretically, an Oros can survive purely on one or the other indefinitely without requiring the other, but doing so leads to them becoming far more susceptible to being killed by an outside force, the most common source of death for an Oros on our homeworld. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Once, I got stuck in a mine in my home town after a particularly nasty tunnel collapse while I was helping to fix some equipment. The twenty of us had nothing to eat but wild Bore-Worm meat for 40 days before we were finally rescued. We was so weak by the end, if we weren't found and rescued, we would have all been killed by angry Common Maulwurfs. Well, all of us anyway. Rest in peace, guys.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Ghul

[Sketches depict a 4 limbed, lanky dark armored creature covered from head to toe in black plates. A single, cylopean eye resides at the center of its face, with a snouted maw of four plates, two jaws and two flanking mandibles that are as armored as the rest of its form. Its limbs are long and lanky, and all four end in 5 long, opposable digits that allow it to grip with either its hands or its feet. A long, well muscled tail with almost crocodilian like features sprouts from its armored buttocks, with sketches showing the beast using it for swimming and offensive actions. Other sketches depict the beast feeding on carrion, tearing apart what seem to be undead creatures, and one particular sketch shows on larger and more regal than others of its kind, with a crown of bone extending out from around its head.]

Scientific Name Translation: Death Eater. [A note is attached. It reads 'Stinky cat-monkey things is more like it.']

Average Size: 2.85 meters/9.35 feet at the head at full height.

Average Weight: 1k lbs/ 453.6 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: None, species is hermaphroditic.

Habitat Range: Any biome, though they tend to stick close to any Corpse-Lands that are in the region.

Summary:​

Scavangers are a vital part of any ecosystem. From the wide family of Geier birds, to Scavanger Beetles, to earth worms, all are vital for clearing the world of rotting flesh and carrion and to keep nature healthy and clean. No scavanger, however, are as fearsome or bold as the menacingly large and intelligent Ghul, a creature with an intimidating appearance and reputation, yet with certain traits and qualities that have brought unto them the attention of one of the Great Spirits of Lacuna and have become something of official, if animalistic, animals of her will.

The average Ghul is creature that stands close to three meters tall when standing at its full height, though most of the time they run on all fours and stay low to the ground, causing them to appear much shorter when they're not standing upright to use their front limbs for attacks. They are covered in a dark, almost black armored shell, that hugs their forms and gives them an appearence almost as though they are wearing suits of chitinous armor. The exception to this covering are several rows of teats lining their chest regions, which actually grown outside of their armored forms and thus do not leave openings into their internal sections. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I don't know about Ghuls, but I know for a fact myself that losing your tits in a fight hurts like hell! And they've got more than one pair, so that's like several times worse! At least they're kinda small and compact when not in use, so I guess it doesn't hurt them as much, probably?']

The Ghul has a resemblance between a cross between a primate, a feline, an insect, and a crocodilian, and that is because they are in fact just that. Genetic and fossil evidence fully supports that at some point within the last 3 million years, the first Ghuls were made during a mystical event that caused the fusion of several members of the previously mentioned species, giving rise to their current form. There is much argument, however, as to the cause of this magical event, with some scientists believing it to have been a natural, if particularly chaotic, magical occurrence, while others believe that a third party was behind their fusion, most likely candidates behind the mysterious Uplifter creatures known to lurk in the shadows of our world.

Regardless of their origins, the armored plates of a Ghul is highly resistant to damage, even capable of deflecting indirect shots from railgun rounds. This armored form, combined with their relatively large sizes and deadly capabilities, gives the Ghul a temperament that defies the stereotype of most scavengers. They actively drive off other predators within their weight category scavenging carrion, their greatest limitation being that they do not operate in large groups but in small packs of a handful of individuals at a time spread across a large area individually.

In terms of armament, their claws lining all their digits are long and sharp enough to rend untempered and unruned steel with little difficulty, their tails are muscular and strong enough to crumple stone pillars to the point of bursting in half, and they can produce and spit out a highly dangerous corrosive bile from their mouths that inflict disease and hallucinogenic attacks upon the victim. This 'Necro-Bile' also has the added affect of driving Geier birds like Rot-Hawks into an attacking frenzy, causing them to swarm the enemy of the Ghul, their own senses of self-preservation erased by a blood-lust untypical of their kind. [A note is attached. It depicts a doodle of a cartoonish Ghul pointing at a Oros soldier in armor, a flock of birds swarming him. A word bubble from the Ghul reads 'git 'im, bois!']

Furthermore, the Ghul is highly intelligent, able and willing to use tools on hand as weapons, or to use tactics to attack those entering their territory. A single large feline like eye resides at the center of their head and can, with great concentration, produce an energy beam of psionic nature capable of slicing through trees and scything through armored vehicles with ease, at the cost of temporarily blinding the individual Ghul in question. Both this eye-beam and the Necro-Bile they spit out are highly radioactive, thus requiring caution in order to avoid severe rad-burns.

The most intriguing element of the Ghul, however, is their complete immunity to necromantic magics. Surviving texts from ancient times revealed than when necromantic rituals performed by demonic beings were performed to raise the dead, any Ghul's brought back would immediately have their bodies retaken by their original souls, their ancient and dead flesh returning to life anew and reknitting back into a whole form, and the newly revived Ghul immediately turning its sights on the destruction of the Necromancer that dared to raise it up. This trait is what caught the attention of the Great Spirit of Night, Dreams, and Death, Luraru. The Great Spirit has since officially adopted the creatures as her personal servants in her campaign to eradicate necromancy, which in essence means these dark, dangerous, and macabre creatures are, technically speaking, holy. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Technically, the best kind of 'nically!']

Despite technically being holy servants to a goddess, Ghuls are still very much dangerous animals in their own right. They are territorial and aggressively drawn to any masses of rotting material to feed upon, and have a wretched odor that follows them like the stink on a Noxigon. Fascinatingly, this smell is actually a sign that the Ghul is clean and free of disease or bacteria on their outer-shells. Despite their nature as carrion eaters, Ghuls meticulously clean themselves with a foul-smelling but highly anti-bacterial formula created by mashing various kinds of fungi and lichen together. As such, aside from an eye-watering assault on the senses, one can safely touch a Ghul without worry of becoming diseased, and even a direct bite carries little risk if it has not eaten or spat up Necro-Bile recently.

The most dangerous and powerful kind of Ghuls are Ghul Queens. These beings are Ghuls that succeeded in findind, and consuming, the rotting flesh of an Elder God, causing them to ascend into a new and dangerous form, noted by a bone-crown forming around their heads. Ghul Queens gain many abilities, including the ability to produce a hyper-deadly airborne toxin capable of killing all life in a near kilometer wide radius, the venom being so potent that nothing will ever grow again in this place. Despite this, life continues, as another ability of the Ghul Queen is to reformat the dead plant-matter of these poisoned lands and breath into them a new life, twisting their forms until they become grotesque, rotten versions of their old selves. A Ghul Queen claims this entire patch of land they poisoned as their personal kingdom, a process that is known as 'Putriforming', so named because of the ungodly putrid smells that these living-death flora produce. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wonder if they have like actual kingdoms. Do Ghul Queens have courts? What does a Ghul Court look like? Does she sit on a throne and wave around a lil' sceptar to bop normal Ghuls on the head with? I have so many questions! Note to self, find book on Ghul Queens.']

In theory, by their nature as chosen agents of the goddess of death as well as their ascension to demi-godhood by consuming the flesh of an Elder God, Ghul Queens theoretically have the ability to raise the dead at their command. None have ever actually displayed this ability. After all, Ghuls don't want undead things. They want rotting corpses to feed upon. Furthermore, the more powerful the undead in question, the blessings of Lacuna results in the Ghul facing it to gain power in direct proportion, in order to see it destroyed. In theory, this has no upper limit, but in practice, the lack of undead gods in the world results in no real titanic clashes between them and these literally blessed eaters of carrion.

As previously mentioned, Ghuls are hermaphroditic in nature, possessing both kinds of sex organs stored within their armored forms. When mating season occurs, Ghul packs hunt to find potential mates. Upon finding one, they each offer the other a sample of their Bile for testing, to see what sorts of carrion the other has eaten. They then inspect one another for cleanliness and, if both find the other suitable, they proceed to mate. Their several pairs of teats come in handy in nursing a whole litter of pups born two months after the mating has taken place, the parents taking turns hunting and feeding their young. Young Ghuls are born without their armor, and thus are highly vulnerable. They are those raised in a dark, secluded, and easily defensible place until the time that their young's armor finally grows in and they can begin teaching them the ways of their kind.

Once the young have grown enough to fend for themselves, they break off from their parents in search of territory to claim as their own. This intermediate period between their guarded youth and their adulthood in a pack of their siblings is where the majority of young Ghuls meet their end. Upn expiry, a Ghul is found by others of their kind and then ritualistically cannibalized for their hearts and livers, before the remains are buried beneath soil to rest eternally.

Ghuls are dark, brutal, and macabre creatures who play a very important role in keeping the world clean of rotten flesh. They cannot feed upon the flesh of Civilized Races but can, with time, be tamed and trained to protect graveyards from unwanted looters. As a direct result, they are respected creatures, albeit ones whose smell and eating habits results in most leaving as soon as they discover their presence rather than giving them a moment's consideration. Ghul's are perfectly fine with this arrangement: As long as they get rotting meat they can feed upon and they are properly taught, they are perfectly fine with sharing territory with Civilized species. As living extensions of Lacuna's will, few can ask for better, if foul smelling, guardians of the dead's rest. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I visited a graveyard that had the bones of one of my ancestors. We still had his ash jar, but she'd been fancy and important enough to have a whole grave for her bones to rest in. I got to meet some of the Guard Ghuls around and whoo, it took me ages to stop smelling whatever gunk they use to keep themselves clean!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Uplifter.

[Sketches depict a rather ominous creature, a being that at a glance seems to be donning a cloak while its seemingly eyeless head stares at the viewer. Close inspection sketches reveal this 'cloak' to in fact be numerous tentacles, and close inspection of the head reveals two pairs of eyes on either side of its vaguely wedge shaped head. Its maw is jawed, with for mandibles ending in teeth covering up its otherwise exposed cheek-line, which reveals numerous sharp teeth. It's front-most section is covered up by plating that resembles teeth, interlocking when closed. The flesh is vaguely purplish and two of the many tentacles seem to extend from the main body like primary arms, ending with a pair of sharp hypodermic fangs. Sketches depict such beings using strange and dangerous powers, and observing the sketcher from the shadows.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a highly detailed sketch of a close up of an Uplifter head. It is staring directly at the observer, with a single word written in the corner: 'Creepy'.]

Scientific Name Translation: Maker of Monsters.

Average Size: 4 meters/13.12 feet from head to tentacle-tip.

Average Weight: 1 ton.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, male identification used though rarely some can be identified using feminine identification.

Habitat Range: All locations.

Summary:​

On a world with life as common and varied as our own, few things stand out as being truly 'unnatural'. Magic saturates our world, and we are very much aware thanks to the 'Book of Origins' that Null itself was crafted on the cosmic plane by the 'Weaver', a younger sibling to our Mediator Media and a being of incalculable power within the omnipresent dimension known as the Aether, a goddess like being known whose very name is shared by our world: Null. This Aether Being preplanned a great many creatures by carefully planning set evolutionary plans while she weaved the world, these plans culminating in certain species being borne into the Mortal realm. This includes all of the Mortal Civilized Races of Null, such as the Oros. However, despite this careful planning, Null had a goal for our world, for it to be a place of danger and death, and as a result she placed a system upon Null that would ensure that it would be populated by the most dangerous creatures imaginable.

This system was in the form of floating, vaguely cepholopodic creatures known in official texts as 'Uplifters'. The role for these artificial beings is a simple, yet horrifying one: They would periodically peer through the veil between worlds, into other realities, and pick and choose dangerous beasts for 'trials'. If these creatures succeed the Trials, then they would be integrated into our world by the Uplifters, who among other things would grant the creatures Sentinel Bacteria in order to avoid them being dissolved by our world's caustic pollutants in our air or be overwhelmed by our higher than garden world standard gravity. One of the most infamous examples of such creatures that they wrought to our world is the Spider-Ant, with evidence in other creatures that they were created into their current forms by Uplifter meddling.

A typical Uplifter is long at over 4 meters in length. Much of this length is their many, many tentacles, which they use for fine manipulation of objects when they do not use telekinetic powers. their main body is relatively short at only 2 and a half meters long, and is mostly a hose for their tentacles. An Uplifter lacks much in the way of organs, mostly existing as a heart and stomach analog more used for close analyzation of materials rather than to gain actual sustenance. A complete skeletal system provides them with some structure, with the skull being the most robust of this system. Of the tentacles present, two are noted for possessing hypodermic fangs at the end, one at the tip of each tentacle. These fangs possess a mutagen with which the Uplifter can use to change a creature in any way they see fit. This mutagen is fast acting and capable of doing anything from evolving a creature to a more advanced state, mutating their forms to a new and monstrous appearance, or simply 'upgrade' the existing body to a more robust form.

As artificially beings crafted and breathed life into by a god-like being, these creatures are virtually unkillable. Even total atomization through mundane means will simply result in the creature reforming elsewhere, though if 'killed', a body will be left behind, a hollow shell devoid of life and useless for anything but as proof of ones ability to fight these beasts in combat, a rare occurrence indeed. There are only three known ways to permanently kill an Uplifter: For it to be slain by a divine being, for them to be denied resurrection by their council of brothers, or to be completely consumed by the Aether. This last one is the most common way for us Mortals to kill them, though a Magi with skill in Aetherworks is required in the deed. Regardless of if they are killed, however, a new Uplifter is created by the rest of their brethren to replace the one that was lost, albeit one whose personality is likely to be wildly different from the original. [A note is attached. It reads 'Immortality almost sounds cool, if it wasn't so painful. Life is painful enough without being unable to die on top of that.]

In terms of offensive and defensive capabilities, a typical Uplifter is a match for most intermediate Magi in terms of skill with Aetherworks. With the power of the Aether in their possession, they can perform virtually anything that can be imagined. Summoning miniature suns into life, calling down the fury of a storm or the blood-freezing chill of a hyper-blizzard, altering the laws of physics such as gravity or outright rewriting what is real or not in a localized area, and much, much more. It is not an exaggeration to say that Uplifters are one of the most dangerous creatures on Null, however this is tempered by their duty to their role. Their wildly different personalities and outlooks can result in their actual danger to people ranging massively, though most will have no ill will to members of the Civilized Races of Null, and none would dare to step out of line with their role to expand and improve the deadliness of Null's ecosystem. Furthermore, when encountering a Civilized Race of Null, they are bound by their restrictions to avoid using outright Aetheric attacks upon them, in order to avoid Aetheric Damage upon them.

[A note is attached. It reads 'I've met people who have lost parts of themselves to Aether Damage, even Oros who lost their limbs! I asked them what it's like to have parts of themselves wiped off the face of Existence. All of them said the same thing: It's extremely painful and the pain never really goes away, you just get used to it being there. The ones who lost the bones where their arms or legs used to be say it's even worse than that and they had to take decades of psychological counseling in order to cope. I have nightmares of suffering Aether Damage. When I wake up, I swear I can feel the pain from my dreams where I'd been hit...']

Though highly illusive, encounters with them in the past has been frequent enough for many to have had their mutagen stores extracted. This mutagen is processed and used for a wide variety of scientific experiments, such as the upliting of animals in a controlled environment to more person-like forms. The largest experiment of such uplifts occurred in the Great Walled City of Yang Quartz, featuring a village's worth of uplifted Flittermice ranging from mice to squirrels in the experiment center. [A note is attached. It reads: Sadly, following the tragic nuclear attack on Yang Quartz by a currently unknown group that led to the city's fall, this experiment has since been lost, though recent recovery efforts have found evidence of their continued existence within the fallen Great Walled City. Hopefully, through more such experiments leading to the process being perfected, we can create new forms of life that are amicable to ourselves and each other.'-Found this from the author's blog and added it to my notes, Hildra.]

That all said, the Uplifters continue to this day to live mostly in the shadows of our world, dutifully plucking examples of dangerous life to integrate into Null's ecosystem. The people of our world are of two minds of this, often at the same time. Many are bitter that our already dangerous world is growing even more dangerous with each passing year and each passed Trial the Uplifters perform, though at the same time, it cannot be denied that our planet's many dangerous have managed to make us into effective fighting machines. Those that glean through the Book of Origins pages know that Null intentionally made our world this way, not for us to suffer, but for us to be prepared for the trials that await us our among the stars.

While it is hard to be thankful, it cannot be denied that this information causes most to feel a sense of unease: Namely, what awaits us out in our universe that requires such a harsh world? Many answers have been given to us by the knowledgeable Spirits of Lacuna and the Magi Order, and all of them are rather troubling. Despite this, however, we cannot give into despair. We must stand together, united, against every danger, whether domestic or foreign. Together, we can stand against anything, no matter how terrible, that awaits us in the dark between the stars. [A note is attached. It depicts a picture of one of the two moons of Null, Senoria Sanguine. It is blue, with seas of glowing blue god-blood, and an aura of menace. Drawn around the moon itself are sketches of tentacles.]

 

[TripleMRed]

Nightmare.

[Sketches depict a large, maggot like creature with pale, almost translucent skin and glowing insides. This is the early stage of the creature, however, and its adult form takes on a bipedal, limbed existence. It has a trificated jaw structure, the lower jaw splitting into two upon opening. Black eyes with white pupils stare out of its newly skulled head and the sketches depict it using telepathy and telekinetic abilities.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'You know, if they weren't such jerks, they could probably make a killing with using their powers for street-magic.']

Scientific Name Translation: Fear Maker.

Average Size: 3 meters/9.8 feet tall.

Average Weight: 1 ton.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A.

Habitat Range: Near Civilized Races.

Summary:​

Our homeworld is home to many strange and bizarre creatures, whom posses a wide host of mystical abilities that defy mundane explanations and that feed on a host of mystical items as a result. All of these beasts however, strange as many of them are, are natural. The creature known as the 'Nightmare' is not. What we know as the Nightmare hails from the Spirit Realm of Lacuna. In its home dimension, they take the form of diminutive, squat equines called 'Mares', that sneak into Spirits' homes and feed upon their dreams while they slumber. This is their original true form in the Spirit Realm. What they appear like on the Mortal plane, however, is what gives them their name.

Upon breaching the barriers between our two planes of existence, the Nightmare makes a conscious effort to become a truly terrifying creature. They spawn in the dead of night, starting as small, maggot like creatures, precursors to their full forms. In this state, they perform the same action as they do in Lacuna, sneaking undetected into homes and feeding upon the dreams of those within, eating their good dreams and leaving only nightmares. Oros are immune to direct forms of magic, but this means little to the Mares or their Nightmare forms as they siphon dreams via psionic abilities, allowing them to tap into Oros minds and feed upon their dreams in this manner. [A note is attached. It reads, 'When I was in high-school, we had a biology class that had a captured Nightmare maggot in it. I could feel it trying to probe my mind, but since I was awake, my nervous systems kept changing between one another. It made me woozy, but better than being mind-controlled by a giant nightmare buggo!']

The more psionic energies they steal to feast upon, the larger a Nightmare becomes and the more powerful they grow in tandem with their size. Eventually, this results in the Nightmare undergoing a metamorphosis, resulting in their signature appearance as we think of them today. Tall, limbed maggot-men, the final stage of the Nightmare has its original maggot like body become akin to a massive, tailed brain structure as the rest of their new bodies grow beneath them. At this stage, their abilities have grown to such a degree they no longer need to enter people's homes to feed. Indeed, a single Nightmare can siphon the dreams of whole towns within the territory they lay claim to. It is usually at this stage, wherein mass reports of nightmarish dreams spreading across the populace, that the hunt for the Nightmare takes place.

Their lairs vary wildly, but usually have some common elements, having become full of a silk the Nightmare uses to create its home to its desired form. Nightmare Silk, while having some physical properties, is a mystical construct tied to the Nightmare that makes it. Upon their demise, the Silk begins to degrade rapidly, with whole cave systems once filled with the strands becoming devoid of them within a week after the Nightmare's demise.

As for encountering a Nightmare, the beast is a powerful psionic in this late stage. Their limbs are long and having some power, but are rarely if ever used throughout the duration of the fight, the Nightmare instead making heavy use of telepathic and telekinetic attacks against those that hunt it down. The longer a fight goes on and the more injury is accrued upon the Nightmare, the more powerful its attacks become in direct proportion to its desperation to survive. As this occurs, the aurora like light patterns produced within its body, primarily in the brain housing, begins to rapidly fluctuate in response to this agitation and injury. If a Nightmare is slain when it is in the middle of making heavy use of its powers, a feedback loop will occur and cause the Nightmare to lose control of its powers. They then typically ascend into the air as they lose all control before producing a massive blast of psionic energy with their last breaths, a psychic bomb that explodes the nervous systems of weaker creatures and causes painful headaches to the Civilized Races to be caught in the blast. [A note is attached. It reads, 'It doesn't just affect organic minds, either. It also affects electronics. I've had to fix up more than one drone or vehicle that got caught up in a Nightmare deathsplotsion and let me tell you, EMP hardening means jack-piss for something like that.']

Upon its physical body's death, the Nightmare's physical shell remains in this world, albeit desiccated and with no more connection to the Mare that had inhabited its gnarled form. This shell, ironically, has many positive medicinal concoctions that can be created by using the required body parts to create them, thus making Nightmare hunting a positive net benefit upon the creature's demise. These effects are naturally more pronounced when used on Mortalized Spirits, or normal Spirits back on Lacuna, making a healthy market of trading Mortal produced goods from Nightmare body parts to Lacuna, or the Mortalized Spirit populace on Null.

Due to the nature of their existence, Nightmares lack a biological sex of any kind, and thus do not reproduce. Every new Nightmare is the direct result of a Mare from Lacuna burrowing over to the Mortal realm and taking on this twisted form for its purposes. The closest thing to reproduction Nightmares engage in is mixing their magical abilities with their Psionic ones in order to create temporary astral projection clones to fight alongside them. If there is any interest in the reproductive cycle of the Mare species in their natural form over in Lacuna, this is covered in the book, 'A World of Spirits, An Encylopedia on the Creatures of the Spirit World of Lacuna'.

Nightmares are a recurring hassle that, while rarely directly a threat to Mortals, have long term consequences that cannot be ignored and allowed to occur. Nightmares left to feed off a sleeping populace for too long can result in wide numbers of innocent people lacking sleep and thus becoming more susceptible to attacks by animals during their waking hours. To die is bad enough, but to be killed because you've been lacking sleep for four weeks in a row is even worse; it's downright insulting. As such, whenever a Nightmare is confirmed to be present, a proper hunting team is sent out to deal with the creatures, and allow the populace to sleep soundly in their beds once again. [A note is attached. It reads 'I once played a game with my friends to see how long we could go without sleeping. I lasted a whole month on that dare before my body had enough of my hallucinations causing me trouble and just automatically shut me down for sleep when I got on a couch. Best week long sleep coma ever!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Slinker.

[Sketches depict a long and highly flexible scaly creature. The beast has four limbs, but the body is long enough that i curl around objects with little issue, the limbs being used to improve its grip on the object. It's face is long and snouted, and completely devoid of eyes, resembling a long, even, and completely smooth crocodilian skull, almost closer to a mask rather than an actual skull, sets of interlocking teeth running along its maw, plated scales running along the lines between its head and its neck like a crown. The sketches show this creature stalking from the shadows, literally entering and exiting from the darkness itself as though leaping into or pulling itself out of a pool of unmoving black water.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'Lucky lizards. They don't need eyes to see, but if I lose one in a way that it can't regen properly, so sorry Hildra, but you need a Seeing Eyepatch for the rest of your life. What a rip-off!']

Scientific Name Translation: Shadow Stalker.

Average Size: 2.4 meters/7.87 feet long.

Average Weight: ~500 pounds.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are larger and have red markings across their skulls and backs.

Habitat Range: All-Biomes.

Summary:​

Of the various families of creatures on Null, few are as intimidating or as troublesome as the Shadow Beasts, a family of highly varied species that all share one thing in common: Eyeless heads that resemble smoothed bone-masks, and the ability to travel through anywhere that lacks light, hence their name. The least physically durable but most intelligent breed of such beasts is the humble Slinker, a creature known for it's ability to adapt on the fly during a hunt as well as an unusual body structure that allows them many avenues of combat.

The Slinker's most notable physical characteristics, after the facial features that unite the Shadow Beast family, is its long, tube like body. Covered in smooth, iridescent green scales, the Slinker's long body is highly flexible, allowing it to bend in any direction without any real difficulty. Their faces are long snouts, almost crocodilian save that they are perfectly smooth and bone like, like an evenly smoothed bone mask. A total lack of visible eyes and ear holes leaves one to wonder how they can sense things, though extensive research has found that they can see and hear very clearly despite the seeming lack of ways to interpret visual and audio stimulus. Running along the back of its head, in the area where its skull like face and its neck interlock, a set of teardrop shaped plates extend outward. Theories have long stood that these are used as a method of feeding the creature stimulus, though more recent evidence indicates that these plates are in fact related to other senses, mainly electro and mystic sensory in nature. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon drawing of a Slinker seeing musical notes. Words follow, reading 'I read a paper once that Slinkers can see sound, taste electrical and magical impulses, and feel depression. It was an interesting read!']

Despite only weight roughly 500 pounds on average, the Slinker's body is very, very strong, due to it mostly being muscle. As a result, it is not uncommon for Slinkers to wrap themselves around an enemy and try to crush them with its body's raw strength. Those observed working together were known to wrap themselves around the limbs of larger prey in order to break or crush the joints of the animals in question. Slinkers, like with most life on Null, cannot feed on the flesh of the Civilized Races, but this does not stop them from using their extreme crushing strength in a fight.

In addition to their own long and flexible bodies, their jaws posses incredible bone crushing capability, able to bite through unaugmented reinforced steel with little issue. Their claws, while affixed to relatively short limbs, are sharp, allowing them to grip onto objects with ease and allow them to climb, or to cause gashes when they are in the middle of attack their prey. Their greatest and most dangerous ability, however, is their ability to 'dive' into darkness, giving them unparalleled mobility in any location with a patch of darkness wide enough to allow their forms to enter. Attempts in the past have been made to shine a light on these 'dives' and attempt to cut the creature in half and stop their escape, but this has proven useless. When a Shadow Beast of any kind is in the middle of a 'Dive', either in or out of a patch of darkness, no amount of light shown can stop the Dive while it is in the middle of occurring. As a direct result of their ability, capturing one without use of special magics to prevent its escape is almost impossible, as even the most minute of temporary power outages will give a Slinker the opportunity to escape whatever holding's it is in. [A note is attached. It reads 'Don't you just hate it when your 8 foot long skull faced shadow monster escapes because you had to change the batteries on your flashlight cage?']

Furthermore, a Slinker is a highly intelligent hunter, one that often will not attack directly unless it has little other choice. It will sneak about, stalk, and otherwise perform its name sake in order to catch their unsuspecting prey by surprise before moving in for the kill. This very intellect, however, is what allows them to be excellent companions. Slinkers, if trained young or through circumstances be forced to trust a member of the Civilized Races, become loyal friends who rarely stray far from their Civilized counterparts. Indeed, 'tamed' Slinkers act much like large canines, though numerous laws and security concerns make it so that Slinkers, tamed or otherwise are not allowed to inhabit the confines of the Great Walled Cities, leaving them to coexist with us on the outskirts of our territory.

When mating season occurs, Slinkers congregate in large numbers to isolated areas. Once there, they divide themselves between male and female exclusive groups, before beginning a great chasing game. The larger and stronger female of the pair chase the weaker male across the width and breadth of the area, until the weaker is finally caught. Once this happens, the two Dive into the shadows where they can mate in peace. After this, the two parents separate, with females tending to their nests, guarding and teaching their young. Young Slinkers are too weak to survive in the shadows for long, and as a result must be raised in normal-space. This leaves them and their parent at their most vulnerable, and as a result Slinkers often make nests in the most defensible positions they can find, though first time Slinker mothers have been known to miscalculate and build nests at ground level in exposed clearings. At about two years of age, a Slinker has grown big and strong enough to be able to survive on their own, as well as begin their first Dives on their own. It is around this time that they separate from their mothers and go off on their own. [A note is attached. It depicts a detailed sketch of a baby Slinker, which is notably smaller and chubbier than their full grown adult form. Words follow, reading, 'Soooo cute!']

The Slinker is a devious and dangerous animal, but one that can be avoided by most Civilized Races by simply not heading into their territory. Often, however, Slinkers hunt livestock for those whose farms have yet to modernize into full agricenters, and as a result conflict between Civilized Races and Slinkers continue to this day. Only time will tell whether this conflict of interests will continue long into the future.

 

[TripleMRed]

Shadow Maw.

[Sketches depict an enormous shadowy beast existing a huge tear of darkness in a well lit area. The creature is massive and with qualities like that of a maggot and a mantoid insect, with a massive, smoothed armored head at the top of its body. The creature's main body is segmented, with many small grub like legs running along the underside of its segments. At the top of the body is a chest like region, with a pair of massive insectoid arms tipped with huge scythe-blades, used to prop the creature upright and for movement and attack. The head is wedge-shaped and utterly smooth and bone-like with a lower jaw and a pair of flanking mandibles. Sketches show the inside of the creature's mouth: It is an endless expanse of teeth, lining the jaws and circling the throat, which is an empty black pit from the perspective of the sketch.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I know I can't actually get eaten by one of these things, but the insides of their mouths.....One word: teeth.]

Scientific Name Translation: Devouring Shadow.

Average Size: 20-30 meters in height when standing upright..

Average Weight: 3,565 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A.

Habitat Range: All Biomes.

Summary:​

The Shadow Beasts are a troublesome family line of creatures, due to their ability to 'Dive' into the shadows, allowing them to circumvent the barriers of the normal world of matter we inhabit. The various members of this line are varying levels of dangerous, due to this ability and their respective temperaments, but one creature within this family line in particular stands out as a monster above all others, a creature infamous for its ravenous appetite and profound hatred of Civilized Races. These rare but highly dangerous monsters are known simply as the Shadow Maws.

The largest of the Shadow Beasts at being a Giant-Class creature, the Shadow Maws are also the most dangerous. They are driven by an innate, almost supernatural hunger, a need to feed that cannot be fully sated and which will cause them to consume whole swathes of land in short order. Flora, Fauna, and even the mineral wealth of the soil itself are all eagerly consumed by the beast, leaving the areas they strike barren and lifeless. They are especially dangerous to Civilized Races as we are some of the few things these creatures are incapable of eating. As a direct result of this, they are enraged by our presence and have been known to break off from their feeding frenzy in order to try and strike us down. They are creatures of such power that unlike the other Shadow Beasts, they do not require patches of darkness to Dive in and out of the shadows. They can enter and leave the Shadow Realm at will. Luckily, however, their sheer size is such that it takes them some time and effort to move between the realms, with active light slowing them down further. [A note is attached. It reads 'Shadows Maws don't need darkness to dive out of the darkness. They just....show up, whenever they want to. It's scary as hell to me.]

In the most ancient of historical times, Shadow Maws were a grave threat due to their destructive capabilities, devouring farm land and livestock and slaughtering farming communities by the dozen. In this era, Shadow Maws were slain by great heroes who were blessed with mighty weapons forged by the Great Spirit of Blacksmithing, Eruiru. All of these heroes would go on to become legends in ancient folk-lore and records, though many of their names have been lost to time with the loss of many such records. It was during these times that the Shadow Maws first appeared in modern fossil records, as they are now known to have existed millions of years ago before suddenly dropping off the fossil record at around the time of the last major extinction event, likely entering some form of hibernation or stasis until food became plentiful again.

The Shadow Maw is a creature that is always heavily armed. It's huge, scythe like limbs are mostly for mobility, dragging it's lumbering form around, but they also have sharpness and strength to bisect whole treelines and cleave armored vehicles in half. They can project an irradiated, incendiary, molecular acid from their maws, used to melt structures and leave those inside to a gruesome and slow death. They can project and unleash explosive orbs of dark energy that cause nuclear decay on impact and gravitational anomalies. Shadowy lightning can be cast forth, disabling technology and burning holes through armor. The signature attack of these creatures, however, is when they are not fighting Civilized Races: they open their jaws as wide as they can before inhaling, causing a sucking effect with gale-force winds that draws in anything unfortunate enough to be in its way to be drawn into its mouth. Even trees and embedded rock is uprooted and drawn in to be consumed. Massive crushing jaws ensure even the most heavily armored of creatures are disposed of in a matter of a bites. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Nothing should be able to just chew up a damn Greater Shinook! It's just not right, it's just not natural.]

Dissection of fallen Shadow Maw's corpses has revealed interesting, and disturbing, truths about them. They appear to lack much in the way of any internal organs. In fact, they are almost entirely composed of nothing but bone, plating, and muscle tissue. No discernible stomach has been found, and indeed, inspections by Magi indicate that whatever the Shadow Maw eats is destroyed entirely. Some speculation exists on if they cease to exist entirely, or if they are fed to some shadowy 'void' unrelated to the Aether but which the Shadow Maws are borne from, and it is generally agreed further research into this topic will be required in order to discern the truth.

The Shadow Maw has no mating season and in-fact lack sexes entirely. No known records indicate the reproductive methods of the Shadow Maw, as all time they spend not eating in the material world is spent in the shadow realm, with all Magi led hunting parties into the place resulting in no way to track the beasts down. So far, there are three theories on how they come into being. The first, and less likely, is that they produce an egg like seed similar to those discovered in the shadow realm and spit it out through their only orifice, their mouths, in a form of asexual reproduction. The second theory is that these creatures may split apart via budding in order to create new Shadow Maws, as all Shadow Maws discovered share the exact same genetic traits with one another. The third, and most ominous, is that they are not born at all. Rather, each Shadow Maw is an extension of the shadow realm itself, being created from within it at the loss of any currently existing one. Without a means to properly track those that reenter the shadow realm, we may never know, though rumors abound of a new tracking method being developed by Magi that could shed light on them, if this new method passes muster.

The Shadow Maws are ancient, dangerous, and violently spiteful brutes. They come and go as they please in the wild, feeding on whatever they encounter, and go out of their way to destroy Civilized Races they meet in their path of destruction. Some say it is luck that they have yet to appear within and attack a Great Walled City, but there is enough evidence to suggest that Shadow Maws, for all their brutish nature, have some measure of intellect, and know when a fight is too much for even itself to win. [A note is attached. It reads 'That's reassuring, but it doesn't stop my nightmares of these things showing up in the streets outside in the city and just tearing up the place.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Skin-Stripper.

[Sketches depict a large spider, big enough to be the size of a person when not counting its legs. It's exoskeleton is armored with reinforced plates, and its leg tips are tipped with sharp blade like tips. The pedipalps, while lacking proper digits, have segmented plates that allow them some level of proper grasping on whatever they hold. It's head possess 8 eyes, two stacks of four lined above the other, the upper pair slightly further back along the head than the bottom pair. It's mouth is similar to the insectoids of Null, having a jawed structure, with the signature fangs of a spider being integrated into a large set of mandibles flanking the mouth. When the mouth is fully closed, the fanged mandibles curl up the front, vaguely resembling a large mustache like structure. The abdomen is large and holds the silk production organs, which a cut-away reveals are very large. Females have larger abdomens. Disturbingly, one sketch shows the beast skinning, drying, and then using the flayed skin of their prey as a hammock.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Okay, so like, them using skins as a hammock is really disturbing, but also really metal as all hell.']

Scientific Name Translation: Flaying Fang.

Average Size: 2 meters/6.6 feet long, not counting legs.

Average Weight: 500 lbs/226.8kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are larger than the males, have larger abdomens and have red markings.

Habitat Range: Heavily forested areas..

Summary:​

Arthropods are some of the oldest multi-cellular life on our homeworld of Null, having existed since the earliest days of complex multicellular life in the oceans some 600 million years ago. In the eons since, many distinct branches and families of arthropods have come into existence, with few as intriguing as to the wide world of Arachnids, which includes spiders, scorpions, and other related species. Of these many Arachnids that call Null home, few have as fearsome a reputation, however, as Flayer Spider, known by its contemporary and ancient folk name of the 'Skin-Stripper'. [A note is attached. It reads 'I remember lots of my Spirit friends snickering at hearing the name. Apparently Spirits have these things called 'strip-clubs', where hot chicks and dudes take off their clothes and stuff in front of a crowd for money? I dunno, sounds far fetched to me.']

At 2 meters in length, Skin-Strippers are some of the largest spiders to exist outside of the Land of Giants to the far West. They are relatively light, with much of their weight being in the way of an armored exoskeleton capable of repelling indirect Slugger fire with ease. This lightness, combined with the great strength in their 8 legs as well as a keen silk-spinning ability allows the Skin-Stripper unparalleled mobility in their preferred environments, this being heavily forested regions. The type of forest is not relevant, as over time dedicated subspecies have come to inhabit everything from tropical forests to rainforests alike.

Despite their size, speed, and relative durability, the Skin-Stripper is not all that common. Fossil evidence indicates that only within the last million years or so, their numbers have begun to severely dwindle to modern comparative rarity. The most likely cause is the increase in deadliness among the life forms of Null, as it is a well established fact that as more time passes, the deadlier Null as a world becomes. Despite this, modern day Skin-Strippers have become adept and intelligent hunters who are infamous for their trademark technique. As their name suggests, the Skin-Stripper is infamous for flaying its prey of their skin, which the Skin-Flayer then dries into a leather before adding their webbing into the mix in order to turn the skin into a hammock for themselves. This trademark technique is so ubiquitous among Skin-Strippers that not only has it become their folk name, it has even developed into something of a culture among themselves. Some Skin-Strippers exclusively hunt for the skins of specific prey, while others make do with whatever they can catch. One particular culture actively takes live prey back to their lairs in order to preserve them and wait for optimal conditions for skinning and leather making.

In terms of armament, Skin-Strippers have sharp tipped legs which provide them with excellent cutting and piercing power in close quarters. Their eyes offer them excellent vision even in darkness, and some subspecies posses quill like hairs along their bodies which can sense vibrations in the air, offering them superb sensory information. A volatile acid is produced from their mouths, which is further mixed with venom from their fangs for a dangerous armor destroying substance that also poisons the wearer. Their silk, produced from their abdomens, is durable enough that only the raw strength comparable to Cerberi can hope to rip it apart, thus requiring a sharp blade to cut through it to escape. This silk is resilient to heat and cold, but is highly conductive to electricity. As a result, any modern day Power Armor with a basic electro-stun defense feature can easily escape by electrifying the webs and causing them to disintegrate within a matter of seconds. [A note is attached.It depicts a cartoon Skin-Stripper with an exclamation point over its head as an armored man electrifies its webbing with his PA. Words follow, reading 'Imagine holding your prey down in your super-web, only for it to just start producing a mini-lightning storm.']

In terms of hunting tactics, the Skin-Stripper is highly cautious, spending hours if not days tracking their preferred prey until the perfect opportunity arises to strike. When this happens, the Skin-Stripper attacks quickly and brutally, tying up their prey before injecting them with venom to kill them. Upon confirmation of the prey's expiration, the Skin-Stripper expertly and efficiently uses its sharp-edged limbs to flay the target, with the most experienced managing to perfectly preserve the skin with as few needed incisions as possible. Then feasts on the flesh below before going back into hiding to tan the acquired skin for its uses in attracting mates and for use in regular activities such as sleep.

When mating season arrives, male Skin-Strippers meet in established mating grounds for their kind, bringing with them their collection of skins. Females come and inspect the collections of the various males and decide on which of the most successful they will mate with. Despite what some popular culture would have you believe, female Nullian spiders, Skin-Stripper ones included, do not eat their mates. This is a common misconception, due to identification. They only eat males who fail to meet their standards long before any mating commences. If a male is selected to mate, then his life is not forfeit. After mating, the larger females seclude themselves in dark areas to lay their egg sacs. They then use the collected skins donated to them by their male counterparts to cover up the egg sac for warmth. This skin covering also doubles as nourishment for the young when they finally escape into the world, thus debunking another common myth that spider-young swarm and consume their mothers.

In every day life, with the advent of the Great Walled Cities, Skin-Strippers are growing increasingly less common in the common mental viewpoint. Only the Bug-Hunter Nation continues to keep much attention to them, due to the Bug-Hunters actively hunting and consuming Skin-Strippers as part of a ritualistic ceremony for a special sect of their Hunter's Guild members. When asked on the street of their thoughts on the Skin-Strippers, the spider-like Spirit Race that is the Ira have no real opinion of them, failing to see what relation one would draw between the Skin-Strippers and themselves. As one Ira put it: 'We deal in poisons, potions, and remedies, not butchery.'

[A note is attached. It is a a detailed sketch of an Ira woman. She is an Arachne style tauric individual, with what would be pedipalps acting as legs for her womanly body at the 'head' of her spider body. She possess greyish skin and armored segments lining her arms and 'legs', with a short-muzzled face that have a pair of small, cute fangs poking out of her thin lips. A pair of mandibles flank her mouth, though they appear to be for show more than anything. Five red eyes line her face, two in a conventional position, two above those eyes, and one at the center of her forehead. A pair of pointed, armored ears flank her head, and her purple hair is tied in a bun over her head. She is wearing a skirt and a T-Shirt that seems to be for a band called 'Fire & Fang' that give her well endowed form a sense of modesty. Words follow, saying 'This is Isha, my co-worker at the engineering shop. I always heard Ira were potion makers, but she makes a great engineer!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Bloodsucker.

[Interestingly, the sketch section for this page of the book appears to be covered up by digital notes, all saying 'NO NO NO' on them.

...

...

Beneath the digital notes are sketches of the beast. It is a tall, long limbed and with fine, lanky muscles on its frame. Patches of fur exist to cover up the groin and chest, and a short, furless tail extends out of the base of their spine. It stands digitigrade , sharp inch long claws on its feet, with sketches showing it moving at great speeds thanks to this leg design. The hands are tipped with claws several inches in length, sharp as obsidian and able to cleave through tank plating like it was nothing. The most terrifying aspect, however, is the head: It is canid like, with a long snout and pointed ears, the nose seemingly gone and thus giving the head a skull like quality to it. A pair of large fangs poke out from its lips and some sketches show it smiling, revealing rows of sharp teeth. The eyes are slitted and almost seem to have an unnatural gleam to the in the sketches. Other sketches show the beast feed, draining its victims of their blood as they struggle in their grasp to no avail. Some creatures in the sketches appear distinctly female and are no more horrifying or brutal than their male counterparts.

It is like the unholy fusion between a werewolf and a vampire.]

Scientific Name Translation: Blood Dog, Diabolic Hellhound, Devil Dog, Blood Feeder [An official note is attached. It reads 'Scientific Name under debate.']

Average Size: ~2.7 meters/~9 feet in height,.

Average Weight: 1840 lbs/834.6kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have more feminine figures and notable breasts which the males lack entirely.

Habitat Range: All Biomes.

Summary:​

Allow me to preface this entry by saying in no uncertain terms that this is a creature that is no longer alive. The Bloodsucker has been hunted to extinction in the wild and is thus now little more than a bad memory for our kind. However, extinct or not, it would do us all well in order to remember the monster that terrorized us and our ancestors for so many centuries, lest we forget the horrors that afflicted us all.

Before anything else, we must go over the details of how these creatures came to be and their relationship with the Civilized Races of Null, particularly us Oros. To begin, the Bloodsucker is not a naturally occurring creature. They were not part of Weaver Null's designs and plans for this world nor for us. These beasts were specifically engineered and unleashed upon the world by an Uplifter, one who was tried, found guilty, and destroyed by the rest of his kind for this action in such a way that not even its name survived to the modern day. What we do know of it is that this Uplifter believed that Null was too easy for the Mortals that called it come, that the Civilized Races did not have enough challenges. Thus, it created the Bloodsuckers, true monsters.

These beasts were first created and unleashed 8000 years ago, about 5000 years before the Prophet Am came into being and a 1000 years after the first modern day Nation arose, the Royalbacks. In this time, the Bloodsuckers were numerous and ruled the world with a cruel and bloody fist. We, particularly the Oros but also the Chimera and Cerberi, were nothing if not cattle for these beasts. Whole towns and villages were kept as feeding stock for the beasts, who marked their personal prey by scarring their faces to deter other Bloodsuckers from taking their property. This period of time lasted about 200 years. The youngest of the races that would have formed the Great Nations, known as the Ghost Dancers in the modern day, were rendered completly extinct. This all changed, however, when the first masks were created. Crafted en masse by the Bloody Ones who had been driven into hiding from the onslaught of Bloodsuckers, the masks hid the faces of the Oros who wore them, causing the Bloodsuckers to lose track of what prey was their own. When they came in close to investigate and find their prey, the united Oros fought back and slayed their oppressors through sheer force of weight and numbers.

With the fall of their dominion over us, the Bloodsuckers, whose numbers had never been truly great, fell into hiding, stalking and striking from deep within the darkest corners of the world. The masks became a common facet of Oros culture from then on and would continue to exist as part of our society until the extinction of the Bloodsucker in recent centuries and the building of the Great Walled Cities. With the deaths of our long-standing predators, many now forgo wearing masks as they see it as a symbol of the old days of fear and pain.

During the time of their existence, the Bloodsuckers were infamous due to their unique ability among all of Null's animal life to feed upon the flesh of Civilized Races. The reason for this is as simple as it is horrible: They were us. Bloodsuckers were constructed by the long dead Rogue Uplifter using the Oros DNA as a base, with Bloodsuckers sharing 99% of the Oros genetic genome. They were made by taking an existing medical condition that results in blood-drinking Oros, known as 'Bloody Ones', and twisting it into the monstrous need to feed that consumed the Bloodsuckers' whole existence. This relationship made their twisted, bestial forms all the more terrifying for the Oros, knowing that these beasts were, on some level, fellow Oros, ones who wished to feed upon the blood of their unaltered kin.

The weapons of the Bloodsucker was numerous. Their teeth and claws could break through virtually any armor with ease, their claws in particular having morphic capabilities that allowed them to be as sharp as obsidian on demand and always harder than diamond regardless of sharpness. These claws also have the ability to leave permanent scars on flesh capable of regeneration such as our own. These claws have are enhanced beyond what is natural, allowing them to cleave through any non-unbreakable material with ease, be it mundane flesh and bone, rune augmented enhanced power armor, or the flesh of the supernatural such as spirits and the like.

Their strength was far in excess to their lithe, lean muscled forms, able to outmatch a Cerberus in open combat. Their speed, agility, and cunning all allow them to excel at ambush, and their vocalizations carried with them an instinctual fear in all who heard it, allowing them to disorient any they encountered. The only saving grace is that the unbreakable bones of their Oros origin were lost in their creation. This is little comfort to those that fought them, however, as their sheer durability meant that even armor piercing railgun shots were unable to breach their skeletal structure with ease, merely cracking and micro-fracturing the impact sites. This durability bordered on the supernatural, allowing them to survive even with the loss of more than 50% of their bodily tissue, with a simple drink of blood being enough to kickstart their healing back to full strength.

The worst quality, however, was their intellect. This intelligence granted them a cruelty and sadism few creatures could match, with Bloodsuckers intentionally leaving some of their victims alive and in agony so their screams of pain could lure in new prey. They have been observed torturing their prey by letting them think that escape is within their grasp, or that they could reach a medical station, only to be dragged away at the last possible second by the Bloodsucker that toyed with them. This intellect also meant they avoided feeding on children outright, even after the loss of their control of the Oros people. This had nothing to do with morality and everything to do with pragmatism: A child is a poor food source compared to an adult and has the ability to produce more of its kind later on. You do not kill the young in a herd, after all, you kill the older members and wait for the young to grow up, have children of their own, and then become possible food in the future. All children who encounter a Bloodsucker have survived, but always with a marking or scar of some kind on their faces to mark them as the future food of that particular Bloodsucker.

Furthermore, the Bloodsucker came in multiple variants. The slower moving Tar-Man variant suffered a defect that causes their Sentinel Bacteria to overproduce, causing them to be drenched in a sludge like material that was flammable but which was thick enough that the flames never reached the Tar-Man below. The Pygmy variant was much, much less durable than the main-line, but made up for it by attacking in packs. The most dangerous of all, however, was the Aetherbane, a beast with access to Aetherworks that allowed the most powerful of them to alter reality on a localized level to suit their needs. All of these were hunted down and destroyed alongside the rest of their kind.

The reproductive methods of the Bloodsuckers was a mystery for a long, long time. Nobody had ever witnessed them mating with one another and lived to tell about it, and males and females of their kind treated each other no differently than they treated others of the same sex. We only know what their young look like thanks to carefully monitored experiments that create new Bloodsuckers by harvesting and combining germ cells from male and female Bloodsuckers slain in the field. These young are wild and animalistic, but surprisingly can be raised to be amicable and non-threatening creatures. This disturbingly indicates that the sadism of Bloodsucker is not, in fact, instinctive: It is learned behavior.

In the thousands of years that document them and their interactions with the Civilized Races of Null, there have been those that break from the norm. Some ignored the Civilized Races entirely, and a handful even acted as protectors to Civilized Races against the rest of their ilk. These shining beacons of decency, however, were nowhere near enough to prevent this predatory species from being marked for destruction. Many rightfully morn the loss of 'the good ones', the Bloodsuckers that rose above their brutal taught natures. In the end, however, their losses were acceptable to destroy this species that actively hunted our kind for millennia.

The last of the Bloodsuckers was hunted down and destroyed in the wild over a hundred years ago as of the time of this writing. The only remaining examples are ones bred in a lab, of which only less than a half dozen remain, and of which are scheduled for decommissioning and storage in stasis pods out of the fear that they may one day turn against us. There are many, most of them of the younger generation that did not live through the ages where Bloodsuckers were in the wilds that argue against this decision. I cannot pass judgement on these young people, for they know not the horrors of the days long passed, though a part of me cannot help but admit that there is reason in their collective voices, that it is wrong for us to treat these lab-borne Bloodsuckers with such fear and suspicion. This is only a small part of me, however, for the rest cannot help but feel relief that this long nightmare for our people may finally be at an end.

---

[A long note is attached here. Words follow, reading 'When I was a little girl, about 7, I was spending time with my grandparents at their home in the old country of the Stonecutters Nation. Grandpa Jol and Grandma Birma. They were these really old, really scarred up Warrior and Tall Body-Type Oros respectively, but they were the gentlest, sweetest souls I'd ever met. They loved the heck out of me and my parents, they took me on all sorts of adventures and taught me all kinds of things about history and right and wrong and so much more. They were the best grandparents a girl could ask for, and they were the only ones I knew of since my mom's parents were long dead by the time I was born. It's actually kinda uncommon for Oros of my day and age to have met even one full set of grandparents. Most only knew one grandma or grandpa that was still alive, most didn't know any.

One night, when I was going to bed, I woke up at night because I'd gotten thirsty. So, I went downstairs all sleepy like because I wanted to get a glass of water, and since I was 7 I was a big enough girl to get it on my own.

The first thing I noticed that was wrong was that my grandparent's room had it's door open. Actually, that's not correct. It wasn't open, it was ripped off its hinges. The second thing I noticed was the blood on the floor that led down the stairs. I'd always been a heavy sleeper who slept through animal attacks before, but there was something different this time. I could smell it in the air: the blood was my grandparents', not some animals. I did the smart thing first and hit the silent alarm button just like my parents and grandparents and school-teachers always taught me to do in an emergency like this....then, I did the stupid thing they told me not to do; I didn't hide, I started to go down the stairs to look for my grandparents.

'Oma?' I called to granny. 'Opa?' I called to grampa. I didn't hear either of them say a word. I kept going down the stairs until I reached the bottom. When I was down there, my little ears finally heard it: Something moving in the kitchen. It took out my My First Survival Knife from my pajama's sheath and, shaking like a leaf and the little idiot that I was, went to investigate.

When I got in the kitchen, there was blood everywhere. The central cooking station had been torn out of the ground and tossed out to the side, embedded in a wall. Laying on the ground was my grandma and grandpa. They were both covered in their own blood and their throats had bites taken out of them. It stood there, shaking, when I realized that there was this big shadow. It wasn't a shadow. It was huge, bigger than grandpa, and it had to squat a bit in order to fit in the kitchen and keep its head from scraping against the ceiling. It was staring at me, these big, unblinking eyes that almost looked like they had these tiny, glowing embers of hate glowing deep within them staring right at me.

My grandparents were dead, and they'd been dead for a good while by this point.

This thing had been waiting down here for me to come after them.

Before I could try and turn and run, it grabbed me. I didn't see it move, one second it was there, the next it was holding me up in the air by my neck with one hand. I tried to scream, but all that came out was choking sobs. My training kicked in and I started trying to stab it in the arm with my knife. It was like trying to stab an Ironwood tree, my attacks did nothing.

The thing stared at me, it's big fangs showing. I think it was smiling, it found my struggle funny. Then, without any other noise and much slower than it needed to, it reached out with its free hand and scooped out my left eye, making sure to sever the nerve with its claws. It dropped me on the floor then as I was sobbing and screaming before it left. It heard gunshots outside, neighbors and the first responders having arrived far too late.

I was real quiet for the next year or so. My parents were heartbroken and angry and all sorts of things, and they never let me out of their sight when I wasn't in school. My eye regrew, but because of the thing's claws when it severed my optic nerve, it grew back mostly blind. I got a Seeing-Eyepatch after that.

I eventually went back to being me, silly, weird Hildra. But my grandparents were still dead and my eye was still janked up. I got Mr. Cool as a pet to help cope, but the nightmares never really stopped. They still haven't on some nights.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad these things are extinct in the wild. I'm glad and I hope they stay that way forever.

-Hildra Bergentruckung. You can quote me on that.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Civilized Races.


While many creatures on Null could classify as 'sentient', even sapient, few can be classified as 'civilized'. Of these species, only those known to belong to Arisa are known about, as Nod is kept from observation by remaining True Dragon and Stone Eye defense systems there. At the time of this writing, these races are the Oros, the Chimera, the Empusa, the Cerberi, the Ogra, the Gobb, the Striga-Hyto, the Lasarna, the Sun People, and the Mortalized Spirits.

Of these races, the Oros, Chimera, Empusa, and Cerberi are the four naturally occurring Mortal races of Null, with the Mortalized Spirits being either Spirit individuals stuck on Null rather than Lacuna or the descendant of one such individual stuck on Null. The Ogra and Lasarna are species brought to Null via the Uplifters, millions of years ago and 12 thousand years ago respectively. The Oros and those with Oros heritage are the only members of the Civilized Races to have unbreakable bones, though the durability of the skeletal structure of the other races cannot be dismissed.

All of the Civilized Races of Null are compatible with one another, and all have been living together in a unified society of some kind for thousands of years, the various races intermingling for almost as long. The Median itself formed in the year 1501, centuries ago as of the time of this current writing, with it bringing unification to the Civilized Races under the guidance of the Mediator, the eldest sister of the creator of our world, Lady Null, and the unifier of our Nations: Media.

Any member of the Civilized Races can breed with a member of the opposite sex, though the offspring is always of the mother's species. [A note is attached. It reads 'So many interspecies babies, so little time!']

The unifying biological trait among all of the native Mortal races if us sharing the exact same grade of Sentinel Bacteria, the highest grade out of all of Null in fact. This means that no other creature save a fellow Civilized Race can consume our flesh, for if they try, the Sentinel Bacteria react violently and often with deadly results. This grade of Sentinel Bacteria also effectively renders the Civilized Races immune to caustic based damage. The Ogra and Lasarna, meanwhile, are of the second heighest grade of Sentinal Bacteria, making them immune to being eaten by outside forces but not immune from being consumed by other animal life native to Null.

Another unifying quality is how our species' sexual determination works. Chimera, Empusa and Cerberi are always female, or hermaphroditic in the case of the Empusa, due to being mono-gendered races, but Oros and Mortalized Spirits share the same sex determination quality: Ovum within the mother come predetermined with a sex for the individual to be born if this particular egg is fertilized by a father's sperm, which delivers the genetic information from the father to complete the portions missing in the Ovum. As a result, males develop as males and females develop as females, resulting in no sex based chemical imbalances in their biology. As a result, males lack nipples due to lacking mammary glands entirely. It should be noted, however, that Spirits in their natural habitat of the Spirit Realm of Lacuna are able to change their biological sex at will due to being creatures of magic rather than matter and thus are not bound by the same rules as Mortals. Ogra and Lasarna, meanwhile, operate on a more common sex determination method, in which they begin development as females before a sex determinating chromosome determines if they remain as such or become the other relevant sex to their species.

To date, there has not been a single individual of the Civilized Races to have died of old age. Indeed, evidence indicates that we are all biologically immortal and will never truly die of age, but the dangers of our world means that living beyond a few centuries was uncommon for most people. Those that do live for extended periods of time weaken somewhat, but otherwise remain strong and dangerous individuals in their own right.

With all of that said, it is time we gave a look to the various species of the Civilized Races:

-

Oros.

[Sketches depict a species of bipedal, tail-less, short muzzled canines with humanoid proportions and features. They are shown to have a wide emotional range from expressions shown as well as a wide number of cultures based on clothing and armors. Armor seems to be the norm, as are masks, but there are many sketches showing them in daily attire without either such features. When fully nude, females have their sexual features on display, while males have their sexual organs hidden away by a genital slit like fold of skin keeping their genitalia hidden in a bulge like mass on their crotch. This is covered up by fur, giving them a 'featureless' appearance when fully nude and not aroused, with the testicles being internal entirely.]

[A note is attached. It depicts an eyepatch wearing stick-doodle with the words 'iz me' written next to it.]

Scientific Name Translation: Wise Wolf.

[A note is attached. It reads, 'Smart, hell yes. Wise? Depends on the person. Wolf? Eh, I think we're more like doggos myself. We domesticated ourselves!']

Average Size: 6'5-7'8 feet/1.98-2.78 meters tall, depending on Body Type.

Average Weight: 400-1190 pounds/ 181.44-539.78 kgs, depending on Body Type.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are curvier than males, with features male lack like nipples and breasts, as well as longer and better defined hair most of the time.

Habitat Range: All biomes of the Arisa continent.

Summary:​

Of the various Mortal canid species of Null, only one has managed to achieve a full civilization. This species is me. It is likely also you. It is the Oros, the founding member race of the Nations of Null, and the most numerous native sapient species on the Mortal plane of our world. Our species has been through much over the millennia since our evolution into our modern state, but through unified endurance, cooperation, and a little help from more powerful beings, we stand united as the dominant life forms of this world alongside our fellow Civilized races.

The first modern day Oros is believed to have come to fruition some 200,000 years ago, here on our home continent of Arisa. Much of our prehistory is left unknown save for cave paintings and early artifacts, but what we do know is that life was always harsh on our fair planet. Our ancestors worked together using the three Body Types of the Oros people to hunt together and find success. Normal Body Types, though the smallest and physically weakest are naturally the best with ranged weaponry and thus were archers who fell grazing animals after exhausting them from a tireless hunt to tire them out. The physically powerful Warrior body types would then move in to finish off the prey before the Tall's would go on to use their deft hands to gather as much food as possible. [A note is attached. It reads 'The power of teamwork, my dudes!']

Eventually, the wheels of progress turned and the first civilizations came to existence. Farming communities began to sprang up as agriculture and animal taming became more widely known. They were then found and aided by the Great Spirits of Lacuna to develop into the first true great civilizations, though our success would see the wrath of our planet set upon us time and again. The first modern day Nation, the Royalbacks, came into existence some 9000 years ago and would be the parent Nation for a handful of others. The Windrunner Oros technically had a longer civilization before the Royalbacks, though they were different than the modern Nations as we understand them and would become the foundation for the modern day Skyrunner Nation. Sadly, during the rule of savage Bloodsuckers, an 8th proto-Nation known as the Ghost Dancers was rendered extinct. Their blood line persists to the modern day through descendants of those that had children with other Nationalities before their destruction, but as of the time of this writing, no pure blooded Ghost Dancers remain.

What followed were several thousand years of advancement, loss of knowledge, re-advancement, and dark age falls of institutional knowledge as the Nations almost literally warred against the planet itself, as well as internecine wars between each other. This culminated in arrival of the Prophet Am of the Bar in 0 WA (With Am), who hailed from a small group of Oros hidden away from the rest of the world. He would go on to become the founder of the Ambaric Church and, following his ascension into the heavens in 0 AA (After Am), the foundation for the Median would be laid, the 3rd Kingdom.

The 3rd Kingdom only lasted two centuries, but during this time many of the fundamental elements of the modern day Oros cultures were formed. It would not be another 1300 years before the Oros finally settled their differences and formed the unifying Median under the Aether Being Media, who acted as an unbiased intermediary between the various Nations and thus the only truly neutral party to be able to properly rule all of Null. [A note is attached. It reads 'So like, the 3rd Kingdom failed after two centuries because the various Nations of Oros hadn't yet gotten over each other being of different Nations, so it failed. Someone tried to make a 4rth Kingdom afterwords and unify everyone by conquering, but they got beaten by the Prophetess of War, Rosa. So cool.']

Oros have many interesting biological features. For instance, we lack tails despite starting life with them and our teeth are not individuals bones but a part of our skull. Our flesh is highly durable and capable of regeneration and we have a thin but highly dense layer of blubber beneath our skin. As a consequence, however, Oros are highly susceptible to fire as a consequence, though this is very much survivable if the only damage taken is from the flames and not other outside attacks as after a while of being exposed to fire, our musculature produces an oily slick that douses our the flames and prevents us from catch firing again. We also have a high stamina, allowing us to outlast most threats that try to fight us in the first place.

Our people is also subdivided into three main body types. Normal, Tall, and Warrior. Normal's are the most common at about 60 percent of the population and stand on average about 6'5 out of armor. They have excellent eyesight and a steady hand, allowing them to be better marksman than the other types. Tall's have a similar build to Normals, but on average stand around 7'2 out of armor. They have quick hands and fast reflexes, making them unparalleled duelists. Warriors are the biggest at 7'8 on average and well muscled and have the biggest amount of physical power, capable of lifting and hurling light tanks over a dozen meters away. The rough maximum tonnage each Body-Type can carry and throw is around 5-7, 14-17, and around 32.5 tons respectively, though this puts strain on the body to perform consistently without the aid of Power Armor.

There also exists the 'Short' Body Type, but this is a polite nomenclature for members of the respective body-types suffering from dwarfism. They are typically a foot or so smaller than the average height of their Body Type and are more compact as a result. The Yayai fox spirits like to call these individuals 'chibi'. [A note is attached. It reads 'I call them what they are: Shortstacks. What? They're short, and their women are stacked. It fits. XD']

Oros, like most other life, are omnivorous and can sustain ourselves on both plant and animal tissues. However, we are true omnivores and thus require both kinds of tissue in order to remain healthy, as we weaken when exclusively fed one over the other. We also lack Mana Converters, instead having a Second Stomach which holds the food we have converted into a nutrient rich soup and feeds it into our blood stream like fuel in a fuel tank. Anything eaten into the first stomach is rapidly reduced by acid into this 'nutrient soup' for this purpose as 'fuel'.

Our biggest and most important biological features however are our bones. The bones of an Oros were blessed by our creator, Null, to be truly unbreakable. Indeed, nothing save the reality eroding power of the Aether itself can harm these bones we've been given, be it the direct flames of a star or the blade of Great Spirit. They are, furthermore, interconnected by a sort of 'soft-bone' that prevents our skeletons from being pulled apart. These bones are not without their drawbacks, however. They are heavy and dense, making swimming impossible without the use of an old swim bladder organ that barely affords us an hour of swim time, though the Wavechasers have swim bladders that are able to allow them 10 hours of swim time, as we otherwise sink directly to the bottom of the water. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wish I could swim normally. Having bones that can't be broken forged by eldritch beings is nice and all, but just once I'd like to swim in the pool for longer than an hour before I sink like a rock.']
Furthermore, these bones make it difficult to perform surgery in areas protected by them, such as the ribcage, and for the longest time made physical brain ailments impossible to treat, something only possible today with modern technology involving intrusive fiber tendrils through the eye socket. This unbreaking skeletal structure are made unbreakable by unknown Aetheric means, but because of them an Oros requires 11 months to gestate in the womb. This skeleton was a major factor of the UrOros created by Eunoe uncountable universes before our own to do battle with the god-like Sleepers, meaning they were a part of our 'blueprint' when Null herself chose to revive our species.

Our skeletons do not make us indestructible, however. Suffocation or enough damage to our bodies to bleed us out will all result in our kind's end in short order. Indeed, many a young Oros foolishly met their death thinking that their unbreaking bones meant they could not die. If only this was true. Other aspects of our biology include having the highest grade of Sentinel Bacteria alongside our fellow Civilized Races, preventing us from being eaten by all but each other and the now extinct Bloodsucker, redundant organs the same as all Nullians, and biological quirks each Nation has developed over time. [A note is attached. it reads, 'I wish we were indestructible. I miss you so much, gram and gramps....']

Oros have no set biological breeding season, as we are able to produce young the year round. A quirk of our biology, however, means that we don't really have a sex drive until the first time we have sex, after which a mated pair will produce many offspring as long as they are alive. The specifics of the union vary from time period and culture, but typically in ancient times the couple will mate in a secure location while the rest of their people guarded the location from outside.

After 11 months of gestation, an Oros child is born. They are fully functional individuals capable of surviving on their own, and resemble our animalistic canine ancestors more than the people we are as adults. By the time the young have reached their first year, they have begun to stand upright and understand spoken language, though they are clumsy on their two feet for a while. Their tails once they become fully bipedal and plantigrade is reabsorbed into the body and their slightly longer snouts develop into their adult shape as they grow up. Puberty begins at around 13 years of age and is marked by an increased in aggression and destructive desires and is completed at around 18 years of age when they are officially recognized as full adults. Those Oros that do not lose their family's during or before this point typically remain close with their families for years afterward until they finally find a mate of their own. There is no real taboo against interracial couples or marrying any of the other Civilized Races of Null. [A note is attached. It depicts an eyepatch wearing female hugging an Oros puppy. The puppy is blepping. Words follow, reading 'My people's babies are sooooo cute! It's like having a puppy that came out of you! I can't wait to find the right guy to settle down with and have a family of my own. Puppers, puppy, pupperinos. Actually, wait, scratch that, I don't know if I can handle to pressure of being a mom! Oh man, would I mess it up!?']

There are 7 Great Nations of Oros, each comprised of a few smaller but interconnected Nations. These Great Nations each have their own coloration's and biological quirks as part of their heritage.

-The Royalbacks have black fur and a diamond shaped patch of fur on their back with a 'royal' color, from jade to purple and more. Royalbacks are noted for their resilience to disease. They are the first modern Great Nation and are ruled by a dynastic Great Queen.

-The Bughunters are known for their green tinged fur and a 'mask' pattern of fur over their eyes. They are known for their resilience against toxins, and intentionally kept themselves technologically primitive compared to modern day standards in order to avoid the 'notice' of the planet. This worked and thus for the longest time they were the Nation with the highest population of Oros, though the Great Walled Cities are starting to close the numbers gap.

-The Firebrands have red and rust tinted fur and are known for their higher tolerance for flames for a limited time. They live in the volcanic Southern Heat Plains and are famous for their unusually loud and boisterous attitudes compared to the more reserved traditional attitudes of other Oros, as well as a fondness for drinking, though the love of drink is a cultural aspect rather than a biological one.

-The Icebreakers are snow white and have an inherit resistance to the cold. Residing in the frozen north, They are a people known for their stoic attitudes and frown upon open displays of emotion towards non-Icebreakers, though this attitude is slowly melting as time goes on. They are well known for their technological advances and are the premier tech development Nation in the Median.

-The Stonecutters are a brown furred people who live in the stormy mountains and have a resistance to electricity. They are famous for their mining and their peoples closeness with Aetherworks, with much of their more advanced technology involving Aether-Tech embedded in stone. They're most well known for their Nation being turned into a mining colony for the Royalbacks before breaking off and successfully ceding millennia ago, redeveloping a culture and personality all their own.

-The Wavechasers are a blue tinged people with many tattoo like fur markings. They take to the seas in the eastern shores and are known for their dynastic empire ruled by an emperor. Their bright red colored Raiders were an infamous military unit in their early years fighting wars between the various Nations, though in the modern day they primarily make up the Media's wet navy and fishing industries.

-The Skyrunners with tan and sandy colored fur an interesting tattoo like facial markings in their fur patterns. They hold the record for the oldest continuing civilization of the Oros peoples, hailing from the interior North Eastern Dune Sea, and were the second modern Nation formed after the Royalbacks. They are a people with a love for the air and thus are responsible for the development of the modern day Aerial Fleet that protects the Great Walled Cities. A spiritual and friendly people.

Together, these 7 Great Nations form the Nullian Union, also known as the Median. For over a 1500 years, we've stood tall together and have begun to enter our space age, with our first space elevators soon to come online and the first of our airships to be converted into space capable vessels. The exact culture of each Nation varies, further varying based on subcultures wtihin and the individual practices among clans and families. No matter the differences, however, all Oros are tightly nit between each other and the other Civilized Races to live alongside us. It isn't perfect, but we all stand together on this hellhole we call a homeworld and for that, we're all one people. It just took us a while to realize that and stop the squabbling between Nations.

Our past may be shrouded in misery and woe, but our future among the stars is looking bright. Shine on, you blazing star. [A note is attached. It reads 'Ha, that's a reference to Starshine! Don't think we didn't notice!']

-

[A note is attached. It reads, 'So, I've been doing doodles and drawings and sketches for a long time now. I've decided to go ahead and do some sketches of my fellow Oros from around the city I live in in this new artstyle I've been developing. All of these guys are my friends I got to know from work. Who knew being a military engineer would see you meeting so many different people? Oh wait, that's just how that works. XD

Uploading these now.'

What follows are sketches drawn by the note maker:

'I also did one on Media herself from this one conference she did.'

]

(Special thanks to Jen for this wonderful commissioned art!)

 

[TripleMRed]

Oros, Addendum.

-

While the Oros page has been a part of my Encylopedia since the beginning, minus the updates done due to changing dates, some information had been intentionally left out of older editions due to being requested by other parties, which I honored. However, recent developments in recent years have opened up the possibility that I can include knowledge of these elements into my Encylopedia. As the Oros page is long enough as it is, I have decided to add this additional page to include the additional information not included in the main page. Here we go. [A note is attached. It reads 'I'm really happy this page was added in 7th edition. It helped me explain things to those new people that wound up on Null a few years back. It's gotta suck to be the Displaced like that, but I'm sure they'll get used to living here eventually! I've got a friend among them, a dog-girl named Gloria who found all of this really helpful!']

Oros Conditions.

The Oros as a people have some conditions, ailments, and even blessings that can be passed down our lines. These conditions range from severe and life altering to minor and almost unnoticeable. Some of the biggest and most well known of these conditions are as followed.

-KillJoy. KillJoys are Oros who have a defect in part of their nervous system responsible for giving feedback when an Oros kills a hostile target. In a regular Oros, a sense of relief is given when we slay an enemy trying to kill us, with perhaps a sense of satisfaction depending on the individual and if they were performing a task such as hunting. KillJoys, however, have a defect in this portion of the nervous system that, rather than feeling relief at surviving an enemy and killing them in turn, the KillJoy, as their name implies, feels a sense of elation, euphoria, and happiness upon killing something. Furthermore, the target does not have to be hostile for a KillJoy to feel this happiness. KillJoys who discover this about themselves have been known to develop an almost psychotic need to kill, becoming addicted to the sense of happiness that killing brings for them. All KillJoys, however, instinctively cannot bring themselves to imagine, much less actually harm, someone they consider family to themselves. It is literally unthinkable for them despite their condition.

If found early on and given proper treatment, KillJoys can be socialized into relatively normal, functional members of society, no more a threat to their neighbors than they are to their own family. If not treated, however, most KillJoys are unable to stop themselves from getting addicted to the happiness they receive from killing, and thus easily jump the slippery slope into becoming dangers to themselves and those around them. In ancient times, KillJoys were banished to the wild to find find their deaths doing what they love, slaying creatures in the wild. In the modern day, KillJoys are rounded up for treatment in psychological facilities dedicated to defusing their addiction. Results are mixed, however. [A note is attached. It reads 'I have a cousin who is a Killjoy. She is pretty normal, but she gets really happy when she starts stomping on a bunch of ants and kinda loses track of time when she does it. Always creeped me out.']

Interestingly, KillJoys regardless of their state of mind are not sadistic where they can help it. They do not take pleasure in the act of torture or inflicting pain: Their condition only rewards them with happiness upon confirmed killing of a target. As a result, KillJoys make for poor torturers as they fail to see the point in infliting unneeded pain when their goal is to kill a target as quickly and efficiently as possible.

KillJoys are fairly rare, as only a few hundred thousand Oros and individuals of Oros bloodline possess this condition.

-Bloody One. Probably the most well known and famous condition, Bloody Ones are Oros with longer canine teeth and a drive for drinking blood. These individuals and their condition were the basis from which the Forgotten Uplifter created the Bloodsuckers. Indeed, historically, the advent of the Bloodsuckers saw a mass exodus of Bloody Ones into the wilds of Null to escape destruction at their twisted parody's claws. Most of these Bloody Ones would be united and form what would become known as the Crimson City in the depths of the Sanguine Rainforest in central Arisa, where they banded together for survival and where they developed and unleashed their plan to develop and send out masks to the rest of Oros kind to begin the rebellion that ended the reign of the Bloodsuckers.

An average Bloody One is a fairly normal individual, though they are more outgoing on average and with a zest for life. Their condition means they require a semi regular intake of fresh blood, however it does not discriminate. The blood of people or animal does not matter: as long as it is relatively fresh, even a blood pack of animal blood will suffice to tide them over for a while. If they are denied their semi regular blood drinking, however, Bloody Ones become increasingly unwell until they finally snap in a blind rage that sends them into a feeding frenzy. For this reason, they are often untrusted despite the unlikeliness of them not receiving their blood intake in the modern age.

Bloody Ones are passionate and hot blooded on average, though cooler headed and reserved ones have been known to occur. They are also unique in that they are driven by desire to find a mate to procreate with to continue their blood line, an unusual difference from the usual Nullian sex drive. Between their longer canines and their outgoing personalities, most Bloody Ones can be spotted at a glance by those who know what to look for. [A note is attached. It depicts a fairly good drawing of a smiling Oros, who has longer canine teeth than the norm.]

As a matter of safety, Bloody Ones are all registered with the government and tabs are kept on their government provided bloodpack donations. Bloody Ones make up approximately 5% of the Oros population, meaning that 1 out of every 20 Oros is one. [A note is attached. It reads 'Is it weird that I don't have any family I know of who is a Bloody One? They're relatively common, but nope. Nobody in my family is one.']

-Throwbacks. A term used to describe about 1% of the Oros population that, due to a quirk of genetics, never actually lose their tail upon developing into their bipedal forms. Historically looked at as oddities in their community, Throwbacks in the modern day are seen as the least intrusive or important condition as its consequences are both benign and easily able to be worked around.

-'Tweaked'. Oros with neurological differences that make them stand out compared to the average are said to be 'tweaked' in the head. This is a general term for any neurological difference that falls outside of the norm. For example, KillJoys are considered a type of 'Tweaked'. A more common type are 'Happy's', which are Oros who defy the characteristically softspoken and stoic nature of most Oros who have lived past their first century. Happys are outspoken and joyful despite all the troubles around them. This isn't to say they cannot be sad or not feel other emotions, but rather they look on the positive side of things rather than expecting the worst that most older Oros come to think. With the creation of the Great Walled Cities, more and more youth's who develop in relative safety are beginning to show signs of developing into 'happys', indicating that this neurological condition might be more common than expected, it is simply not as potent in some individuals as in others, thus allowing them to have their hopes and dreams crushed by the harsh life outside of the walls. [A note is attached. It reads 'Yup, that's me! Weird, tweaked Hildra! Mom and dad were always concerned that something was wrong with me given how happy I was as a kid, but my grandparents when they were still around told them they were worrying about nothing. I know it's weird to be so happy all the time, but in a world as sad as ours, someone needs to be happy, right?']

Other forms of Tweaked exist, though their commonality drops sharply beyond the 'Happy's most think of when they think of a 'tweaked' individual.

-Am's Blessed. It is no secret that the Prophet of Peace was a blessed individual, capable of bringing peace to all life wherever he went. After his ascension into the heavens, many individuals began to be born with what is described as 'Am's Blessing'. These individuals are have an instinctive and supernatural ability to peacefully calm down all but the most belligerent of wild life around them. As a result, many of them go on to become famously important vets and other wildlife experts in the field. Their rarity, however, means that only a few tens of thousands of them exist in the world.

-Wildchildren. Oros have an interesting developmental factor. Children are born with a mental connection with their parents. For complete, healthy mental development, both parents need to be alive for an Oros to develop properly, though if at least one parent remains alive, a child can develop into a fairly normal individual in due time. If an Oros child loses both parents before a certain age, however, then they become dispondant and lost, aggressive to non-family members and acting very strangely around non-parental family members. The specifics vary immeasurably based on the individual child in question, but the one thing that is for sure is that these children develop differently into different people than if they had at least one parent alive to aid their development along. [A note is attached. It reads 'My Mom was a Wildchild that had to be raised by her aunt and uncle. Apparently, she had a taste for rats. Even when there was actual people food, she would ignore it and go hunt rats. She says she still has a taste for rat to this day.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Chimera.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, distinctly feminine race of tall serpentine beings. Their feet are digitigrade, with three large, flexible clawed toes providing the base for them to walk along with, with an additional pair of smaller but flexible 'thumb' toes higher up on the foot, one on each side. Sketches show these five toes can work together to grasp and grab items or to take hold of objects or creatures both for practical and pragmatic reasons, such as in combat. Their bodies lack immediately visible sexual characteristics other than their curves and seemingly featureless breasts, though close analysis shows their intimates and nipples are hidden behind sections of scaled slits that cover and protect these sections when not in use. The necks are relatively long, flanked by cobra like hoods and ending in snouted serpentine faces, their mouths lined with sharp teeth indicating an omnivorous nature, their fangs being large and fixed to the skull, not hinged. Their tails are long and large, ending in a broad section that opens up in a large mouth like section. A two pairs of massive fangs, two on each jaw of the 'tail mouth' exist, and cut always indicate that the 'throat' leads to some form of array of glands.

Interestingly, there is a wide variety of differences between each Chimera: While their base form does not change, each one has a different set of features such as armor types, placements, and more, as well as what look like subspecies variations.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'I sometimes wish I was born as a Chimera. Having a tail-mouth that acts as a chemical cannon sounds freaking awesome!']

Scientific Name Translation: Blood Mother.

Average Size: 8'6/2.591 meters tall.

Average Weight: 1440 pounds/653.173 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, mono-gendered species.

Habitat Range: All Biomes in the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

There is no denying that our world is one of many oddities. Some are caused by freak mystical fusion accidents, or unexpected mutations, or evolution going in unexpected places. The Chimera of our world, one of the 4 native Mortal Races, is among these oddities alongside their sister races. The Chimera in particular are a large, powerfully built race of bipedal, serpentine esq mono-gendered beings who are exclusively female, with no known naturally occurring male Chimera having ever been recorded. Despite their scaley, reptilian appearances, the Chimera are in fact placental mammals, including having fully functioning breasts whose teets are hidden away by a layer of folding scales. These same scales also exist at their groins, folding over their nether regions and providing an armored protection for them. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Guys have their junk stored up by folding layers of reinforced skin. Chimera and Empusa have their junk and nips covered up by armored scales. Why is it the rest of us have to go around without any extra protection for?! That's so unfair! >']

The Chimera are one of the three 'Chimeric' Mortal Races of Civilized beings, being the Chimera themselves as well as their offshoot the Empusa and the Orosoid hybrids known as Cerberi. All three races share certain attributes, such as the ability to breath out fire or a mawed tail, as well as all three being mono-gendered, all members of their various races being female. What is interesting is that, despite their numerous differences compared to us, the Chimera and their sister races are, in fact, related to us.

Millions of years ago, a progenitor species of what would become the Oros and Chimera split into two distinct species of primitive seal like creatures. While the Orosoid line would go on to give rise to many modern day mammalian species like canines, felines, and ursines, the Chimeric subspecies split off into a less successful, but remarkably resilient subspecies. It is difficult to say precisely when and how the exact characteristics that make Nullian Chimera the recognizable race they are today came in, but it is generally agreed upon that all the linked attributes, from their mawed tail to their armored scales to their mono-gendered status, all hail from the same event, presumed mutagenic in nature. Regardless of the exact causes, the Chimeric line would reach the land alongside their Orosoid kin and would share the Arisa continent with them for the ensuing 15-12 million years it would take for the first modern Oros and Chimera to arise.

It was around during this time where members of the two species encountered one another and males of the Oros' distant direct ancestors would interbreed with the Chimera's own direct ancestors. While some biologists are unsure of how such two differently diverged specimens could produce viable hybrids, what can be said with certainty is that these crossbreedings between the two distinct family lines are what gave rise to the direct ancestors of what would become the Cerberi. [A note is attached. It features a drawing depicting a cartoon snake with stick figure arms followed by a plus sign followed by a cartoon dog, which leads to an equal sign and ends with a three headed buff cartoon dog with round orbs on the chest seemingly meant to represent breasts.]

The first Modern Chimera is believed to have come into being at roughly the same time as the first Oros, around 200,000 years ago on Arisa. Similar to the Oros kin, much of early Chimera history is shrouded in mystery due to the incredibly harsh nature of the world at the time, however a decidedly larger number of Chimera cave paintings survived into the modern day compared to Oros ones due to the fact that the Chimera have, for the longest time, made their homes within caverns and cave systems. It was in the caves of Arisa that the first Chimeran Cavern Cities were made, the largest and most intricate growing to rival the largest Oros settlements at the time.

Sadly, despite our ancestors brief unification that resulted in the Cerberi, relations between Chimera and Oros have not always been the most clean. Oros, particularly early Oros, were always suspicious and paranoid of the world around them and new creatures within, while young, unblooded Chimera are filled with adventurous zeal and curiosity. The two forces meeting had, for many thousands of years, resulted in brutal bloodshed on both sides. Eventually, at around 9036 BA, the first recorded civilized contact between Chimera and Oros occurred, with both sides realizing the other were not enemies by default but victims of misunderstandings on the other's part. While this would not stop discrimination and bloodshed on both sides entirely for another two thousand years, it would be the start on the road to peace as trade between the two related races began in earnest. [A note is attached. It reads, 'At least most of the racial tension stuff between our species is long over by now. I don't want to imagine a world where I don't have Chimera cousins!']

One of the biggest and most important events in modern Chimera history occurred within the 1280's, only 220 years before the arrival of Media and the creation of the Median. In this decade the two final prophets of the AmBaric faith, the Prophetess of Mercy and War respectively, were enlightened and given their roles. Both were Chimera, Corida the Prophetess of Mercy and Rosa, the Prophetess of War. It would be these two who united the various Nations to stand against the forceful conquest of the 4th Kingdom, with Rosa leading the final assault on the stronghold of the Kingdom herself. When the time came for both to ascend into the heavens, Rosa petitioned to stay further in an effort to try and create what she referred to as an 'Force for Peace'. Her efforts remain cloaked with mystery over the ages, but it is known that by the time she finally ascended into the heavens a hundred years after declining her original ascension, she had been unsuccessful in creating her force. [A note is attached. It reads 'Turns out, it existed. And we had to fight it. Turns out, spirit powered robots is a great idea on paper, but falls flat when it always leads to the Spirits powering them going nuts and, well.....Yeah, the Dark Spirit War wasn't too fun when they had hordes of magitech robots to back them up.']

The Chimera posses many distinctive biological properties. Their scales are fire-proof, heat resistant to over a thousand degrees centigrade, immune to bullets below a certain caliber and bullet resistant at and beyond said caliber, and are able to briefly breath fire capable of melting steel. While related to Oros genetically, Chimera do not inherently have unbreakable bones, though their durable skeletons are remarkably hard to break regardless. Only Chimera with an Oros father possesses this distinctly Oros trait. Furthermore, despite their far greater size compared to their Oros kin, Chimeran muscles are built differently, being made to be more flexible to give them the agility and grace in combat that makes them so capable in battle. As a trade off for this increased flexibility, Chimera are not as proportionately strong as Oros of a similar size, being only as strong as the Tall body-type among Oros kind.

Despite being related to the Oros, Chimera are able to use Mana based magic. They can, in fact, utilize magic like Spirits can, albeit to a more limited degree due to not being beings of magic. Before Mortalized Spirits arrived and began to live among the Oros, the Chimera were the first Mortal Race to utilize magical powers that were not Aether related, the exception being the Aether capable Aetherspites who are universally Magi but cannot use Mana based magics. Despite this ability to cast spells, most Chimera are only interested in studying magic in so far as they can safely use it as a possible tool in their arsenal. Dedicated Chimeran sorceresses are uncommon, though those that do exist are mystical powerhouses outmatched only by their Spirit counterparts. [A note is attached. It reads 'I could say I'm annoyed that I can't use magic, but the fact I'm immune to direct applications of magic is too good of a trade off for me to want to give up!']

Their ultimate, secret weapon, however, are their large, notable tails. At the end of these tails is a large, mouth like structure, one that is capable of producing a truly incalculable number and array of biological and chemical substances, as well as being able to ingest and safely analyze all known biological and chemical components, even though inherently toxic to biological organisms. This ability to inherently break down, reconstruct, and analyze virtually all things biological and chemical has made Chimera masters of biological and chemical sciences. A Chimera incapable of breaking down and accurately analyzing a biological substance by having their tails ingest it are unheard of.

These tails are thus their key weapon in most situations, allowing them to launch streams of corrosive and toxic acids, spew forth clouds of poison gasses, healing sprays to aid injured friends, or analyze a hostile it has taken a bite of for possible weaknesses. This, combined with their tough teeth and claws, toughness, and agility for their sizes make Chimera dangerous even when unarmed. When going into combat, they arm and armor themselves like their Oros kin, donning power armor tailored for their tall and flexible forms and armed from everything from heavy machine guns as though they were rifles, to massive War Spears inherent to their culture. [A note is attached. It reads 'I've seen a Chimera with those freaking huge War Spears of theirs, and it's like they freaking dance or something in combat. I've also heard they have dances involving the spears, but after the Displaced arrived I can't search the Spotter search engine without seeing a completely different kind of 'pole-dancing.' XD']

These tails are also vitally important for Chimeran reproduction. Chimera use their tails to ingest and analyze the genetics of creatures they hunt. Upon finding useful traits in something they've hunted down and slain, they incorporate those genes into a selected ovum which begins to develop into a Chimera with traits taken from the 'donor' whom their mother's hunted. This method is exclusively for producing daughters the traditional way, by hunting worthy beasts, slaying them, and then harvesting their blood to produce strong daughters. They abstain from using this method from reproducing with other sapients, viewing it as disrespectful and rude to perform such a method on races who are not, quote, 'mindless animals'. That said, if a Chimera does reproduce with a male of a fellow sapient species, they utilize their conventional reproductive organs in order to do so. Regardless of the exact method, Chimera are always, without fail, born with a twin. In traditional and dangerous life styles outside of the cities, most Chimera lose their twin in the wilds to the dangers of the world and often become more morose and jaded out of a form of survivors guilt. [A note is attached. It reads 'I ask one of my Chimera friends, Tulia, if getting hit in the tail is as bad as getting kicked in the crotch. She said no, but it still hurts a lot, more closer to getting punched in the boob.']

Expecting Chimeran Mothers often form communal groups with other expectant Chimera mothers called a convocation, in which they discuss their reasonings for their particular selection in donor, or mate in the event of having produced their children using conventional reproductive methods with another sapient, as well as discussions of the pros and cons of each one's individual selection therein. Those that group together who are of like mind, or who share the same species of genetic donor for their respective children, form smaller groups called coteries. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Or as we call them nowadays, fan clubs. ']

Newborn Chimera are similar to other newborns of the Civilized Races, Oros included, starting off with a more animalistic body-plan and mind-set before developing into their more conventional adult forms as they age. Young Chimera in particular lack their hoods they gain at puberty, and are at times described as, quote, 'noodles with limbs'. Their tails at this stage are large and flat, the mouths having yet to develop. Chimera remain in this 'noodly' form until they begin to go through puberty, at which point a series of growth spurts over the years bring them to their full adult height while their bodies mature and develop into the more distinctly feminine, hooded forms of their mothers, with their tails thickening and developing its mouth like structure, which finally opens up at the onset of their 18th year alive. [A note is attached, it reads 'Chimera have the power of noodle babies on their side, therefore they win. All other arguments are invalid.']

Young Chimera are not the analytical scientists their mothers are, instead being filled with a zest for life and adventure that sees them hunt deep into the wilds. Chimeras have incredibly strong bonds with their twin sibling, with the two individuals being virtually inseparable. It is very common for one sibling to die, causing the other to become morose and jaded as a side-effect. This often coincides with their increased focus on learning and expanding their knowledge of biology and chemistry, as well as the start of their desires to produce strong daughters that can better survive in the harsh wilderness. Many modern Chimera born in the safety of the Great Walled Cities rarely if ever see their beloved siblings die, with their love of adventure often being tempered by them finding work as couriers within the vast cities. Over time, this love of adventure wanes as they become more responsible, resulting in them beginning to delve into learning the sciences of their mothers albeit without nearly as much of the cynicism.

Modern Chimeran culture is not as varied as the different Oros Nations, instead being far more unified in nature due to their unified instincts. The average Chimera is fascinated with testing and learning all they can about the biological and chemical world around them, building up a catalog of information that allows them to build 'recipes' for use as weapons or healing salves as needed from their tails. The oldest Chimera in a clan will have a near unlimited capacity for creating a near infinite array of biological and chemical attacks to use from their tails. As a result, any Chimera more than a few years into adulthood is a living, breathing biological and chemical weapon's factory. Recognizing the potential danger they could be towards other races, Chimera living among other races such as in the mixed cultures of the Great Walled Cities voluntarily submit themselves to wearing restraint muzzle-harnesses over their tails' mouths, preventing them from using their ultimate weapon in any public place. Some Chimera, particularly those who posses friends and family who are not Chimera, take to wearing these restraints at all times of the day, even at home and when asleep. In the event of an emergency, particularly when their homes are under hostile attack from animal raids or beyond, Chimera have their specialized restraints legally removed for use in combat against the threat. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I've got a cousin who married a Chimera and now they're making bunches of nieces of mine! I've never once seen her without her tail restraint. Not once.']

While unified, however, they are not uniform: Each subspecies and individual tribe and clan of Chimera has their own unique microculture that makes each one as distinct as any Oros village. While joined by a common goal and racial unity, the Chimera of different tribes often butt heads over their distinct cultural differences. Some clans have been known to engage in competitive feuds over a particular sport or song, or even arguing over an ancient event their ancestors once engaged in. Furthermore, each tribe and clan posses their own distinct cultural apparel. Some utilize minimal tribal garb, their intimate regions already covered up by their own biology. Others don clothing styles as rich and diverse as the Oros' own, ranging from tailored dresses and suits to 'casual armor'.

In the modern day, the Chimera are diverged into 8 primary subspecies, known among the Chimera as 'Meta-Clans'. Each is distinguished by a specific coloration and certain biological assets that remain with all members of that subspecies, regardless of who their donor was. These include:

-Base: The 'base' form which all other Chimeran Clans descend from, the Base Chimera are distinguished by their blue and orange coloration and lack of 'designation' markings other than that attained by their Donor. Their culture is the dominant from which the others' variations spring from, being scientifically inclined to research the natural world and it's biological components. Most commonly seen from of Chimera, with a strong cultural preference for eating mushrooms and pork.

-Aqualung: An aquatic subspecies, the Aqualung is distinguished by their ultramarine coloration as well as the presence of retractable webbing on their fingers and does as well as the presence of fins. Capable of amphibious living and with lungs that can breath in water, they are most commonly seen in large bodies of water such as lakes, rivers or on the shoreline. Have a preference for shellfish.

-Frostfang: An icy blue and white subspecies, Frostfangs distinctly lack the typical firebreathing of their other Chimeran kin in favor of breathing freezing gasses. They are not as stoic or aloof as their other kin or their Icebreaker Oros counterparts, instead having an animated curiosity for new things due to living in a frozen wasteland. Preference for ice whale meat.

-Magmaburn: A dark red and blazing orange colored subspecies, the Magmaburns posses large 'veins' of mystical energy resembling active veins of molten lava. When not in use, they are warm but not burning to the touch, but when they cut loose and unleash their full energy, they turn into blazing infernos capable of reducing near-by tracts of land into ash and glass. Despite their blazing capabilities, they are as reserved by default as most other Chimera subspecies, causing them to often culturally butt heads with their neighbors, the Firebrand Oros Nation. Their love of anything spicy rivals the Firebrands, and many disputes between the two powers has been solved not through violence but through contests of eating and drinking the spiciest dishes both parties have produced.

-Sandspitter: Rocky brown and sandy undertones are the coloration of this subspecies, the Sandspitters call the Sand Ocean their home, being the nearest breed to the Skyrunner Oros Nation. Sandspitters have rocky hides and an inherent geomantic capability that allows them to flow through the sand in a way that rivals the sand swimming of the other creatures of the Sand Ocean. They have a cooperative relationship with the Skyrunners: While the Skyrunners keep the skies clear, the Sandspitters are the ones to huntdown threats swimming through the sandy sea. Their preferred meal is Sandshark.

-Voltcaller: A stunning blazing yellow and electric blue, Voltcallers stand out in the mountain ranges they call home, their backs and outer portions of their limbs covered in zig-zagging electric 'spikes', Voltcallers are living lightning rods, their bodies a conduit for electrical energy that lightning homes in on. They are immune to electrical damage and can store vast quantities of electricity in their form, particularly their spikes, making them living power-generators. This makes them indispensable with their Stonecutter neighbors, who to this day bring employment to Voltcallers as living lightning rods and batteries for their mountain embedded homes. They have a strong inclination towards Flicker-Tongue meat. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Back in college, I bunked with a Voltcaller named Halia. I still don't know how I was able to keep convincing her to be used as a living battery for my college science experiments.']

-Aetherspite: The most mysterious of the Chimera, colored a purplish hue and with dark purple spikes lining their hoods and tails, the Aetherspites fierce appearance belies a calm, analytical mind. Magi one and all, the Aetherspites have long lived in the territory of the Royalback Nation, and their differing governmental styles and ideologies has led to more than one war between the two in the past, though since the founding of the Median there has yet to be any new conflict between them. Their inherent Aetheric abilities and instinctive knack for using their powers makes them highly suited as teachers in the Magi Order, with the Aetherspites in the modern day being found in every Nation and City as part of their compact with the Median to aid in the location, protection, and training of other Magi. They are the least common subspecies, and the most inclined towards mysticism. No known preferences for food.

-Toxine: Black and glowing neon green, the Toxine Chimera are some of the wildest, most untamed of their entire species. They thrive in adventure and combat, having a desire for action and adventure that drives them to fight the most dangerous creatures they can. They are also able to produce toxins of a far higher lethality than their normal kin, with even their fire breath imbued with a toxic effect. They live alongside the Bughunter Oros Nation, and have been both friend and foe over their long, long histories together. In the current day, most Toxine Chimera find themselves employed as Knights within the Median, using their lust for combat and their impeccable toxicity for the good of all. Prefer to eat poisonous fruit and tree frogs.

The Chimera are an extremely varied and extremely close ally of the Oros people, and have been for millennia at this point. With them and their fellow Chimeran racial sisters as our allies, it's commonly said that the Oros people come both as dogs and as serpents. It is not uncommon for many modern day cities, Great Walled or otherwise, to see a Chimera as a member of the inner cabinet, equally trusted by both their own species and others to make the right calls for the good of all. At the risk of sounding a bit sentimental, it's safe to say we're all one people now. [A note is attached. It reads, 'It makes me kinda sad that the Displaced sees animosity in places between their furred and scaled members. It doesn't make sense to me, especially since they're technically all one species! I love my Displaced friends but man, are they weird. They have to be for a weirdo like me to call them weird.']

(Sorry for the delay folks, new proper update today and it's a long one! Apologies for no special commissions this time around, but perhaps one day we'll see the Chimera visualized. Just not today.)

 

[TripleMRed]

Empusa.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, distinctly feminine race of serpentine beings, similar to though distinct from the Chimera. Indeed, they resemble a breed of shorter, stouter Chimera, with the biggest differences being their large fore limbs covered in crystalline material that seems to grow at their will. Sketches show them leaping around with extremely powerful jumps, tossing crystalline shards from their fingers, or slamming their fists into the ground to generate a spike of material a distance away. The other two largest differences appear in the form of their attitudes, which seem distinctly less stoic and more aggressive than their Chimeran counterparts, as well as the fact that, unlike the other Mortal Races of Null, they are distinct in that they appear to be hermaphroditic.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'The smaller, angrier cousins of the Chimera. With peens. Overall, 8/10, too much anger.']

Scientific Name Translation: Crystal-Fist Serpent.

Average Size: 6'2 Feet/1.89 Meters tall.

Average Weight: 400 pounds/181.45 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, Mono-Gendered species.

Habitat Range: All Biomes in the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

Of the many, various species of Null, few have such similarity and yet such keen differences from their related races than the Empusa. One of the 3 Chimeric races and an offshoot of the Chimera, Empusa are direct relatives to their larger cousins, with their distinct differences being their smaller size, stouter frames, enlarged forelimbs and the ability to control and manipulate the crystalline growths covering their limbs. Useful for both defense and attack, this crystalline matter grows at the will of the Empusa, making them always useful no matter the situation.

The other, largest biological difference between Empusa and Chimera, and indeed between them and all other native Mortal Races of Null, is that they hold the distinction of being the only hermaphroditic native Mortal Race. It is believed that at some point in the distant past, an event similar to that which created the original Chimera occurred that led to the divide between Chimera and the Empusa, with one particular change being the introduction of functioning, internally stored male reproductive organs alongside their already existing female ones. Genetic research, however, indicates that this was likely less the result of some sort of mystical event, and more a concerted and focused effort by the Empusa in ancient times to turn themselves hermaphroditic using the same genetic altering capabilities they share with the Chimera. As a sidenote, while they are true hermaphrodites, Empusa almost always tend to refer to one another in female terms and pronouns, with many displaying annoyance or confusion when someone attempts to label them in they/them pronouns. [A note is attached. 'I've always wondered what life is like for the other side of the biological sexes, but I'm also still trying to wrap my head around how they were able to fuse the two sexes into one to make themselves as they are now.']

This aside, they share many biological similarities to their larger cousins: Fireproof scales, mawed tails, bullet resistant, and more. However, one notable difference is that their smaller sizes overall makes them less durable in the long run compared to their larger cousins. As a result, it is not uncommon for Empusa to develop an aggressive state of being in order to directly counteract their relative vulnerability. The stereotypical Empusa is short-tempered, easily annoyed, and always on the verge of tearing something's head off. While it is true that their aggressive tendencies are markedly more notable than most other Mortal Races, it is nowhere near as uncontrolled as the stereotype would suggest. Some have suggested that this higher aggression is linked to their dual-sexed nature, though genetic research has long since confirmed that theirs is true hermaphroditism, and highly stable with little to no actual hormonal issues. The aggression is directly linked to a survival mechanism for the wilds due to their smaller sizes.

While armed with claws, fangs, chemical spewing tails and magic, the Empusa's claim to fame revolve around their crystalline powers. Covering their forelimbs, these crystals grow at astonishing rates in mere seconds at the Empusa's willpower. Able to be lobbed in volley's for ranged combat, used in melee as unarmed amplifying tools, or even in makeshift repairs and construction, these gems posses a lattice structure that makes them nearly as hard as natural diamond and, thanks to the ability of the Empusa to manipulate their growth as they see fit, these gems can be shaped to minimize weak points or fracture sites. Sonic attacks at ultra high frequencies can match and thus destroy these crystals same as many others found in nature, though the Empusa's control over them is such that they can alter the crystalline frequencies of their gems, allowing them to change the requirements for their shattering by weaponized sound. [A note is attached. It shows a sketch of a crystal shard tied into a necklace. 'Some people say that having an Empusa crystal shard on your person is good luck. An Empusa friend of mine, Dara, just says that it's a good way to make money of people who'll believe anything.']

As a society, Empusa live and work alongside their sister races, the Chimera and the Cerberi, often acting in a support role by creating barriers or aiding in construction. Some say this contributes to their kinds signature sour attitude, though this is highly unlikely as Empusa are known to flock towards safety more readily than even other Mortal Races. In the modern day of the Great Walled Cities, Empusa have all but abandoned their old ways of living to take up homes in the GWC's. Outside of their natural talents, Empusa are just as capable as anyone else of taking on any role in society they are educated and trained for. From police forces to attorneys to construction workers, Empusa can be found in any part of society the same as any other race. Interestingly, it has been found that Empusa born and raised in the safety of the GWC's lack their kinds signature tempers, being as calm and collected, though just as capable of individual personality, as Oros or their own sister races.

Despite this, similar to the Chimera and Cerberi, for safety reasons, it is common for Empusa living among other races to willingly put on tail-muzzles to prevent any accidental chemical spills or similar incidents. Additionally, those out in public tend to wear specialized gauntlets and boots to prevent the use of their at times highly destructive crystalline powers. As with their more recognizable larger cousins, in the event of an attack, these restrictions are removed in order for them to properly defend themselves in combat.

Omnivorous as with the other Mortal Races, Empusa distinctly have an interest in eating gemstones, often describing them in flavors that no other species can taste save the Tara Rabbits. Empusa who partake in eating gems often are limited in the modern day by what they can actually purchase from the store, though some Empusa run restaurant chains have taken to producing and selling artificial gemstones for commercial consumption. Eating elemental gemstones have been known to empower the Empusa with elemental power in their crystals, though this is usually only a temporary effect. [A note is attached. 'They say Empusa invented rock-candy my mixing a softer version of their crystals with sugar. Not sure if this is true or not, but I could believe it.']

In terms of reproduction, Empusa are distinct among their sister races in that, rather than taking in genetic information with their tails to produce their offspring, Empusa use the genetics acquired to provide enhancements to their young, which they produce via conventional reproductive activity. Two Empusa who are mated with one another will usually impregnate each other in the same encounter, before both producing a set of twins. This higher rate of reproduction is compounded by the fact that Empusa only need 6 months in the womb to gestate when not factoring in an Oros parentage. In the old days before the Great Walled Cities, this higher reproduction rate was necessary due to their relative lack of size, power, and durability, making them easier to be slain in the wild by wild animals. In the modern day, Empusa make up about 40 percent of all of the Chimeran Races that are alive, though the lack of environmental pressures and threats against them have diminished their need to replenish their numbers so often.

Empusa are divided into the same 8 Meta-Clans as their Chimera cousins, though they are less extreme in their appearances. For example, a Voltcaller Empusa has smaller volt-spikes than the Chimera version. The big change for Empusa is the elemental effects they are naturally able to use, which very depending on their Meta-Clan. Voltcaller Empusa can charge their crystals with electrical power, while Magmaburns can infuse theirs with burning flame and explosive power. This gives the Empusa a distinct advantage when it comes to elemental combat as this combined with the flexibility of their crystals allow them to take combat advantages that their more conventional Chimera cousins cannot hope to replicate. [A note is attached. 'Dara always seems a little smug when she's talking about this, which I guess is fair. If I could shoot explosive ice crystals from my hands, I'd be smug about it too. XD']

As varied and more numerous than their Chimera cousins, Empusa are a common sight in many GWC's, both in Chimeran specific communities and in general living spaces. Despite their fearsome reputation for being ill-tempered, in truth they are just as personable, if more irritable, as any other species, with even the aggression being nonexistent for those born in the safety of the GWC's. Fascinating to behold for their many biological wonders, Empusa are a window to the wider, stranger world we live on.

 

[TripleMRed]

Cerberus.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, distinctly feminine race of large, well muscled and three headed canines. They appear to be longer snouted relatives of the Oros, having large hulking tails akin to the mouthed ones of the Chimera and Empusa. Their bodies are well muscled, clearly built for perfomance and strength rather than speed or aesthetics, with their forearms being large with large, sharp clawed hands, their feet digitigrade and built to carry their bulk around. some sketches indicate they are able to go down on all fours in a primal gait for massively increased speed or long distance running. Their three heads are next to one another, side by side, and they each display very clearly distinct personalities, indicating they are each with their own personality and intellect. Other sketches depict the Nullian Cerberus guarding locations in full armor, while others show them smithig materials from molten cauldrons using their bare hands, fire coming from their mouths and tails to heat up a block of metal to shape it into new forms, and even engaging in sportly behavior alongside Chimera and Oros.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'I have a Cerberus auntie who married into the family. Love you Auntie Dottie/Rottie/Bottie!']

Scientific Name Translation: Three Sister Heads.

Average Size: 8'2/2.5 Meters on average.

Average Weight: 1500 pounds/680kg's on average..

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, mono-gendered species..

Habitat Range: All Biomes in the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

The world of Null is no stranger to biological or evolutionary oddities, with one being hard pressed not to find some creature that defies even the tentative norms of our homeworld in some fashion. As such, the last of the 'Three Sisters' family line, that being the family line of the Chimera, is one such oddity that even the most experienced and seasoned of evolutionary biologists on Null can only shrug at the truth and press on without lingering for fear of their own sanity falling apart. This species is of course the Cerberi.

The Cerberus is, like the rest of the Chimeric line, a mono-gendered species, consisting of all females and whom are biologically linked to the Oros. Unlike the Chimera and Empusa, who both split off from the same family line as the Oros millions of years ago, the Cerberi is the unexpected and near inexplicable result of the two family lines briefly rejoining to produce the Cerberi. While the specifics are still murky, what is known is that millions of years ago when both the Chimera and the Oros were beginning their rise to bipedal sapience, the two family lines rejoined, likely through the interbreeding of the female Chimera and male Orowolves, which would result in the first ancestors of the modern day Cerberi to arise. [A note is attached. It depicts at cartoon wolf standing on his hind legs and leaning against a counter top while looking at a primordial cartoon Chimera. A speech bubble over the wolf reads 'Hey baby, come here often?']

The most notable feature of these large canine women is their three heads. Despite what some may believe, these trio of heads are not, in fact, the exact same individual displaying different aspects of themselves. Rather, the heads are each their own being, thus making each Cerberi a set of triplets sharing a single massive body. Careful analysis reveals an extraordinary reason behind this biological facet of themselves: All of the races of Null posses a number of redundant nervous systems flowing through their body. In the Cerberi, however, these nervous systems instead of being part of a single being have splintered into three distinct, but connected, individuals sharing the same body. As a result of this, a single Cerberus technically has four given names: The name of each sister-head, as well as the 'body name' they all share to refer to them as a whole. [A note is attached. It reads 'Auntie Mel is her Body Name, but I always make sure to call all of them by their names.']

One of the most incredible aspects of this splintered multi-person nervous system is the fact that there is no conflict between the sister heads for control. A healthy Cerberus will always have the central, dominant head in control of the body with their sisters acting in support across a wide range of scenarios, including but limited to taking over in the event of damage to the central head. This is such that even if a head is completely destroyed or removed, the sister of that head is not actually dead but 'buried' into the rest of the nervous system, still communing with her sisters until her head is either reattached or regrown over the course of a handful of days through regeneration. As such, it is deceptively difficult to kill a Cerberus, with some records indicating those who had all three heads severed would survive to regrow their heads if brought to safety and not left to be slain by wildlife.

In terms of their other, more apparent physical attributes, the Cerberi are massive, standing at 8'2 when standing up straight and a consistent 3/4ths of a ton outside of armor, most of this being muscle as well as hyper dense layers of blubbery fat beneath the skin akin to the Oros and Chimera. They are extremely well muscled and have a strength that makes them easily the strongest of all the Mortal races on Null. They are even stronger than Mortalized Erui tiger spirits, capable of lifting and throwing in excess of 50 tons. Despite being relatively slow and unagile compared to the Chimera and Oros, they are still fast enough to react to incoming missile fire, allowing them to slap aside arrows and missile fire alike, feats that when combined with their armor and natural durability allows them to come out completely unscathed when dealing with the latter. [A note is attached. It reads 'Even without the armor, these ladies are hella tough. Anyone who thinks one missile is enough to take out an unarmored one is in for a very, very, very nasty lesson in violence.']

Where the Chimera and Empusa could spray biological and chemical sprays from their tail-mouths, the Cerberi are able to breath toxic flames from theirs, a natural flamethrower that can reach in excess of 500 meters at maximum pressure and firing a burning substance that incinerates the target with flames in excess of 2000 degrees centigrade. Similar to the Chimera and Empusa, Cerberi are fireproof inspite of their furred bodies. Their flesh is inantely fireprood like their sister species, though the fur is kept this way through the natural production of an oddly wax like coating that gives them a distinctive sheen and oddly chalky texture when felt. Without this natural waxy coating, their fur would catch fire and burn off from the first instance of them breathing fire from any of their mouths, leaving them alive and healthy but completely hairless.

Despite their physicality and capacity for great destruction, Cerberi are not an inherently violent species. The average Cerberus is, in fact, a calm, happy go-lucky individual who would prefer to make friends than cause bodily harm, though ironically they consider a melee struggle without weapons to be friendly play rather than actual combat. This caused problems in ancient times, before the unity of the modern Mortal races, as historically young adult Cerberi would encounter Oros and attempt to engage in play behavior to assert friendly relations, with their concept of play resulting in the Oros attacking with intent to cause injury. It was these encounters with the early Cerberi, however, that cracked the old preconceptions of non-Spirit, non-Oros beings, however, as their usage of articles of clothing to protect their intimate portions destroyed the idea of them merely being animals.

Historically, Cerberi have used their great strength and innate ability to resist extreme temperatures to forge and smelt, resulting in them being the origins of armor and weapons among the Chimeric races. This combined with their capacity for destruction meant that many early Chimera Cavern Cities were guarded by Cerberi guards. In the modern day, Cerberi work with the Erui in the production of high quality, hard to produce artisan armors and weaponry. It is also most common to see Ceberus soldiers armed with a hulking shield in their off hand and a powerful cannon system in their other in addition to their Powered Armor and it's various sister-head controlled subsystems and weapons. [A note is attached. It reads 'I got my start in engineering thanks to my Aunties teaching me about tech stuff while she was teaching my cousins too. I have her to thank for where I am now with my skills!']

One curious thing about their biology is their method of reproduction. While the Chimera can sample genetics with their tail mouths to produce daughters, and Empusa are hermaphrodites, Cerberi without a mate can produce offspring through a process of parthenogenesis that partially recombines their DNA, thus resulting in their daughters not being exact copies or clones of the mother. While not perfect, this allows for enough genetic variability in their species even without factoring in those who had actual fathers that no one disease or biological outbreak is a severe threat to their species as a whole. However, it is not uncommon for two Cerberi to become mated with one another, and mutually bite one another's tail mouths in a 'kiss' to exchange biological data, resulting in the formation of a new Cerberus with traits from both mothers.

Regardless of how the infant is formed, it takes approximately 11 months for the mother to produce a single pup. Upon being born, due to sharing the same number of breasts as all other Civilized Races on Null, the pup's three sister-heads compete for spots to suckle, with the head farthest from the nipples having a distinct disadvantage. As a result, the central lead head always is fed while either of her sister heads could or could not be fed, depending entirely on how they are held. It is believed that the sister that is not fed would go on to become the more assertive or aggressive of the sisters, though studies remain inconclusive on this. [A note is attached. It reads 'I don't know the answer either, but if I was deprived of the sweet bosom nectar of life as a baby, I'd be pretty pissed oof too.']

Similar to the Oros, Cerberi have differing phenotypical subspecies that results in their specific colorations and fur patterns. Having 7 varieties like their Oros forefathers, all possess the same abilities and attributes. For example, Stonecutter Cerberi are highly resistant to electrical or lightning strikes, while Wavechaser Cerberi have a vastly increased lung capacity and swimming ability. The Firebrand Cerberi take their existing immunity to fire as Cerberi and amplify it, making them highly resistant to thermal damage even in excess of what the Chimeric line already possess, with them being resilient to low level plasma blasts that would be enough to melt armor or immolate an Oros.

The Cerberi are an admittedly odd, but important member species of Null's Civilized Races. It is thanks to them in the early years of civilization that advanced forging and smelting techniques were possible, and thus modern day technology is owed in part by their contributions to the fields of metallurgy and engineering. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Cerberi are awesome. I know from experience, I've got loads of cousins that are them now! Love you Auntie Dottie/Rottie/Bottie!']

 

[TripleMRed]

[The following is a transcript from a section from the Grimoire of the Magi Order, written by an unknown author.]

Great Spirits and the Spirit Races of Lacuna (As of 3162 AA)

'And so, when the surface of Null still cooled and the world of Lacuna was but darkness, there came into being the Day and the Night. Sararu, the Sun, and Luraru, the Moon looked over their desolate domain and began to search, for others were yet to come.'-Excerpt from the Chapter of Beginnings, the Book of the Great Spirits.

The world of Null which we mortals call home is a place of deep, and old, magic, much of which can be considered primordial in nature. This ancient magic is further evidenced by the nature of the Spirit World of Null, the Spirit World of Lacuna, a parallel world directly connected with our own Mortal home. Almost paradoxically, while Null is incredibly hostile and brutal towards life, Lacuna is virtually a paradise by comparison. While far from perfectly safe, due to a variety of Spirit wild life and flora that can pose a threat to one's life in addition to geographical threats, the level of lethality one can encounter in average day to day life is well below that of the Mortal plane it is tied so closely to. Why this is is a question for the ages, though one popular theory is that Lacuna is where all of the 'good' of the world was coalesced, while the Mortal plane of Null was where all the ills and cruelties of nature were condensed.

Whatever the reason, Lacuna is an almost mythical paradise by comparison to its Mortal counterpart, which for many millennia its domains of the dead have served as the final resting place for the souls of many Mortals. This is because, for the longest time, the Mortals of Null had their pains soothed and their tragedies heard by the Great Spirits of Lacuna, Gods who are uncomfortable with being referred to as such and whose love for the Mortals of Null is reciprocated even to this day, even millennia after the changing of the majority's religious leanings from the Pantheon of the Great Spirits to direct worship of the Creator on high.

The story and history of the Great Spirits and Lacuna is long and complex, so for the sake of brevity it will be summarized as such: When the world of Null was still cooling and developing in the primordial early days of the universe, Lacuna had already begun to form over its Mortal counterpart. From there, the first 7 of the Great Spirits would form, and from them would come the first inklings of civilized thought and form would spring forth. Love, friendship, conflict, and much more would be informed by these primordial beings. The first Civilizations would come forth as the Spirit Races connected with their respective Great Spirit arose, in the distant past long before Mortal life achieved comparable sapience.

Eons would pass and the Great Spirits would come to take notice of the Mortal life developing in the realm so next to their own. It would be the Civilized Races, the Oros the first that they would notice, that would gain their attention and their pity as they observed how short and violent their lives surviving in the wilds of Null were. This pity would quickly become affection and cross into the realm akin of familial love as the Mortals were unofficially adopted by the two wedded Great Spirits of family, Tararu and Hararu. While the Mortals of Null were well on their way to developing technologies and techniques that would lead to the modern day Civilized way of living, it was thanks to the Great Spirits helping them improve their capabilities and understanding of their arts and crafts that such rapid development would occur.

In the times since, 7 more Great Spirits would arise in the Era of Mortals. Where the Primordials represented basic, ancient concepts, these 7 new Spirits would represent the more complicated intricacies of modern civilization. Art, music, and law and order would be but some of the things they would represent, and with their ascension to the Pantheon's ranks would result in the current day 14 Great Spirits that inhabit Lacuna and their love of the people.

It is one thing to speak of the Spirits in generalities, but it is another to speak of each one in depth:

———

The Primordials.

———

[Sketches depict two anthropoidal beings standing side by side, each looking outward with their backs to one another. One was a masculine figure, clad in silvery armor lacking ornate furnishing save a cloak of sunlight. His head was in his hands, separated from his body, with fiery sun stuff flowing from the hole in his neck and head, his monochromatic eyes blazing from the slit visor of his helm covered head. The other was distinctly feminine, adorned in an armored dress of moonlight made physical, her exposed flesh furless and silvery grey, like the surface of a moon turned malleable and soft. Her face was exposed and aside from her monochromatic silvery eyes and flowing, trailing hair of the night sky, she lacked any discernible features on her smoothed face.]

The first of the Great Spirits to form and inhabit the world, Sararu the Day of Sun and Life, and Luraru the Night of Dreams and Death, are the co-leaders of the Pantheon, with Sararu taking on most day to day responsibilities while Luraru provides rule in the night time. The two are neither lovers nor are they wedded, but hold each other with a clear and distinct respect for one another that makes them equals in the other's eye. It is said they are two halves of one being, though the truth of this statement is known only to them and they have no intentions of sharing if it is truth or lie. In ancient times, Sararu was more arrogant and Luraru more vain, though after a humbling journey that would see Sararu permanently decapitated when daring to boast against the Weaver of the World herself, Null,the two would learn from the wisdom gained in this adventure to both become kinder, humbler rulers over their domains.

In the modern day, the two rarely interact with anyone outside of official business as both tend their respective domains in Lacuna or when overseeing official matters of the Pantheon Court. They are notable for being the only two Great Spirits without a respective Spirit Race tied to them in any capacity.

——

[Sketches depict two anthropomorphic beings, a brown and tan furred female rabbit and a blue and purple scaled and orange finned male fish respectively as they gaze at one another in loving affection. The rabbit is stocky and powerfully built as her exposed arms and stubby, paw-footed feet show more than a fair share of muscle, though a kindly maternal air surrounds her and her face is in a smile as she looks to her male counterpart. The male fish, meanwhile, is taller and more slender, long limbed and with webbed, large toed clawed digits at the ends of his digitigrade legs, a simple tabbard over his blue scaled body. His face is short snouted and cat-lipped, and both had the same slit-pupilled eyes as the Mortals they care for.]

Believed to be the second of the Great Spirits to form, or at least the first ones Sararu and Luraru would find, the Great Rabbit Spirit of the Earth and the Great Fish Spirit of the Sea, Tararu and Hararu respectively, are two of the most beloved Great Spirits by both the Spirit Races and Mortals alike. Wedded together and sharing the aspects as the Great Spirits of Farming, Family, and Reproduction, as well as sharing an elemental power over Lightning from origins unkown, 'Mater' Tararu and 'Pater' Hararu formally 'adopted' the Mortal races of Null and were the ones to convince the rest of the Spirit Pantheon to have pity and mercy upon the plight of the Mortals of Null, sharing with them their knowledge and understanding of the concepts they represented to aid the Mortals improve their lives. It is for this reason that,even among the already high standing the Great Spirits posses over the Mortals of Null, Tararu and Hararu never fully stopped being referred to in the affectionate even as many of their Mortal followers moved on to embrace Ambarism.

Their respective Spirit Races, the Tara and the Hara, possess a similar physical resemblance to their respective rabbit and fish Great Spirits though tend to come in a wider variety of colorations, body types. While family's are compromised of any combination of the various Spirit Races, the close ties shared by the Tara and Hara sees these farmers and nature folk come together to have familys with one another the most often. Unique among the various Great Spirits, Tararu holds command over one race of Spirits without their own Great Spirit to lead them, the Flo. Plant like, tentacled dryads with five eyes, the Flo are vicious like the planets of Null, but capable of reason and understanding that allows them to live in harmony with their fellow Spirits. At the right hand of Tararu's seat on the Pantheon's Court of the Great Spirits, there is a smaller seat for whom the current leader of the Flo may sit in on their meetings, speaking with authority backed by Tararu herself.

As a notable side note, their close bond and married nature means that Tararu and Hararu are the Great Spirits with single-handedly the most numerous amount of direct children, with scores of legendary Tara or Hara heroes being the direct Demi-Great Spirit offspring of the two.

——

[Sketches depict two anthropomorphic figures standing side by side, facing outward from one another, a female icy white and blue scaled wyvern and a heavily muscled male antlered tiger. The Wyvern, possessing a calculating look in her eyes as a pair of spectacles perched on her beaked mouth, wore a dress of ice and crystalline shards sown together, while the male wore armored pants and a stained blacksmith's apron as a bright, friendly smile was on his lips.]

The next-to-final pair of Great Spirits found in the Primordial line, Laylaru the Great Wyvern Spirit of Knowledge, Wind and Ice, and Eruiru the Great Tiger Spirit of Strength, Fire and Forging are polar opposites in their mannerisms. Laylaru is cold and calculating, reserved and perceptive even among friends and loved ones, while Eruiru is a blazing inferno of laughter and friendly over affection. Laylaru is a collector of knowledge, both old and new, fantastical or real, with her libraries being a labyrinthine metropolis of collected tomes and histories long lost to both time and even her fellow Great Spirits. Eruiru, meanwhile, enjoys the simpler things of life, be it working on his many mind-destroying brews, inventing new delicacies in the oven,or forging and crafting new weapons and armor of literal divine power and craftsmanship in his forge. It is often said that Eruiru can do virtually anything when drunk, and this is best exemplified when he once picked up the whole of the very ground of Lacuna before using it to hit a then still arrogant Sararu over the head with it all. These two polar opposite extremes, despite their differences, are some of the most commonly seen together friends among the Great Spirits, often due to Eruiru messing with Laylaru in his and Yayairu's antics.

Their respective Spirit Races, the Layla and the Erui, are similar in physical structure as their respective Great Spirits, but with a wider range of coloration's and personalities. Some Erui are avid book mice, while others prefer to toil in the gardens and disdain strong drink, while Layla warriors are just as common as their scholars and knowledge seekers.

Over the eons, the 'Three Friends' of the Great Spirits-Laylaru, Eruiru, and Yayairu, have more than once engaged in intercourse with the other, forming a small but varied bunch of Demi-Great Spirits from their various couplings that have gone on to be famed heroes in their own right despite their bizarre family situation.

——

[Sketches depict three anthropomorphic figures, all three of them being the exact same person in three distinct appearances: A shut-eyed, stub-paw footed lanky fox of a creature that appears both in male and female forms as well as distinctly androgynous appearance. They wear no clothing though there is nothing to cover up and they are shown in a variety of different strange motions of locomotion or activities that defy logical explanation.]

The final of the Primordial line of Great Spirits to be found, Yayairu is the Great Fox Spirit of Foolishness, a strange and chaotic entity who acts on his whims when she desires them. Never a threat or threatening figure to those it dains to annoy at a particular time, Yayairu's foolish antics bely a cunning and at times ruthless mind that many Elder Gods have seen extermination by over the eons despite evidence to suggest he possess Elder elements himself. Possessing a strong, if twistedly odd in expressing it, affection for Mortals, Yayairu is often the first alongside Tararu and Hararu to speak up in defense of Mortals caugh in the crosshairs of the Great Spirit Court.

The Yayai share their Great Spirit's love of mischief making and tomfoolery, with them having developed a strong cultural practice and rapport with the Erui in their ceaseless Beer Raids against the brew-master tiger Spirits. While not a homogeneous mono-culture, with various 'Clans' of Yayai each having different distinct cultural attributes, the overall perception of any Yayai is to expect foolishness to follow in short order, something even the most joyless of their kind acknowledge as an ever present risk whenever their kind is involved.

The non-Tararu/Hararu family line of Demi-Great Spirits, Yayairu is notable for having the absolute largest amount of children outside of the Great Rabbit and Fish Spirit's family, both from his encounters with the other Great Spirits in the pantheon as well as the rare occasion they have taken a Mortal partner to wed for extended periods of time. Despite the reputation of their father, the Yayai Demi-Great Spirits are some of the bravest and self-sacrificing, as well as most diverse in personality, of their kind, a fact their sire holds no small amount of pride over.

———

The Moderna.

———

[Sketches depict a distinctly male figure of varying forms, some more monstrous and others more Orosoid in appearance. The only consistency is the recurring use of the colors grey and gun-metal grey in the beings appearance. Below him in the sketches are two Spirit Races: One resembles the Flitter-Mice of Null, only anthropomorphized: Bipedal, winged mice adorned with spectacles and clothing, coming in both male and female sexes. The other is a massive, feline inspired Spirit Race, built for combat and equipped with the capacity for flight with two retractable wings on their backs. They resemble larger, bulkier, anthropoidal felines compared to the smaller Irm, and possess what appear to be the same retractable male genitalia as Empusa, indicating they are hermaphrodites.]

The first of the Moderna Great Spirits to appear, or perhaps more accurate to say the last of the Primordials to make an appearance, Xarara is the Great Spirit of Mortal Life on Null. This is most evident by his lack of static form, and tendency to change and alter his appearance in a chimeric make up of various creatures of Nullian make up. Arguably the one with the closest ties to the Civilized Races of Null, Xarara is ironically the most distant, rarely if ever interacting with anyone, be they regular Spirit or Mortal, and only interacting with his fellow Great Spirits when needed or when giving reports from his patrols and monitoring of the world of Null. It is believed, in primitive times, that he protected Mortals from behind the shadows from Elders and Elder Gods, with the Elder Blood Moon of Yarah Dam/Senora Sanguine's current state being the result of his messy defeats and devourings of Elder Gods staining the moon with their remains, from which has risen the modern day Elderitch ecosystem currently upon it.

In break from 'tradition', Xarara does not have a Spirit Race that is a direct link to him, instead possessing two races that is said to have been actively crafted by him instead of springing forth from the ether over time. The Aleph-Xara are a race based on the Flittermice of Null, possessing the ability to grow as large as a Normal Body-Type Oros, or become as diminutive as their inspiration. They are devoted to acting as scribes and assistants, almost on an instinctual level, towards the Mortal Races, finding employ everywhere from both the martially inclined and from those with more civil oriented lives. The Bet-Xara, meanwhile, are massive hulking Chimera inspired feline beings who are famous for their often overwhelming levels of power. Where their Aleph siblings were made to be scribes and assistants,the Bet were forged and crafted to be warriors against whom the best of Null would test their mettle against in order to prove their strength and to become stronger still, a role the Bet-Xara hold in high regard as their true calling in life.

Xarara has no children of his own direct bloodline, leaving him without any Demi-Great Spirits of his own.

——

[Sketches depict two females of anthropomorphic lineage, standing side by side with their backs to one another. One is a tall, lean tauric creature with elements of deer, canine, and feline mixed in with a calico fur pattern, armed with a bow and adorned in a hooded cloak meant to blend in with her surroundings. The other, meanwhile, was tall and shapely, her appearance resembling a reptile or lizard woman with a snout and a pair of large, fin like frills that sprout from the sides of her heads and which run down down her neck and back. Her scales are black with a golden sheen, her dress woven of golden thread and a golden chalice running over with wine in one hand as she laughs a haughty laugh.]

Two of the earliest Moderna Great Spirits to appear, the Great Spirit of Travel and the Hunt, Rhutra, and the Great Spirit of Loot and Riches, Arara, are highly notable due to their shared unusual circumstances behind their birth. Before their arrival, their two Spirit Races, then known as the Tul and the Ren respectively, were the only two Spirit Races without their own Great Spirits, an anomaly nobody could explain for eons. It would not be until the Moderna age where Rhutra, after spending so long as but a dream for her people, finally appeared, materializing and becoming the Great Spirit to a people without one. Arara, meanwhile, had a distinctly different tale: Where Rhutra came into the world fully formed, Arara spent her life as just another Ren Spirit. The tale goes that she discovered and began to aid a Proto-Skyrunner Prince in his hunts, using her kind's power to grant small wishes to help him gain an edge in return for his kills providing her with strength to increase her power to grant more potent wishes. This would eventually reach a critical point where Ara gained such power as to ascend into Great Spirithood, an event that has never been able to be replicated before or after.

In the modern day, the Rhutra have made a name for themselves as skilled hunters and gamesmen, hunting the most deadly of game and most challenging of creatures to test their mettle on, while the Ara would be pulled out of their lives of answering meager wishes for coin to join their Great Spirit to share in the bounty of her wealth and prestige. Rhutra are always calico in fur pattern, while the Arara come in a wide variety of 'royal' colors, from jade greens to royal violets and the alluring golden scales, though the black, golden sheened scales of their Great Spirit is considered the most attractive and prized of all coloration.

Of the Great Spirits to have children of their own, Rhutra and Arara are tied for having the least to their name, Rhutra due to her focus on her duties in overseeing her people's honor rules in their hunts, and Arara due to having room in her heart for only one, now long lost individual.

——

[Sketches depict two females of differing appearance standing side by side facing outward from one another. One was a large, plump, four-armed moth woman adorned in a sparkling dress that one often saw worn by singers, while the other was an arachne styled spider-woman, her five eyed head lowered and hands clutched together as her hand woven and complicated dress preserved her modesty.]

The middle most of the Moderna Great Spirits, the Great Moth Spirit of Music and Revelry, Hurkora, and the Great Spider Spirit of Potions, Poison, and the Hearth, Irara, are polar opposites in terms of attitude and temperament. Hurkora is a loud, at times overly dramatic, diva of a woman who takes any and every opportunity to make her presence known and her voice heard to stand out in a crowd, while in comparison Irara is quiet and demure, preferring silence and solitude due to her shyness. Despite this, the two are noted for being close friends with one another, with Hurkora lowering her usually overpowering persona in meetings to make Irara more comfortable while Irara attempts to be more outgoing in the presence of her comrade. In addition, Hurkora is also known to be close and amicable friends with Arara,while Irara possesses a distinct and unusually friendly relationship with Yarairu, something that not even the other Great Spirits can quite understand, especially since their initial meeting infamously saw Irara so frightened that she leapt through the dimensional barriers seperating Lacuna and Null before landing on another planet in the solar system with enough force to leave a vaguely arachnid like mark on the surface of the world currently dubbed 'Arachnis'.

Two Spirit Races of these two particular Great Spirits, the Hurko and the Ira respectively, are noted for their distinct usefulness in day to day civil life. The Hurko, following in their patron's sted, have made a name for themselves as bards, minstrels, and musicians famed both on Lacuna and Null, while the Ira use their potion crafting to craft healing salves, or safe pesticides, for use in everyday occasions. The Ira are notable, however, for not being inherently demure like their patron, and have long since developed a potent and deadly reputation as assassins and poison makers that is at odds with their patron's shy and beloved persona.

In an ironic twist of sorts, Hurkora possess few children of her own, focusing instead on her passions of singing and fame, while Irara meanwhile is known to have mothered a great many children, almost exclusively as a result from friendly encounters turned romantic between herself and Yayairu. While much of these matters remain in private, it is known that in all these encounters, the ensuing coitus was commenced by Irara herself, usually after stringing up Yayairu, which the Great Spirit of Foolishness could only say on the matter a simple: 'Kinky'.

——

[Sketches depict two armored warriors standing side by side and looking away from one another, one male and one female. The female was an anthropomorphic, lioness like woman, her hair tied in a knot as a toothy grin spread across her features, helmet in gauntleted hands as she eagerly observed something off panel, while the male had a distinctly 'flat' face not unlike Sararu and Luraru, his skin black as pitch and his eyes a blaze of dazzling colors, pupils slit like all the others of Null. Instead of hair, his entire head seemed to be alight with a multi-colored flame of sorts.]

The final two Moderna Great Spirits to arise, Irmra the Great Rock-Cat Spirit of War and Strategy and Oriora the Great Spirit of Oaths and Locks are two very well known for their reputations. Irmra is noted due to when she appeared, she had shown up in the Dark Lands of the Dark Spirits, whereupn rather than using any of her godly powers, she would proceed to wage a one-woman guerilla war against them using nothing but her own stength of arms and any weapon she found along the way for the next 2,000 years within the Spirit Realm, only ending when the Dark Spirits finally relented and appealed to the Great Spirit Court to finally 'take her away'. Oriora, meanwhile, appeared with little fanfare by comparison, showing up one day while dragging into the Court a Spirit who had broken a sacred oath to the Great Spirits. The two are endowed with great martial prowess and insight, which they use to train their people as soldiers and as law enforcement for the Spirit World respectively.

Peoples of great discipline and honor, the Irm and Orio are both warriors who take their assigned roles very seriously. Even those two deviate from the tradition of soldiers or law-bringers seem to have an almost compulsory drive to give their chosen path in life their all. Driven by instincts of law and order, both peoples are highly unified and tied to their families with bonds that are unshakable, even by Nullian standards.

In terms of children, Oriora has had none, focusing his energies in enacting the laws set forth to govern the Spirit World. In comparison, and in a twist of fate no one saw coming, Irmra is the mother of a vast horde of daughters that were born, even more amazingly, from the wedded union between herself and one of the older sister's of the Weaver Null herself, the Aether Being of War Aegia.

———

In summation, the Great Spirits and their Spirit Races of Lacuna are a diverse assortment of beings, all of whom are held in high regard by both Spirit and Mortal alike. Their actions in protecting and guiding the development of civilization on Null is extensive and cannot even begin to be covered by this Grimoire, needing entire volumes to cover comparatively meager stretches of their long, storied histories.

One final word is worth mentioning: All the Spirits spoken of so far have been what are recognized as 'Light' Spirits, beings who despite their otherworldly and nigh-unkillable natures might indicate look as flesh and blood as any Mortal. There also exists Dark Spirits, beings born in the Dark Lands who are the mirror counterparts to the Light Spirits, filled with aggression and destructive impulses. Despite this, they are NOT demonic or fel in nature, and indeed are empowered if struck by the divine magics of the Great Spirits of Lacuna, indicating a deep relationship between the two sides that goes beyond the scope of this particular Grimoire. Despite their often aggressive natures, Dark Spirits are still civilized beings with their own cultures, societies, and individual ways of life same as any other life form on Lacuna or Null of sapient thought, driven by their close bonds with one another to protect and empower one another.

Only time will tell if the divide between Light and Dark Spirits will be mended, or if further rifts will divide them still.​

 

[TripleMRed]

True Dragons.

[Sketches depict several species of large, semi-bipedal dragons living on Null. They are varying in shape and color, some blue and with shark like skin and facial features, others with more 'typical' draconic features and red scales, while others still are bulky, green scute clad, a with a mixture of crocodilian and terrapin features. Their large, bulky arms end in four digits, three fingers and a thumb, which can be used to grasp things or to form fists, with their forearms possessing large, closable cavities that, going by the sketches, can fire out a variety of attacks based on the Dragon's elemental qualities. They have wings, though appear to use them through the power of magic rather than physically beating them to achieve flight. Finally, sketches show them living in the wilds, sleeping or fighting off Hunters that stumble upon them. Interestingly, at least one seems to be wearing a cap and with a satchel slung over their shoulder.]

Scientific Name Translation: Mystic Lizard. [A note is attached. It reads 'I bet they'd be nicer to us if we didn't officially label them as 'lizards'.']

Average Size: Depends on subspecies..

Average Weight: Depends on subpecies.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Usually N/A, Asexual Species.

Habitat Range: All over the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

The world of Null is comprised of two primary, but deeply conjoined aspects: The Mundane, the physical and 'normal' elements that comprise the matter and base elements that make up the world itself, and the Mystical, the magical component that seeps into and flows through every layer of the planet and the majority of its creatures. One particularly kind of creature, the oldest known surviving of its kind in fact, is said to be the embodiment of the Mystical despite their corporeal forms: The True Dragons. [A note is attached, depicting a surprisingly good sketch of a True Dragon standing upright with nobility as it stares off into the distance.]

True Dragons, as the name suggest, are the truest form of draconic being on Null, being distinct in both form and capability from their more mundane draconic counterparts. Standing in a typically hunched, bipedal stance with their arms held close to their forms at their front, True Dragons range greatly in precise power and form due to their seven subspecies, as well as by individual age. Typically speaking, there are rarely if ever more than exactly 700 Dragons of each subspecies at any one time, and the vast majority of these make their homes far from domains of the Civilized Races, typically living to the West in the Land of Giants.

True Dragons came into being several million years ago, and have changed remarkably little since their introduction in the fossil record. Indeed, some evidence suggests the first Civilizations on Null were made by the True Dragons in these primordial times, with some structures and even whole cities from these bygone eras still standing to this very day. However, at some point between the introduction of mammals and the rise of modern day Civilized Races, the True Dragon's civilizations fell to ruin, with its caretakers leaving for the wilds of the world to enter a great slumber, or to live simpler lives not unlike normal animals. Despite this, True Dragons are still intelligent, sapient beings capable of speech, and it's all too common for one to give a stern, quick warning to any that stumble upon them to leave them be, lest their wrath be invited upon the interloper to have disturbed their slumber.

Still, a handful of True Dragons continue to this day to display Civilized traits, such as wearing articles of clothing or carrying bags, and living among modern day Civilized Races as members of society. The most famous is the scholar Induri, a Hydro Dragon who has taken a feminine persona who wanders the world, recording all she learns from the Civilized Races and their cultures. More than once, the very author of this book has traded information with her on subjects both niche and broad. [A note is attached. It reads 'I actually met Induri once myself. Well, 'met'. I just listened in to a lecture of hers when she stopped by to live in her home here in Dreamhold, but it still counts as meeting her damn it!']

In terms of shared biological features, the Arm Cannons and wings are two of the linking components across all True Dragon species. The arm-cannons are opened recesses on top of their forearms that act as focusing points for their elemental powers to escape outside of their bodies rather than exclusively from the mouth. The arm-cannons are used typically for close combat situations and are thus excellent in melee engagements. The wings, meanwhile, act as focusing points for contra-gravitic power. They do not flap their wings to fly: Rather, they begin to shake and glow the tell tale oily-rainbow hue of contra-grav wing magic used by many Nullian creatures for sustained flight. This allows them to float and, with applications of magic to give them jet-forces of power for propulsion, true flight.

As previously mentioned, there are 7 subspecies of True Dragon, each with their own distinct looks and powers. Hydro Dragons are sleek and long, having sharp, shark like features on their forms and a power over water ranging from blistering steam to hydro-cutters from their arm-cannons. Detonation Dragons are more typically what one images a dragon to look like, being fiery red and packing explosive detonations as their power. Corrosion Dragons are massive and bulky, with large armored bellies and reinforced beaked craniums, they live in swamps and bogs and spit acid bile and corrosive gas at their enemies. Shock Dragons are sleek and sharply armored, being the fastest of the Dragons and launching electrical discharges at their foes. Frost Dragons are layered in armor of true ice, spitting forth their mystical cold at a moment's notice. Noise Dragons have bat like qualities and fur, and launch concussive, destructive sound waves at their foes. Finally, the Graviton Dragons are the most illusive and darkly lit of all the Dragons, using the forces of gravity to crush those that are a threat while hovering cross-legged in the air. [A note is attached. It reads 'Gravitic Anomalies pinning you down are bad enough, but living, intelligent ones like Graviton Dragons? No thanks!']

Regardless of their nature, all True Dragons are powerful, with even the newest and youngest of them requiring either a full team of elite Hunters to take down, or a true hero of the current era to fell. While unfortunate, it is occasionally necessary to slay a rogue or irritated True Dragon that refuses to listen to reason, for their power makes them dangerous: Whole villages have been razed by even the weakest of their kind if left unchallenged. Those Dragons that still retain their Civility and commune with the rest of Civilized space agree that such measures, while tragic and unfortunate, are necessary.

One of the most fascinating parts of True Dragon biology is their inherent lack of biological sex. They lack sex organs of any kind, and thus do not reproduce in ways we are familiar with. When a True Dragon does create more of their own kind, it is through a highly ritualized process of blood letting that spills their blood into large pools in the ground, whereupon new True Dragons begin to form as koi like young. Due to the fact that there are only ever around 700 True Dragons of a given species at any one time, the creation of new Dragons is doesn't occur unless there is a need for replacements for fallen kin. On a biological level, these new Dragons are clones of their parent, though in terms of personality they are each distinct and unique in their own right. Legends tell of Dragons that had sexual features that mated with Mortals in the distant past, though this is almost certainly myth and fairy tale rather than truth, as no living True Dragon to date has shown a desire to take on a biological sex even if they take on a gender for themselves. [A note is attached. It reads 'The stories go that Dragons that took on a biological sex could reproduce with anything, but these are just stories. I think. Maybe?']

The closest relatives to True Dragons are, in fact, the Hydras of Null. Where the True Dragons act as the embodiment of the Mystic, the Hydras ironically are embodiment of the Mundane: True Dragons are beings of magic that happen to have physical forms, while Hydras are physical creatures who happen to be empowered by Magic. One of the key differences, biologically, between the two related families is eyes: True Dragons possess two eyes, same as most other creatures, while Hydras and their ilk possess no eyes, their faces guarded by armored plates without a visible ocular organ in sight. Historically, the two sides of the family tree hate one another, and move to attack the other at any interaction.

The magical powerhouses of the world, True Dragons are often aloof and a mysterious, dangerous remnant of a distant, bygone time in Null's ancient history. They are beings that are to be respected and treated with reverence even on the occasion that they must be put down for the safety of all, with those that continue to commune with us becoming great teachers of magic to those races that can perform the mystic arts of Mana manipulation. Who is to say that someday, in the future, all Dragons will snap out of whatever special malaise claims them to rejoin their youngers in a new, brilliant future of Civilized living? Only time will tell. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wish I had a True Dragon housemate! Sure, they average at like 15 feet tall, but it'd be awesome!']

 

[TripleMRed]

War Dragons.

[Sketches depict a race of dragons, their coloration and details varying from subspecies to subspecies, their default appearance being a typical four legged gait with wings on their backs and long tails to balance bodies, their horned heads held upright and with pride. Tellingly, there appear to be multiple forms and subtypes of these Dragons, the sketches depicting what appear to be transformations between a more bipedal, anthropomorphic stance and a larger, bulkier version of their default quadrupedal gait. One subtype is massive and broad chested, with what appears to be sap like secretions from between their chest plates that, when falling in drops, produce explosive results.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I'm so glad we were able to make peace with these guys, they're some of the chillest friends I've made in my life!']

Scientific Name Translation: Eternal Soldier.

Average Size: Varies on form.

Average Weight: Varies on form.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are slightly, but noticeably, slimmer and more curved than the more angular males.

Habitat Range: Primarily on the floating continent of Skyhold, though some have started to live among Median cities.

Summary:​

It is said that, of the Civilized Races of Null, the oldest is the True Dragons. Indeed, countless ruins, ancient decrepit cities, and hollowed artifacts from this bygone era remain, even after the True Dragons fall from grace and their current diminished state of being. It is from these ancient ruins, many millions of years old yet intact through generous applications of reinforcement magics and clever placement on stable geographical locals, we have learned much of what the world was like in their era. It is through these texts where we discovered the origins of one notable race of draconic beings, the sapient War Dragons.

The War Dragons are a remnant of this bygone era, when the True Dragons civilization was the dominant force in the Mortal realm of Null. Artificial creations, War Dragons were crafted by the numerically more limited True Dragons to act as soldiers for their civilization, in an era where the Mortal realm was assailed by Elder horrors. The end product of many, many failed attempts that would lead to the other draconic species of Arisa, such as the Crash Drakes, the Slips, the Shinook and the Shanooks, War Dragons were the culmination of centuries of research and development between the native True Dragons and the mysterious but benevolent (though now long gone) Elder species known today as the Stone-Eyes. According to both remaining ancient documents and accounts by the still living War Dragons in the modern day, the fighting in these ancient conflicts was intense and brutal, a world wide conflict the likes of which has never been seen since. [A note is attached. It reads, 'During the time of the release of 8th edition, this was true. Now? The Moon War that's still going on is easily the most massive conflict in all of Nullian history, though aside from a few incursions, proxy wars and battles, the official Moon War has taken place entirely in our lunar orbit.']

After the end of these ancient conflicts ended with the securing of Null from these hostile incursions, the remaining War Dragons were then placed by their creators into stasis within the floating continent of Skyhold, held aloft by massive reserves of Floatstone ores throughout the entire island-continent that both kept it safely aloft as well as masked their life signatures in their stasis cocoons. It would be in stasis where the War Dragons would remain for millions of years, awaiting for another time where their masters called upon them to serve once more, a time which would never come as during the intervening years, the True Dragon civilization would collapse and their peoples would result in the loss of the original command and control systems and structure which the War Dragons used as their military hierarchy.

After millions of years, the mystical systems overseeing the stasis cocoons would begin to fade and fail, ultimately resulting in the unplanned release of the War Dragon hordes some time around the 2800's AA. Awakened and now lacking the central authority they once relied upon, now functionally free of any outside influence, the War Dragons began to adapt and fell back on their training and instincts to make up for such a potent loss of reliable command. As a result of falling back on these primal instincts, the War Dragons came to the only course of action that made sense for the veterans of the old wars at the time: Conquest and raiding. Unfortunately, the only cultures available for such attacks would be the Median and its peoples, and as such in the winter of 2888, the First Draconic War began with the War Dragons invading from the East, assaulting the coastlines and other major civilized hubs in the Median at the time. Though initially making excellent progress, both due to natural power as well as experience from their ancient conflicts, the War Dragons would ultimately be stopped and pushed back once the Median managed to find its footing and respond to the raids. [A note is attached. It reads 'I actually keenly remember my old home town seeing the raids arrive at our doorstep, only to be turned away at the last minute by Sky Fleet and Stormleaper detachments. It was scary, but also oddly beautiful in a twisted, janked up way seeing the walls of fire rising up in the distance.']

Leaving to lick their wounds and replenish their lost numbers, the Second Draconic War would occur in 2990, with the Dragon's attempted raids having been predicted and prepared for, resulting in a horrific failure that led to a full withdraw by the War Dragons back to their home to once again heal their wounds. Their culture and society would begin development in earnest around this time, as several generations of War Dragons who had never known of the ancient times were borne and raised in this new era. Survivors of the initial two Draconic Wars began to have doubts of the old ways being of any value in this new era, with many arguments being held in their burgeoning council chambers of their new-born government discussing pursuing peace with the Median and its peoples.

Ultimately, the Third and final Draconic War would occur in 3042 AA, as a result of the Median instigating an invasion towards Skyhold in order to cease the War Dragon invasions once and for all. Many theorize what would have occurred if the invasion had completed as intended, with some believing that our Median would have forced the War Dragons to accept an unconditional surrender using warship diplomacy, while a few whisper that complete destruction was the aim. While I personally dismiss the latter arguments, I also cannot deny that the former would have been achieved through extensive and brutal war fighting deep into the War Dragon's homelands to force peace by gunpoint. However, these theories are for things that we will never know for sure, as before the invasion force could begin striking deep into the War Dragon warrens and homes dug beneath the surface of Skyhold, they were recalled due to the awakening and development of a new, infinity worse threat in the west.

Peace between the Median and the War Dragons would occur as a completely unexpected development, and as a direct result of War Dragon scouts being sent to investigate and observe the sudden withdrawal of the Median warfleet to the West. These scouts would discover the new war front that had opened up between the Median and an unexpectedly and massively overwhelming infestation of Eldritch plant creatures known as the Dream Lotus, AKA the Mother Roots. These scouts would become unexpected allied to the Median when one of their own was captured by the Mother Roots to be podded and used as one of their many 'brains', with them fighting alongside the same Median soldiers that had not so long ago been invading their homelands against this common threat breaking the ice for peace between the two polities going forward. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch of a strange creature made of roots and bark, several glowing 'eyes' on its head structure as it pointed a blade like arm towards the viewer. Words follow, reading 'Dream Lotus creature, 'Daisy Cutter'.']

The War Dragons, though still recovering from the invasion, would send several deployments of their own forces to support the Median war-effort out of a sense of foresight that, if the Mother Root won against the Median, it would not be long before it would turn its gaze towards the Dragons themselves. This mutually beneficial alliance cemented the end of Median-War Dragon hostilities and, while personal relations between the two polities would remain cool at best due to earlier conflicts, no further widespread violence between the two parties have been reported since.

In terms of biology, the War Dragons are highly fascinating. Artificially created to be the perfect soldiers in their era, adult War Dragons are physically and mystically quite powerful for creatures relying on only natural weaponry. Able to switch between three different forms, their Base draconic form which is a balance between the mystically power but physically weaker, smaller and bipedal Mage form and their larger, physically more powerful War form, War Dragons are trained from youth to be excellent fighters in all three forms, though they are each their own individuals with their own talents and personal preferences that makes them better suited between their three forms in combat.

Armed with claws, a tail club, horns, teeth, and durable scales, flesh and bones, War Dragons are durable and dangerous in close combat in all of their forms, with their mystical powers allowing for spell casting of varying levels of power between their Base and Mage forms. Regardless of form, elemental breath attacks are common ranged weapons across their various sub-types, giving them the ability to strike from afar using either 'blasts' of elemental power, or more medium-close range 'beams' to cut into armored foes.

While there are 7 subspecies of True Dragon, War Dragons are divided between 5 'categories': Fire, Water, Ice, Lightning, and Toxin, each of whom works together with the others in a given warfront to maximize their power and ability in pack tactics. Of these, fire is the most common while Toxin is the least common, each distinguished by their own 'categories' coloration and distinct attributes such as the blue coloration and fish-fin like traits on the water War Dragons.

In addition to their categories and forms, there are three distinct 'classes' of War Dragons, biological castes designed for a specific battlefield role and purpose in combat. Scouts are the leanest and smallest, and make use of stealth magics and camouflage abilities to gather information and spy on enemy formations from relatively close proximity while remaining undetected, using extreme speed to move between locations and to report back to their superiors quickly. Soldiers are the generalists and the most common 'class' of War Dragon, being the, well, soldiers of the War Dragon military structure. Demolitions, or Demos for short, are the heavy firepower class of the War Dragons, being physically larger and burlier, with more firepower in their breaths and combat magics, with their biggest claim to fame being their ability to create and drop 'droplets' from their segmented chest regions that, upon landing on the ground, detonate with extreme force when deployed in their massive 50 meter long War Forms. [A note is attached. It reads 'Before we learned their proper designations, their call-signs in order were 'Slip', 'Jockey', and 'Bombard'.']

For all their power and transformative ability, War Dragons have a few notable limitations. To prevent accidentally crushing themselves if located in a durable environment, they cannot switch to a larger form if there is not enough space for that transformation to take place, which leads to the common fear of them demolishing buildings by transforming within them unfounded. They also cannot transform due to limitations of proximity with other, non-War Dragon life, a security measure to prevent them accidentally injuring their True Dragon creators in ancient times which has the added benefit of leaving them unable to cause problems on crowded streets or when too near individuals by transforming into a deadlier form.

A final note on their biology is the fact that, despite being crafted by the True Dragons as a warrior race, War Dragons actually do possess biological sexes and the ability to replenish their numbers through conventional reproductive methods. Courtship between War Dragons is still being understood, but the basics functionally amount to two dragons of peer rank, often those who have fought side by side the longest, claiming one another as their respective mate, reproducing from the safety of 'home base', with their young being born live in litters of anywhere from 3-8 wyrmlings per gestation period of approximately 7 months. These newborn dragons, while armed and able to survive on their own biologically speaking, have to be taught and raised, usually by community though parents taking personal oversight of their children's developments are becoming more and more common, to properly become a member of their community and civilization, becoming sexually mature at around 20 years of age. Despite how ancient they are, it has been found that the War Dragons adaptability allows them in their anthropoidal Mage forms to be able to safely and successfully engage in reproductive behaviors with other Civilized Races, producing viable offspring of the mother's respective species. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon baby dragon, a small, chubby creature, sitting on its bottom as it stared cross-eyed at a butterfly on its nose, its tongue sticking out as it focuses on the insect.]

The War Dragons developing culture is still in its infancy, with much of their civilian life taking aspects of culture and society in an imitative manner from the Median they were at war with not so long ago. Many younger generations of War Dragons have even begun to develop a youth counterculture focusing on imitating Median societal norms such as wearing clothing, or pursing non-war related hobbies such as collecting trinkets or adopting pets. [A note is attached. It reads 'Apparently, 'Your Tiny Dracoequines' is very popular, especially the spin-off, 'Your Tiny Dracoequines: Skirmish Maul 5000'. I always preferred the Axe-Scythe 4k Series it's a parody of, but according to my War Dragon pen-pal Juniper Hailmaker, its combat rules are actually very in depth and well throughout out!']

Despite our earliest encounters leaving a bad impression, it cannot be stressed enough that the War Dragons are still a young, developing culture, trying to find meaning for themselves when their original purpose has become lost to them. While this doesn't necessarily absolve the bloodshed on either side's hands, it is something to consider going forward as a hand of friendship and assistance in helping them find a place for themselves in this new world they find themselves in is extended to our draconic brothers and sisters.

 

[TripleMRed]

Ogra. [A note is attached. It reads 'It's pronounced 'Ohg-Rah', not 'O-graw'.']

[Sketches depict a race of wild looking, bipedal people with animalistic qualities. They are quite muscular, with even the smallest and thinnest of them having a wiry frame that implies respectable amount of muscle power. The only unifying traits between them is their basic make up an appearance, appearing to have qualities of a hog, a wolf, and a hyena mixed together: Their snouted, wolf like faces mixed with hyena teeth and qualities, their ears long and pointed, and their limbs ending in four digted extremities that resemble a cross between a paw and a hog hoof turned into a four fingred hand and foot. Beyond this, their variability is massive. Some have stripped fur, others spots, and others still solid colorations ranging from rust reds to sandy tans to bark browns, with their hairs being styled in a variety of manners ranging from simplistic wild bushes, to braids, to more outlandish things such as mohawks. Their fur is also styled differently, with many keeping it short and many others shaving themselves to the rough, tough hide and only leaving extremities and privates covered in their fur. Their clothes range from simple animal clothes, to studded leathers not out of place with a musical band, to well made and reinforced armor plate. Females have several pairs of nipples, but only the ones on their chests seem to have formed into fully functional mammary glands, the rest being little more than a remainder of older ancestors. Finally, many of them have covered themselves in various colorations of paint, in patterns and colors distinct from others. Some resemble tribal tattoos, while others resemble a monstrous anthropoidal version of a hair-metal band. In the end, they are extremely varied and distinct as a species.]
[A note is attached. It reads 'I learned about these guys in history class. I always wanted to meet one, but never got the chance to. Yet. Dun dun duuun!']

Scientific Name Translation: Wild Dog.

Average Size: 7'0-9'2 feet/2.134-2.804 meters tall.

Average Weight: 880-1580. pounds/399.2-716.7kgs

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are curvier than males, with features males lack such as breasts. There is also a small, but notable minor leaning towards females being larger than males on average.

Habitat Range: All biomes of the Land of Giants.

Summary:​

The claim of 'most successful species' is one that is open to interpretation. What does one mean by 'successful'? If we go by technological advancement and cultural unity, then the peoples of the Median are the most successful species on the planet. If we go by population, then the humble Rooter Ant is the most successful known species on the Arisa continent numerically speaking. As such, the title for most successful species is variable based on the many different qualities and traits one must specify for a given category. That being said, it is widely agreed by many in the scientific community that, of the various species of Nullian life-forms to originate from another world or realm before being taken by Uplifters, the most successful non-native species is the Ogra people.

Making life in the harsh landscapes of the Land of Giants to the West, the origins of the Ogra can be traced back several million years ago, where their originator ancestors were placed in the region that would become the Land of Giants. Dimensional Long-Scry in the modern day to their realm of origin has led to some insightful revelations as to the origins of their ancestors: The Drohq, a quadrupedal war beast and hunting animal used by an army led by a dark magic user that was ultimately defeated by native armies. The Drohq and the hordes they served under were exterminated by the native species of their homeworld, making the modern day Ogra the only surviving descendants of their kind. [A note is attached. It reads 'That's depressingly sad, actually. But also good in a way? At least they're alive is what I'm getting at.']

The adaptability and potential of the original Drohq showed in the unforeseen capacity for them to evolve, which would ultimately culminate in the first modern day Ogra some tens of thousands of years ago. Astonishingly, despite the relative youth of their species and how little time they've been around, the Ogra's development as a people seems to have actually accelerated over the millennia. Adopting, or more accurately being adopted by, the Great Spirit Pantheon, Ogra culture was led by the primal blood-lust and desire for combat that drove their original ancestors in their home realm so long ago. War and combat are a way of life for the Ogra, and this antagonistic behavior has led to their entire history being one of conflict, whether it is between themselves, coordinated species such as Spider-Ants, or even conflicts with the races of East such as the Oros.

The history of the Ogra people is one of uncertainty, as their constant warfare has led to a difficult time being able to record much of anything with any certainty, much less have it survive the warfare that surrounded them. Modern day Ogra are not as belligerent as they once were thanks to a grim form of selective breeding in the form of the marginally less aggressive of their kind having the opportunity to reproduce and fill their numbers of their population after it is decimated in conflict. Repeated countless times over several millennia, and this has resulted in the infinity more stable, though still hot-blooded, Ogra of our modern day.

Able to be reasoned with and enter communications with one another on peaceful terms, my travels to their lands to uncover more about them for this encyclopedia of mine has led to some revolutionary discoveries in my travels amongst them. My guide through their lands was a 'Philosofist' named Uhrun Bloodweaver, a surprisingly calm individual whose report I've come to miss since returning from their lands.

According to Uhrun, the foundations for what would lead to modern day Ogra society were, according to oral tradition and research by his order of warrior-scholars, traced all the way back to the days of Irlira the Blood Queen, an unusually massive and powerful Ogra whose claim to historical fame was being the first to unify their peoples and lead them in an invasion of the East thousands of years ago. Comparing this to our own histories, this corresponds exactingly to the Ogra invasion in the Era of the Oros Warrior Queens. As the records go, the Ogra invasion interrupted the internecine conflicts between the Oros Warrior Queens and led to one among them, Mei-Lee Jadesmith, to unite the other Warrior Queens and lead them in battle against the invaders. The Ogra Invasion would ultimately end with the death of the Blood Queen at the hands of Mei-Lee in a titanic duel that broke the spirits of the now leaderless and directionless Ogra and caused the survivors to retreat back home.

This directly affects both of our histories, as this event led to the Ogra, who had believed their Blood Queen to be the strongest chosen of their people, to question much of what they believed to be true about themselves and the world, and what caused Mei-Lee to unify the people of her region in the first modern day Nation, the Royalbacks, in preparation for a potential future invasion by the Ogra. When one did not come for centuries, the Royalbacks would go on to try and conquer the rest of the Oros world to create a unified peoples in the 'First Kingdom', which ultimately failed when their attempts to replace local culture with their own, combined with the also newly formed Skyrunner Nation inciting and supplying rebellions among the other Oros cultures, led to the birth of the other Nations. The rest, as they say, is history. [A note is attached. It reads 'Got to give the Royalbacks credit, their origins are hardcore. Even if they did turn around and act like jerks to the rest of us.']

As for the Ogra, according to Uhrun, while they always recognized the Great Spirit Pantheon as their gods, their own bloodlust made them rather stubborn at actually listening to their gods even as they tried to steer the Ogra down a less destructive path. With the painful loss of the Blood Queen in their failed invasion, the Ogra became more willing to listen to their Great Spirits, though they ultimately would be drawn to the Great Tiger Spirit of Strength, Eruiru.

Teaching them the ways of black smithing and the refinement of ores, early weapons and armor was made, allowing them to better survive in the hostile lands they called home. However, one major defeat, while enough to begin questioning, was not enough to get rid of their built in blood lust, and so conflicts would continue for millennia onwards, this time between the countless Ogra societies and clans. The ensuing millennia of warfare would grind their people down and build them back up in ways that I never thought possible. There have been approximately 3 or so great changes in Eastern Nullian society, broken up by the 'Kingdom' periods that came and went. Conversely, Uhrun informed me that, while the lack of proper surviving historical records made it difficult to attain a specific number, Ogra society leading into the modern age has been destroyed and rebuilt at a minimum of 47 different individual times, to as few as a maximum estimated 198 times. At the time I spoke with Uhrun, current Ogra society was in its longest era of peace at 56 consecutive years without a major war breaking out. This peace is relative, however, as clan conflicts continue to this day. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch of a pair of Ogra punching each other in the face, while using their off hands to give each other thumbs' ups.]

Biologically speaking, the Ogra are fascinating in a number of ways. The most distinct thing is that, despite being a fully sapient, Civilized species all their own and having existed on Null for millions of years, the Ogra's Sentinel Bacteria are not the same Grade as that of the native Civilized Races such as the Oros or Chimera. What this means is that, unique among the Civilized Races of Null, the Ogra are edible to the life forms they fight against, which for much of their history meant they fought as much to avoid being eaten as they did to eat to survive. This is not as much of an issue as one would expect, however, for the Ogra are quite powerful creatures in their own rights despite this lower SB Grade and lack of unbreakable bones.

Extremely strong and with durable flesh for their sizes, Ogra naturally have powerful bites and strong, bone crushing teeth at their disposal. Their unique digits are tipped with strong, durable hoof claws that, when combined with their impressive grip strength and numbers, allow them to drag down and tear apart creatures that would normally eat any one of them individually. When combined with their intelligence for combat and the development of arms and armor, and the Ogra have managed to carve out many safe zones that would develop into cities, whose only real threat outside of the Giant and Titan scale creatures (kept at bay by the use of potent spell craft) is attack from other Ogra. Ogra possess keen senses and instincts that allow them to evade that which they cannot fight, and get the drop on that which they can.

Covered in fur like their Oros counterparts, Ogra fur colors and patterns are massive in variation, ranging from hues of reds and browns, to albino whites, jet blacks, and majestic golds, with no clear genetic disposition for these unlike the various colorations and fur patterns of the Oros Nationalities. An extensive array of styles for how they manage their fur varies from clan to clan, and even tribe to tribe and pack to pack. These range from wild and expressive hair styles, to crisp and close cut shaves, to even shaving entire sections of their body down to the tough skin beneath with only strategic, and at times lurid, patches of fur remaining. [A note is attached. It shows a cartoon drawing of an Ogra peeking out of a hairball. Words read 'They are a very hairy people. I wonder if they get hot from how much hair they have?']

Ogra, similar to other Civilized Races, do not have a set breeding period, and can reproduce year-round. Ogra decide on mates that they believe are their equals, whether this is through physical ability or on a mental level varies from Ogra pairing to Ogra pairing. Once mated, only death or a severe betrayal by their partner will separate the two. Where it takes an Oros 11 months to gestate a single offspring or twins, the Ogra produce an average litter of 12 pups after a 3 month gestation cycle. With 9 months in a Nullian year, this means that an average, sexually active mating pair of Ogra can have on average 36 pups that, thanks to modern medicine and their powerful pack instincts, will see most surviving into adolescence. [A note is attached. It reads '12 Puppos!?']

Interestingly, despite so many pups being born at a time, and despite the presence of several sets of nipples, Ogra females only ever have two fully developed breasts on their chest as is the norm for females of the Civilized Races. Why this is remains an evolutionary mystery, for Ogra and Median races alike. Regardless of reasoning, this has affected how Ogra raise their young. At birth, two of the strongest looking pups are chosen to suckle extremely nutrient rich and dense milk from their mother, with the rest of their siblings being fed meat that their already tooth-lined maws can dig into. The runt of the litter, interestingly enough, is not discarded by such a strength focused culture, but tended to in order for them to become the support work of their society by being sent off to be raised by the Philosofists.

Of those that remain with their parents, the remaining siblings often wrestle and non-lethally play fight one another throughout their childhoods, with leadership being determined by the victors of these battles. These 'Pack Bosses', with the strongest sibling leading the rest of their brood mates, often have a lot of responsibility and aid in the raising of their younger siblings, bringing order to what would normally be a chaos of various rambunctious fighting children. As they grow older, the same Pack would go through the same trials and tribulations together, covering areas one is weak in with aid by the others, until they reach full maturity. As adults, one can expect Pack Siblings to remain with one another in combat until one breaks off to find a mate of their own, or they are destroyed or otherwise ground down by the attrition of their conflict filled lives. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch of cartoony Ogra all posing together. Words below it read 'Ride together, die together.']

Ogra, provided enough sustenance and surviving enough battles, will continue to grow throughout their lives until they reach an approximate maximum size of 9'2. Some rare individuals, however, can grow to be over 10 feet tall, becoming celebrities in their own right. Ogra suffering from dwarfism, known as 'Shorties' offhandedly or as 'Orgri' (an affectionate diminutive version of their species name) typically don't grow any larger than 5'2, and make up about 15% of the total Ogra population, making themselves useful as mechanically inclined engineers and technicians.

Ogra society itself, as it exists in its modern form, is a complex thing. While their instinctive blood-lust has been reduced considerably, they are still drawn towards the strongest of their kind to lead them, though they have grown the wisdom to be able to determine when a current Clan Chief or Pack Boss is not very well suited to leading despite their strength, at which point the strength of the mob is used to replace them. Interestingly, deaths during these transitions of power are not very common (any more), and the deposed leader will give in to the strength of the mob as having been beaten, and will integrate into following the newly appointed leadership with little fuss. Indeed, many of the more belligerent deposed leaders will simply leave their old positions and packs behind in order to search out a new pack to take over and try again there, usually implementing lessons learned to retain their power.

Paint in a variety of colors and patterns are also used to distinguish themselves and their allegiances among their people. From the flashy and extensive paint schemes of the Hooligoons to the calculated and precise patterns of the Iron Fangs, there is no end to the variety of paint and tattoos used by their people. They also make use of a piercings, though this appears to be more of a personal fashion statement rather than anything clan related. [A note is attached. It reads 'I have a cousin living in Dreamhold with me, and he seems to have an interest in Ogra women. Like, he doesn't even try to hide it. So many posters of buff, tattooed and pierced up Ogra chicks. He refused to tell me where he gets the posters, since I've never heard anything about them in the Median before.']

Their society is also divided into numerous Great Clans, each of which is roughly analogous to an Oros Nationality in terms of shared cultural and societal norms and history. Each Great Clan has its own distinct philosophy of how to live one's life, each with countless Ogra who believe in following this given philosophy intently. The Great Clans with the most power are:

-The Wyld Wolves believe in living in a more primal state, or at least giving as few concessions to more advanced technology as possible. The least populace of the Great Clans, they nonetheless have some of the hardiest and most experienced survivalists of all of the Ogra in the modern era, granting them a level of respect by the others as to send their youths to be trained in their ways of surviving on as little technological aid as possible.

-The Gausst Ghosts, inversely, are the most technologically advanced and believe in harnessing the power of technology in order to become stronger. It is from the Gaussts that many technological innovations were discovered or invented by the Ogra, from their modern day radio technology to the various weapons in the form of Oil Guns their people have come to love so much. Scientists to the core, they throw themselves at problems to find the best way to exploit it, turn it to their favor and/or learn how to blow it up or drive it away.

-The Hooligoons, the newest Great Clan to be formed, is known for its wide make up of young Ogra with a fascination for new things and the tidbits of culture from the Eastern species they come across. Ironically, it would be the Hooligoons that would influence us as many traits we recognize as belonging to the genre of 'hair-metal' comes from the Hooligans propensity for wild, outlandish hair-styles, vibrant colors and loud musical instrumentation. Interestingly, Hooligoon counter-culture is one of the most peaceful of the Ogra, having found a productive outlet for their hot-bloodedness in the form of expressive art, music, and non-fatal contests between its members.

-The Iron Fangs are the most militaristic and disciplined of the Ogra, said to have taken inspiration from the Oros militarys that beat their ancestors back so many generations prior. Known for their use of advanced weapons, tactics, and combined arms warfare, the Iron Fangs ironically are not the most unified of the Great Clans, with numerous subfactions and parties within their wider structure butting heads over specifics or preferred cultural norms.

-The Steel Riders, prior to the Hooligans, were the newest of the Great Clans and originate as an evolution of old Ogra Saber-Tiger cavalry units evolving to the discovery of the oceans of fuel buried deep within the Land of Giants. while the Gausst rightfully claim to have been the ones to discover the Crude used as fuel and the invention of the first hover-mobiles among the Ogra, it was the Steel Riders who would perfect the designs. Every current day Ogra vehicle, whether it is a traveler of the land, the sky, or of the inland seas, is of Steel Rider origin.

-The Demolitionists was a Great Clan founded on the shared mutual appreciation for all things that are explosive in nature. Rockets, missiles, bombs, Solarite-if it explodes, it is venerated. Over time, natural selection has led to the Demolitionists becoming more and more refined in their use of explosives. The love and appreciation has remained the same, if not deepened, but the methodology and skill put into their work has become less slapdash and much more professional in nature. They also have a monopoly on the mining rights in Ogra territory.

-The Mathamaxists once were laughed at for their belief that ultimate strength came not from muscle power, or the brain power to maximize muscle power,, but from the power of raw mathematics. Their usage of missile weaponry ranging from modern day sniper rifles and mortar systems to massive and deadly artillery platforms has proven to wider Ogra society that math is, indeed, extremely powerful. They are often bitter rivals with the demolitions, who believe that overwhelming firepower is superior to a single, calculated strike.

-The Wyrd Magisters originate as a conclave of various shamans and hedge magic users among the Ogra who, over time, developed a complex and rich society of Ogra magic users, teaching the most magically capable of their kind the knowledge and skills needed to harness the power of Mana Magic without accidentally setting oneself on fire (an annoyance to the Ogra but still worth preventing) or worse. Ogra Magi are not a known quantity, however, meaning they lack an equivalent to the Magi Order we are used to in Eastern Null.

-The Philosofists, like my old friend Uhrun, are an old order, formed shortly after the return of the Ogra from their failed invasion millennia ago. Comprised primarily of both the physically weak but intellectually acute runts of every Ogra litter, the Philosofists and their unique way of looking at the world and trying to find answers to questions Ogra often overlooked in favor of conflict directly led to them being the source of the other modern day Great Clans as, over the millennia, regular Ogra began to listen and contemplate the same questions as the Philosofists did. Considered the wisemen of their society, the Philosofists have been challenged countless times in the passed by the physical strongest, only to achieve victory through the use of clever thinking or superior technique in combat. In a world where strength is everything, mental strength is also lauded, and so this has earned the respect of their fellows in the millennia since their founding.

In addition to the individual Great Clans that make up their society, there are also several civilizations comprised of members from the various clans working together into functional societies.

-The Hyperia Hegemon is widely considered and agreed upon to be the single largest functional civilization the Ogra have, being led by a council of the strongest and cleverest of the clans that make it up. A nation made up of members from all the other clans, the Hegemon is analogous to the Median, though the relative earliness of their technological progress as well as their kind's propensity for civil conflict leaves it to be seen if it will survive in the centuries and millennia to come.

-The Gorgus Enclave are the second largest of the Ogra civilizations and the one most dedicated to war, compared to their more well rounded peers. The last major war saw the Hegemon beating the Enclave in a titanic war still talked about to this day among the Ogra, with the Enclave having licked its wounds since then. It is believed that they will instigate a new, more massive war than all others previously seen, though when they will launch their attack is unknown.

-The Tria Theocracy is specific cult of the Church of the Great Spirits unique to the Ogra, and one that has gained enough traction to become a small but influential and powerful nation of its own, comprised of the most faithful of the cult's adherents. Placing Eruiru at the head of their belief system, they believe that strength is the final determinator in the universe, and that the source of this strength did not matter in it being physical, mental, or metaphysical.

A numerous people, despite our earliest encounters ending in blood shed, the Ogra and the Oros have been affecting one another's histories since the beginning. While their exact numbers are constantly in flux and difficult to ascertain, it is known that millions of Ogra call the Land of Giants home, and have made a functional, if still young and rocky, civilization among the dangers there. As of the time of writing, the Median has begun efforts to establish contact with them in an official capacity, though only time will tell if we can enter in peaceful long term relations with our neighbors in another land. Personally, I deeply hope so. We've all seen enough pointless bloodshed as is. [A note is attached. It reads 'Man, the Ogra Wars have only recently ended over there. I really hope they can rebuild better and stronger than before. Maybe then we can get a census that lets us find out how many of them there are and finally put them in the Nullian population numbers.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Lasarna Wych.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, feminine being of mixed components. The main body and head are that of a female, anthropoidal fish of smooth, skin like green scales, with a head of hair in braided dreadlocks, finned ears, and golden eyes, clothed in a tunic that ends at the knees. Her forelimbs, including her digitigrade legs, however, are those of an wyvern, with rough draconic scales and four digited hands and feet ending with sharp talons. Angelic wings sprout from their backs, and their prehensile and joints are dotted with outcropping scutes. Other sketches depict them completely covered in cloaks, hunched over with only their wings and sneering snouts visible as they wield staffs layered with magic, while others show some with more exposed skin, showing their gills lining the sides of their torsos and having a singular mohawk like fin instead of hair, while others still in toga like attire are shown with a head full of outcropping scales. Each has a variety of patterns of various colors over their flesh.]

Scientific Name Translation: Hermit Angels of Lasarna.

Average Size: 7-8.5 feet/2.134-2.6 meters.

Average Weight: 400-800 pounds/181.44-362.9 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, though some of their kind are hermaphrodites with more muscular builds, with pure females having more pronounced curves.

Habitat Range: Primarily the island chains along the coast east of the Arisa Continent, as well as in the West in the Land of Giants.

Summary:​

In the history of Null's vast ecosystem, many creatures not native to our world have been introduced to it via the mystical overseers of its biodiversity, the Uplifters. Tasked with monitoring the ecosystem and responsible for ensuring it remains deadly and varied with the addition of new, or on occasion modification of existing, creatures, the Uplifter's have had a tendril on the pulse of Null's Mortal life for eons, and their influence has been felt time and again across history with the inclusion of beings such as the Ogra, Spider-Ants, and other life forms of varying levels of influence. However, this is not an exact or perfect science, and in addition to there being a set of governing rules on what Uplifters are and are not allowed to bring into our world, there are also occasionally unforeseen consequences involved with beings that, on paper, are capable of surviving just fine on Null once upgraded to Null standards, but in practice are in extreme danger as a consequence of their innate abilities.

The biggest example of this are the Wyches of Lasarna, also known as just the Lasarnans or Wyches. Hailing from a different world than our own in another universe, the arrival of the Lasarna Wyches broke many, many rules the Uplifters are governed by. In addition to absolutely shattering the rule against knowingly bringing in sapient, Civilized life forms wholesale, it also broke laws concerning the implementation of powerful Mortal entities known as 'Godlings', as well as the inclusion of a diety from another realm entirely. For these gravely broken laws, the Uplifter that caused the arrival of the Wyches has since been erased from historical record, with the only proof of their existence being mention of their crimes in the bringing of the Lasarna Wyches to Null.

Brought to Null some 12,000 years ago, the Lasarnans and their goddess, the titular Lasarna, were beings of incredible power, their abilities far outstripping even the True Dragons of old. In theory, this primed them to be the dominant life forms on Null. In practice, however, their innate connection with magic and the sheer scale of their magical power led to the Lasarnans experiencing first hand a 'magical overdose' on Null's notoriously potent and aggression boosting 'Dark Mana'. The end result was all but the most strong willed of their kind going mad in short order and turning on each other in a mystical frenzy of violence and magical power, with even those that managed to retain their senses having little control over their now super-charged abilities. Lasarna herself, unfamiliar and unprepared for a mystical landscape like Null's, was rendered comatose by her own will in order to avoid becoming corrupted by the aggression boosting effects of Null's Dark Mana, leaving her in a slumbering state while her mind slowly adapted to the new environment. [A note is attached. It reads 'I can't even begin to imagine what must have been going through her mind when she got here and everything turned to piss...']

From this point onwards, the Lasarnans would become mystical bogeywomen to the other Civilized Races of Null, seemingly all powerful and maddened 'Wyches' of incredible magical power that could only be stopped either by early Aether Shamans, or by the cooperation of early settlements and cultures working together to end the threat. During this time, the Lasarnans would split off into two distinct cultures: The Eastern Lasarnans, inhabiting the countless islands and archipelagos that dot and line the eastern seaboard and coastlines of the Arisa Continent, would be made up of those who managed to retain their sanity, but whose magical power was shot with a difficult time to control their supercharged abilities. Those to the West, inhabiting the Land of Giants, would become the Western Wyches, comprised primarily of those who have lost themselves to the madness of the overwhelming nature of Null's magical reality, with an active warring state between each other, the Ogra they live alongside, and the creatures that already called this location home.

The biggest change to the Lasarnans on both sides would be, while their original goddess remained in her healing sleep, the Nullian Great Spirits would intervene. For the Lasarnans in particular, the Great Spirit of Knowledge and Magic, Laylaru, would intervene on the Lasarnans behalf. Too powerful by default for their own good, Laylaru offered a pact with the Lasarnans that would simultaneously help them overcome their situation, while also making them safer for the other inhabitants of Null, yet still leaving them with sufficient power to protect themselves and make a home for themselves in Null's dangerous ecosystem. Through this pact, known by the Eastern Lasarans as the Laylaru Compact, and by the Western Lasarans as Laylaru's Curse, the immense power the Lasarans once had as Godlings would be diminished to a level of ability more in line with the power present on Null. No longer would they be living mystical weapons of mass destruction, but now would simply be, albeit quite powerful, Mortals more in line with the standards present with other native Civilized Races on Null.

This Pact has had the benefit of relieving the Lasarna of the dangers involved with their magical overdose and madness, however due to this being thousands of years since their initial arrival, a stark and irreparable divide had come to exist between the Eastern Lasarna and their Western sisters. While the Eastern, island bound Lasarna retained the knowledge of their original homelands history and their original culture, recreating it as best as they could in their newfound homeland on Null, the Western Wyches have long since forsaken their original culture in favor of a new one based on the principles that might makes right. As such, while the Eastern Lasarna are ruled by a senate of elected officials from all over their various city-states, the Western Wyches are ruled by a council of the most powerful and capable of their kind, overseen by the strongest of them all at the time, with the only way to advance being to prove themselves stronger than their predecessor in an often bloody battle with them. [A note is attached. It depicts a cloaked Western Wych screaming victoriously in the air, spear held high by the death of her enemy.]

Historically, the Western Wyches have had a love/hate relationship with the Ogra, working alongside them as often as they have fought with them, the two species developing a mutual respect for the other's strengths, and have come to and oddly mutually beneficial relationship of conflict, with both sides becoming stronger and smarter as they try to outwit and defeat the other. Though numerically inferior by a wide margin, and with the Laylaru Curse afflicting them, the Western Wyches remain mystical powerhouses in their own right, allowing them to inflict disproportionate amounts of damage to the Ogra, who in turn use their superior technology and pack tactics to fight on relatively even footing. This relationship has been this way since the Western Wyches first regained some semblance of sanity once again, and even in the modern day where more developed concepts and ideas have begun to take root with both sides, this bond between their two peoples continues strong to this day.

In turn, the Eastern Lasarna did their best to recreate their old culture and society as best as they could remember, and their relative strength on the relatively peaceful and nonthreatening archipelagos and islands in their part of the world allowed them to redevelop and recreate vast city-states reminiscent of their old homes in relative tranquility. Pillar held buildings and temples are the norm, with mosaics made up of countless pieces of glass and polished stone adding dazzling colors to their marble streets as obelisks of glossy stone are fashioned as waymarkers and landmarks in their lands. In celebration and thanks of being freed of the curse of the 'Mania of Magic' as the Lasarna refer to their old condition on arrival thanks to the Compact, the Lasarna began to worship the native Great Spirit Pantheon, with their benefactor Laylaru taking center stage at the head of the main cult's pantheon, with Lasarna herself, being their creator deity, having a reverent, mythical placement at the time due to her seemingly eternal healing stasis. Lasarna herself would not awaken until the 1000's AA, severely weakened from her slumber and still in a stupor like state that as of time of writing has yet to fully disappear. [A note is attached. It reads 'Damn, she just can't get a break, can she?']

Compared to the Western Wyches, who adapted to their new situation by embracing the violence and brutality of their new homeland, the Eastern Lasarna valued debate and representation in a democratic fashion with elected officials, a hallmark of their original homeland's customs. Each Eastern Lasarnan settlement, from city-states to townships, were ruled by an elected official, usually buoyed by an assortment of advisors. However, though they are one people borne of a single goddess, cultural shifts and individual societal drifts are not uncommon, and as such the requirements and deciding methodologies for these officials and the process of their election varies from city-state culture to city-state. Spira, for example, values martial leadership and thus its officials must have a history of military service to be eligible for selection, while the Trade Township of Gomandeere believes that only the most magically capable and talented should be allowed the chance to rule. The requirements and methods are varied, but all ultimately contribute to wider Eastern Lasarna society via each major settlement providing their own Senator to the Senate Forum that ruled the 'Lasarna Republics' since their refounding on Null.

Military prowess is highly valued, and as such a strong military culture has formed among the Eastern Lasarans. However, to prevent widespread slaughter, bloodshed, and the destruction of the society they worked so hard to recreate and preserve, the Eastern Lasarans developed a new tradition of ritualized combat and sporting events known as the Marotia Games, named in honor of the city to first hold these contests. Disputes between city-states would be settled via tournaments in these Colosseum, held to present ritualized combat in front of crowds of excited citizens in events that mirror conventional sporting enthusiasm members of the Median are familiar with. Death is rare, but always a present danger due to the complex and at times brutal fighting that goes on here. [A note is attached. It reads 'Imagine if all wars was resolved with an arm-wrestling match. It'd be soooo cool! But giant sponsored tournaments are cool too, I guess. ']

Not all of their cultural aspects were beneficial or egalitarian, however. While the concept of Indentured Servitude is not unknown to native Nullians, having long been used up until recent history as an optional way for the incarcerated to serve their sentence while providing community service in return, out and out slavery is a foreign concept. On Null, mutual cooperation has always ruled the day, as working together is what led to the survival and foundation of the modern day Nations and the Median. The Lasarna, meanwhile, hail from a world where such barbaric practices were common, and which they sought to recreate in their new home. While Null enforces mutual cooperation due to its hostility, the relatively peaceful archipelagos the Lasarna Republics made their home on meant that they did not feel the same pressures as other Nullian races to unite and willingly cooperate with one another for mutually beneficial survival. For approximately three thousand years, the Lasarna practiced slavery among their own people, with an entire caste system in place to determine who was born, or made, a slave. Despite the displeasure this caused the Nullian Great Spirits, who requested countless times for the Lasarna to cease these practices, the Lasarna willfully misinterpreted or ignored their new pantheon's requests time after time. [A note is attached. It reads 'Also, it's just plain impractical. Like, yeah, it's an evil, vile practice, but unless the indentured are doing it willingly like how they used to do it to cut down on time in prison, it's completely impractical to try and enslave creatures as durable and powerful as any native Nullian. I don't know how it works on other worlds, but I'd imagine slave rebellions would be a lot more successful if the average slave could shoulder-check through walls, or lift and throw small vehicles with relative ease.']

This cultural practice would finally come to an end around six thousand years ago, when after so long being content to look inward, the Eastern Lasarna decided to expand their civilization outward instead. Their first, and only, target would end up being the Oros peoples who made their living along the upper island archipelagos, coastlines, and peninsulas on the coast of the Arisa continent. The Lasaran Invasion, as it would go down in history, would be the moment where these various Oros peoples unified under one body to create the Wavechaser Nation. After several centuries of back and forth conflict, the Wavechasers, with backing from other Oros Nations not directly involved in the conflict, managed to create a counter-invasion force that would also be backed by the Great Spirits themselves. The ensuing counter-invasion finally ended when the Wavechasers drove themselves into the heart of the Lasarna Republics, both the sacred Temple of the First Goddess where their creator deity lay sleeping as well as the seat of their government in the Senate Forums. With little other choice, and seeing the writing on the wall, the Lasarna government gave a unanimous vote to surrender to the invading Wavechasers, who among their list of demands would see to the end of the practice of slavery and the caste system among the Eastern Lasarans as well as demand compensation for those killed in the war or captured in the Lasaran initial invasion years prior.

With even their very gods turning against them on these matters, the counter-invasion served as an eye-opening moment to the previously insular Eastern Lasarna. They opened up their gates to the trade of goods, and ideas, with the rest of the outside world. Though initially skeptical as to these new ideas, including the desolation of slavery in place of the Nullian limited time, and less severely punishing, Indentured Servitude practices for the criminal element, time would eventually have the Eastern Lasarna accept, even celebrate, this change in their culture, particularly among those that had suffered the most under the old caste system. Not-so-coincidentally, the Eastern Lasarna would also begin a long term project to protect their lands from future invasions via the creation of a massive series of huge walls to protect their coastlines and settlements from future conflict, with their magical talents including mystical theater shielding in their defenses. The concepts and end products of this project would, one day, be used to aid in the designing and construction of the Great Walled Cities we now take for granted in the modern day as of time of writing this entry. Indeed, in the modern day, the Lasaran Republics, though not a part of the Median, are considered an allied state with whom we are in good trade relations with. [A note is attached. It reads 'One of my pen-pals is a Lasaran Republic soldier named Lyria. She came over to visit last year and she was really friendly and excited to see Dreamhold. I can't wait to visit her home town one of these years. ']

In terms of biology, the Lasarna are a tall people, all female on first appearance and capable of amphibious living thanks to their gilled torsos and internal lungs. Generally regarded as beautiful by many, Lasarna vary greatly in specifics. Though all have the same general, basic appearances of bipedal anthropoidal fish woman with short snouts and finned ears, coloration, scale patterns, whether they have hair or fins on their heads, and more are all variable. Two unifying factors, however, are their forelimbs and their wings. Their feathered, angelic wings are natural to them, a gift to them by their creator goddess and giving them the gift of flight. Their forelimbs, however, are large, armored, and wyvern like, and act as a biological, tangible marker of their people's compact with Laylaru, the Wyvern Great Spirit of Knowledge. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoonish drawing of an eyepatched female Oros with feathered wings. Words follow, reading 'I want angel wings! Why can't we have angel wings!? This sucks, I want a refund!']

In terms of offensive and defensive capabilities, much has changed since their Godling status was altered vastly to make them more conventionally Mortal. Despite these changes, however, Lasarna are quite powerful individually, with tough, durable flesh even by Nullian standards, with bones on a level of durability comparable to the Chimera, Empusa, and Cerberi. Strong even for their size and able to match Mortalized Erui Tiger Spirits in terms of strength, Lasarans possess sharp, durable claws on their limbs and sharp, strong teeth in their mouths that allow them to be armed at all times. Additionally, Lasarans are still mystical powerhouses, albiet on a more conventional scale, and each are trained to use their abilities at even a basic level. Their martial cultural roots also means that they are trained and quite skilled with a wide variety of weapons, from conventional melee spears, swords, shields, and axes, to traditional bows, enchanted crossbows, and enhanced cannons. Their only true limiting factor is that, they are individually powerful enough that working together allows them to survive and win conflicts with Nullian animals easily enough as to cause their weapon's and technological development to be slowed to a crawl due to a lack of actual need for it. Despite this, it is common for Lasarans on both sides of the globe to be trained to be passingly familiar with most modern day firearms, even if they themselves do not use them traditionally. [A note is attached. It reads 'They're only relatively less advanced. Magitech airships, submersibles, hover platforms are stuff they have. They also trade with us to make use of computer systems and the like for a bunch of stuff like streamlining bureaucracy.']

Capable of fully amphibious living, most Eastern Lasaran settlements not in-land bound tend to be multi-layered and extending into the water, both on a surface level as well as beneath the waves. Despite the relative peacefulness of their homelands, the Eastern Lasarna learned very early on that deeper waters on Null were extremely dangerous even for their own kind, and as such limited efforts have historically been made to extend beyond the comparative safety and simplicity of the shallows and coastlines of their homelands. As for how much time they spend in the water, this varies wildly from Lasaran to Lasaran. The land-locked Western Wyches spend little time in or near large bodies of water, while the Eastern Lasaran vary as much on an individual basis as they do on a settlement by settlement basis: Some spend nearly all their time living beneath the waves, while others only interact with water via cleansing baths. [A note is attached. It reads 'Can they talk to fish? I forgot to ask Lyria, please this is important I need to know! I want to know what my Mr. Glub Glub is thinking!'']

Additionally, their capacity for flight and magical nature also allows the Lasarans to live in places not commonly seen as easily reachable or even inhabitable. In addition to townships and minor cities created on and around the steepest of mountain sides and tops, Lasarans also make their home on Floatstone lifted landmasses over their homelands. The most astounding, though admittedly rarest, settlements they have take the form of using their magics to shape the clouds themselves into homes and settlements unto themselves, with permanent 'cloud cities' dotted around their homeland. Though impossible to stand on for non-Lasarans or Spirits, these places remain a powerful symbolic victory for the Lasarans over the traditionally quite difficult to manipulate Nullian environment.

In terms of Sentinal Bacteria, Lasarans possess the same 'grade' as Ogra, something that is a known sore spot for their people on the whole, though little effort has been made into 'upgrading' this aspect of themselves due to a lack of pressing need to do so.

When it comes to reproduction, this is where things become fascinating. Capable of producing young at all times of the year like other Civilized Races, Lasarans appear at first glance to be an all female race, similar to the Chimera and Cerberi. However, they are not. Approximately half of their population are, in fact, hermaphrodites, traditionally differentiated for their more muscular builds, who fulfill the role of males seen in other bi-gendered species. Female Lasarans are able to become more pregnant more easily than their hermaphroditic counterparts, and tend to be more powerful in terms of raw magical power, while their hermaphrodites are physically stronger and more durable due to their additional muscle mass. That being said, muscular females are not uncommon, and less muscular herms also exist, and when fully clothed it is difficult to determine which is which without gaining sight of their nether regions. While gender roles have existed in their society, in the modern day, both sexes have completely equal rights and opportunities in the eyes of the law and society.

Regardless of the sex, pregnant Lasarans notably remain pregnant for an amount of time similar to the Oros at 11 months of time, after which they give birth from anywhere between 1-3 pups. The biggest cultural difference between Eastern Lasarans and the other Civilized Races of Null is their approach to raising their children: While parents do participate in their children's lives and development to varying extents, much of the Eastern Lasaran children's development is undertaken by the Scholaria, the unified schooling system of the Lasaran Republics which all Eastern Lasarans undertake from the age of 7 months to 18 years of age, after which they are considered ready to enter society as working adults, or whom continue their education via the many universities and colleges spread throughout Eastern Lasaran society. Comparatively, the Lasaran Wyches have a constant, active participation in their children's lives, raising them in surprisingly close knit family units where they are taught everything from survival, to combat training, to various other educational aspects by their parents and family members. Both sides of the Lasara divide believe in teaching all of their children, regardless of gender, to be able to defend themselves with a wide range of martial arts and rudimentary combat tactics, with more advanced techniques being open to further training by family or military enrollment in the West and East respectively. [A note is attached. It depicts a chibi Lasaran child in oversized armor and helmet, a xiphos sword in tiny hand with the words reading 'Mother, I crave bloodshed.' beneath.]

One notable aspect of Lasaran sexuality worth mentioning, and an aspect of their original culture that survived into their modern day, is how open they are with their relations. While marriage is considered a sacred union between individuals similar to other cultures, unmarried Lasarans are known for close, even physical relationships between themselves and their close friends and colleagues, and Lasarans have far fewer reservations of polyamorous relationships and marriages compared to the much more monogamy minded Nullian natives and the instinctively very loyal bonded pairings of the Ogra. Similar to Nullian natives, gender is no issue to romance among the Lasarans, though their more open minded natures tend to mean what would just be a strong-knit friend group among, say the Oros, tend to lead into intimate relations between friends. It should be noted, however, that this mindset is not universal with the Eastern Lasarans, whose wide range of opinions see those with no interest in sex or romance being uninterested in this part of their culture, or in individuals who do not wish for physical intimacy between themselves and friends. Regardless of previous relationship status between individuals, Lasarans have a strong cultural and instinctive drive towards those that do produce offspring together to become closer to one another. [A note is attached. It reads, '....So wait, does this mean Lyria was being friendly towards me, or 'friendly' towards me? She was cute, but I'm not sure if she's my type. XD']

In the historical modern day, the Eastern Lasarans have been passed by the War Dragons in the First Draconic War due to their mystical protections allowing them to weather through the initial invasion completely unscathed, only for them to take the brunt of the War Dragon's fury in the Second Draconic War after they had found solutions to break through the once seemingly impenetrable Eastern Lasaran shielding. By the time of the recent Third Draconic War, thanks to aid from their Median allies, the damage to their cities have since been repaired and a number of Eastern Lasaran military detachments eagerly joined up with us in our counterattack against the War Dragons in their homeland. Though desiring vengeance for the damage done to them, they ultimately stood down and helped to aid the Median in the fight against the Mother Root threat. Ironically, the War Dragon sending detachments to combat the threat would mean all three former enemies would be unified in the fight against the developing Dream Lotus insurgency. While peace is assured between ourselves and the Lasaran Republics, only time will tell if the War Dragons and the Eastern Lasarans will come out of this still seeking to fight one another, or become newfound allies instead. [A note is attached. It reads 'Turns out, the War Dragons would join up with the Eastern Lasarans, and they're now an official part of the Republics. Who saw that one coming? XD']

 

[TripleMRed]

Mother Root.

[Sketches depict an array of plant like life forms in too many variant forms to list, the only commonalities uniting them being bark like armor broken up to reveal amber colored 'muscle' like root strands beneath, and a set of seven glowing eyes, 5 arrayed in a 'leaf' like spread over a head (for those that have one) plus two on the torso region as back ups.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Creepy AF is what they are.']

Scientific Name Translation: Dream Lotus.

Average Size: Varies based on form.

Average Weight: Varies based on form.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A by default, female for most unique command forms.

Habitat Range: Across the Arisa continent, usually hidden deep within jungles and forest biomes.

Summary:​

Of the countless life forms to make a home on Null, a notable percentage of them hail as being Displaced in Origin, brought to our world by the machinations of the Uplifters. The Ogra, the Lasarna, the Spider-Ants are just some of the most famous, or infamous in the final case, examples of just this phenomenon that has seen our world littered and filled with life forms of all shapes and sizes. However, as diverse as the range of these previously mentioned life forms is, they all have two unifying traits: The first is that they are of Mortal origin. Divine-blooded, in the case of the Lasarna, but Mortal all the same. The second is that, albeit under varying circumstances and points in their development, all were brought here intentionally by the Uplifters. Neither of these same qualities can be said for one of the most ancient, and dangerous, life forms to have arrived on our world: The eldritch Dream Lotus.

The Dream Lotus, also known by their common name of 'The Mother Root', are an extra dimensional eldritch entity of mixed origin. While the details of their origin is shrouded in myth and legend even among the Magi, the most commonly accepted story of this mysterious species of plant like beings is that they hail from the third born of the Aetheric Sisters, for whom the Mediator is first born and Weaver Null is the fourth. Created as an experimental weapon, the original Dream Lotus was set loose upon the Elder Realms, wherein she would find and absorb an Elder God into her form, becoming what is considered the foundational Elder Goddess of the rest of her spawn. This theory is the one with the most evidence to support it, however as this evidence is minimal at best, this isn't saying much. [A note is attached. It reads 'I'm partial to the theory that they're an Elder parasite that lucked out and podded a sleeping Elder God as their brain, and that's how they got so dangerous.']

Regardless of the exact origins of the Dream Lotus, whether natural born Elder or a super-weapon of a Primodial like an Aether Being, the impact they have had on the multiverse has been slowly but steadily becoming more and more apparent. High Distance Dimensional Longscry reveals other worlds in other universes have been 'seeded' similar to our own, from which the infestation of the Dream Lotus begins to spread across the world and, eventually, across the stars of that given realm. What makes Null special in this regard is that, whether by fluke of chance, bad luck on their part, or simply overestimating their abilities, Null's extremely hostile environment proved an incredible challenge to surmount. Even an Elder Creature, not normally bound by the same limitations of physical environments and hazards as Mortal life, is in for a difficult time on Null's caustic, magically charged atmosphere. [A note is attached. It reads 'I hate that we are considered lucky because of how bad our planet is. Like, dude, come on, seriously?!']

Indeed, the vast majority of the Dream Lotus's history on our world has not, in fact, been in expansion, but simply adaptation, taking a long, painfully difficult time to adjust, adapt, and evolve to become accustomed to the atmosphere alone, never mind the dangerous and powerful life forms that have both the ability and willingness to consume fledgling Dream Lotus nests long before they are ready and mature enough to begin the next stage of their life cycle. It would not be until modern times, within the last few centuries, when the Dream Lotus had adapted and evolved enough to find purchase in the darkest, most hidden parts of Null's vast ecosystem, that the next and much more dangerous stage of their life cycle could begin.

The key that makes the Dream Lotus so successful and widespread, beyond its inherently eldritch nature, is its fascinating life cycle and modus operendi. In its base form, the Dream Lotus is a plant like creature little different from most small scale animals. It is unremarkable in most aspects beyond its plant like composition, which ironically makes it beyond notice for most until it's far, far too late. These Fledlings, once acclimated to the environment, begin to target small scale animal and plant life, not for consumption, but for capture and podding. Once podded, these life forms are held in a dream, their conscious mind trapped in fantasies designed to sate all of their needs and desires and molded to enough realistic detail that most will never realize they are not awake. While the conscious mind is trapped, the rest of the creatures brain and nervous system is hijacked by the Dream Lotus to act as their brain, increasing their mental abilities both by the number and quality of creatures podded: The number increases their ability to calculate and strategize, while the quality increases their actual intelligence and creativity. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon five eyed plant looking at a podded up cartoon dog, a speech bubble reading 'Mhm, yes, fetch is an important skill.']

From here as the start of the second stage of their life cycle, the Dream Lotus switches from simple survival to active capture and collection of new 'Brains' for use in expanding Dream Lotus intellect and coordination abilities. Starting with the smallest and easiest creatures to capture, over a slow and cautious but steady build up over the course of years or decades, a Dream Lotus nest increases in both size, complexity, and intelligence as it expands its roster and quality of creatures acting as its living wetware. It is during this stage that the first and earliest breeds of Dream Lotus life forms are created and sent out. Mind Flowers crawl unto potential prey to immobilize, or in the case of the smaller creatures, hijack their motor functions and lead them directly to the Nest, for swift and strong animalistic capture units to load them up and carry them back for podding. Insect like surveillance, monitoring, tracking, and alarm units spread across the territory to keep an eye out for isolated prey to be carefully stalked and captured, and monitor potential threats that might prove too much of a hassle at the current stage and proceed to annoy them into leaving. [A note is attached. It reads 'I knew gnats were evil! Evil evil little creatures! >']

This strategy serves them well as they build up their power, until they find and capture the philosophers stone that pushes them into their next stage: A sapient life form. While most Nullian life forms are sentient to one degree or another, and semi-sapience is common, full sapience is the treasure the Dream Lotus bides its time gathering strength to acquire, for it is with the creative and intelligent capabilities of a fully sapient creature where they can push their abilities to the next level. Newer, more dangerous Root Creatures begin to be created, from Vine Hounds to Spore Steeds, the capabilities of the Mother Root is expanded to new heights and lethality, allowing their Nest to grow further, deeper, and with newer and more refined and calculating strategies.

However, despite all of this, a Third Stage Dream Lotus infestation is still not something that is much of a threat to the Median or its people, our technology and civilized skill proving excellent defenses against what would otherwise be an increasingly overwhelming threat. So needless to say, it is when the Dream Lotus acquires and pods a member of the Civilized Races where things truly become a threat for our peoples.

The Fourth Stage, wherein a member of the Civilized Races is captured, is when the Dream Lotus forms a centralized 'Mother Root', both a repository for their collected intelligence, the central processing hub for their calculations and strategic abilities, and indeed an individual all of her own. Each Nest produces their own distinct, uniquely personalized Mother Root, though almost all follow the same basic instincts, drives, and are unified by a collective desire to expand their podding operations further. With the culmination of a Stage 4 Infestation, some of the deadliest Root Creatures are created, based on the abilities and technological knowledge of modern day Civilized life. From the agile, fleet footed and bladed weapon morphs of the swordsman inspired Daisy Cutters, to the rapid and unrelenting ranged firepower of Root Gunners, Seed Missiles, and bioplasma using Sappers, to countless other forms, variants, and subtypes, the Fourth Stage is when the Dream Lotus becomes a true threat. [A note is attached, depicting a flat, tentacled disk like Root Creature. Words follow, reading 'Hack Weed. These little bastards are some of the scariest we've encountered and still keep seeing even after the Root War: They track down, infiltrate, and hijack anything mechanical or artificial in nature while it's offline, and turns it against us. ANYTHING. Power Armor, Tanks, Gunships, if it's offline and nobody is keeping a good eye out, these suckers sneak in, slide their roots to tap into everything, and control our own stuff against us. I've even heard stories of them growing over or working together to take over statues.']

Historically, the first, and so far largest, Dream Lotus war occurred in late 3042. The then ongoing Third Draconic War was in full swing and taking the majority of the Median's attention and resources, which left us unprepared for when a War Matriarch of the Order of the War Panoply, injured from a previous battle with an invading beast from the Land of the Giants, was isolated from the rest of her war host and captured by the Dream Lotus. In the span of a few short months, the Dream Lotus expanded enough to launch a massive invasion, using the collected knowledge of the seasoned and powerful War Matriarch combined with its massive processing power to create a vast horde of Root Creatures. The initial flood was stemmed by the Order of the War Panoply, but it was quickly found that even with its full might, they could only keep the creatures contained. Despite the hordes of Root Creatures they slew, it was rapidly apparent that this was not a battle that could be won with superior skill and ability alone, but by matching it with numbers. As the true scale of the threat was relayed to the Median leadership, who were shocked that the venerable Order could only contain the Root Creatures and press no further, the invasion into the lands of the War Dragons was recalled and rerouted to fight back against the Root invasion. [A note is attached. It reads 'The Order of the War Panoply are the baddest binches on Null. They are trained, honed, and refined in non-stop, never ending training and battle over the course of decades and centuries until they are, no joke, one women-armies. If they in their full mobilization couldn't stop this threat on their own, you know it's janked.']

After months of intense, nonstop fighting, relief finally arrived in record time as the Order of the War Panoply, worn down through sheer attrition by the numbers they were facing, were bolstered by the rest of the Median's military forces, who proceeded to turn the tides of battle and push the invaders back to their homelands.

The final battle would occur in late 3045, when after a year of fighting, the central Mother Root holding the War Matriarch was slain by a member of her Order, said to have been the War Matriarchs own younger sister, and the War Matriarch freed. With the loss of their central commander and strategic mental resource, the remaining Root Nests were routed and destroyed, though a handful managed to escape and went deep into hiding.

While not confirmed, it is said that during the Root War, a Fifth Stage of the Dream Lotus Infestation was discovered: Instead of capturing new minds to use as brains for themselves, the Dream Lotus were in fact creating new minds of their own, incredibly powerful self aware Root Commanders capable of independent thought and able to be revived through placing their minds into new bodies when the old ones were destroyed. If these rumors are true, a small but notable number of these Root Commanders, too new and young to be much of a threat beyond the tactical level, actually surrendered and stood down, requesting to negotiate with the Median in order to survive what they had calculated to be a losing cause.

Regardless as to the truth behind these rumors, the surviving pockets of the original Root War Nests that went into hiding have become a recurring, but non-threatening periodic problem for the Median. Without the ancient strategic acumen and wisdom of a War Matriarch to guide them, and with only a fraction of their total processing power, the surviving Nests now only stage periodic probing attacks. Attempts to find these Nests are successful when these attacks occur, but the core of the Nests always manage to survive and escape to rebuild once again. Despite their potential, following the First Root War, the Median has since shifted the now diminished Dream Lotus forces to a lesser threat level, content with sending out response units to their probing attempts instead of an active mobilization that could potentially bring them into conflict with the Ogra as the Mother Roots are drive further and further west with each successful counterattack. [A note is attached. It reads 'With the Moon War and everything involving that nowadays, the Mother Roots are basically ignored in favor of the 'real' threats. At least, that's how it seems. They're still sending response teams against them and the Spider-Ants even these days.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Gorger Hopper.

[Sketches depict a large, frog like snapping tortoise creature, with a segmented shell on its back, an armored plate on its head, and a sharp beak lining its mouth. It is shown in the sketches to dig and lay in wait under the mud, with only the shell poking out of the ground. Its powerful, coiled legs show it leaping great distances for its size, launching itself at prey, while it is also shown to crawl on all fours in a rapid movement when not jumping. The long, powerful tongue is shown to be three times its body length fully extended, giving it a powerful tool in its arsenal in addition to globs of some sort of liquid it projects from its mouth.]

Scientific Name Translation: Terror Frog.

[A note is attached. It reads, 'I'd be terrified of them too if I could get eaten by one. Scary thought, that.']

Average Size: 3 Meters/9.84 Feet in height.

Average Weight: 4 Tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are bigger than the males.

Habitat Range: Mostly inhabits swamps and bogs within and around Bughunter territory, though can also be found in bogs in other regions as well, with a massive population in the Land of Giants.

Summary:​

Null's mystical and unpredictable nature has resulted in anomalies that lead to the fusing of two differing species and the creation of brand new ones. Gryphons are the most prominant example of this, of course, but there is also the Snail-Shelled Frog and the Gliding Squirrel Tailed Salamander as well. The creature in this entry is, surprisingly, not one such example, despite all appearences to the contrary. The Gorger Hopper is a massive amphibious lifeform that resembles a cross between a frog and a tortoise. This is not a result of mystic fusion, but rather the result of the Gorger Hopper being part of a family branch of life forms known as the Terrorpins, a branch of terrapin that would go on to develop traits and characteristics of other creatures through convergent evolution rather than mystic misshap. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wonder if there's a thing where creatures turn into frogs like how crustaceans always deveop into Krabs.']

Massive in size, the beaked maw of this hulking behemoth is matched by its armored head and the segmented shell adorning its back. Armored from behind to a degree that makes attack from anything short of either an anti-tank weapon or a vehicular cannon impossible, this leaves the frontside ironically its only real weakpoint. However, this is far from safe, as the collossal creature is a leaping, crawling pillar of muscle and tricks up its sleaves that render a direct assault a difficult prospect indeed, be the attack of the Civilized Races or other animals.

Armed with powerful forerlimbs and claws for digging, it is common for the Gorgers to dig a spot for themselves within mud or soft soil near large bodies of water to sleep or wait for prey. In the latter case, upon the approach of a suitable prey animal, the Gorger will make use of its incredibly powerful legs to suddenly and violently leap forwards out of its hiding spot, exploding from the ground in a shower of mud and plant roots to gobble down on any unlucky prey. If the prey animal is large enough, the Gorger aims for either the neck or the leg in order to use its powerful, crushing beaked jaws to deliver a debilitating wound. A long muscular tongue is also held within the Gorger's mouth, able to be launched out to ensnare and bring in smaller prey into its mouth, or in the case of a battle with something it cannot or does not like to eat, thrash the offending creature about in a brutal flurry of tosses and slams. [A note is attached. It depicts a Gorger in wrestling attire about to do a flying elbow drop on what looks like a cartoon Oros in a wrestling mask.]

In addition to its powerful physical traits, the Gorgers is also host to a potent biochemical substance it develops in sacs within its body and which it can secrete from its mouth. This corrosive, toxic substance can be used in a wide variety of ways by the Gorgers, including but not limited to: lining the insides of the mouth and beak in order to deliver a toxic bite, spat at ranges up to a hundred meters away in globules or in a wide spray within 15 meters, coating the tongue with it, and in at least one known instance, spray out in a aerosolized mist form to cover the area, though this last version of the attack is rare and seems to be exclusively employed by the females when protecting their broods.

An omnivorous predator, the preffered meals of the Gorger is the Wetland Lungfish, a sizable animal that often crosses the paths of the waiting Gorgers as they perform their seasonal land crossings to arrive in new spawning grounds. However, the Gorger is not picky, and if a Wetland Lungfish is not readily availble, they will not hesitate to gorge themselves on any edible foods they come across. The exception to this, however, is the technically edible Slough, a creature so disgusting that nothing alive willingly eats them if given the chance that isn't a plant, with only their sheer stupidity keeping their numbers in check. [A note is attached. It reads 'I'm trying to imagine what kind of creature would willingly eat a Slough, but nothing I can think of is that desperate or disgusting.']

In encounters with Civilized Races, the average Gorger is not inherently hostile, though getting too close will result in warning calls that are more felt than heard in order to dissuade getting near. Indeed, the only known times where Gorgers actively attack Civilized Races without an outside influence or the sapient starting the fight themselves is during the breeding season, when they become much more aggressive in the defense of their nests, or when they are in the middle of a meal, where they attack anything they percieve as trying to steal or otherwise take away their food.

Mating season for the Gorger is during the Wet Season, where in male Gorgers pick fights with one another in aggressive but rarely lethal duels for the right to mate with onlooking females. The most successful males will sire the most offspring with the most females, though they will take little actual part in the raising of their offspring when the mating season ends. Females, meanwhile, will create artificial pools of water to lay their eggs in, at which point they will find a near by spot to dig themselves into and silently watch over their brood until they hatch.

It takes between 2-4 weeks for a Gorger egg patch to hatch, depending on environmental conditions and quality of the water in which they lay, at which point they enter the world as armored limbed pollywogs. Ironically, the mother has little hunting to actually do, as they simply have to wait for other predators to come and try and snatch away their young to attack and kill, providing their children their would be predators as their first meals. [A note is attached. It reads 'Try to eat the baby? Become the baby food.']

The most dangerous part of a Gorger's development is not at their pollywog stage, but during their initial stage as fully formed, but not fully grown, Gorger Hoppers. At this stage, the still growing young begin to wander about and leave their mother's care, into the dangerous wilds around them, where waiting predators will proceed to thin their numbers over the next few years until they have grown enough to reach a size where they can properly defend themselves from attack. Once fully grown, the Gorger life cycle begins anew and the species is perpetuated.

Interestingly, the Gorger has some of the highest number of mutations and variants as a result from exposure to radioactive elements out of all of the Terrorpin line. Affecting them in different ways at every stage of development, variants include the Dwarf Gorger, a creature that reaches maturity at just barely above its initial childhood stage, while others suffer mutations that turn them into living bombs, differentiated by their red warning colorations. Others still become Irradiated Gorgers, creatures that are much more powerful at the cost of becoming sterile.

A powerful species that has earned the respect of the Bughunters for generations, many Dwarf Gorgers find themselves as pets by the Bughunters, while some specially trained ones are used in the hunting and gathering of medium scale insectoids in a manner akin to hunting dogs hunting prey down elsewhere. The end result is a creature with signifigant cultural value in the Bughunter community, and which is a common figure in folk tales and legends in their territory. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wish I had a Dwarf Gorger as a pet. I've heard their war cries, its like a threatening squeak instead of an earth shaking rumble. It's great!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Sword Walker

[Sketches depict a tall, striped quadropedal animal with long legs ending in sharp pointed hooves, with a long but very thick armored neck ending in a head with horns forming a crown like crest, its ears long and floppy, with a trio of what seem like manipulator tendrils at the end. The creature is noble and regal in its stance, and sketches show it wandering through the mires of its boggy homes with little trouble. The interesting thing, however, is that it seems to have an innate and potent control over magic, its horns shimmering as it summons blades of energy to smite its foes or coat its limbs in a blade like edge to slash anything foolish enough to get in its way. A long tail ending in barbed spikes swings behind it.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Sword Waker that extends it neck to a truely ludicrous degree, one word beneath the comic strip: 'Lemgth'.]

Scientific Name Translation: Blade Dancer.

Average Size: 7 meters/22.96 feet tall, 35 meters for the Titanic subspecies in the Land of Giants.

Average Weight: 6 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have a mane lining the back of their necks as well as their tails.

Habitat Range: Predominantly swamps and bogs, though one subspecies is found in the savanahas seperating the Great Deserts from the rest of eastern Arisa and the Titanic Sword Walker is found in the Land of Giants.

Summary:​

Few creatures are quite as striking for the Nullian people, nor as fascinating, as the tall, long necked Sword Walker. Known by many names including Sword Walker, Spear Walker, and Long Necks, these creatures capture the imagination with their unusually tall forms, with a neck that would be extremely vulnerable were it not for its armored bands protecting it. As the neck is the most vulnerable part of any Nullian, even with the presense of armor, the evolutionary pressures and curiosities of why such a being would develop an extended neck like this astounds scientists, leading to an entire group in the scientific community dedicated to the study and research of Sword Walkers and their evolutionary history. [A note is attached. It reads 'One of my Displaced friends is species they call a 'Giraffe'. She's a lot of fun, but she's so tall, and her neck is so long! It actually makes me distressed seeing it, because I'm always worried something might hurt her by going for it...']

Despite the curioristies of what led the Sword Walker to develop its biological quirks, we can see them at work in the modern day: Their long legs ending in sharp hooves, when combined wiht a fully functioning contragravitic organ, allows them to wander through the muck and mire of their swampy homes without difficulty. Their long necks and long, prehensile ears tipped with manipulator digits allow them to reach out and pluck fruits and branches from the trees they find their food from, while their armored necks keep their most vulnerable location protected from anything short of a giant class predator. One subspecies located in the savannahs spends all of its time on land, where in it feeds on local tall trees and finds little in the way of predation from giant scale creatures. The Titanic Sword Walker in the Land of Giants is part of a wider ecological foodchain, though not necessarily an easy prey, with the other Titan scale creatures in the region.

In terms of temperment, the Sword Walker is of cool head and of high patience, prefering to avoid combat where it can and try to shoo away anything foolish or bold enough to try and attack them. In the event that battle cannot be avoided, the Sword Walker displays a comprehensive and in-depth abilitiy to use magica lattacks, summoning force fields, explosive bolts, and most famously, blades of hardened light that cut and burn that which it carves up. When in shallow waters, or when venturing onto dry land, the Sword Walker is not above delivering swift, but powerful kicks that can send full grown Wolf Tigers crashing through trees, or removing the head outright of lesser creatures. If raw strength is not enough, then the power is enhanced by coating the leg in a blade like jet of plasma that gives the Sword Walkers their signature name, allowing them to cut Gorger Hoppers in half, or engage in combat with Power Fists in potent duels to the death. Though uncommon in their regions, most Sword Walkers find themselves having difficulty defending against Smashheads, the theropodic hydras having the armor and physical power to survive the barrage of forest shattering attacks the Sword Walker is capable of unleashing. For annoyances that can't be ignored, but which aren't worth the effort of a full retaliation, the Sword Walkers are very precise with using their venomous barbed tail spikes, launching them with enough force to pin targets to the ground.

There has been no recorded instances of Sword Walkers deliberatly beginning a fight with the Civilized Races unprovoked, though they are not afraid to swat us aside if we get in their way. Some clans of Bughunters, as well as some Stonecutters and the Bloody Ones of the Crimson City, have been able to tame Sword Walkers in the swampy regions of their homelands in order to use them as domestic mounts to cross the deep waters of the bogs they call home. Treated with care and respect, a mutual bond is formed between rider and animal that leaves the locals with few worries about their Sword Walker mounts, though outsiders attempting the same can expect to meet failure head on. [A note is attached. It reads 'Swamp folk, man. Ingenuity at their finest!']

Sword Walker lack a mating season, but intentionally prefer to time their reprduction in order to give birth during the winter months. This is because during this time, many of the predators of their swampy home that could prey upon a young Sword Walker are in hibernation or in stupor, allowing the infants time to acclimate safely to standing up and following their parents, and giving the mothers time to recooperate from the draining process. Parents care for their young and teach them everything they know, from the best places to find food, to the uses of their powers and abilities in order to become skilled users of magic to stay safe. Upon reaching adulthood, young adults leave the safety of their parents to form makeshift herds with others of their age group, banding together until they feel confident enough to leave and live on their own, using safety in numbers and cooperation to take care of what experienced elders can handle on their own.

A fascinating creature in both looks and temperment, the Sword Walkers are a popular symbol of office for those in leadership positions in bog and swamp communities across Arisa, with even the Ogra having totems dedicated to the titanic variants that roam their lands. The rule for coexisitng with Sword Walkers is simple: Don't get in their way, don't start a fight with them, and give them respect, and they will treat you the same. [A note is attached. It reads 'Now if only the rest of the biosphere did that.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Controller.

[Sketches depict a creature with smooth, salamanderan skin of a wide array of camophlaged tiger stripe patterns, hunched over while floating. The head is hooded in a cobra like manner, a tail like extension running off the back. The head-tail is long and ends in a blade like tip, while the forelimbs on the arms and legs are disproporitonatly large and muscled, indicating massive grip strength. The main body varies from individual to individual, some thinner and others pudgier than one another. Their faces are consistent: Large, piercing eyes with short muzzles whose lips curl to reveal sneers full of sharp teeth. Some sketches show them directing animal life by pointing at targets off panel.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I wonder what their skin feels like? That's not a weird question, is it? I'm not the only one who wants to know!']

Scientific Name Translation: Mental General.

Average Size: Varies based on individual.

Average Weight: Varies based on individual.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A.

Habitat Range: World wide.

Summary:​

It is no secret that our world is one that was purpose build by the Weaver Null. Youngest of the Aether Beings, she crafted our world for a purpose only she would know, making it as dangerous and deadly as possible in order to ensure those that live upon it either grow stronger or die trying. One consistent aspect of her design, however, is the systems that underpin our world. The Uplifters seek new life on other worlds to integrate into Null's biosphere to make the environment more dangerous, while such creatures as the Lord of Dragons, the King on the Mountain, acts as a living ground-to-orbit defense system against things not of our solar system. As such, it is little wonder that one of these systems comes in the form of a means to coordinate the wild-life of Null in the event something somehow does get through the defenses, and survives the corrosive atmospheric contaminants. This defense system is handled by the creatures known as 'Controllers.'

The average Controller is a contradiction, as physically each one is distinct from one another in every way save basic shape. Coloration, skin patterns, size and weight, body type, all is subject to change based on individual Controller to individual Controller. The one unifying thing about them is their purpose, to lie in wait for the day they are needed. It is rare indeed for such a day to come, as ancient recordings only detail two such instances in the ancient past. The first was the Elder Invasion during the days of the True Dragons dominion over our world, where they arose to lead the wild-life at the time against the invaders alongside the True Dragons and their Stone Eye allies.

The second time is only known by fragmented records passed down by Spirit researchers, detailing a time when an Uplifter brought in an unauthorized hive-minded, adaptative swarm organism to Null, which was stopped from spreading and culled thanks to the Controllers coordinating Null's animal and plant life in its defense. Since then, no other instance of Controller based assistance has occured, with the Median and its peer civilizations able to handle most threats before they spiral out of control. [A note is attached. It reads 'Moon Elders were in for a nasty surprise when some Controllers woke up during their incursions in the Moon War. I still watch those recordings in awe of the throwdowns that followed.']

Imposing creatures due to their sheer presence, Controllers are not psionic in nature as many often assume. They are, rather, creatures that manipulate the Aether, not unlike the Uplifters. Where the Uplifters specialize in dimensional long-scry, teleportation, and genetic reconsitution, the Controllers focus on offense powers, both conventional and mental in nature. They are especially adept at exerting mental control over the animals they work with, coercing the more reasonable creatures to work for them, and outright dominating the wills of those who refuse their work. These powers are not limited to wild animal life, as they can exert control over the Civilized Races of Null as well, though it should be noted that, whether by design or by flaw, they cannot exert full control over us. Whether this same limitation applies to all Civilized creatures or only those of us here on Null has yet to be determined, though it is known they can, and and are more than happy to, disrupt hostiles with psionic coordination of their own, interfering or cutting off enemies from their own hivemind through the esoteric and overwhelmingly elderitch abilities of the Aether.

According to all records, once a Controller has gained sway over a large enough number of animals as it would deem necessary for a given task, they lead their army of creatures on the warpath against hostile invaders using a disturbingly adept skill with coordinated warfare, using every creature's strengths to their full advantage and using them to bolster the weaknesses of other creatures they work with. Contrary to pop culture depictions of this, and the crude 'animal driving' techniques of the Spider-Ants, Controller controlled creatures do not 'swarm' their enemies and drown them in a wave of bodies. They are precise and coordinated, using overwhelming force only to break weakpoints in hostile formations or defenses, preferring to destroy the enemy with minimal loss of life of their own wards. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Controller giving a headpat to a Jaco Killer, words reading 'I'm going to name you Precious' underneath the drawing.]

While their primary abilities and adeptness are towards mental influence and control, these are not the only tools in their arsenal. Aetherwork attacks ranging from solar based beams, explosive orbs, or cutting energy blades are matched by calling down a rain of rock melting lighting or a blizzard of tree shredding razor-hail. When confronted in direct combat, the Contoller will attempt mental domination, and if that fails, mental attacks on the hostile before unleashing a barrage of Aetherworks attacks of every elemental school imaginable. If one is not driven mad by them, they are hallucinating before being cut down or reduced to free-floating atoms by a miniturized sun landing on them. Either way, a Controller is a formidable foe to fight even alone, and given the context of their purpose and usage, they are rarely ever alone.

In terms of reproduction, it is unknown what, if any, biological sexes Controllers possess. Indeed, it is commonly accepted that Controllers do not have a biological sex at all, being genderless beings like their Uplifter counterparts who exist solely to protect their world. Though rare, records indicate it's possible for Controllers to be slain in combat, similr to how the Uplifters can, in the right circumstances, die. However, they are immediatly replaced like a broken cog in a machine, with the new Controller filling in for them seemingly coming out of nowhere. Whether Controllers are 'born' in some way, or built, and by who or what, remains a complete unknown, as they are illusive and refuse contact or conversation. The only thing that is known for sure is that they seem to be more single-minded and less prone to mistakes or mishaps than their Uplifter counterparts, though whether by design or if this is emergent behavior is another vexing mystery.

For as much as we know about the Controllers, there is so much we don't know. We do not know where they lie in wait when not in use, whether it is some hidden place on Null physically, another realm, or even the Aether itself, as all attempts to find them have failed, even with Aetherwork using Magi. What is known for sure, however, is that they are on ourside, and are completely devoted to their duty, an admirable trait though also a worrying one: Are they here to protect us, or are they here to protect the planet itself? And if it is the latter, will they turn on us if we become a threat to our world's stability? A worrying though, but luckily one we have not had to find out to this day. [A note is attached. It reads 'As of their recent help during the Moon War, we got a chance to do some studying of our own. They seem to inhabit a section of the Aether that 'surrounds' Null, meaning unless you have Aetherworks, nobody and nothing is ever getting to them first; They seem to be protecting us as much as the planet, and so won't turn against us if we change our world; and finally, they seem to be each an individual, but linked together in a psuedo-hivemind that helps coordinate their thoughts and actions with one another. The creepy thing is, this psuedo-hivemind is eerily similar to what the Reaper Corp used for their troops when they fought against us. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but the implications are uncomfortable....']

 

[TripleMRed]

Bore Worm.

[Sketches follow, depicting a large, armored worm creature, its jaws segmented to open up to reveal a flower like maw full of teeth, a light within indicating it projects some sort of heat based breath weapon, which is confirmed in the other sketches showing it using its jet of plasma to melt rock in front of it as it borrows through the ground.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Bore Worms are soooo tasty man, you don't even know!']

Scientific Name Translation: Firemouth Worm.

Average Size: Varies on subspecies.

Average Weight: Varies on subspecies.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, hermaphoriditc species capable of asexual reproduction.

Habitat Range: Primarily deserts, but also found in mountain ranges and occasionally digs into other biomes.

Summary:​

Out of the many lines of arthropodic life forms on our homeworld, few have quite the same widespread cultural impact as the Bore Worm. Coming in a wide range of sizes, subspecies, and variants, the Bore Worm is one of the most successful species of arthropods on Null, differentiated from True Worms by their hard, segmented shells. Genetic and evolutionary evidence indicates they originate from an ancestor of what is the modern day Murderpede, one that took on lifestyle habits of digging that would culminate in their modern, legless forms. Regardless as to the specifics of their origins, the Bore Worms were here to stay and they have made themselves known since then. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch drawing of a massive sandworm bursting from a dune, roaring at the sky.]

Found all over Arisa, the Bore Worm makes its home in large stretches of desert land, both hot and cold variants, digging through the soil to consume minerals and other underground wild-life as they do so. They dig with a mixture of mechanical boring action as well as a heat based bioplasma lance produced by numerous glands within their body before ejecting the resulting plasma out of the mouth to melt rock and soil in front of it into an easily digestible molten slurry. On average, this allows the average Greater Bore Worm (5-10 meters long) to travel through three hundred meters of Nullian solid rock found in mountains in less than 10 minutes.

The Bore Worm is covered in a segmented armored carapace, tougher than the rock they feed on and able to resist military weapon's fire from Sluggers and grenades, though rail weapons can still pierce through them, and their mouth when open is a weak spot. Furthermore, the larger Bore Worms must vent excess heat by stretching out and venting superheated plasma build up, during which time they are vulnerable during this cool down period. However, as they only need to cool down once every 10 minutes of continuous digging, it is not common to occur in normal encounters, thus making heavy weapons fire vital for taking these creatures down. [A note is attached. It reads 'It's impossible to miss these things when they vent with modern thermal imaging. Just turn on some industrial grade thermal sights and boom, you'll see mountain ranges lighting up with these suckers in them.']

Ejecting plasma plumes that reach temperatures in excess of 10k C., Bore worms are a threat to modern vehicles such as tanks or mining equipment, which they view as concentrated sources of minerals they often seek for consumption. As such, Bore Worms are frequent aggressors towards the outermost defenses of the Great Walled Cities and most mining operations. The Stonecutters, however, discovered that the Bore Worm is vulnerable to concentrated electrical discharges from Fulgerite munitions, allowing them to be taken down even with infantry grade small arms if enough Fulgerite firepower is leveraged against them. [A note is attached. It reads 'Man, I've had to work on some of the tanks after a Bore Worm attack, and let me tell you, having to weld off entire sections to replace with new parts is a pain in the butt. The real bad cases are such lost causes, we just scrap the whole thing and recycle it to make a new tank.']

When it comes to reproduction, Bore Worms are equally able to breed with one another as they are to perform asexual reproduction. When two worms do mate, it is as clinically direct as it is simple: Two worms passing each other by during their tunnelling will spray one another with genetic material and pass on by without even stopping. The end result of either method is an eggsack being laid in a pocket of regurgitated minerals to act as the hatchling's first meal before they are let loose into the world all on their own. [A note is attached. It depicts a Rock Worm with a sunhat leaving behind a bundle of eggs next to a pile of molten slag. Words follow, reading 'Bye kids, see you never!']

Culturally, Bore Worms and their variants, including the docile Rock Worm, the belligerent Ice and Sand Worms, and the volcano dwelling Ash Worms, are well known animals among the various Nations of the Median, and are a common food source among the Stonecutters, Icebreakers, Firebrands, and Skyrunners in particular. The specifics of opinion differs from culture to culture, however the common sentiment of Bore Worm meat being extremely delicious and tender has made them culinary staples where possible, and delicacies sought after in those where farming is not possible. The Stonecutters have a massive stake in the exportation of Bore Worm meat, as the more docile Rock Worms that live in their territory are easily farmable and are known for their particularly tender flesh when properly cooked. Smoked Rock Worm is not an uncommon site in menus the world over. [A note is attached. It reads 'You've never lived until you've had Rock Worm stew. And Rock Worm Wurst. And Rock Worm steak. An-'(This goes on for several more lines.)]

Bore Worms are also a staple food source in Ogra lands, where giant scale variants dwell in the aptly named Land of Giants. It is a common coming of age ceremony for Ogra young to participate in the hunting of adolescent Bore Worms in their lands, where the beasts are slain by being tricked into eating Solarite bombs. It is equally common for the meat to be eaten in great feasts on the spot following the successful hunt as a result. Ogra affiliate races are split on Bore Worm meat, with the Gobbs finding it an excellent source of minerals and nutrients, while the Tyto people outwardly find the beasts to be extremely unsophisticated dining, though rumors abound of it being popular in banquets behind closed doors is not unheard of.

Regardless of cultural importance or lack thereof, Bore Worm numbers have been in decline the past fews centuries due to over hunting, a fact that has no clearcut answer to as the worms are attracted to and hunt our technology and equipment as easy sources of food, which we naturally will defend against. Despite their dangerous potential, Bore Worms are not listed as a species requiring extinction for our continued survival, and as a result research is being done on conservation methods. The most promising one so far is the use of sonic weaponry to drive off the worms, though only time will tell how effective it will be in the end. [A note is attached. It reads 'Save the Bore worms! They're too tasty to let die off!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Gobb

[Sketches depict a species of short, pointy eared furless creatures with feline like facial features, particularly the nose and eyes. Some are taller than others, but all have a notable amount of muscle and fat in their often times squat frames. They are differentiated between various subspecies and subtypes, some larger and stronger looking than the rest while still retaining the same basic identifying features. Their skin color ranges from greens, to yellows, to oranges, to rusty colors, while their eyes range from yellow, orange, red, amber, and gold. Males have a topknot of hair on their heads, while females have full heads of hair as well as curvier frames. They are often shown wearing fully body clothes and masks.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'They're so cute!....Do they think we're cute?']

Scientific Name Translation: Little Makers.

Average Size: 4-5 feet/1.2-1.5 meters tall.

Average Weight: 200-280 pounds/90.7-127kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have full heads of hair, mammary glands, and curvier bodies than males.

Habitat Range: Ogra territories, with small enclaves in other Civilized territories.

Summary:​

Of the many Displaced species on Null, none are as successful or as numerous as the Ogra. Indeed, our western neighbors thrive in the Land of Giants to the West, despite the dangers and brutal conditions there. However, they are not the only species to live in the West. Indeed, the Ogra territories has found itself the largest population of Displaced on Null in terms of independent survival. One such species is the deceptively small, but no less important Gobbs.

A species Displaced to Ogra territory around the time of the founding of the Median in 1501AA, the Gobb are at first glance small, diminutive even, with squat and full features that lead many to underestimate them. Assumed to have been brought here by a Rogue, and now almost certainly dead, Uplifter, the Gobb are stronger and tougher than they look, with dense muscle and bone that gives them a durability and strength not expected for their size. Furthermore, Gobbs are also notable for their extreme adaptability, able to adapt into new pseudo-subspecies within a generation to better survive in any environment they live in. This has led to one of the most well known the Ogra proverbs: 'If a Gobb can't live there, nothing can.' [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Gobb floating in space without a helmet going 'This is a fine place to grow a farm.']

This, however, is not the secret to their success, and integration into Ogra society. For the Gobb's greatest strengths is not their physical attributes, but their mental ones. Gobbs are an extremely technologically attuned species, with even young and uneducated Gobbs having an innate sense for crafting tools and items to assist them in their day to day lives. With further education, knowledge passed down and refined through the generations, the Gobbs are able to produce technological wonders with relatively little support or outside help, though this sometimes comes at the cost of the machines stability due to a lack of logistical support base in more far flung areas.

Upon their arrival, the Gobbs were quick to set up and expand into vast underground networks and cave systems within the West, mining ore and refining it to produce what were, at the time, the most complex and advanced vehicles and war machines on the planet. Indeed, this theoretically made them, for a short time anyway, the most powerful military force in terms of technological advancement in the era. However, the more advanced Gobbs were quick to underestimate the intelligence and creativity of the Ogra, who still vastly outnumbered them, and in the ten year long war that followed, many Gobb vehicle convoys and tank divisions were quick to learn to fear Ogra guerilla fighters, saboteurs, and tank hunter teams who were fast to develop strategy and countermeasures against the Gobbs. [A note is attached. It reads 'Ogra tank designs, and to a lesser extent Median ones too, were directly influenced during their evolution by Gobb tanks during this time period. I learned that indepth during my engineering courses when they were teaching us how to maintain and fix up vehicles!']

As casualties in both their arsenal and people quickly rose up, the Gobbs were wise enough to see the writing on the wall and step forward with the flag of truce to the Ogra, a newfound respect for what they had been quick to dismiss as unintelligent brutes quickly proved them wrong time and again. The Ogra, for their part, were quite impressed by the Gobbs military inventions and their use of commando assassin teams to try and counteract Ogra infantry, things that earned the Gobbs the respect of the Ogra. In what is now known as the Western Compact, the Gobbs and the Ogra signed a peace treaty that would, in turn, bring the two species into an alliance, with various Gobb clans joining Ogra civilizations as engineers, vehicle crews, and mech pilots for a next generation vehicle designs. This has continued into the modern day, with the Gobbs joining the Ogra in combat as saboteurs, combat engineers, commando sappers, and 'Rock-Hopper' mech pilots. [A note is attached. It depicts a detailed sketch of a chicken legged mech with a pair of cannon arms leaping through the air on jump jets while firing down at an unseen enemy.]

Forming close knit family bonds, Gobb families form long chains of alliances built on mutual economic, ideological, and materialistic interests, with their wide variety of world views leading to them forming enclaves in other Civilized Nations, following what each clan believes to be the best choice for the long term success and economic prosperity of their kin. These family bonds also means that Gobbs are quick to form feuds with those that slay their kin, though how severe the ramifications of these feuds are range heavily from clan to clan: Some clans demand repayment in blood, while others settle for an economic or service base trade agreement to make up for their lost family member.

Culturally, Gobbs are quite diverse, with the various subspecies and subvariants, like the more imposing and physically active Oggs or the more stealth and clandestine focused Hobbs, each forming their own distinct subculture. Gobbs who adapt to water rich environments such as lakes, rivers, and more tend to develop a strong inclination towards swimming and performing festivals near, around, or in water, while more desert dwelling Gobbs tend to create structures as waypoints and shrines within the deserts of the West. Religion exists and is widespread among the Gobbs, but is not at the most forefront of their culture. Veneration of whom they call 'The Ancestor Gods' is common, particularly those related to commerce, mining, and invention and creation, though it is not uncommon for Gobbs to be assimilated and practice the religions of native Nullians wherever they call home.

One commonality across most, though not all, Gobb cultures is their attire. Full body covering clothing is common, to protect their skin from both the elements as well as their work in industry. Masks, therefore, are widespread to protect their faces from debris and sparks. Personalization of these masks is quite common, a cultural hallmark that has led to much cross-cultural exchange between them and the similarly mask heavy Oros cultures. [A note is attached. It reads 'After the Bloodsuckers were mostly wiped out, and following the Great Walled Cities were finished and opened for habitation, there was a massive cultural push to drop the masks since we 'no longer needed them' due to the Bloodsuckers being extinct in the wild and we now live in the safety of the GWC's. A lot of my friends and a lot of the younger generation have stopped wearing masks, but most of the older folks still do. I don't wear it often, but I always keep my old mask on me at all times when I leave home.']

In terms of reproductive matters, Gobbs are mammalian and give birth to live young. Parents have powerful bonds between themselves and their children, making family units extremely close knit and protective of one another. While the mother only gives birth to a set of twins every gestation cycle, Gobb's have the shortest gestation of any of the Civilized Races on Null at only a maximum of 2 months, with mothers able to get pregnant again within days after delivery, and with children weening off milk to more solid foods within a similar two month period. As such, while Gobbs are easier to kill and lack the Ogra's sheer number of offspring, their population is quite capable of exploding in record time if not for cultural and government oversight keeping their numbers down. Gobbs are quite aware of their reproductive capacity, and take steps to avert having more mouths than they can feed, having the foresight to recognize that too many Gobbs at a time can strain, and even break, their civilization's resources to maintain their numbers.

Powerful allies to have, the Gobbs and the Ogra have had a close bond following their two people's unification many years ago, with Ogra-Gobb cross species pairs not being uncommon or unheard of, with the resulting offspring of the pairings being of the mother's species as per usual and considered members of their respective species society. They have also proven as stead-fast allies to the other Nations they are a part of, with much headway being made in Median vehicle design thanks to suggestions and lessons learned by Gobb citizens. It should be noted, however, that Gobbs culturally do not get along very well with the other Displaced populace allied with the Ogra, the Striga people, with the Striga's high society cultural leanings clashing heavily with the Gobb's own worker centric social systems. This has never blown up into full on conflict beyond the initial war between the Ogra and the Striga, but the rivalry between the two often raises its ugly head in civil matters of state, where their representatives are quick to argue and slow to agree even on mutually beneficial government agendas. [A note is attached. It reads 'Who would win in a mud-wrestling match, an Ogg or a Striga soldier? Vote now on your Bloks!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Striga-Hyto.

[Sketches depict an array of bipedal beings of various builds and body-types, the only unifying aspect about them being that they are all avian based. One build is shorter and stockier than the others, with a hefty weight and evident muscle mass of a hard manual laborer, while another is tall and lithe, with long limbs and a straight backed orientation. A third build, meanwhile, appears to be between the heights of the other two builds, and are notably more curved with fuller hips proportionate to their body height. A fourth body type is distanced from the others, and is tall and powerfully built with a great amount of potent muscle-mass. Interestingly, despite their avian nature, females appear to have fully developed mammary glands, which the sketcher wrote as 'unexpected' in the margins. Finally, across all, there appears to be various racial markers analogous to various bird species, including crows, owls, hens, and hawks, and the styles of dress are extremely stylish and needlessly ornate, which again seems to have confused the sketcher with them writing 'What tactical use does an unarmored dress that puffy offer?', while others wear clothing ranging from servant attire to more exotically provocative clothing.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Birb bewba. Biology and nature can suck egg! >']

Scientific Name Translation: Witchweed Bird.

Average Size: Between 5-8 feet/1.5-2.44 meters tall, depending on build.

Average Weight: Between 200-800 pounds/90.72-362.87kgs, depending on build.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have full heads of hair, mammary glands, and curvier bodies than males, though exact amounts of curves vary between body-types.

Habitat Range: Floating Isles and cities across Ogra and Skyrunner territories.

Summary:​

It is no secret, and indeed a commonly accepted fact about our homeworld of Null that it is a difficult place to survive in prior to the modern day, with even fortified cities prior to the Great Walled Cities being susceptible to large enough incursions by Spider-Ants or other unexpected terrors. Indeed, this made evolving and developing on our homeworld an extremely grueling, difficult process that weeded out Displaced species brought here across the eons until a select few powerful, or fit, enough were able to develop into a niche all of their own.

However, this has led to a question in come circles. Namely, every species that came to Null did so unexpectedly, without warning, and without aid or support, with only their own strength and ability at a more primitive and unprepared level to survive in our world's ruthless environment. The question, therefore, is 'What if a species came to Null, but not only expected it, but was completely prepared?' The answer to that question exists in the form of relative new-comers in the Striga-Hyto.

The Striga-Hyto, commonly just shortened to just the Striga or, if familiarity is earned, the Hyto, stand out among the various races of Null, Displaced or otherwise, in that they are the first of only two known extra dimensional species to actively, willingly come to Null of their own volition, fully equipped and prepared for their own self-sustained survival. Unlike the invaders of 'Mytus Corp', however, the Striga came not as resource exploiters or conquerors, but as refugees escaping a doomed world. Though most are hesitant to bring up the painful memories of their exodus from their homeworld, dimensional long-scry was used to confirm what those that did tell of the tale said: Their world, Hylia, was dying from the sudden onset of a cataclysmic mystical event that would consume their world. [A note is attached. It reads 'Well, that's depressing. A world doesn't have to be a horrible place for something to go horribly, horribly wrong.']

As the only species that lived on this world, the Striga used advanced magitech means to find worlds best suited for a new home, which sadly for them they found only Null as a viable alternative, as our world was the closest to theirs on the dimensional plane and the only one that could easily be accessed. The remnants of their dying civilizations, less than 5 million in total, were able to get onboard and depart on the Great Merchant Cities, floating magitech constructs meant to ferry enormous amounts of trade between far flung lands on their now departed planet, and used them to enter the dimensional planes between our worlds, where they underwent extensive alchemical therapies and extensive mystical reconstruction of all their belongings in order to survive in Null's corrosive filled atmosphere.

Arriving in 1457, almost three decades before the Third Kingdom War began, the Striga Merchant Families, now the rulers of what remained of their race, set about using their advanced magitech to survey and set up new residences and cities on the Floatstone rich isles and micro-continents hovering over Ogra and Skyrunner territories, beginning the long and painstaking process of rebuilding what remained of their cultures in a new, hostile world. Their advanced technology and weaponry, including a breed of magi-tech based energy weapon base never seen before, allowed them to defend themselves from the creatures that claim the skies and floating isles of our world as their home. The Spider-Ant is the hated enemy of all who live on or under the ground of Null, but for the Striga who reside in the skies, it is the Hellhawk Hornets who they have found as their greatest enemy. [A note is attached. It reads 'It's no secret that Null has gotten deadlier over time as things become more powerful to adapt to rising tech levels. Back during those days, a Striga Beam Rifle shot was enough to kill one of those buggos. These days, you need a freaking fighter to take them out.']

Due to their new society being managed and ruled by aristocratic merchants, any chances of them attempting military actions against the less advanced peoples on the ground during that era vanished when the decision was made by the Striga High Council to begin looking into ways to enter mutually beneficial trade relations with those who had overnight become their new neighbors. With the Ogra, they traded them (nonreplicable at the time) shielding and power sources in exchange for mined ores and minerals they could not get in the skies, while with the Skyrunners they traded (also non-replicable) weaponry and vehicles in exchange for military defense pacts and Skyrunner mercenaries assisting in their people's defense. Though all native parties were surprised by the sudden and non-aggressive arrival of their new neighbors, millennia of putting up with Null's eccentricities and brutality led to them quickly accepting the new status quo and a new powerful trade partner to mutually benefit from. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Oros staring at a cartoon Striga and saying 'Okay, birds exist now.']

Culturally, the modern day Striga are formed from about 7 primary surviving cultures to hail from their original world before its destruction, specifically the mercantile classes of these cultures who were closely tied together by their bonds of trade and familial alliances. In Nullian terms, the Bretons are analogous to parts of Royalback nation, while the Qin are of the other parts of the Royalbacks; The Hoya resemble the Icebreaker's primary cultural aspects, and the Bharat are similar to the aspects of the Bughunter's building aesthetics; The Persis reflect a mirror for some of the tribes of the Skyrunners, and the Copt of the primary cultural construction aesthetics of them as well. Finally, the Venia resembles the trading city-state Isla Oro on the coast bordering the Bughunters and the Firebrands.

While it is said their respective nations were long historically rivals with one another, the merchant clans from each have a long history of inter-marriage alliances that has long since led to their forming of a distinct aristocratic culture that blends and melds aspects from all of their cultures, to the point where the remaining distinct aesthetics and cultural markers are more of a remnant held alive by tradition of their respective origins rather than a dearly held cultural distinctiveness common on Null. As a result of this intermixing, the Striga, or at least the mercantile families and their servants brought to the new world, have little in the way of cultural tensions between one another. However, that being said, they are universally quite proud and attached to their shared blended culture and as a result, older generations tend to frown upon younger generations trying to integrate ideas from 'outside' without an extensive, and often very long, process of review by the Striga High Council, which has on more than one occasion caused tension and butting of heads between the two age brackets. [A note is attached. It reads 'It took time for the Median's member Nations to put aside all of their old grudges and beefs to become what we are today. I wonder just how long it took for the Striga to get along like that?']

This is not without reason, however: Following the institution of the Median, the wealthy families and organizations of the newly founded super-nation, known colloquially as 'Upper Echelon', were quick to jump at the opportunity to try and change Striga economic and social statuses to better reflect their idealized view of what is known on Null as 'Cooperative Economic Theory', which posits that in times of stress or poor conditions, it is the duty of the wealthy to expend funds in order to aid economic recovery and assist the market to become healthy in the event of conditions that would harm market health such as monopolies. While in theory an noble goal, Upper Echelon successfully managed to slip away the knowledge of the creation and maintenance of Striga's highly vaunted weapons technology caused relations between the two parties to cool and a tightening of the leash between relations of Striga High Society and Median Upper Echelon's intermingling. [A note is attached. It reads 'Technically, Gramma Alyxia would count as UE, but only because she was born as royalty. Thank goodness she officially doesn't count, though. I don't want to go through the Agoge just to earn the right to access the family fortune. D:']

Ironically, the success of Upper Echelon managing to acquire Striga weapons technology caused them to realize that the blueprints they had acquired were, in fact, completely and utterly useless to any non-Striga: While they do, in fact, utilize mana-magics like most other species, the quirks of how they interact with them means that, while they were able to develop and create advanced magitech technologies, the exact same technologies are completely unreplaceable without Striga involvement in the creation process. Admitting defeat and realizing their error, the Upper Echelon and the Striga would go on to make peace in the ensuing decades after that incident and would work together to pen the Nullian Intellectual Rights Laws, which governs all laws related to or involving copyright on Null to this day. [A note is attached. It reads 'I got to look at a Striga Phased Beam Rifle, which looked like a fancied up musket rifle thing from the way, way olden days. It's actually a very fascinating piece of engineering, using cartridges of condensed, Striga 'woven' mana power cells to fuel and power the weapons. Don't let their aesthetics fool you: Striga like wood-furnishings and making stuff look like they come out of the olden days. But they are not.']

Society wise, time and a lack of raw numbers has resulted in the once highly stratified social order of the striga becoming something mildly, though not entirely, egalitarian: Social status is not fixed, and ones social class is flexible and malleable based on their successes and failures in whatever fields of career they apply themselves in. The introduction of Median Golem technology also meant that the quality of life between the Servant classes and the Elites are, if not the same, then comparable enough as to not matter in terms of fulfillment, safety, and comfort for the common folk of their species. Nullian mercenaries working as security and body-guards for the Striga have gone on record to find the lavishness of their accommodations despite their roles to be oddly unnerving to them, even if they admit to enjoying the luxuries considered common defaults among the Striga.

Compared to the more egalitarian natives of our world, the Striga have more clearly defined gender roles that, while having loosened over time to adapt to their new world, still influences aspects of their society to this day. It is typical for male Striga to take on roles of builders, engineers, architects, soldiers, and leading businesses and enterprises, while females dominate most other fields. Interestingly, while Nullian 'heads of the house' tend to be which ever partner is the strongest, a hold-over from the days where the strongest partner was the bread winner in a hostile world, females are the heads of their house-holds by default, and oversee family affairs, banking and accounting, as well as officiating business transactions. The Striga have a proverb: 'Men control the market, but women control the house.' [A note is attached. It reads 'Good thing for them they're becoming more open-minded. I can't imagine having to run numbers for the family treasury, my head's in engineering not accounting!']

Interestingly, the Striga religious practices stand out for their worship not of a specific deity or pantheon, but rather the belief of what they call 'The Great Cycle'. They see this cycle in everything, from the changing of the seasons, to the passage of time, to the phases of the moons, to a belief in reincarnation among their people. Due to the nature of the soul being variable from universe to universe, while we know reincarnation to not affect any Nullian race in a way where past lives 'bleed' into current ones, there is some evidence to support this affects the Striga as memories of past lives are not uncommon among them, though its exact mechanics are debated even among themselves as to the methodology by which they are reborn. Another interesting facet is that their belief in the Great Cycle is not, in fact, mutually exclusive to other belief systems: A Striga can just as likely pray to a deity for fortune as they can appeal to the spirits of their ancestors, and it is considered just as viable among them without any affect on their beliefs of the Cycle. Of those Striga to have adopted Nullian religions, the Great Spirit Pantheon is the most common secondary religion among them, particularly the Great Spirit of Loot and Riches, Arara. The next most common is, surprisingly, Nullian inspired Ancestor Worship, with the seeming incompatibility with the nature of the Great Cycle's reincarnation being reconciled as the Great Cycle simply existing in this next life, with their ancestors and them simply being reborn anew in a new plane of existence.

In the modern day, the Striga are officially a neutral party nation in most trade disputes between the Ogra and the Median, being on good terms with both parties. They have cool, but existing trading relationships with the Lasarna Republics, the two cultures finding the other's luxury items to be very appealing. Though relatively low in numbers, the Striga stand out for being the largest source of third-party military supply packages during the Draconic Wars, the Dream Lotus Incursion, and with the most recent Spider-Ant wars to break out. [A note is attached. It reads 'They also have been pumping out gear like mad to fill demands during the Moon War currently going on. You see more Plasma-Locks and Las-Jazzails than any other non-Median weapon system from footage on the Moon. They're not even selling it to us, they're just tossing the weapons and ammo as fast as they're producing them. Makes sense: They already lost one world, they sure as hell don't want to lose another.]

In terms of biological facets, the Striga are possibly one of the most alien to our Nullian sensibilities. On the surface, they appear as bipedal avians with various body-types not unlike the Oros, whose females lay eggs on a fairly frequent basis and who are, in general, greatly attuned to the use of Mana based magics. However, the more one looks into their inner workings, the more unusual they become to our understanding of biology. Males have external reproductive organs, while females have fully functional mammary gland analogs used to feed their newborns, who are not hatched from eggs but rather born viviparously: The eggs laid by the females are unfertilized ova which develop into full, but nonviable, eggs, which is traditionally eaten by the mother to regain lost nutrients. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Oros staring at a diagram of a Striga Baby and an egg and how they don't intersect. The Oros is saying 'Oh boy, more things beyond the comprehension of Mortal man.']

Furthermore, their body-types are not the result of a built in biological system, but the result of various different Striga subspecies interbreeding over the years and resulting in an extremely varied people in terms of build and 'species' aesthetics, with the body-type of a given offspring depending on those of the mother and father, with males getting their father's body-type and females gaining their mothers. These body types include the tall and lanky Alpha, the curved and limber Delta, the short and stout Lambda, and the artificially induced super-soldier Omega forms.

Their hands and feet are covered in typical avian calloused digits, with the odd inclusion of mammal like pads where applicable on them. These digits are tipped with claws that, if not kept dull by rather frequent care, will become sharp enough to claw into untreated stone and leave deep grooves. Their beaks are highly malleable, allowing them to speak and form sounds as easily as any species with lips, though a vocal chamber like structure allows them to indulge in a wide array of sounds not unlike our own such structures in the throat. In addition, they have an oversized Mana Converter relative to their size, which despite a lack of divine power boosting them unlike the Lasarna, allows them feats of magic matched only by Mortalized Spirits and beyond. What's more, despite all of their species being based on primarily predatory avians, they are omnivorous albeit with a slant towards a meat heavy diet, and have an extreme fondness for drinks such as wine and liquors. [A note is attached. It reads 'I'm not even sure if the Striga can get drunk. I've seen Oros get sauced and we have two super-livers and a regen ability, but I once saw a Striga diplomat down enough bottles to get one of us tipsy, and she was just strutting around like she was drinking water!']

In terms of offensive and defensive abilities, physically they are tougher than they look, with even a hit from an Ogra or Oros throwing them back without breaking their bones. This is the result of dense, yet paradoxically light weight bones, as well as their alchemical enhancements to survive better on Null improving their durability across the board. Their inherent magical skill and extensive education on its usage also gives them a wide array of close and long range powers and spells to use or enhance their natural abilities, and their peak vision allows them to be dead-eye shots outstripped only by experienced Oros Normal soldier. They also use their abilities to make up for a stunted, underdeveloped back wings via creating pinions of energy to fly with, as needed, something even their youngest seem to know how to tap into reflexively. There is a fourth form used in the military to create the 'Omega' body type super soldiers from any of the other body-types, however this is not used as often as you would expect, as these new forms, while very powerful, require a lot of resources and maintenance to keep healthy and well fed.

In reproductive terms, a coupling between a male and female Striga will result, after about 8 months of gestation time, one or two infants, their body type based on that of their parents. Born in a live, placental manner like all Civilized species of Null, the infants are fed their mother's equivalent to breast milk and are weened off at around two years old, which is where their development begins in earnest. This long period of vulnerability, as well as their young being virtually defenseless as children, means the Striga are just as protective of their children as any Nullian, especially with the dangers of their new homeworld as Hellhawk attacks are not uncommon.

What is interesting about Striga reproductive strategy, however, is that their birth rates are actually slanted to females, on average of two-to-one. With males traditionally entering the military and Null's dangers ensuring a notable attrition rate, this means during peace time, females out-number males three-to-one. As a result, Striga society has long adapted by marrying their males with a 'headwife', who would go on to pick and choose other females of her choice into their relationship as secondary wives. This is very foreign and alien to most Nullians' sensibilities, but it helps to understand that this system arose out of necessity due to an inherent gender imbalance in their population. However, in times of great conflict, the ensuing casualties that arise can result in overwhelming imbalances. When this occurs, the Striga High Council has been known to reach out to their Upper Echelon counterparts in order to make marriage deals between the two parties, based on the severity of a war's losses to their male population. These political marriages are not done lightly, nor casually, as every instance of an Upper Echelon scion being married off to abate the Striga population stresses is another avenue of influence the UE has with their society. [A note is attached. It reads 'Us Nullians aren't really 'built' mentally wise for polyamory. Like, it happens on occasion, sure, but most of us can't wrap our heads around the idea of having more than one mate you're completely devoted to. Still, if all parties are into it, more power to them.']

Possibly unique among the Displaced on Null to have willingly come here to escape certain death, the Striga have since formed themselves into a vital part of Null's global economic web, becoming invaluable trade partners for most parties on the Arisa continent, a fact not lost on them. While some find their high society trappings and at times haughty attitudes annoying, especially compared to Upper Echelon's more utilitarian and public service based culture, no one can deny their influence has been felt in the economic circles of the world even as far flung as the Lasrana Republics. Despite a rocky start from our own mistakes, the Striga remain a valued trade ally to the Median, and one who won't be going anywhere any time soon.

 

[TripleMRed]

Flittermice.

[Sketches depict several species of mice, rats, and squirrels working in mutual cooperation with one another in a collective fashion, building nests in trees and treelines. They come in a wide variety of colorations and shapes, all unified by the leathery wings sprouting from their backs.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'They're so cute! But like, rodents are cute by default. Unless they're uninvited to your homes. Then I'm sorry little rat, but then you have to go. Thems the rules.']

Scientific Name Translation: Varies on species.

Average Size: Varies on species, between 5 inches to 1'6 feet.

Average Weight: Varies on species, between half a pound to 20 pounds.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Varies on species, most common being that females have longer tails than males.

Habitat Range: Continent wide.

Summary:​

There are numerous species on our world that, whether through evolutionary pressure, convergent evolution, or a species splitting into several distinct subspecies, that have different members exhibiting extremely different morphological traits from one another. Of mammalian order of Rodentia on Null, one of the most extreme examples of this occurring is the wildly varied divergences between various distinct species collectively known as Flittermice. Contrary to popular modern day belief, Flittermice do not have to be actual mice. Indeed, the family line of Flittermice includes, but are not limited to, mice, rats, squirrels, and mythological dire chinchilla. The unifying feature that distinct this family line from other rodents is their small, but functional bat-like wings on their backs. Indeed, Flittermice receive their name directly from a now long extinct species of bat. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon bat placing a crown on a cartoon Flittermice, the species name written on the crown.]

The unifying factors for these species is not only physical: While much debate continues to rage on as to whether their evolution was natural and convergent with other non-Flittermice rodent species, or the end result of a mystical event as is too common with the formation of such 'mixed' species on Null, there is conclusive evidence that Flittermice of all subspecies cooperate with one another in mutually beneficial cross-species communities to better survive. Each species contributes in ways best suited to their kinds strengths, and each cover the others weaknesses, leading to a eusocial way of living usually only seen in insects.

Ranging from 5 inch long mice to one and a half foot tall squirrels, Flittermice lack a central leader figure, lacking any form of 'queen' often seen in Nullian insect hives such as the Spider-Ants or the Bullet Bees. However, research by Flittermice biologist Sosyia Kapoora indicates that a form of communal forum of sorts exist where adult Flittermice trade information of food sources, dangers and threats, as well as locations of other Flittermouse communities amidst the trees, making them eusocial in the same way other hive-breeds such as most regular ants and several bee species on our world. These nests are built into and out of trees, with each tree in a given area housing segments of the wider Flittermouse community. Initially, this was seen as odd due to the fact that Nullian trees is notoriously ruthless in their defense against incursions by small animals. However, it was quickly discovered that this is in fact a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship: The Flittermice receive shelter and protection against predators, while they in turn protect the trees of Null from parasites and herbivorous insects that are a threat to their continued existence. [A note is attached. It reads 'Lucky little punks! >

']

This is not to say that Flittermice are totally defenseless, however. Mouse and rat type Flittermice, like other rodents of their kind in other family lines, are able to coat their tails in a matter disruption field, giving them incredible cutting power in their defense against smaller predators or the grubbing mitts of curious creatures, while the larger squirrels are capable of coating their claws in typical plasma coating to enhance their strikes in a flurry of vicious mauling to anything foolish enough to give them an opportunity to defend themselves. Their communal nature means they are quick to come to one another's aid, regardless of specific subspecies, and they always rally to the defense of their home-trees if needed and able. If all else fails, their small but functional wings allow them to glide and even fly for a short amount of time to escape danger.

Despite their communal nature and advanced eusocial behaviors, as well as the Aleph Xara's animal counterparts in the case of the mouse-types, it was discovered that Flittermice are not, in fact, Sapient, and thus not a Civilized race unto themselves. Sentient, but lacking culture or history of their own, the innate intelligence and communal bonds of their species did earmark them as objects of interest in some circles of Null's scientific community. Namely, they are the species with the distinct honor to be part of research efforts by Median scientists to create the fist Uplifted species in modern Nullian history, a project which is housed in Yang Quartz. Whether the project has borne fruit yet or not, however, remains a closely guarded secret. [A note is attached. It reads 'I really, really hope if it succeeded, they were able to survive the attack that took out the city....']

In terms of relationship with Civilized Nullians, contrary to popular belief, Flittermice do not make for good pets. Their instincts to build networked communities in trees makes housing them in a normal home virtually impossible, and their desire to be in large communities of their kinds also means that no manageable amount of them can feasibly held within any one household for long anyway. Despite this, Flittermice are considered good luck charms for communities living near or around Flittermice tree-networks, though a popular misconception that originates from the Aleph Xara's 'book mouse' nickname means it is not uncommon for Flittermice to be used as iconography for libraries across the Median. [A note is attached. It reads 'Aleph Xara aren't just icons of scholarly pursuits. They are also very common scribes attached to Median soldiers of renown, to archive their adventures and the things they learn and fight along the way!']

When it comes to reproduction, Flittermice are genetically compatible between their various species, however they exclusively pair up and produce offspring in same-species couplings. To avoid genetic oversaturation of the same genes in any one community, is common for young adult Flittermice to break off from their parent networks in search of new homes to find mates with. Young Flittermice of all species are defenseless for the first few months of their lives, thus necessitating careful care and sanctuary within the most well fortified depths of their tree homes. Needless to say, during pupping season, Flittermice are extremely protective of their homes.

Though the sight of Flittermice has grown uncommon in recent centuries for city-dwellers, especially within the Great Walled Cities, they remain a staple part of scholarly culture due to their Aleph Xara connection making them iconographic staples in places of learning. Only time will tell if the Uplift project in Yang Quartz will work and allow us to interact with these amazing little creatures as equals, or if we will just have to continue on as a society and scientific community without them. In this writer's humble opinion, I can only hope for the latter. [A note is attached. It reads 'I hope so too.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Cheshire.

[Sketches depict a furless feline species coming in various sizes, covered in smooth skin with marking covered skin. Various subspecies, differentiated by different skin and color patterns as well as phenotypical changes to morphology separate them from creatures as small as a house-cat, to twice as large as a tiger. The biggest unifying factor across all species is the fact the tail splits apart into three segments ending in sharp barbs at the tips, which sketches show it using like a poison laced scourge for defense by swiping it at the faces of hostile animals.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a well drawn Cheshire cat with a collar sitting on a bed, with a name underneath reading 'Mr. Stretch.']

Scientific Name Translation: Displacement Cat.

Average Size: Varies based on subspecies.

Average Weight: Varies based on subspecies..

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have longer ears and tails than males.

Habitat Range: Across most biomes of the Arisa Continent, but particularly found in the forests, jungles, and rainforests.

Summary:​

Null is home to a wide variety of creatures, of various Genuses and family lines. The Felines of our world are generally split into two distinct groups: The first is the Armored line, which includes the Rock Cats of the mesas and deserts, the Armored Fang, and the Fireiron Tiger associated with the Erui Tiger Spirits. The other, larger family line of felines are the Cheshires, furless cats covered in marking laced skin with forked tails and signature toothy grins they use for psychological effects on their prey. While the Armored line is the stronger and more durable of the two kinds of felines, the Cheshires stand out for being the more mystically imbued.

Evolved on Null through millions of years of natural selection and exposure to the magics of our world, the Cheshires are a home-grown, naturally occurring native of Null. Their power, biology, and psychological characteristics are therefore all perfectly geared towards not only surviving on our world, but thriving in it. As a result, they have a long and storied history with the various Nullian natives, but of are particular import, ironically enough, to the Cerberi, who were the first to domesticate the Cheshires thousands of years ago. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Cerberus throwing a stick at a cartoon Cheshire cat, the stick bouncing off their head. Words follow underneath, reading 'Lesson 1: Cheshires don't play fetch.']

Found across most biomes, but particularly thriving in forests, jungles, and other such environments, Cheshires come in a wide range of subspecies, from the small Pygmy Cheshire Cat whose domesticated offshoots have become popular pets and pest-control measures in Nullian society, to the massive, hulking King Cheshires that are known for their hulking sizes and physical power on top of their mystical abilities. Their wide variety of subspecies means they have a form that fills every niche in the Nullian ecosystem as predators on every level, though as with most things on Null, their status as predators is precipitated on the fact that they are not caught by surprise by other creatures of more vicious temperaments.

One cannot talk about Cheshire biology without getting into their suite of powers and abilities. One of the biggest abilities that give the Cheshire an infamous reputation is their ability to turn invisible by altering the flow of light around them in order to appear as though they aren't there. Even to the sharp eyes of a Normal type Oros, nothing appears to be there if the Cheshire remains unmoving, with only movement causing a subtle distortion on movement, a distortion which is easily hidden by canopies rich in flora and darkened by shade. This, combined with their species wide ability to climb up and down trees, make them excellent ambush predators, allowing them to strike at unaware prey with ease. However, while they can indefinitely hold their invisibility when staying still, movement proves draining for them to maintain their optical cloak. As such, when crossing far distances, patrolling territory, or making threat displays, they phase out of their invisibility in order to conserve energy, reserving it for tactical uses to avoid exhaustion. [A note is attached. It depicts a blank spot inbetween two trees, with words underneath reading 'Lesson 2: Cheshires are great at hide and seek.']

Their skin and color patterns are also able to naturally change color and texture, however rather than being for camouflage, this color changing is used to show the current mood and emotional state of the Cheshire in question. As a result, color changing is combined with their vocalizations and emotive facial expressions in order to communicate with one another, allowing for Cheshires to hold conversations with one another, though research is inconclusive if this form of communication is universal in that all Cheshires of all subspecies can communicate with one another or if each subspecies is limited to only their own kind for conversation. As a direct result of this, although Cheshires live and hunt alone, they are able to form communities with one another spanning entire territories, sharing information on the locations for food, the best sunning spots, and areas of danger. [A note is attached. It depicts two cartoon Cheshires meowing at one another while a cartoon Oros with an eyepatch is trying to go to sleep. Words underneath read 'Lesson 3: Cheshires are chatty.']

In addition to invisibility and communication, as well as the usual plasma coated claws, Cheshires also have multi-tipped, poison covered tails that they use to target the eyes of an attacker in order to blind them. Smaller Cheshire species use this as an opportunity to escape, while others use the momentary blindness of their enemy to attack and kill them. The Oros cultural habit of wearing masks has, for the longest time, meant that outside of the largest and most powerful Cheshire species, their ability to blind has been a non-factor for our species. The Cerberi that have domesticated various Cheshire lines have bred different species to have less effective and more effective poison for use in pet and attack animal lines respectively.

One rare ability that is very uncommon among all species of Cheshire is the ability to teleport. What should be an energy intensive ability is, through some unknown arcane means, easy and repeatable for use by the Cheshires to inherit this rare ability. Those that have this ability use it in everything from hunting, to battle, to even sport, with a common 'game' for these Cheshires to scare a prey animal into running before teleporting in front of them over and over again until the animal drops from exhaustion. Extensive research has actually managed to find that the Cheshire's ability to do this is due to what is, technically, a genetic disorder that triggers their mystical abilities in a way that allows for teleportation as an act of instinct rather than concentrated spell-craft, though the disorder is recessive which results in it only occurring as a result of double-recessive expression. As such, the ability is, and will remain, rare in the wild. [A note is attached. It depicts a Cheshire with its lips curled back in a big, threatening grin.]

In terms of temperament, the size of the Cheshire is a factor as smaller Cheshires are more relaxed due to their ability to better hide in smaller, harder to reach places, while larger Cheshires ironically are more aggressive due to an increase in conflicts for survival. As a result, in the wild, smaller Cheshires are unlikely to attack creatures larger than themselves save to escape and rarely approach Civilized Races as a result, while the larger, more aggressive species can and will engage in combat if they feel threatened or if their territory is trespassed against. In combat, Cheshires use ambush to begin the conflict before making use of their invisibility cloak in hit and run attacks. If the target remains standing and unblinded after they have exhausted their cloaks, then they will engage in intense tackles and body slams, with occasional wrestling down of the target to the ground before moving in for the kill. This fighting style, while highly aggressive, is predictable if you already know how they operate, and as such various tricks, tips, and suggestions to survive or win encounters with larger Cheshires are common.

Breeding year round, Cheshire mated pairs stick to their own subspecies, producing kittens that grow to maturity every two years. As a result, the Cheshire population remains somewhat stable despite a, very relative, fragility, allowing them to compete with other predators in their respective size brackets. Young Cheshire kittens follow their parents under their instinctively activated cloaks, observing and learning from their hunts via a safe spot to observe from. Once reaching maturity, Cheshires break off from their family units to hunt on their own, often not taking on a mate until they have lived on their own for several years.

In popular Nullian Culture, Cheshires are known as mischievous creatures, both for the domesticate versions playful natures as well as for the wild counterparts telltale hunting tactics. Their likeness is often used in symbols and charms among the Yayai Fox Spirits, Mortalized or otherwise, for this association with mischief, making them the most common owners for Cheshire pets outside of the Cerberi who first domesticated them. In the modern day, feral Cheshires are a common sight in cities, considered a boon as free pest control in keeping unwanted rodent and insect populations in check, with their own population being kept in check via careful applications of sterility initiatives to allow for the breeding population of the animals to remain at a manageable size. [A note is attached. It depicts a well drawn sleeping Cheshire with a collar, curled up in a ball. Words underneath read 'Lesson 4: Cheshires are tired little guys who just want to sleepy.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Psychoraptors.

[Sketches depict a species of feathered Dromaeosaurid with particularly large claws on their front hands. The feathers range in coloration to match the environment they are in, with a major unifying factor being their large, wide open eyes and their 'grinning' muzzles.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I'm so glad I never lived in any places with these freaky things around.]

Scientific Name Translation: Dread Eater.

Average Size: 7-10 feet/2.1-3.05 meters in length.

Average Weight: 500-850 pounds/226.8-385.6 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have longer feather crests than males.

Habitat Range: Select forests and jungles spread across the Arisa continent.

Summary:​

During the long evolutionary processes on our world, most Dromaeosaurid life of the most ancient of times to avoid extinction have long since evolved into modern forms as the birds of our world, with the most successful lines being the ones that were mystically fused into the first Gryphons in Null's history. However, just as there are living fossils such as the Mud Skimmer or certain family lines of Crocodilians, a handful of these original Dromaeosaurids, for one reason or another, never made the full evolutionary leap into modern day avian status. Indeed, those that remain to this day stand out for being remarkably unchanged compared to the fossil records of their ancestors, at least on a superficial level. [A note is attached. It reads 'Why couldn't they turn into normal ass birds like the rest? Was that too much to ask?']

The most common, widespread, and successful of these remaining family lines are what are commonly referred to as 'Psychoraptors'. This unflattering name is not without precedent or reason, however. Where other, less common family lines focus more on survival, the Psychoraptor's size and intelligence combined with their physical strength and strong pack dynamics affords them the ability to develop emotional intelligence that often leads to a level of sadism not often seen in the wild. Where most creatures stalk, hunt, and kill to feed or to drive off threats, Psychoraptors have been known to toy with potential prey over a period of hours, isolating them and wearing them down with hit and run attacks for the sake of entertainment before finally moving in for the kill. While the Jaco Killer remains more hated, lone Civilized Race members in Psychoraptor territory are known to feel a deep dread at potentially encountering these ruthless creatures when they are in a 'playful' mood.

The armaments of the Psychoraptor are many. In addition to wicked toe-claws that allow them to do great damage with a powerful leaping attack, penetration of armored hides aided by the usual Nullian animal's ability to coat their attacks in a plasma field. Additionally, their large and powerful tail, used primarily for balance, is also suited for strong swipes and strikes, with the tip of the tail being coated in quills laced with toxin. The Psychoraptors do not naturally produce this toxin, but rather create it by harvesting various kinds of toxic materials, mixing them together, and dousing their tail quills with them. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Psychoraptor in a salon getting their tail quills attended to by another, words following: 'Oh honey, you'll knock 'em dead with this, you'll see.]

The most standout weapon of the Psychoraptor family line, however, and what sets them apart from most other remaining Dromaeosaurids, is their multi-inch long sharpened claws tipping their hand's digits. Giving them additional weapons to tear into armor with the added benefit of limited but functional dexterity to grab and grapple, Psychoraptors are adept close range combatants who are more than willing and able to swarm targets they have set their sights on. More than one Civilized Hunter has fallen believing they could outgrapple a Psychoraptor, only for its packmates to interupt the duel to attack the distracted Hunter before they had a chance to win.

The intelligence of these creatures allows them to plan, coordinate, set up ambushes and crude traps, or even direct other animals to attack while they sit back and watch the ensuing battle for their own entertainment. This similarity to Spider-Ant behavior has not gone unnoticed in the scientific community, and it is a common debate in some academic circles as to which species developed these behaviors first and which the other learned through observation. Furthermore, they have an uncanny ability for vocal mimicry, allowing them to mimic the voices of their prey to lure others in for the kill, or to psychologically attack more sapient targets. [A note is attached. It reads 'They love to say 'Who is a pretty bird.' and I don't know why. Creepy.]

In spite of their often-sadistic love of bloody entertainment, Psychoraptors are dedicated parents who raise their offspring communally with the rest of the pack. The young, hatched from eggs laid seasonally every year, are well taken care of and taught every trick and skill their pack knows until they are old enough to head out to find a new pack for themselves. This causes a spread of knowledge amidst the various Psychoraptor packs, so whenever one pack learns something new, it is only a matter of time before it spreads to more and more of them.

Historical enemies to many towns and villages in, near, or around select forests and jungles across Arisa, the Psychoraptor has made quite the name for itself in Nullian culture with their distinct, often psychopathic love for carnage. Encounters with them almost always ends in a fight, which has soured the image of the raptor for many, even those species that lack the more horrific traits of this particular species. A shame indeed, but not unexpected given the traumatic violence many in these more far flung settlements have to endure with such volatile and brutal neighbors. Only time will tell if the Psychoraptor's days are numbered, or if the increasing movement to live in the Great Walled Cities will see these places abandoned by Civilized Races in favor of newer, safer pastures.