The Adventurer's

Monster Compendium

BANSHEE — Ghosts of women who can only scream and wail.

BASILISK — The "King of Serpents." A giant snake of immense proportion, with many more teeth than its animal relatives.

BEHOLDER — A floating fleshy ball with a giant eye in its center, and two more eyes sprouting from its head like a slug.

BLACK DOG — It is believed that the first soul buried in a graveyard has to guard it against all ills- from graverobbers, vandals, to demons. To prevent a human soul from having to perform such a duty, a black dog is buried as a substitute.

BLACK PUDDING — A giant blob of black slime.

CHIMERA — A lion- and goat-headed beast. In place of its tail is a snake. A curious, exploratory, and social creature. The chimera is a vigilant protector, and will face its attackers head-on.

COCKATRICE — Nasty creatures with the head and breast of a rooster, the body of an wyvern, and the tail of a lizard.

CRYPTWALKER — Those who pass through places they shouldn't be in have heard the terrible sounds they make— wretched breathing, whispering murderous words. These beings dwell in deserted graveyards and in dungeons. In Yiede they were once known as Muj, but the meaning of this name is so ancient that it is no longer known.

DAEMON — Not immortal, but not fully mortal, daemons are shapeshifting spirits bonded to individuals in a similar manner as familiars are bonded to mages. Each daemon forms its own unique physical appearance- horns, tails, and more- and it can only be bonded to one individual at a time. They can benefit humans with their powers, guarding and protecting them, or become their worst nightmare and spread chaos. A daemon might choose to live its own life independently, though this is rare. Daemons originate as creations of the gods, but they can be summoned by mages.

DEFORMITY — Bodies with too many souls. Hideous monsters with the power to consume life essence, greedy to assimilate fresh souls into their vessels.

DRAGON — See the Draconomicon. Winged terrors. Subjects of worship in the Isle of the Vual'hi. They mate rarely, drive their young from the nest early, and entertain unwanted visitors next to never. Explorers have attempted to study these creatures, but the study of beasts of such great intelligence can quickly turn the researcher into an experimental subject themself, or worse, a meal. Many are the tales of adventurers who bested a dragon by wits or force of arms and made their fortune, but one should remember that tales are told by the victors, rather than by the devoured. A smoking dragon cave is something seasoned adventurers avoid, as it means the dragon has eggs it will defend at all cost. Stealing an egg, injuring a dragon, and other hostile acts are guaranteed to bring about fire and death, as dragons do not make a difference between humans, elves, dwarves, adventurers, peasants, armies or towns. When attacked, they will retaliate against anyone and anything nearby, often burning entire villages or towns to ashes and laying waste to vast areas. But incursions into armed kingdoms draw focused response, and even dragons must sleep some time.

DRAKE — A relative of the dragon, the drake appears to be a tiny dragon the size of a large house cat. It can communicate with dragons, and its scales make it resistant to magical attacks, making it a rare but desirable choice for a familiar. Unlike its relatives, the drake only breathes fire and smoke when it burps or sneezes.

DRAUGR — The predator of the catacombs. Draugar are non-human "things" masquerading as dungeon corpses underneath their execution hoods. They are wrapped in an assortment of chains, severed ropes, and other indications of death. Draugar often play dead in order to catch their prey: the unsuspecting rats and adventurers who come across them. Driven only by hunger, they attack every living thing they see. They cannot speak intelligibly, instead producing garbled noises and screeching.

DRYAD — Tree spirits able to mimic the form of a human woman made of leaves and bark.

ELEMENTAL — Spirits of Fire, Ice, Storm, and Water that can take form out of their respective elements. They can speak and cast spells from their respective magic schools.

FLESH JELLY — A nauseating blob of flesh that consumes the beings in its path. These unsightly growths occur in very dark, neglected, and isolated areas, given that they have enough corpse flesh to first take form.

GARGOYLE — Animated statues. At night, they can walk the earth- but when the light of the sun rises, they are turned to stone.

GHOUL — Humanoids with decaying flesh and sunken eyes. Ghouls feast on human flesh, both dead and alive. They dwell in old battlefields, graveyards, and other uninhabited places with corpses to devour.

GHOST SHIP — The figure of a decaying ship, much larger than your own, appears in the mist. It looks like it's getting closer. You turn full force, attempting to get out of its path, and with a terrible creak and groan of wood and metal it turns too. It's following you.

GORGON — Sophont monsters with a mass of snakes for hair. Their gaze can turn creatures to stone.

GRAVEGOYLE — Dark magic performed in the resting places of the dead can sometimes have... unintended effects.

GREEN MAN — A legendary being of the Eld in the appearance of a knight. Those who accompanied the knight into the forest left him to die. But the forest did not. It forgave him and rose him back onto his feet as the Green Man, where he has remained unbroken, for as long as anyone can remember.

GREEN OOZE — A giant, flesh-eating gelatinous substance. If rubbed off in time, the ooze leaves only a burn on the skin. But if one cannot escape, the ooze consumes the body until there is nothing left- not even bones.

GREYMALKIN — Talking cats of the fae. They can magically appear and disappear at will. Their fur is most commonly grey, blue-grey, or black, in keeping with their title.

GRYPHON — With the front half of a bird, and lower half of a feline, Gryphons are fearsome flying creatures. They are rideable as mounts, commonly in Zomantia.

HARVESTFOLK — Friendly jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows who spontaneously spring to life in pumpkin patches. The jack-o-lanterns' heads consist of a carved pumpkin with a glowing light inside. They also possess a pair of floating hands.

HEADLESS HORSEMAN — A headless rider on a horse, carrying either a head, skull, or jack-o-lantern. The "head" may be carried in one hand or under the arm. It may be decaying, but the body is intact.

HELL'S STEED — Supernatural horses which cannot be ridden by anyone who does not have any evil intent. They are of immense size with black shaggy coats, curved goatlike horns, and red eyes. Once they appear to an evildoer, they are obedient to their new rider.

HIPPODRAKE — The upper body of a horse and the lower body of a sea beast.

KRAKEN — A legendary giant octopus in the sea surrounding Drunad.

LEECH MEAT — A body covered in- and full of- thousands of writhing leeches. The leeches of Drunad are native to both freshwater and terrestrial areas such as lakes and bogs. As the leeches drain blood from the body's slimy surface of skin, they release saliva full of anesthetic and anticoagulant enzymes which keep the body "alive," yet under control of the leech hivemind. Toward the end of its service to the leeches, the body appears bloated from decomposition and the sheer mass of leeches which have fed on it.

LICH — Undead mages who refuse to let death obstruct their quest for power. Even in death a lord needs servants, or a knight his squire.

MANTICORE — A beast with the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and a head which poorly mimicks that of its observer. In the case of humans, it is the head of a human.

MEOWCLOPS — One-eyed monster cats native to Drunad.

MERFOLK — Mermaids and mermen have the upper body of a humanoid and the lower body of a fish, eel, or shark. Their bodies are colorful and patterned, with as many variations as the fish in the sea. They have serrated sharklike teeth, blubber, fins, gills, webbed fingers, and can have bioluminescent features. Although their appearances can also mimic mammalian sea creatures such as dolphins and orcas, all female merfolk lay eggs rather than give birth in the manner of a mammal. The merfolk are apex predators, and their diet consists of clams, fish, oysters, and seaweed, though they also hunt larger prey such as seals. Some merfolk inhabit sunken ships, but they are not familiar with the land dwellers who once sailed in them. Therefore their behavior towards land dwellers is volatile- if a meeting situation goes south, merfolk might drown sailors. But if a meeting is positive, merfolk have been known to bring their visitors lost treasures from the deep.

NIGHT TERROR — Beings are sometimes created by powerful dreams... or nightmares. Night Terrors are the creations of nightmares.

ORTHRUS — A two-headed dog known for its defensive, protective behavior. Though wild, an Orthrus can be tamed as a pet- if its owner is prepared to feed both heads.

PEGASUS — Tamed and ridden by faeriefolk, the Pegasi are flying horses of impressive size with large feathered wings. They are solitary creatures exclusive to Ástfold and the Fey realm, but they will reveal themselves to protect wild horses or spare travelers from harm's way.

PHANTOM — Ghosts that have become so old they are unable to speak or make noise other than groans.

PHOENIX — Rare creatures which inhabit the volcanic terrain of the dark forest. Immune to fire and immortal; upon death, a Phoenix will set aflame and regenerate its own life. Their feathers are sought for use in clothing or as a magical substance, and are highly expensive as a result. In order to be owned as a familiar, the Phoenix must first be pleased and impressed with a potential owner's attempts. These birds are wise and largely ignore any other beings, but are dangerous if provoked.

RAT KING — Mutated giant rat the size of a large dog, often with multiple heads. Found in sewers and the early halls of dungeons.

SCOURGE — Ozotz, god of destruction, wanted to create a monstrous army that he could use to wage his war against the other gods. He made the Scourge, a seemingly endless horde of monsters. Their appearance is an amalgamation of rat, boar, hog, mole rat, and goblin. After a great war between the gods, a rift was torn in the Celestial realm, through which the Scourge fled, ending up upon the mortal world. Ever since, they have caused destruction and death wherever they go. Being beasts of violence, they tend to attack each other as well. Even when killed, the dead body of a Scourge beast will continue fighting aimlessly for another few minutes until it gives out.

SEA SERPENT — Inhabitants of the Sea of Monsters. Like giant-sized eels, they swim by creating waves that travel the length of their bodies. Occasionally spotted by sailors when their backs rise above the surface.

SIGHTWORT — Flowers with an eye in the center. Inhabitants of the Haunted Woods. They are able to uproot themselves in order to walk around using their roots as "legs." Quite shy.

SKELETON — Awoken by the curse guarding a dungeon. Or risen by a necromancer. In the case of the latter, they will cling onto their newfound master's clothes, uncertain of their reason for undeath and feeling quite naked in nothing but their bones.

SPAWN OF THE ABYSS — Unimaginable horrors, spawned from the eldritch gods, which only wish to kill or be killed.

SPHINX — Giant, reclusive serpents with the faces of men.

TREANT — A sentient tree with an animated face in its trunk. They are benign creatures but will harm attackers or evildoers who trespass their forests.

UNICORN — A goatlike horse with a single, spiraled horn. Unicorns are creatures of legend, said to originate in Nythlune. They can be captured when taunted into charging full-speed, resulting in their horns getting stuck in trees. It is said that the horn of a unicorn can cure any poison, heal any wound, or make pure anything defiled.

VAERBREED — Horses of the Haunted Woods. Naturally strong-built to avoid predators.

VAMPIRE — Undead sophonts that feed on blood and are able to turn into bats. As they are undead, they cannot eat normal food, drink normal drinks, or have children. The first vampire was a man, who, in his search of power and immortality, was granted such power by an ancient evil god, at the cost of an eternal need for blood. Since then, the first vampire, the Dark Father, slowly turned others into vampires as he explored his new abilities, and those vampires continued to create more vampires. The caveat is that vampires cannot enter homes without permission- they also cannot enter a soul, in order to turn a being into a vampire, without permission. Of course, this rule does not account for the manipulation tactics and seduction. Vampires can die of hunger like humans can, it just takes longer. They also need rest. They can sleep dormantly for extended periods of time, either if they choose or if they were seriously injured or physically strained. To kill a vampire, the attacker must aim for the heart, or else it will not die. Wooden stakes have been used traditionally in vampire hunting.

WIGHT — Creatures that haunt memories. After appearing in a mind, they consume that person's memory until nothing is left but a swarm of wights.

WRAITH — Winged undead.

WILL-O'-THE-WISP — Wisps are wandering bundles of light. When approached, they disappear in a little burst of light to escape. They can be caught in jars like fireflies.