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[Max White]

I always really liked the glorified potato heads, given the right back story. A civilisation sending warriors out to hunt lions and giant scorpions and bring back the corpse to be butchered, then weaving parts together with metal wire and using necromancy to raise a hybrid zombie, for example, would fit such a criteria.

[Siquo]

Yes, it would if it was artificial, but "natural" abominations like this is typically an artist "who didn't get it". IMHO.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Max White]

True, sometimes they seem rather uninspired, especially when they are just parts stitched together. Although it can sometimes be entertaining...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Siquo]

Ah, but the big difference is that that one doesn't look as "sown (sowed? sewn?) on" as my example. The feather motif continues all over the jaws and head, for instance. A lot of animals first encountered received a similar naming: for instace the cross between a camel and a leopard is a Camelopard, and a leopard in turn is the cross between a lion (leon) and panther (pardos). Both look nothing like a leopard with hairy humps attached or a panther with a lion's head.

[Max White]

Veran
The veran are a race of humanoids with two large wings, mounted on their shoulders, above their abnormally long and slender arms. These wings are covered in feathers, as is their head where humans would have hair. These feathers continue down their back, ending at their waist, and covers their upper arms. Despite some similarities with birds, they are unable to fly, insisting that 'Things on the common plane  are far too heavy, and in other planes their weightlessness allows them to fly.' Their skin ranges from light tan to pale pink, and their feathers are a rich shade of green, with the tips breaking into many colours such as reds and blues. Their large wings that do little to allow for flight can make them cumbersome if they are not used to movement over the common plane, but for the select few who have gotten used to the increased weight, they can effectively use their wings to propel them at great speeds over the ground, as if they were swimming through the air. The veran are a race of mutes, completely unable to speak, although common lore teaches that this was not always the case, but rather they were cursed by the gods for deserting the common plane. It is widely accepted that the further from the common plane a traveller goes, the weaker the influence of the greater deities, and most veran find a home far enough from this plane that they can survive divine wrath, but close enough to keep in contact with the common plane.

Veran are a race of plainswalkers, able to manipulate space like few others would dream, and it has cost them greatly. Some time before the betrayal of Daedalus, the veran sought to use their powers and explore the outer planes, and perhaps manage to skip from realm to realm until they would find a new plane that could support life. The gods, especially Assa, the patron god of healing, were angered by this, and punished the veran by taking their voice. The veran, for their sacrifice, found no path to a new higher plane, and became outcasts, and hated my the more religious cultures. Veran are still dependant on the common plane, and use their power over space to make hit and run raids to take when they need to continue, before the gods can continue their curse.

Veran build large cities, often floating in seemingly infinite abysses, with a many complex halls, passages and tunnels. With their manipulation of dimensions, they build their cities sprawling into impossible mazes, making navigating around them hopeless for outsiders. They do not build their cities as separate buildings, but rather a single citadel, adding rooms as they are required, folding space in on itself as they go, so that a single space may hold many rooms. Because their wings make most normal clothing difficult to wear, they mostly don long skirts, often over tassets. Because of their religious differences and need for quickly gathering resources to survive, it is rare for the veran to not be in a state of war. Their tactics are brutal, as they will shift themselves inside of the city walls, mostly at night, taking cities by surprise. There have been cases where a town was taken in a single night, and in a few days every brick, wooden beam and  cobble stone was taken away to continue construction of their ever growing maze. Despite the advantage of being able to place an ambush at any time, their numbers are few, and they must ensure an effective strike as losses can not be afforded. On top of this, the gods continue to actively cripple and slaughter any veran they can find.

Veran, apart from very able plainswalkers, are able mages, and can use a wide range of magics, including biomancy, necromancy, and aesnomancy. There are also certain veran nations that have been blessed by Pon, the tormented, as a way for her to seek revenge against the gods that imprisoned her, giving them superb ability to control fire magics, while other nations lack this train altogether.

Legends speak of a veran that once wished to form an alliance with a tribe of gigas, to take a city of trogs, but without speech, and as the gigas was blind and unable to read the verans sign language or written words, the veran called for he's most powerful biomancer to create the krat, so that the gigas would be able to one day understand the veran. But, due to the extreme levels of pain the krat cause, the gigas thought this was an attack, and in a sudden attack he killed the biomancer, only to gain sight weeks later.

[Neonivek]

Oh, and for everyone who complains about all the animal/human chimaeras/hybrids: In ye olden days there wasn't any reference material. In order to describe a creature, people took parts of the creature and then described what they resembled, it's not so that those chimaeras are really glorified mr potatoheads.

If you went into Egyptian Mythology all you got was animal human hybrids just about.

[Siquo]

Oh, and for everyone who complains about all the animal/human chimaeras/hybrids: In ye olden days there wasn't any reference material. In order to describe a creature, people took parts of the creature and then described what they resembled, it's not so that those chimaeras are really glorified mr potatoheads.

If you went into Egyptian Mythology all you got was animal human hybrids just about.

Yeah, but admittedly, they were original. As in: the first to ever depict them.

Oh, the olden days, where so little was already invented, so easy to be an original...

[Shoku]

Well the egyptian creatures we see as being exact combinations of animals and such because of how egyptian drawing worked. So literal- important people are a larger scale, all the faces in profile and no field of depth to it. Of course a thing that was like part woman and part bird would get those harsh boundaries between parts drawn exactly like those.

But the stuff was successful enough to bear it's mark on time so we all know about it now. They were really pushing the limits of artistic technique back then just to get these marks onto stone so you shouldn't complain about having to push what you can do with artistic technique today. It seems like it was simpler for them but that's always the how it looks when you got to just learn things second hand that others broke their backs to figure out the first time.

[Max White]

Curupira
The curupira are a race of creatures that are most predominantly found living in thick forests, although they will sometimes be found living along coast lines and swamps. They are slim humanoids, who lack hands, but rather their arms continue to form a long, flexible finger, making more of a tentacle, although they still have an elbow and wrist to accommodate the long, solid bones in the rest of their arm, so they are not able to beld their entire limbs at will. Their skin is a very pale white, and burns some what easily, however, they naturally protect themselves by having very dark, almost exclusively black, long hair, that they can use to cover their bodies. Their hair is always straight, and when it becomes wet it holds moisture longer then most other creatures, sometimes for over a day. For a curupira, having their hair cut in a painful process, as they seem able to feel when a hair is cut, although this is in no way dangerous to them. Because of this great discomfort, they will often take measures to protect their hair, the most popular being to cover it with a long coat. The iris of their eyes can range from bright amber to dark brown, and rarely will go into deep shades of red. They are naturally nervous creatures, with very quick reflexes, and would be able to catch flying arrows, were it not for the fact that few are agile enough for this feat. Indeed, there are some cases of full grown curupira that still have trouble with running, due to lack of athletic ability, and as such the race in general prefers less vigorous activities. The curupira have a natural ability to bend lightning to their will, and summon it from their limbs, an ability they use for both self defence and hunting.

Curupiras will prefer to live in climates with higher humidity, as the water in the atmosphere aids in their ability to manipulate electric forces, and shock things from a range. Because they have found that metals attract the currents they produce, some curupira have grown to hate metallic items, while others fear them, and some just understand that it is a hazard of everyday life and something they must learn to cope with. Most curupiran towns ban metals within their walls, fearing accidents that it may cause. They will often wear long coats with hoods and other clothing that adequately covers them, to add protection from the sun, and hide their delicate hair. Of all the races, the  curupira are most likely the most interested in internal politics, spending many hours in public forums debating law and policy. They are the only race to claim that the vast majority of it's countries publicaly elect their leaders, although there are still many that do not allow all citizens to vote, only listening to the words of their aristocrats. In war, the  curupira will sometimes have a massive advantage over their rivals, as even the will of a child becomes lethal force when used  against a rival clad in iron armour, so those to choose to go to war with them must protect themselves with leathers and fabrics. Because of the lessened protection of their rivals, the  curupira will choose to equip themselves with bows and crossbows, with the intention of killing their foe before drawn into a melee fight, something they are unlikely to win.

There is much speculation as to the nature of the electric abilities of the  curupira. Some say it is a type of magic they are so powerful in, that they need not concern themselves with rituals and ceremony that other mages must partake in, and others argue that it is not magic at all, but a complex natural phenomenon that must be bought about in a similar manner to thunder in a storm. Regardless, curupira have access to other, more conventional magic, especially manipulation over the mind of another. They seem particularly skilled in invading ad changing the dreams of others, and a skilled mage can use their victim like a puppet.

[Knave]

...They are slim humanoids, who lack hands, but rather their arms continue to form a long, flexible finger, making more of a testicle

 

All kidding aside, really enjoying reading the fluff you're writing! More pixel art!

[Max White]

What? How did that happen? Silly spell checker! Fixed now.

Also, lie I said, bust with offer affairs, but I'll see what I can do.

[scriver]

Hehe, all the things a freudian slip like that tells us about you... Not all things we want to know

[/b]

Also, lie I said, bust with offer affairs, but I'll see what I can do.

Another slip! Why are you lying to us Max why?

[Max White]

ARG! Hat ewe enrich!

Anyway, that makes 5/10, right? And still zombies, blobs, aliens, bookkeepers and insane zealots to go...

[Shoku]

It's hard to really proofread stuff you've just written (I am still probably only at 90% accuracy*) but you definitely can't rely on autocorrect to deal with it for you, at least not yet.

*I do a good deal better than that but I don't use autocorrect at all. Instead it's just the red line under messed up words and I fix them manually.

[Max White]

Posting a little earlier today, because I have things to get done tonight, so I want this task out of my mind. Also, due to popular demand for art, a gigas, with hammer and sheild, and two krat, one providing sight, and the other providing a large horn, for either showing off or bashing stuff.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fun fact: Zombies are awesome! Time for a good reason for giant four legged zombie mutants to be eating your entire city.

Trog
The art of necromancy is delicate to say the least, and most necromancers are unable to preform their arts on anything that has been dead for more then an hour. Because of the limited window of opportunity, any villages that view necromancy in a positive light will employ one full time, to assist any who have suffered major injury or death through accident. Indeed, the process of attaching and animating a severed arm through necromancy is prone to far less problems then having a biomancer try to regrow the limb, but trying to reassemble a rotting body is beyond the skill of most, and those that can bring back the dead will find their clients surcomming to rot and infestation quickly.

While, most necromancers are content to live some what quiet lives helping those in pain, there are those who aspire to greater things. They seek to end death, or bring it it all, or somewhere in between. Of the most famous in history was Syne, a human who's wish was to make a creature that would life forever, not through some perpetual spell, but by making he's creature good enough at necromancy itself that it could cure itself of any ailment. After much research and trial, Syne bought forth such a creature into the world by sewing together several parts of other creatures with metal wire, and making blood and spirit pulse through it's body with he's magic. Syne took the creature as he's apprentice, and taught all he could of the ways of magic, while constantly replacing rotting body parts with new meat. Over time Syne began to realise that he's creature was aging, in a way, and would one day die just like any other living thing. Knowing he had failed at he's best hope of eternal life, he found another way to maintain he's legacy. He taught the creature the techniques he had used to bring life to the creature itself, and taught it to make new life, and spread it's knowledge. The creature then became the first of a new, artificial race.

The trog are a race or varying shape and size, as they are composed of body parts from others. They seem to constantly be rotting, and without new flesh few will survive for over a week. Over a trog fortress, most other sentient creatures will be choked by the smell of rotting flesh, and those that still press on to knock on their gates will be exposed to some of the world plagues known on the common plane. He smallest of trog will be the size of a small child, while others have over time been built up into monoliths of moving flesh and bone, about the size of a small house. Through history, there have been larger trog who were most often constructed in times of war, as to crush enemy fortifications. Noticeably large trog are given the term 'troggot', and trog capable of tearing down walls are given the fear inspiring name 'troggolith'. The sun is very harmful for trog, as  sunlight dries them out quickly, so trog will avoid direct sunlight in the name of conserving flesh. There are some trog who maintain vague memories of their past lives, as wild animals or sentient beings, but these have little more meaning for them then a passed dream.

Trog build large fortresses made of stone, as a means of ensuring a sanctuary from the sun during the day. During the day they will work hard in their mines, producing stone to either trade with who ever will deal with them, or continue construction on their cities. They are adapt miners, and below most forts is an intricate tunnel network. They are also skilled in the arts of engineering and architecture, and for those willing to explore their city, they will experience some of the most advanced and complex structures on the common plane. During the night, when the sun can not bother them, they go out to hunt in the surrounding area to provide the flesh required to sustain the local population. Because of the amount required to support cities, the area around their cities often becomes barren and dead. Because of the nature of the trog themselves, spreading deadly plagues, destroying local wildlife populations, and taking all the good mineral veins, they are hated by many races. Humans, more then any other race, will often attempt to 'cleans the land' of the trog, waging war on their cities, and keeping them in a short siege until the entire population rots. Although the trog themselves are a reasonable race, and will welcome merchants and over travelers into their walls. They are particular fond of dwarves, who will often venture into their city looking for wonders to tell the outside world about. It is dwarves who spread the story that Thyhold, the largest and oldest trog city, still holds the bones of the long dead Syne, far beyond the skill of any necromancer to resurrect, although as a dwarven story, it's credibility is questionable.

Trog are brilliantly magically adapt in necromancy, after many years of using it most every day, but their other magical talents vary from each being, depending on what parts they were made from.