 |
The ravings of a mage called Calliav Giniuar who has foreseen a great and dark land across the turbulent waters of the Abysmal Sea have been recorded. His ramblings were refined and his descriptions were sketched. What resulted were outlandish stories and creatures that no Norrathian could believe or conceive. Calliav believes there is an army called the Legion of Mata Muram waiting for Norrath to greet it. As a result of Calliav's rants, he was labeled a madman once again for spouting such terrifying untruths.
For your entertainment, we'll show you a few of the mage's descriptions of strange beasts with accompanying drawings that he had a painter make under the light of a torch on a dark night when he awoke from one of his strange visions...
The Aneuk originate from a world of pure magic. These priests are the most powerful of their world, having channeled the strength of a god of darkness unlike anything Norrathians have seen. They have the unique ability to cause as much harm as they can heal.
While the Aneuk excel with magic, they are physically weak. Over the centuries, what used to be legs that carried them as bipedal creatures have become nothing but dangling, atrophied bone and flesh, since levitation is now used for travel. To protect their fragile bodies, they wear armor inscribed heavily with glyphs that give added protection and strength. The glyphs associated with their god also aid them in focusing and channeling their magic across realms and planes.
The race is extremely ancient, having seen many battles won and lost on many worlds. They are highly intelligent, and proudly display on their armor the skulls of kings and leaders they have conquered over the courses of their long lives.
When the Legion of Mata Muram arrived to decimate the home of the Aneuk, they were given a choice -- die or join. As the Aneuk thrive on power, torture, and conquering, several believed they would find a suitable home among the dark creatures of the legion.
The Aneuk are not only on the fields of battle. There are several levels of the Aneuk that not only have unique magic, but also serve special functions for leaders within the Legion of Mata Muram. They are adept at organizing and strategizing.
The kyv come from a land of complete darkness which has made them ideal hunters for the Legion of Mata Muram. They hunt using their senses and can track heat signatures and ultrasonic waves. They are incredibly stealthy, and have unequalled skill with bows and arrows.
Their origins are mired in sadism. In their youth, the skin covering most of their body is branded with a white-hot blade. The markings on their skin indicate their ancestry and rank in the social order of the kyv. These tribal burn patterns made of scar tissue, with little or no blood flow, also act as camouflage in worlds where creatures hunt by heat signatures.
The kyv have a rich heritage of gladiators and hunters. Their entertainment was not presented in coliseums, but in the dark, dangerous wilds of their home world. The hunter was the hunted -- kyv against kyv. It was a brutal and dangerous game that brought death to the loser.
The kyv do have the ability to use magic, but it's used almost exclusively to charge their arrows. The type and nature of arrows displayed protruding from their armor are not just symbols of status, but ability. The higher the rank and status, the more powerful the devastation capability of the arrows in the back slots in their armor.
While the kyv are master archers, they can also hold their own using daggers and short swords.
The recruiters of the Legion of Mata Muram convinced many kyv to sign up. In fact, it was seen as an honor to be recruited. Even as one of the lowest ranks in the legion, the kyv are proud and pleased to wreak havoc on all who oppose them...
The one drawback of joining the legion was the inevitabile: contact with worlds of light. As a result, all of the kyv that were in the legion, and bred for the legion, stitched their eyes in a great ceremony. The stitching of the eyes prevents them from the pain and distraction of light in other worlds and indicates ascension on the path to becoming the ultimate hunter. Upon a victory in battle, most will remove the eyes from their victims and hold them as trophies.
A captive ukun is virtually untamable, even on its home world. Captivity quickly leads an ukun to a violent and volatile mental state. They can only be taught simple commands, like "kill," or "find."
Ukun are often used as hunting animals by dominant races. The biggest problem with the ukun when used as a hunting animal is that they do not retrieve much. The ukun handler is invariably left with only bones from a catch.
Each time an ukun enters a world with light, they violently react to it by clawing at their eyes until the pain, and for that matter, their eyes, are gone. Fortunately, the ukun can regenerate their eyes, but only in the total absence of light. They can easily hunt without sight as they are sensitive to heat, sound, and the movement of air across their sensitive skin.
When the legion herded up several of the ukun for its use, they adorned the beasts with a leash and armor that would serve as control mechanism with pins that dig into the flesh. The pale skin of the ukun was then branded with the markings of an unknown magic that provided their fragile skin with some protection.
The ukun are savage creatures that can hunt in packs, eating their enemies alive.
|
|
