Vereva/Fauna
General
Non-majickle
Majickle
Template:Fantasy Creature Vereva
- See also: Majick
Some of the wildlife of Vereva are able to perform Majicks. Unlike the sentient races, their miraclous feats were done without requirement of prayer[2].
Beasts
Beasts--large and scaly carnivorous reptiles--are considered one of the most dangerous species in Vereva. They are cold-blooded animals, most of which hibernate between the months of the Waning Sun and the Waxing Sun. They average a towering height of 45 feet (13.7m), a length of 80 feet (24.4m) and a weigh of 3,600 lbs (1,633kg). The beasts are held in high respect by most cultures, and come in three main variants: dragons, hydra, and wyvern. Beasts perform Majicks of elemental natures.
Dragon
Dragons are beasts that usually inhabit wide areas of harsh terrain. They consume mostly small and medium non-majickle mammals and reptiles, such as rabbits, goats, alligators and snakes but are very agressive, sometimes preying on larger animals or other majickle creatures for a meal. Wild dragons are extremely dangerous to sentient races, though many dragons were once kept as pets or used in Dragoonism. Dragons differentiate themselves from other beasts through the selection of majickle elements they utilize. They are also the only of the beasts that have wings, giving them the ability to fly.
Dragoons
Many armies around Vereva once formed battalions riding beast. Members of the sky battalions who rode dragons were called Dragoons[3]. In their prime, the Dragoon was the highest honored of all soldiers on a global scale. Only the firecest, most decorated warriors were given enough credentials to apply for positions or be knighted as Dragoons. Modernly, since the recent invention of the battle airship, Dragoonism has quickly become archaic as ships take flight across the sky with arsenals capable of easily eliminating Dragoons and their dragons.
Hydra
Template:Fantasy Creature Vereva
A hydra is a waterborne beast, native mostly to the westernmost oceans and seas of Vereva. Although cold-blooded, the hydra prefers colder waters of below freezing temperatures opposing the temperature habits of the other beasts. However, during the Month of the Waning Sun, hydra swim as far east as Avelamb to mate and lay their eggs as the waters cool down as it heads into the Month of the Darkness. Hydra eggs lay at the bottom of the ocean for an average of two weeks before they hatch and the baby hydra are made to swim back into colder waters before the end of the Month of the Sinistral Moon. The hydra, charactistic of all beasts, consumes mostly small and medium non-majickle fauna, such as many varieties fish and crustacean, and small sharks, dolphins, whales and octopi. It is thought that many animals beach themselves to avoid hydra attack; the hydra's legs too weak to stay on dry land for great amounts of time. Hydra are the most agressive of the beasts and are the major cause of shipwrecks through history.
Hydrophants
A Hydrophant[4] was a warrior responsible for doing oceanic battle who rode on the back of a trained hydra. The hydrophants have the longest history of usage of the beast-back brigades, being used for tens of centuries, dating further back than the Coming of Bevesta. Alike the Dragoons, Hydrophants are termed out of date in modern warfare because of the addition of long-range missiles andother weapons onto seacrafts.
Wyvern
Template:Fantasy Creature Vereva
The wyvern (pronounced: VEE-vern; /ˈviːvəɹn/), a native Mirvermish word, is a beast that inhabits open areas of dry land. It differentiates itself from the dragon because it is wingless and lives in areas of terrain that are somewhat easier to cross. The Wyvern shares most of its features and habits with the dragon; both hibernate between the Month of the Waning Sun and the Month of the Waxing Sun and make meals of smaller non-majickle mammals and reptiles. In childhood, the wyvern is also independent of its parents unlike the dragons whose mother hunts for the family's means and whose father teaches it to fly. The wyvern is a very slow moving beast because of its short legs in reference to its great weight, making them susceptible to attacks from other species though causing harm to a wyvern is made difficult do to its hard, steel-like armor of scales. Wyvern scales are one of the hardest resources in Vereva, able to pierce the skin of Dwarves, once used to create weapons such as swords and shields. Modernly hunting wyvern for its scales is illegal in most countries because of their dwindling numbers in the wild. The population of wyvern kept by sentient races is well into the millions. The largest number of wyvern in the wild were once found in the eastern tundra of Vy Mirvë, but most of those have migrated eastward into Kahrim, pushed back by poaching. In the modern day, the largest number of wild wyvern exist in the deserts of Bevesta.
Wyrmhearts
Wyrmhearts[5] are warriors who do battle aback a wyvern. While Dragoonism and Hydrophancy have become obsolete in warfare, Wyrmism is still of great value in warfare because of the wyvern's great size and study scales that are one of the hardest resources in Vereva.
Birds
A few species of birds bear Majcikle qualities.
Phoenix
The phoenix is a fire-elemental bird of medium size native to the Beating Heart. Phoenixes are shades of red and orange and have an average body temperature of 300°F (149°C). They have great eyesight and can spot their prey, scorpions and snakes, from miles away. Reaching flight speeds of up to 100 mph (161kph), their fiery feathers leave streaks of crimson across the skies. Phoenixes are said to be able to choose their death; when a desire to live is great upon a mortal incident, the phoenix will burst into flames and be reborn as an egg. If the bird chooses death, it bursts into flames and becomes smoldering soot.
Sapphiris
The sapphiris is a medium-sized ice elemental bird native to Pömt Mirvë. The sapphiris' plumage are deep blues and purples. They have an average body temperature of -100°F (-73.3°C). As a sapphiris travels across the sky, it leaves a trail of winter clouds that may cause gentle snow or terrible blizzards.
Chimaera
Template:Fantasy Creature Vereva
A chimaera is a cornucopia of animals whose Majicks of choice are usually of two opposing elements. Chimaeras are very aggressive and lead short lives. It stands on two strong hoofed legs, much like those of a bull. Its long tail is long and scaly, and resembles a crocodile's or an alligator's tail. The right arm is an orange-furred limb with a clawed paw of a tiger, they left arm, the slender body of a snake with the snake's head acting as the hand. The males, called griffons, have large heads of eagles. The females, called baphomets, have white-haired horned heads of goats. The young, called cublets, are headless and don't sprout ahead until ita fender is decided around age 3. The chimaera prays on birds, snakes, arachnids and medium-sized mammals, however the chimaera requires very little to sustain life ad can live up to ten years without consuming at all. As its average life span tallies around 8.5 years, most chimaera never eat at all.
Earth Tunneler
An earth tunneler, the national animal of Kahrim, is a type of giant burrowing land worm native to mountainous regions. The earth tunneler can be beige, tan, or brown and as an adult, covered in a thin layer of scruffy hair. They eat mostly soils, sands and rocks using powerful jaws and seven rows of teeth and two sets of pincers, which also aid them in their hollowing out of earth to create caverns. Despite their massive size—reaching heights of 20 feet (6m), lengths of 50 ft (15m) and weights of up to 2 tons (1814kg) during adulthood—they are mostly passive creatures due to their large number of predators in their larval stages. At birth, the earth tunnelers look no different than average earth worms in all aspects of physicality, but they grow hundreds of times their size being able to live up to 400 years, though the majority of earth tunnelers never survive this long as most of the larva are taken by predators. Different from other animals and insects, all earth tunnelers are reproductively sound, though the age and size of one may determine the amount of larvae it can lay in one birth. An earth tunneler weighing more than one ton is said o be able to produce a set of more than 2 million offspring in one birth!
Elemental
The elementals are large aggressive mammals who defend themselves solely through the use of elemental-based Majick. The elementals have soft scaly skin that can change colors according to blend in with the atmosphere around it, like a chameleon. Most elementals stay this way and use pheromones to track each other so not much is known about the animal.
- What is known by biologists today:
- Placental mammals
- Ability to blend in with surroundings
- Is only unblended when awake
- Related to the domestic cattle, although an omnivore
- Consumes its own dead
- Capable of living in multiple terrains and climates
- Attacks from distance using Majick
- Live in large groups of 40 or more
Faes
Template:Fantasy Creature Vereva
Faes are a variety of Majickle blood-drinking insects that, alike parrots, can mimic speech sounds. Faes pray on coagulated blood of animals though their size makes it difficult for them to kill their prey. They rely on mimicking noises made by other species to lure smaller animals toward the homes or territories of larger predators, and have a number of Majicks at their disposal to ensure that animals who are becoming aware of the danger can not get away. Natural predators of fae are mostly non-majickle animals, including small insectivore mammals and fish, and most amphibians.
Asrai
An asrai, is a small mosquito fae native to warm desert climates. The asrai have no loyalties and will employ the help of any nearby animal to catch larger pray and bars escape with sleeping spells.
Faerie
The faerie is a fae that takes the form of a dragonfly. They live in warm, wet climates such as marshes, shores and grasslands. Faeries are partial to employing the aid of water-dwelling snakes. They hum tunes of nearby animals to lure their pray in and use Majicks that paralyze their prey, disabling movement entirely.
Harpy
In the form of a stag beetle, the harpy is the mostly widely spread of the faes, inhabiting Kahrim, Lorelei and Eidriel. The harpy mimics sounds the least to attract its prey. The harpy actively finds its prey and relies heavily on its Majick, causing temporary or permanent blindness, to disorient its prey. After blinding its prey, the harpy calls the predator using the sounds of that animal.
Nymph
A nymph is a butterfly-form fae native to tundra of the far west that uses Majick of various poisonous values on its prey. Unlike the other faes, the nymphs' Majick can be easily reversed with the correct antidote as well as the correct counter prayer. The nymph is also easily recognizable as it is the sole butterfly species which inhabits the tundra.
Pixie
The pixie is a fae in the form of a ladybug or ladybird. A pixie may inhabit Lorelei or Kahrim where it hunts with extreme loyalty with large mammals such as wolves and bears.
Sprite
A sprite is a type of fae that resembles a firefly or a lightning bug. They inhabit moderate and temperate climates in areas with dense vegetation. Sprites are not loyal to any animals to help them kill their prey. They hum tunes of nearby fauna to attract their prey, though in darker months, such as the Month of the Darkness, they use their bright tails to attract all nearby fauna around in attempt to find one that can prey on the other. Their glowing tails along with their Majicks that mesmerize, sending animals into trances render the sprite the most danger of the faes.
Kraken
Template:Fantasy Creature Vereva
Living in the deepest regions of the oceans and able to inhabit waters of a large range of temperatures, the kraken is a giant carnivorous squid often blue or purple in color said to be the largest of animals land and sea. It prays on the largest of sea animals, sharks, manatees, walruses, whales, hydra and other large animals, able to swallow most in a single gulp, though some larger whales require several bites with is powerful beak. The kraken searches for its food with its long tentacles that can grow more than a mile (1.6km) in length. It uses the tentacles to grab animals from a distance, its large suction cups having too much strength for large creatures to break away. Feeling around through the ocean, the kraken can sometimes mistake ships for large fish and attack them, though this is not as common as a hydra attack; kraken tend to remain deep under water and only feed every three months.
Mandragora
The national animal of Avelamb is the mandragora. The mandragora is a small, potato-shaped blind shrew wih small limbs and long sharp claws used for burrowing. It is brown in color and often hairless. It lives a sedentary lifestyle under the roots of a host plant such as vegetables, low laying fruits, bushes an flowers, with whom it shares nutrients in the soils and protects from harmful insects making meals of them. Mandragora are sometimes mistaked as a plant species of partial sentience. As they survive under a host plant, the plants roots eventually wrap around and grow into it and the two become an a single inseparable species. This helps disguise the mandragora from its many natural predators. The mandragora is seen as a peat in commercial gardens where farmers are unable to sell foods tainted by them as the wanted product. When an infestation of mandragora may be present, farmers may order mandragora-eating carnivorous plans suh as the mandrake bush or the walking willow.
Nightmare
Sandfish
Various species of fish that inhabit the Earthflow are known as sandfish. These fish are all carnivorous and require high temperatures to survive. The swim through the boiling sands in large families and the largest may grow to be up to 8 feet long and weigh more than 1,000 pounds. The natural predator to many small sandfish are the phoenixes.
Unicorn
The unicorn is a tall, horse-like mammal with a single large horn that spouts from the middle of its forehead. The unicorn grazes in pastures alike other wild horse species but drinks the water accumulated in the clouds. They use Majick to gallop in large herds on wind and up to the clouds where they graze atop clouds, drinking them until they disappear, and return back to the earth. Unicorn also defend themselves with Majick, able to shoot Majick with a large variety of effects from the tip of their horns.
Semi-sentient
- Main: Semi-sentient races
Semi-sentient races are the five races (four fauna races and one plant race) that according to the Majicium faith were once sentient races with the ability to speak and manipulate the world around them. In the folklore, these races lost most features prevalent in the societies of sentient races when the gods attributed to their likenesses died. Semi-sentient races still show greater capacities for learning and understanding than other animals and plants, and may use many tools to complete their daily activities. Some even wear skins of other animals as clothes.
Centaurs
- See also: Centaurese language
The Centaur is a semi-sentient race whose lower body is that of a horse and whose upper body is the torso, arms, and head of a Human or Thaumaturge. Their skin is usually a bronze tan, and their hair, whites, blacks, and grays, match the coats of their lower extremities. Centaurs are omnivores who often become the host organism of a faes because of their ability to still use long- or mid-range weapon tools such as the sword or bow. Herds of can be found on Kensilla and The Scar, from where they are believed to originate beside the Aelves because of the line in the Thaumopaedia that represents their origin.
- The Minotaurs roaming the Open Plains, and the Centaurs watching the Celestial Skies
- (Thaumopaedia; Chapter 1, Verse 4)
The Centaurs, watching the celestial skies are believed to originate on The Scar as it is the only place on Vereva from which all celestial bodies are visible. Centaurs also show a wide range of personality traits, above all is pride; never allowing the sentient races to keep them captive as pets.
Those faithful to Majicium consider the Centaurese language [a] to be the ancient language spoken by the Centaurs, though those who oppose the faith often disregard this.
Manticores
- See also: Eivissan language
The Manticore is a large, semi-sentient land mammal and as the official animal of Bevesta, it is native to the only to its deserts. It is red, bronze or gold in color and has the body of a lion. The features of its face are very humanesque and resemblant of those of the sentient races. It is carnivorous, having three rows of sharp teeth on the top and bottom of its mouth, totally a number of 198 teeth (33 in each row). Other aspects of the creature vary with gender and age.
The male, called either a Manticore or an Androsphinx, has one short horn atop its head. As a child it is wingless, but it grows a small pair of wings on its back as it ages. The wings are usually evident by adulthood (6 years of age). The tail is that alike a scorpion's; long with a stinger at the tip that may strike with a paralyzing nonfatal poison. This nonfatal is used to keep still the Manticore's prey, as Manticore males, like snakes, eat their prey whole.
The female, called a Sphinx, has large wings, even at birth, which allow it to fly despite the male of the species' inability. The wings of the males are covered in fur, by the female Sphinxes have larges brown or white feathered wings that when healthy are quite luminous. The tail of the females are those of lions; Sphinxes can not create poisons, though they remain immune to the male's poisons. Manticores feed primarily on basilisks, though birds can become their prey as well.
The Manticores are believed to originate in the deserts of the Almsaundean Continent that they still inhabit today.
- The Manticores under the Eternal Sun, and the Ogres stomping the Frozen Grasses
- (Thaumopaedia; Chapter 1, Verse 6)
Those faithful to Majicium consider the Eivissan language [b] to be the ancient language spoken by the Manticores, though those who oppose the faith often disregard this.
Ogres
- See also: Ogreish language
Ogres are a small, heavy semi-sentient race who are found primarily throughout Vy Mirvë, their place of origin.
- The Manticores under the Eternal Sun, and the Ogres stomping the Frozen Grasses
- (Thaumopaedia; Chapter 1, Verse 6)
The Ogres generally wander the forests of Vy Ffiroçtë, where they make clothing to cover their pea green and olive-colored skin from the pelts of the snow wolves and rabbits they feed on. They cook their meals by making fires and have enough intelligence to know how to prevent wildfires. Ogres, like Gnomes and Dwarves are one of the shortest races, but are also on average, the heaviest in comparison to their height.
Those faithful to Majicium consider the Ogreish language [c] to be the ancient language spoken by the Ogres, though those who oppose the faith often disregard this.
Trolls
- See also: Trollish language
Trolls are the second tallest of the semi-sentient races, second only to the Treants which are the tallest of all sentient and semi-sentient races. On average, the Trolls are believed to be only two to three feet taller than the Giants but slightly heavier. They are believed to originate in regions of the Kalle Mountains, either on Kensilla or on the Great Continent, where they still dwell.
- There existed the Aelves of the Isles, and the Trolls safely in the Mountains
- (Thaumopaedia; Chapter 1, Verse 2)
The Trolls' personalities are characterized typically by stubbornness—making them easy targets for more intelligent raves who can trick them by blinding them with anger. They have dark or red skin, and hairless triangular ears like those of felines that afford them far greater auditory perception than the other races. Most Trolls live in caves where they feed primarily on earth tunnelers, using blunt weapons to kill their food.
Those faithful to Majicium consider the Trollish language [d] to be the ancient language spoken by the Trolls, though those who oppose the faith often disregard this.