The Creatures of Estel Úqua
While many of Estel Úqua's creatures may be quite familiar to you, some are unlike any on earth.
Common creatures are found across the realms, others are regional and never found outside of their preferred habitat. Still others are rarely seen yet still exist. Some have fallen into legend but evidence of their long ago existence can still be found. Yet others are solely myth. Maybe they existed, but more likely they're stories made up to entertain children in ages past.
Common Creatures
Dire Beasts (Spiders, Rats, Wolves, etc)
There are some arguments among scholars about what makes a dire beast grow to such enormous size, but must agree magic must be to blame. It would seem to matter little to common folk who have to deal with them - be it child-sized direroaches or man-sized direwolves - they're a nasty problem across the realms. Humans agree these beasts are the major reason they've yet to conquer the bordering wastelands where the creatures seem to be most numerous and have, indeed, given up on doing more than beating the beasts back from their towns and outposts.
Gnoll
Vicious little creatures that hunt in packs, they're endemic in the realms raiding farms and even small villages. As a group they're strong enough to carry off a full grown cow with incredible speed and have even been blamed for mysterious disappearance of whole families living in less populated areas.
Hobgoblins
Ferocious teeth that seem capable of chewing through anything, ears coated with razor sharp hairs, and a high pitch screeching language that could drive a person insane. What could be worse? Oh, these quick little monsters have a nose for smelted metals and will take off with sword or gold without a moment's pause. Best be quick, or it's gone forever. According to Humans these little beasts eat the metal, but Dwarves believe they create nests with it deep underground. Everyone agrees these nippy pests should be exterminated.
Shades
When one dies they walk through the spirit world, drawn by the call of a gate, where they will be reborn until old age takes them and their souls find eternal rest. But the grey land is not without its dangers. Things live there, in the shadows, the landscapes shift without warning, and sometimes one's soul cannot find a gate in time. These poor folk become ghosts, trapped in the grey land, directly trying to return home. Sometimes their longing or need is powerful enough to pull their shade into the realm of the living where they can give warnings, or share their despair. Not all Shades have good intentions, but not all seek to do harm.
Wyrms
These little reptilian beasts are considered a pest among the realms but are indigenous to the western regions. While they grow no larger than a small child, they are fast on their feet and their large teeth are almost as deadly as their gaseous breath. Fortunately, they are carrion eaters or they'd be a bigger problem than they already are.
Regional Creatures
Naga
These overly large snakes roam the northern regions. Aside from being large enough to easily eat a grown orc, they have the ability to render anything who looks them in the eye unable to move, which makes their pray easy to eat. Elven warriors sharpen their skill by hunting the beasts.
Kelpie
These creatures live along the coastlines of the south east. Some say they appear as beautiful people with red eyes, others that they're animals of exquisite grace whose eyes flame red. They are especially attracted to song and it is said death follows them where they go.
Metshin
Metshin can largely be found in the central regions of the realms. Cat-sized and grasshopper-like, they posses a sharp proboscis with which they suck blood from their victims. Alone, they're easy enough to handle, but in a swarm, they can be deadly. Those raised in the central regions are likely to have been warned to behave or they'll be left out for the Metshin by frustrated parents.
Rare Creatures
Nymphs
These rare creatures live in bodies of still water, in trees, and in rock. Some believe these speechless beings are the spirits of the places they live, others believe them to be the cursed souls of those who died nearby and were not properly buried.
Efreeti
Many tales of adventure start with a youngster, secretly hoping to change their fate, searching for an Efreeti's lair. Those that find one are simultaneously cursed and blessed, because nothing these wispy creatures give is without its price.
Pişiyi
Some say seeing this brightly colored bird-like creature is an omen that one is about to embark on an unexpected adventure. Wiser folk would run, for what appear to be the Pişiyi's strike transports the target back to the Pişiyi's lair to feed on with its razor sharp beak.
Reliquaries
Discovering a reliquary is feared among adventurers and those who trod infrequent paths. These items, be it a single clasp from a cloak or a full set of armor, still contain the spirits of their original owners. Sometimes helpful, more frequently terrifying, these objects appear normal until after they've been claimed by foolhardy folk. Then their possession manifests causing harm, tormenting the new owner or, in the worst of cases, possessing them completely.
Legendary Creatures
Drakes
Believed to be the ancient ancestors of modern Wyrms, the skeletal remains of these giant beasts can still be found if you mine deep enough. A wise Dwarf would say it's a good thing they're extinct.
Elementals
Shamans know that there was a tinge when the earth spoke to those who could hear. Their stories describe creatures made of rain, mist, smoke, fire, and even clouds of dust who gave guidance and warnings. It has been an eon since these voices of nature have been seen, and many blame the wars and "progress" of the realms.
Osokoneza
Sailors still talk of these creatures. How they would rise out of the water and onto unlucky ships as if by magic. It is said the Osokoneza's tentacled faces are almost humanoid, and without a word madness would strike all who were near them. Ghost vessels, decks lined with corpses of men who fought their own shipmates to death, still roam the waters, if sailor's tales are to be believed.
Mythical Creatures
Fomorian
It is said these creatures came up from the darkness. Thin, narrow, with sharp teeth and according to myths they could bend darkness to their will. All myths agree that they were terrifying and the natural enemies of the Sídhe. What happened to them once they destroyed the Sídhe no one knows, but they haven't been seen since.
Sídhe
These mythical creatures dart through ancient Elven, Dwarven, and Orcish stories prompting some to say the mischief makers were once real. Some stories describe them as ferocious beasts with sharp teeth that picked flesh from unsuspecting travelers bones. Yet others portray them as elfin in nature, save curious to a disastrous fault. All the stories seem to agree on us that the Fomorians wiped them out, and good riddance to the pests.
Weir-Beasts
On the darkest nights of winter, with the doors barred and fires stoked high, elders tell horrific stories of DireBeasts that can shift back and forth between human and animal form. These creatures are said to use human form to stalk their unsuspecting prey, then drag them off to a grisly end.