Monsters

The continent of Oderen is infested with monsters, besieging the villagers and citizens of the nations within. Countrysides and cityscapes alike are home to foul fiends of all types. Many are magically enhanced or otherwise mutated creatures, born from otherwise typical beasts and made ravenous by the unnatural energies of the world. While some are harmless and otherwise benign, many more are dangerous and threatening, leaving destruction behind them wherever they go. Some are simply individuals, massive monsters that live as bears or other beasts, while others are stunted humanoids who live in a mockery of society. All of them are avoided by the other races on the continent, pushed to the fringes as populations expand and compete to carve out their own safe spaces.

Monstrous Societies

These monsters form their own cultures or societies, living in the hidden nooks of Oderen. They differ from other more monstrous creatures by their attempts at culture and civilization. Forming relatively primitive societies, they fight and bicker with eachother as much as they do the other more established races. Unified to some extent in tribes or other clans, they steal and copy their more advanced neighbours, dragging themselves gradually towards a more established civilization with every generation. Each of these groups sees the other races as their rivals, and mostly seeks to displace or defeat them in some way. Even without realizing this goal of domination, they present a threat to peace across Oderen, and are often engaged in conflict to some extent.

Beastmen

Beasts roam the forests of the Obertal, emerging from the deep woods to raid and rampage through the countrysides of Arran and the Midlands. They are hulking and grotesque humanoids, sporting features of various wild animals from the woods. Deer and goats are the most commonly depicted, with horns and hooves a near staple among their kind. They pour in a near constant stream from somewhere deep within the forest, some magical tear mutating the forests creatures. Collectively they are known as Beastmen, fusing elements of both Beast and Human together into one sickly creature.

Centaurs

Centaurs are a relatively unknown and uncontacted group. They exist as some monolithic force from the west, pushing the Orcs into their migrations eastwards in centuries long past. As such, few humans maintain regular contact with them, the Orc realms acting as a buffer between the two. What few stories do exist of them tell of a cruel and barbaric people, bent on the destruction and conquest of the world that lay before them. Part horse and part humanoid, they carry beastial features and share a culture similar to the Hanish Orcs of the southwest. Living in family clans, they roam the plains, herding livestock and living a nomadic lifestyle.

Dragonborn

Dragonborn are the mortal offspring of the Dragons, created through channelling the magical forces of the world. They were made to serve their masters, living as slaves to the whims of their draconic overlords. Originally soldiers to fight the gods during the war of the ancients, they found new purpose to scour the Dwarves from the world during the Dragon Wars. With the deaths of the dragons, the Dragonborn have become leaderless, fleeing to the south and trying to find their own way in the world.

Goblins

Goblins are perhaps the most ubiquitous monstrous creature on the continent, present in seemingly every corner of the world. They are small and mischievous creatures, if not outright cruel, working to steal and hurt as often as they can. They live in warbands, tucking themselves away far from prying eyes. Here, in the deep woods and caves of the world, their numbers can grow unchecked. Occasionally, these groups spill from their hiding places, rampaging across the countryside until killed or driven away.

Gnolls

Gnolls are one of the monstrous races on the continent. They live primarily in the Moraine mountains, and are a nuisance to settlements surrounding that range. The Dwarves are an old enemy of theirs, the two fighting to defend their territory among the mountain passes. Gnolls are a wolf-human hybrid, brought into the world by a surge of wild magic. They are unruly and wild, raiding from the mountains to steal and pillage whatever they come across. Their disunity, travelling in smaller rival packs, keeps them from presenting too much of a threat to any reasonable fortification.

Harpies

Harpies are a nuisance and ancient pest of the Dwarves in the mountains. They are typically found in the high reaches of the Pessamits, though pockets of them do exist in the other mountain ranges as well. They live in small flocks, dominated by the strongest among them. They tend to prey on isolated flocks of herding animals, or smaller packs of travellers in the higher mountain passes. Occasionally they will venture down to the foothills of their mountain homes, preying on merchant caravans or other ripe looking targets.

Kobolds

Kobolds are a diminutive and small offshoot of the ancient Dragons, spawned through some magic from their remains. Living in underground warrens, they skitter and dig beneath the earth, occasionally venturing above ground for some reason or another. They are the much smaller cousins of the Dragonborn, and hold the same reverential relationship as their kin when it comes to their Dragon progenitors. While not dangerous on their own, they tend to travel in swarms, overwhelming their foes with sheer numbers.

Yama

The Yama are a group of monstrous humanoids that live in the Ashi and Malada mountains, especially around Mutsu in the northern Kodno. They are hulking and muscle-bound, with brightly coloured skin. They band together in groups, ambushing travellers or occasionally ransacking Elven villages. They are used to scare children and outcasts, posing little threat to the organized warriors of the Sea Elves. They show intelligence and speak their own language, though they have no cities. They live high in the mountains, hiding in caves and remote valleys.

Vampires

Vampires are a partially hidden threat to the world of the living, using subterfuge and shadow to hide their movements. They exist across the realms of men, and even beyond, with other races not unheard of. Originating in the Comati lands to the far south, they have since spread to infect every level of modern society. Living long lives, and tremendously powerful, they seek to dominate or exterminate all life on earth. To this end, many oppose their machinations, working to stem the tide and beat them back into the shadows.

Major Monsters

These monsters are large and dangerous, each posing a major threat to any who cross their paths. Generally solitary creatures, they encompass a range of natural beasts and other magically warped creatures. No matter their origin, they are the subject of hunts and various tales and stories, each carrying its own mythology of sorts in the minds of its victims. They plague the countryside, and even some urban centres, spreading terror and destruction wherever they venture. Despite their capabilities, they are generally little more than beasts, having no goals beyond their most base instincts.

Dragons

Dragons are ancient spirits, ruling the world before even the time of the gods. They have since been completely destroyed, their only legacy their offspring of the Dragonborn. Great and terrible snake-like creatures, they were perhaps the most powerful sorcerers the world has seen, controlling and even fuelled by the magic that coursed through the earth. Their destruction was brought about by the Dwarves, during the great Dragon Wars that saw the near annihilation of their own empire. Their memory is kept alive by the Dragonborn, and in stories of myth and legend told by the Dwarves.

Minor Monsters

Little more than a nuisance, these creatures are small inconveniences in most cases. While some can cause more widespread damage, their limited size or more tempered natures make them very minor threats to those who they live among. Often a mere fact of life in the villages scattered across Oderen, some of these monsters have been domesticated and turned into pets, offering a slightly exotic quality to the lives of many peasants across the continent. Often they are magically influenced to some degree, though not all.