BestiaryIndex | Time Under Chaos | Settings | Arden | Bestiary While Arden is the home of a host of ordinary forest creatures such as the deer, the bear and the boar to name a few other, more unusual creatures have wandered in from Shadow over the centuries and are occasionally glimpsed in deep forest groves. There is rumored to be a breeding pair of unicorns somewhere in the eastern reaches and the area is heavily guarded. To be caught hunting there is punishable by death. The only other animal under such protection is the rare White Stag. On record are reports of Satyrs, Centaurs, Gryphons and Manticors, but there have been no sightings more recent than last century. Some of the more unusual of Arden’s animal kingdom are below.  Yale: The yale is as large as a horse, is black, has an elephant's tail and the jaws of a wild boar. Its horns are long and mobile: one can fold backwards while the other fights. A fight between two yale is both frightening and amusing, but it can do damage to forest grove so such situations are broken up whenever they are happened upon.  Monoceros: The monoceros has the head of a stag, the tail of a boar, elephant's feet and a horse's body. A horn four feet long projects from his head. Carvers of bone for jewelry and talismans often seek after its horn.  Leocrota: The leocrota is a swift animal. It is the size of an ass with the hindquarters of a stag, the chest and legs of a lion, a horse's head and a mouth split open as far as its ears. It has a continuous jawbone instead of teeth.  Salamanders: The salamanders are proof against fire, they can poison all apples in a tree, poison water in a well, killing anyone who drinks from it. They can survive in flames and put a fire out.  The Phoenix: The bird makes a container for its ashes, turns to face the sun, beats its wings to fan the flames and is consumed, later it rises again from the dead in its old form once every century.  Siren: The siren can run faster than horses and can fly; appears to be a cross between a lizard, a bird and a salamander, though it doesn't seem to have any of the salamander's magical attributes. Mostly harmless.  Basilisk: The basilisk is the king of crawling things and can kill with a glance. He has a raptor's beak, a cockscomb, wings, a tail and claws. His archenemy is the weasel, who is immune to its deadly gaze. These would be a problem if they were taller than a cat. |
