Creatures (Lothor)

The following is a list and description of creatures found in the region of Lothor.

## Wildlife

* Alligator
* Beuriff
* Black Bear
* Boar Frog
* Bullfrog
* Brown Bear
* Common Elk
* Coyote
* Hare
* Lothor Hawk
* Marsh Crab
* Mouse
* Pond Frog
* Rabbit
* Rat
* Red Eagle
* Red Fox
* Salt Crab
* Seagull
* Senunite
* Southern Reindeer
* Timber Wolf
* Toad
* Wild Horse
* White-Tailed Deer
* Various Songbirds

## Humanoids

### Dunfae

Relatives of the Fae in Valkendur to the north, Dunfae are their shy cousins that dwell in the branches of tall trees spying on each passerby that comes through. Harmless, they are very small (about 4 inches tall) and hard to find, mainly due to their nervousness. Dunfae are often hunted by evil creatures, and consumed for their magical abilities.

### Changeling

When an infant belonging to a race of Men is abandoned and raised by a Dunfae, they are often subject to the affects of their strange magical abilities. As an adult, the Dunfae become furtive magical Men living among the trees, much like their adopted parents. However, their exposure to such great amounts of magical often cause them to have strange deformations, including the loss of certain motor functions, and even physical abnormalities.

### Troglodyte

Troglodytes are tribal beasts that lurk in swamps around the Lothor-Draven border, ambushing merchants and travelers to steal their equipment, and often, to eat them alive. Appearing as filthy humanoids with needle-like teeth, long drooped ears, and hungry, focused eyes, Troglodytes have various societal ranks, all with different roles. It is rumored that Troglodytes were once Dagda that hid in the mud of the swamps during the enslavement of their race by the Dracae in the *Age of Dawning*, and didn't come out until their kin had returned.

### Nixie

Often mistaken for the devious Rusalka, Nixies are disant relatives of the Selkies of Petrides and Draven. Appearing as beautiful nude women with light skin, red hair, and strikingly green eyes, Nixies are magical forest spirits that will offer valuable information on most topics relating to Lothor in exchange for silver or gold; but not currency. They often appear in moonlit groves where travelers will often see them through the trees. Few Nixies will take pocket change for treasure. Some will only offer information in exchange for a specific item; often something very rare and well-guarded. They are so notorious for this, in fact, that many tales have been told of great adventurers meeting their untimely fate while seeking a piece of treasure for a Nixie; such is the famous tale of Dubern Briarbeard, who was asked to retrieve the legendary Rings of Silencia the Crone at Pillager's Fall, and was found slain by undead monstrisities that were summoned years before to protect her corpse.

### Rusalka

Devious water spirits that have been corrupted by demons to lure unwary travelers to their fate, Rusalka often appear as seductive men or women who lurk in woodland ponds and lakes. They will stay there, luring in passers by offering to have sex with them, just as long as they shed their baggage and join them in the water. Once close, the Rusalka will drag their victim underwater, revealing them to be a black skeletal creature emitting a oily substance into the water. Once drowned, they will be dragged into the black depths of the water, and their souls will be cast to the Ether.

### Witch

When a shaman abandons her tribe and masters the arts of dark magic, she is offered a deal by Divona, the Kell goddess of witches and curses. In the offer, the shaman may join a coven of witches, increasing her magical capabilities and causing her to become immortal, but become banished from ever being reincarnated. Witches often hide away in the deepest, darkest corners of the forest where they live in strange huts and create strange and unusual potions and spells. Many witches are known to kidnap people to be used in experiments, and often use shapeshifting and curses.

### Crone

When a witch lives for 100 years, she is offered by Divona to trade in what's left of her humanity for the opportunity to see all ancient knowledge, long since lost to mortal minds. However, the part of the deal that Divona never mentions is that the witch will be transformed into a horrific half-raven, half-woman, and will lose the ability to speak in any mortal tongue, making it near impossible to tell others of the truths she discovers. Crones are often hunted by mercenaries for high prices, though they are extremely hard to kill, requiring not only a silvered sword through the heart, but a blade soaked in the blood of a demigod, or champion of the gods.

## Monsters

### Kelpie

Shapeshifting demons that slay mortals in a similar way to that of the Rusalka, Kelpies come in the form of an emaciated, mud-drenched horse, and lay on roadways, pretending to be wounded and tired. When it's victim approaches, they change into a vile equine form with long claws and a skeletal face, and begin to violently attack them until the victim has expired, their soul leaving their mortal body for the Ether.

### Lothor Troll

The trolls of Lothor are some of the most common trolls in Agara. With thick green hide and filthy black hair that often sticks to their grimy body, Lothor trolls tend to hide in abandoned homes, under bridges, and even in mud huts in bogs. Wielding crude weapons made from wagon parts and bones, they are truly stupid creatures, and can easily be avoided simply by hiding. However, Lothor trolls are quite small for a troll, and are much more nimble than, say, the Valkendur or Skaldenfar trolls. They are the only troll that can easily be killed with magic.

### Mandrake

Used in potions and rituals for their magical properties, Mandrakes are small root creatures that live beneath the soil of forests. While not necessarily dangerous on their own, the improper consumption of a mandrake can result in violent illness, though it's effects differentiate in the form it was ingested. For instance, the most common mistake is eating the Mandrake raw. Raw mandrakes cause swelling and dry skin across the body, which can last anywhere from a day to a month. When used correctly, Mandrakes can create spectacular potions, and even lethal poisons. Many witches breed Mandrakes, and have even bred certain archetypes that are big and strong enough to act as guards, often wielding a formidable knowledge of weaponry, which are usually made of large branches, rocks, and even other mandrakes. It is rare that one of these specially bred mandrakes ever leaves the witches side.

### Nisk

Vicious water spirits that take on the form of snakes made entirely of blue liquid resembling water, Nisk are about the length of an average Kell man, with their one identifying feature being their glowing green eyes. Swimming in the depths of lakes in Lothor, Nisk are thought to have taken the inspiration for their form from the Dracae during their reign over the Kells.

### Treant

Ancient forest spirits that grew into large sentient trees, Treants are are known as excellent sources of information and rumors. However, they do gift this information to anyone; they can have a magical ability to sense the presence of an evil soul, and are cannot be lied to. Those that do them well are often gifted with the alliance of all woodland spirits.

### Dreugh

Common in the dark depths of Wight Hollow, a lush grotto found within within Dunspeur Forest, Dreughs are half-man, half-crustacean monsters spawned by Lugus during the events of the Rednight. Territorial hunters, they utilize their sharp frontal legs to pierce flesh, and rely on their strong tail to inflict venom into their enemies. The venom of a dreugh is very powerful, and can kill a person. Normal means of healing will not make it's effects disappear. A person injected with the venom must consume a Senunite, a large beetle-like insect that thrives on moonlight.

## Undead

### Will o' Wisp

Spoken only in tales of warning, Will o' Wisps are the ghastly remains of foreign soldiers that met their fate within Lothor's borders. Appearing as small ghostly light, those that approach these curious beings experience the mental trauma of a hundred soldier; enough to drive some mad, and kill most. They are often found in places where the soil reeks of death, such as mass graves and murky battlefields of old.

### Dullahan

Known to many as headless horsemen, the Dullahans were a tribe of Kells that existed in the years between the Skald Spirit War and the *Age of Dracae*. Rejecting the mercy all the deities but Lugus, the Warden of the Ether. In his name, the Dullahans killed countless of their kind, even pushing some tribes to endangerment, all in the name of their immortal patron. During the *Age of Dracae*, the Dullahans were some of the first to face against their Drake overlords. Riding horses, they fought the Drakes in an hour-long skirmish known as The Battle of Dulles, which ended with a violent defeat by the Drakes. The remaining Dullahans were not only subjected to eternal suffering among the mortal plane through an unbreakable curse, but they were then immediately beheaded by the Tarragon. Even today, the Dullahans haunt the beaten paths of Lothor, appearing as some surreal vision of a headless warrior riding black horses. And even now, they serve send damned souls to their lord in the Ether.

### Revenant

A vengeful spirit brought into a mortal body through powerful necromancy, Revenants appear as ghastly reanimated corpses with a hunger for the blood of those who had done them wrong in life. The ritual to create a revenant is one that requires absolute focus and dedication. Any falter while opening the seal between the Mortal and Ethereal Plane could result in the summoning of more dangerous entities. Because of this, only truly skilled witches even think of performing the ritual. Revenants have decent motor skills, but lack the ability to speak.

### Banshee

Known through folktales, Banshees are the screaming spirit of a woman that heralds the imminent death of a loved one. Only those that are close to the deceased will hear it's terrible shriek. Appearing as a white hooded woman with long hair, the banshee is not particularly hideous in a physical sense, but instills a fear known to only those who know their days are numbered. If the deceased that hears the banshee's cry is a woman, the banshee will typically attempt to take the body into the forest, where it will be turned into a banshee itself. The only way to avoid this is to bless the woman's body as soon after her death as possible.

## See Also

* Kells
* Kell Pantheon
* Demon (Kell)

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