Monster

**Monsters** are dangerous creatures in the world of Delve.

Most important fact is that monsters are distinct from animals in several ways, in that they only imitate animal life.

* Monsters don't breed or procreate, they rather *spawn* in areas of at least rank 1, wherever light is absent. They also spawn in lairs.
* Monsters have the instinct to attack non-monsters (animals and humans)
* Monsters don't *need* to eat, but will do so nevertheless when there is an opportunity
	+ Monsters in lairs are mostly coexisting and only hunt/attack outsiders, assumedly sustained by lair mana/essence.
	+ Within ranked zones, monsters form bizarre ecosystems where they do attack, kill and devour each other
	+ Monsters may move into rankless zones, or areas that don't support their rank. There, they slowly (or quickly in case of huge differences) lose essence and thus their strength. Eating the mana of other creatures can sustain monsters for a while.
* Monsters may be tamed by the Tamer class, thus loosing their insticts. Tamers/trainers may dismiss their tamed monsters and resummon them later. Tamed monsters may be leveled by their tamers.
* Monsters have a soul (called a monstrous, or demonic soul). While stories exist about wild monsters procreating or leveling, they are yet unconfirmed rumors.

Monster parts (fur, horns, teeth, drops) are possibly infused with mana or have special qualities that make them valuable for crafters. While many monsters are inedible, some may provide nourishment and a few are even highly sought-after delicacies.

## Monster Types

There are many ways to distinguish monsters from each other. Some categories are:

* Regular Monster vs. Essence Monsters: the so called "Blues" are special and rare monsters that may be used to raise the Level Cap. Regular monsters don't grant that opportunity. *See: Essence Monster*. Essence Monsters are often also more challenging than the regular ones, though usually not reaper-class.
* Element-attuned Monsters: Monsters may take on a special property, tied to a secondary element (or rarely a primary element). *See: Elements*. This results in their description pointing out the element in question, and makes them vulnerable to other elements.
* Organization: Monsters may be solitary, or pack-based (like hounds), or Swarm-based (multiple bodies for one soul). In some cases, there is a commanding monster of higher strength, exerting control over "minion" monsters.
* Danger Type: The Watch distinguishes between various classes that they designate:
	+ swarm-types: less dangerous individually, but will form large numbers. One "Rat Swarm" constitutes only a single monster somehow, but can deal out a lot of damage.
	+ reaper-types: singular and very dangerous as their strength is beyond what is typical for their level; fighting them 1:1 is dangerous even for a prepared adventurer
	+ there are many more terms, like: guardians, bruisers, turtles, mages, strikers, which Ameliah said to be rather unofficial
* Experience grants: The Guild has a system based on the fact that monsters of nominally the same level may give less or more experience:
	+ A Coal Lurker of Level 2 will give the same experience as a Slime of Level 1
	+ The Guild's classification goes from: ‘fodder’ through ‘lesser’, ‘minor’, ‘normal’, ‘greater’ up to ‘elite’.
* Level/Rank: Monsters are assigned levels, and those below Level 10 are possible for unawakened to kill (as a rough estimate and depending on circumstances). Higher level monsters typically require an awakened or a party of awakened to overcome.

## List of known monster "species"

Some "species" have several variants/subtypes, which are to be listed in the related article. List may not be complete: *Please help finding missing monsters!*

* Ants (Sepulcher Ant)
* Bats (Tenebre Bat)
* Bears (Frostbear)
* Chargers (Umbral Charger)
* Coursers (Ice Courser)
* Crawlers (Snow Crawler)
* Deepcat
* Dire Darkmonk
* Dragon
* Dunch
* Emouiles
* Face Stabbing Face Stabber
* Fatbirds
* Fire Eater
* Fishes (Devil Fish. See also *Sparkscales*)
* Frogs (Mottled Magma Frog)
* Fungiforms
* Geckos (Firetail Gecko)
* Gill Monitor
* Hababas (Ahbahabam, Greater Hababa Shaman King)
* Hares (Flaming Hare)
* Hounds
* Jellies (Stunner Jelly)
* Kin
* Lurkers
* Musk Wolf
* Quillbear
* Rats
* Razorspine
	+ Razorspine Dissolver
* Rockshells
* Sakeren (Dire Sakeren)
* Shrews (Murder Shrew)
* Skiffun
* Slimes
	+ Crystal Slime
	+ Greater Slime
	+ Mucus King
* Sparkscales
* Spirit Caller
* Sprites (Snow Sprites)
* Turtles
	+ Flamewood Tortoises
	+ Ancient Icemont Turtle
* Vine Shufflers
* Whooping Snails

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 157
2. ↑ Chapters 60, 160
3. ↑ Chapter 2
4. ↑ Chapter 131
5. ↑ Chapter 104
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chaprer 101
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 109
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 131