Bestiary

The world and especially the continent of Alivast is home to all manner of creatures that have never been seen. Some are variants of known creatures, and others are completely new discoveries.

*Note: This page is for creatures created or distinctly modified for The Unexpectables game. If a creature is originally from another source, it should not be listed here.*

## Aasimar

*See aasimar page for Alivast-specific information.*

## Barchoba

Barchoba are small, luminescent celestial creatures that often serve as familiars. They resemble luminous chinchillas with limbs and tails that have the appearance of amber. Their ears are long, almost rabbit-like and they have a pair of long, feathery antennae on their foreheads. The structure of their hind legs has a protrusion that extends above the hip-joint almost like an armored plate.

Barchoba are used by arcane spellcasters, particularly ones who worship Vetrion, often taking the form of weapons. In its weapon form, the celestial will deal additional radiant damage that increases each time it successfully strikes a creature. After the seventh strike, the barchoba reforms and will seek out a new master. It is friendly to its former wielder and allow itself to be handled, but is attracted to arcane spellcasters who can cast the *Find Familiar* spell, following them like a friendly dog or hungry cat until either bonded by the spell or rebuffed.

If a barchoba is bound as a familiar, and their master dies, they take the form of a weapon proffered by their master and wait the arrival of a new master. If their previous master is raised or otherwise brought back to life the barchoba will again take its animal form and serve them if they were not bound to a new master already.

Borky used a barchoba in the form of a greatsword, with the seventh strike falling on a Somalisk that had been possessing Willow. Once freed, the barchoba, now named Bright, gravitated to her.

The appearance of the Barchoba is based on microscopic creatures, chinchillas, and rabits. Its color scheme is based on amber crystals. The rules for the barchoba were published and are available on the DM's Guild.

First appeared Episode 47 / Podcast 35: Lightning Never Strikes Twice (weapon form), Episode 52 / Podcast 40: Naked Fear (celestial form).

## Brimstone Devil

Creatures of evil, molten rock, and flame, these bestial devils love little more than consuming corpses of mortal races. They can be trained to serve as watchdogs by more powerful creatures or individuals. They use their large, mole-like front claws to burrow through the earth at a surprising rate to pop up to attack their foes in a burst of flame. Brimstone Devils follow the command of Crown Devils and anyone who wears their crowns.

First appeared in Episode 47 / Podcast 35 : Lightning Never Strikes Twice.

## Brimstone Larva

Brimstone Larva are large, maggot-like creatures that burn with infernal fire. They burrow through the ground as easily as fish swim through water and can spring up practically anywhere devils are active. They have a great desire to consume the corpses of mortals and have an uncanny sense to know when a body drops in the area and emerge from the earth to feast on it immediately. They can be spawned by Crown Devils.

First appeared in Episode 48 / Podcast 36: Oh no, he's hot.

## Callata

Large, Fishlike creatures with many of the mannerisms of Dogs. They are found presumably in or around Canary Channel, and are often reared and raised as loyal guard animals or pets. Giants in particular use them for this purpose in the same way a human might raise a dog. They are intelligent enough to speak Aquan. They are large enough to hold three medium-sized humanoids comfortably, and can swim in strong currents. They have an inner set of jaws inside their main jaws to grasp prey and while they don't have opaque eyelids they do have a nictating membrane to clean and protect their eyes.

First Appeared in Episode 68 / Podcast 56:

## Character Races

In the world where Alivast is located, there are a multitude of races, and many differ in varying degrees to their descriptions in official sources. One major distinction is the appearance of some races that bear similarities to mundane animals and some minor feature differences.

### Aasimar

*See the aasimar page for full details how this race is represented in the world of Alivast.*

### Aarakocra

These winged beings do exist, but even in Alivast are mostly creatures of myth as they live in very secluded places all but inaccessible to most people. They very rarely come down from their high cliff homelands. The indigenous orcs of Alivast know of aarakocra and often mistake kenku for them, but are confused by their lack of wings.

### Axolitls

Axolitls are small, amphibious beings that resemble Axolotl salamanders. They are native to the seclusive rain forests and rivers of Aledoru Island. Axolitl stand four feet high at max and have round bodies that are covered in a naturally secreted mucus. Their skin tones range from brown to white, grey, and sometimes pink. They can breathe freshwater with their branching gills and can traverse deep water and mud with natural ease. However, their amphibious nature render excessively hot and dry environments inhospitable to them. They are known for being curious and friendly to travelers, but can also lash out violently when mistreated.

### Centaurs

Centaurs exist in the world but there are none in Alivast.

### Dragonborn

Dragonborn have digitigrade legs and tails in the world of Alivast.

### Dwarves

Some dwarven women have beards. Children do not.

### Gnolls

*See the Gnolls page for full details how this race is represented in the world of Alivast.*

### Goliaths

Large, muscular grey-skinned humanoids known for their taciturn nature and darkened skin markings. They travel in groups called herds in mountain ranges. Goliaths do not have a cultural understanding of Romance, and are often blindsided by it when interacting with the smaller races. Goiliaths' markings vary depending on where they're from. Ones from the mountains in swampy regions have more splotchy markings compared to the ones from the mountains of Tracadia with sharp, pointed markings.

### Grung

The small, frog-like people can be found on remote tropical islands in the Alton Archipelago and possibly elsewhere.

### Kenku

Kenku resemble mundane birds, ranging from chickens, to penguins, to peacocks, and sometimes have slightly different abilities like owl sub-types having night vision instead of mimicry. They do not have the language drawback of kenku from official sources. MontyGlu has hinted that she has specific rules for eagle, ostrich, waterfowl, songbirds, penguin, and crane (including flamingo) kenku. In Episode 55/Podcast 43 it was noted that kenku are capable of living longer than humans, which diverges from the lifespan of 60 years listed in common printed sources.

### Kobolds

*See Kobolds page for full details how this race is represented in the world of Alivast.*

Kobolds in Alivast have their lore largely defined by Chris Zito's backstory of Task which defines the roles and traits of several different kobold colors. MontyGlu has added additional kobold colors outside of Zito's original descriptions, such as silver and white.

### Lizardfolk

Lizardfolk resemble mundane lizards, such as spotted geckos or blue-tongued skinks.

### Loxodon

The elephant people come from an island called Holm located off the coast of the Alton Region. Their culture is centered around the worship of Uspa and rarely leave their island except in search of relics of that diety.

### Orcs

Orcs vary in color depending on their native environment. White orcs live in the Northlands, green orcs in wooded or grassy environments, and gray orcs in rocky areas. Grey Orcs make up the vast majority of the Orcs in Alivast. Orcs can live to 60-80 years old.

### Tabaxi

Tabaxi resemble mundane felines, ranging from breeds of house-cats to different great cat species. According to Monty, they all have silly names like the ones given to house-cats by people.

### Thri-Kreen

Thri-Kreen from Ruba are similar in appearance to Kreen from official D&D sources, though they have larger mandibles and tend towards brown colors. In the Eastern Isles there are Kreen that are similar to large beetles. Monty answered a Q&A question stating that Thri-Kreen in her world could resemble any wingless insect.

### Tanarukk

Some orc clans have bloodlines tainted by demonic influence, either by blood or by ritual practice. Tanarukks are often outcast or revered depending on the culture of the clan. In theory, a half-orc could acquire the appearance, personality, alignment, and (non-mechanical) physical traits of a tanarukk through one of those blood rituals.

### Triton

Tritons resemble mundane fish, such as blue sharks or anglerfish. Some species, like the Clownfish-Triton or Anglerfish-Triton, exhibit sexual dimorphism where the female is larger than the male. Some examples in-game are salmon, lionfish, swordfish, blobfish, and tuna. In the world of Alivast, tritons do not have gastropod or cephalopod varieties.

### Yuan-Ti

Yuan-Ti resemble different mundane snake species. They are xenophobic by nature, and tend to keep to themselves. Most Yuan-Ti hail from the Jungles of Tatalohn, under a theocratic monarchy. Monty has described Hassrad as having a tail.

## Crow Monster

The crow monster has no official name. Though fans have suggested many, none have really captured the absolute horror it represents. Some have even argued against naming it because naming a thing defines the thing and takes away its mystery.

These creatures are created by Tracadian vampires through some unknown, horrible process. At first glance, they resemble large, bipedal humanoids with several corvid heads, but they are actually a mass of crow bodies, wings, heads, talons all massed together into a vaguely humanoid shape. Their bodies are like a wasp nest with a multitude of chambers, each gestating an unnatural bird that resembles a crow. These offspring burst forth from the creature's flesh like the young of a Surinam Toad (Wikipedia, caution, disturbing imagery) and form swarms to locate and attack their targets. When the creature is wounded and close to death, these chambers can break open, and the half-developed offspring spill out like underdeveloped chicks from broken eggs. The crow monsters attack using massive talons and beaks to tear and stab their prey.

MontyGlu created this creature based on a disturbing experience when she heard a cacophony of crow voices that seemed to follow her on a walk despite only seeing a few birds around. The sound turned out to be the cheers of a sports crowd spilling from the open doors of a nearby gymnasium but distorted by echoing off the landscape to sound like the screaming of a multitude of crows at once.

## Crown Devil

These servants of Zargrell are sometimes called a "Conquest Devil" this fiend has a sideways mouth, spindly limbs with iron-sharp claws, and is constantly smoldering with infernal heat. The 'crown' on its head can be used with devastating effect to gore opponents, leaving massive wounds. When it slashes with its claws, it not only slices its opponent, but burns them with the heat of its body and leaves them reeling from the pain of their wounds and unable to move for a short time. It can also summon forth Brimstone Larvae to act as disposable minions. It is extremely mobile and can also scale vertical surfaces to outmaneuver its foes.

The Crown Devil grows stronger from the blood, hearts, and eyes of virgin sacrifices and will feed off living ones to recover its strength. It can also 'nest' within the body of a living being, shedding the host's skin to emerge like a fiery insect leaving its cocoon. The host is sickened by the presence of the devil, but presumably gains some power from its presence, though their wounds will bleed fire.

### Uncrowned Form

When Task took the arrangement of horns that make up the Crown-Devil's crown, the helm made from it came with the curse that the devil will keep trying to retrieve it. Since then, the party has run into the uncrowned form of the devil that is much more desperate and frantic in its attacks making it no less dangerous. In this form the devil is much more willing to spend the souls it has accumulated over the eons to buy the assistance of lesser devils to aid its revenge. This form appeared in Episode 70 / Podcast 58.

First appeared in Episode 48 / Podcast 36: Oh no, he's hot.

## Dragons

Legendary engines of magic, might, and destruction and nearly all-powerful at advanced ages, Dragons with their scaly wings and powerful breath weapons have inspired wonder, hatred, fear, and even worship for millenia, and Alivast is no exception. They are divided into two categories; Chromatic and Metallic, though some legends say that once there was only one kind of dragon before a split occured.

Chromatic Dragons are representatives of the worst outward aspects of dragonkind; terrifyingly vain, viciously egotistical, and horrifically cruel. They come in shades of red, blue, white, black, and green. In Alivast, White Dragons live (or at least did live) in the north, and a black dragon was confirmed to exist far to the west before being slain.

Metallic Dragons are representatives of the noble sides of dragonkind, though they are fickle, and often prone to misunderstanding the wants and needs of mortals, often with a bad habit of kidnapping them for mundane things. They come in shades of Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, and Bronze. In Alivast, Gold Dragon wyrmlings flit about in the south, and a Bronze Dragon has been confirmed to live in the Canary Channel.

All dragons show a deep pride in their heritage and in their inherent might, though many, especially metallic dragons, choose to hide this to keep up appearances with mortals.

Male dragons that intermingle with a female humanoid can produce offspring that have the talent for dragon blood sorcery, whereas female dragons that intermingle may produce half-dragons and those half-dragons can produce dragon blood sorcerer lines as well.

## Droplettes

Droplettes are small, axolotl-like celestials made of water who exist primarily as heralds for the oncoming arrival of To or Ma. They are kind, harmless creatures that can speak Common, though they eventually disappear or return to being water once To or Ma's night have ended, or they stray too far from the puddles they were born in.

## Eldest

Tarry, black blobs created by Stillhavity that take on the visage of people or creatures known to their foes in order to paralyze them with fear.

First Appeared in Episode 19 / Podcast 7: Orun's Folly

## Giant Chickens

Colossal poultry mutated by the magics around Tendelheim. While generally quite harmless on it's own, they can be an enormous problem if stampeded.

First Appeared in Episode 23 / Podcast 11: Fowl Play

## Great Ocean Moose

Little is known about the Great Ocean Moose other than the fact that it is one of the loudest animals that lives along Canary Channel.

## Hellmouth

A horrific, massive, flying extraplanar creature the size of an adult dragon but with a lamprey-like maw filled with rows of jagged teeth. It has multiple wings that allow it to fly and it constantly drips black ichor which forms Hellmouth Warriors when it hits the ground. It spearheaded the assault on the last human kingdom of old Alivast in the service of Gnash or may even be an incarnation of the god of destruction himself.

First Appeared in Episode 40 / Podcast 28: Echoes of War.

## Hellmouth Warrior

Giant creatures with heads like eyeless crocodiles that serve Gnash. Armies of them emerged from an extraplanar gate to destroy the last human kingdom of old Alivast.

First Appeared in Episode 40 / Podcast 28: Echoes of War.

## Knife Dolphins

Dolphins intelligent and belligerent to both find and use knives to assault creatures, whatever they may be, though they themselves appear to be no more powerful or tough than a regular Dolphin. The leader of their pods tend to have pompadours made from Coral. They are a shining example of the wildly unpredictable and sometimes dangerous world of Wild Magic.

First Appeared in Episode 68

## Leviathan Crab

A massive beast referred to as "the rock" by the Quiet Man. Crabbius the Mighty woke the creature who then forced Culith Cascadia from Canary's Perch.

## Living Shrubs

These mobile, sentient shrubs live in the forest and fields around the Rolling Hills. For the most part they seem passive, slowly moving toward and inspecting things that pique their interest. They're also capable of forging bonds with others, as shown with one that attached itself to Greckles. However, these bushels are capable of brutal violence when they feel threatened and can easily bring down a human in a one-on-one fight.

First Appeared in Episode 23 / Podcast 11: Fowl Play

## Lizard Hound

Lizard hounds are creatures from the Tatalohn Jungle and are used as mounts and beasts of burden because they are large and strong enough to be ridden by most races. They are omnivores and have a diet similar to many bears. Their bodies are large and stocky with a frilled "mane" similar to a bearded dragon. Their skin is not hard and scaly, but softer like many lizards or snakes and is predominantly dark blue-green, but their throat, chest, and stomach can be a variety of colors. Like many reptiles, males tend to be more colorful than the females. Despite their size and appearance they have personalities similar to large dogs and enjoy toys and activities much in the same way as canines though they are not very intelligent. They are warm blooded like Tatalohn's native dinosaurs but do not deal well with cold due to being adapted to that tropical climate.

Regular lizard hounds can be purchased in Alivast, but are expensive since they are shipped in from their distant jungle home, running about 1000 GP each, with additional shipping fees on top of that.

### Alpha Lizard Hounds

Lizard hounds are pack animals and certain members of the pack develop into alphas. These creatures are truly immense and can easily pull large wagons or caravans by themselves. In technical terms, they are "huge" creatures where the regular lizard hounds are "large".

They first appeared in Episode 118 / Podcast 105: History Repeats Itself.

## Moon Ray

These sea creatures are similar to manta rays with short limbs. They are unintelligent animals and on spring nights when the moon is full they school together near the surface and emit a stunning bio-luminescence that lights up the sea as they migrate. Sailors consider them harmless or even a good omen. They are appreciated by worshipers of Illunay and Uspa.

## Mutant Pigeons

Taylor the Pigeonmancer has cultivated a disturbing variety of pigeons including ones with bodies like feathery snakes, fire-breathing, dog-sized, human-sized, seagull shaped, and other abominations. Enough of these Pigeons exist that Alivast essentially has no "normal" pigeons whatsoever, though newcomers are put off by this revelation.

## Salticanth

A whale-like elemental creature composed of salt that turns the water around it into a saline brine that tends to kill off all normal sea life that come into contact with it. Muidos herded one towards the shore near Alivast so its salt could be harvested.

First appeared in Episode 65 / Podcast 53: Birds of A Feather

## Skyfish

Fish that swim through the air as if it was water.  Doros has a bass that he bought in the Blue Dragon Emporium when Willow worked there.

First Appeared in Episode 6: Unexpected Rewards

## Skywhales

Whales that swim through the air as if it was water. Task saw a pod when aboard The Talon and wishes to kill one someday.

First Appeared in Episode 33: SkyJinx

## Somalisk

A terrifying creature of darkness and nightmares that preys upon its victims while they sleep. When out in the open it appears as a shadowy, misty, incorporeal humanoid creature with two hauntingly glowing eyes. It has the ability to possess creatures and force them to do its bidding. Possessed creatures eyes and face take on the same glaring brightness of the Somalisk's eyes in its incorporeal form.

The Somalisk feeds on the minds and vitality of sleeping creatures, leaving an invisible haze of dark energy in its regular feeding spots that prevents victims from getting proper rest in their beds. As it feeds it grows more powerful over time and will eventually sap all the life from its prey given enough time. When it is consuming a victim's dreams, it fills the immediate vicinity with an oppressive darkness and magically seals the doors around it to prevent interruption of its feast. When targeting a group, Somalisks are known to prioritize the sleeper with the most guilt.

When confronted directly, the Somalisk prefers to shield itself by possessing a helpless, sleeping victim and can summon dark, twisted, shadowy versions of people from its victim's nightmares. Its very presence saps the energy and vitality from those around it, driving their bodies to exhaustion with enough exposure. It can also use magic to cause opponents to fall asleep, giving itself even more targets for possession. Its intangible nature means it is difficult to harm with mundane means, many attacks simply passing through it, but its shadowy form is especially hurt by radiant energy as light drives away darkness.

Somalisks can be used as assassins by necromancers who bind them to a talisman which serves as their safe haven during daylight hours, emerging in the dead of night to assault their victims.

First appeared in Episode 52 / Podcast 40: Naked Fear

## Storm Coatl

Servants of Stormbeard that are summoned via the runestone at Rune's Rest.  They are large flying feathered serpents.

First Appeared in Episode 33 / Podcast 21: SkyJinx

## Teethox

The teethox is a massive creature that lays in wait buried in the ground with the exception of its open mouth which fills with water produced by a special organ in its body. It lures creatures in who wish to drink at what appears to be a pool of clear, fresh water.

When a creature comes to drink at the pool of water in its mouth, it snaps its jaws shut and consumes them.

Teethox also seem to consume gold as evidenced by the gold coins and crown found in one's stomach and the cryptic warning from the Fortune Teller.

The original name for these monsters was "Oasis Traps" until MontyGlu was encouraged to change it by @ThatArtJack. The terrifying ambush tactics of the Bobbit Worm were an inspiration for this creature.

First Appeared in Episode 39 / Podcast 27: Waterlogged

## Tenebrous Demon

Tenebrous demons are servants of Noct and revel in quenching light and obscuring truth. They have muscular bodies that are vaguely humanoid in shape, but end at their neck. In the place of a head, they have roiling bowls of darkness with motes of stollen light that give the faintest glint of toothy maws and multiple, spider-like eyes suspended in the black tendrils. They also possess long tails of darkness that trail off into nothingness. They can diffuse their bodies outward into large areas of inky darkness and are incorporeal in this form, able to seep through cracks like liquid night. As keepers of secrets and obscurers of truth, they are vulnerable when substantial truths and secrets are revealed in their presence. Bringing things into the metaphorical light weakens them temporarily and forces their bodies to solidify from their vague, incorporeal forms. Many of these creatures remember the time they were able to run rampant on the material plane when Noct's power grew, only to be checked by Sosorin and Rayfire.

## Whispering Mouthers

Black, spidery monstrosities with lamprey-like mouths and long, thin tongues. While weak individually, they're a threat in numbers because of their ability to put creatures to sleep and attack while their prey is unconscious.

First Appeared in Episode 16 / Podcast 4: Good Boi's and Bad Orcs