Creatures of Jørþejm

> *"Every living thing in this realm is attuned to its magical energies. Why this manifests in so many different ways is beyond even our understanding."* -- from *The Alzaraun Imperial Bestiary* (various authors)
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### Intro

Jørþejm is teeming with flora and fauna. The oceans, lakes, and rivers are full of fish, mammals, crustaceans, algae, seaweeds, coral, and all sorts of living things. Similarly, every region and biome on and under the land is full of life. Many creatures also live there which are not familiar to the reader, creatures unique to the world of Jørþejm.

### Overview

Many questions exist regarding the creatures of Jørþejm, indeed the realm itself. The main one being, where did all of it come from? Different theories exist amongst the races that offer an answer to that question. One thing, however, that all of the races agree on is that they have to live with their reality.

That being said, the inhabitants of Jørþejm generally separated the life they found there after their arrival into three basic categories. These would best be conceptualized to us as Flora, Fauna, and Faera. Faera being derived in our language from the word Fae, it describes those living things in nature which possess inherently magical attributes. Some are benign, posing no inherent threat to the sentient races. Others are malicious and dangerous, actively sowing evil. Just as there are evil faera, there are also good faera. Semi-sentient and sentient creatures are usually considered to be faera, but that consideration is scrutinized by some.

### Fauna

The fauna of Jørþejm are very similar to those of our own world. The forests are full of songbirds, birds of prey, bugs and insects, deer, foxes, wolves, rodents, and many other animals. In the plains, there are herds of wild bovine, similar to the buffalo of our world. The Plains Giants follow these herds around as a source of meat and clothing. There also are found different species related to the deer of the forest, smaller and nimbler. Prides of enormous lions can be found roaming the grasslands, hunting the herbivores that live there. Up in the mountains there are many species of goat and deer that make their homes amidst the cliffs and caves. Snakes and reptiles also make their homes in all of these places. The northern reaches are full of many similar creatures, adapted to live in the cold environments there, among these being giant 4-tusked snow boars and innumerable hordes of lemming-like rodents the size of our world's house cats. In the deserts of the Continent there are many snakes and small burrowing creatures that hide under the sand and rocks to keep cool during the day. The wet regions also are full of fauna, including toads, newts, water rats, and many kinds of waterfowl.

Not only does land host innumerable living things, but so do the seas, lakes, and waterways. Many kinds of fish and water insects fill the lakes and rivers of the world, some large and some small. Strange fish and crustaceans can even be found deep in the earth, in dark underground lakes where the absence of light changes things in many ways. The seas and coasts around the Continent are full of life, not only the monsters talked of in Tamløren fishermen's tales, but fish, marine mammals, and many other aquatic animals as well.

### Flora

Many different forms of plant life exist on the Continent, some familiar to us in our own world and others unique to the world of Jørþejm. Trees and bushes that produce all manner of fruits and vegetables suitable for eating. Other plants that have special magical and medicinal properties are also common, being used by the magic wielders, alchemists, and apothecaries of the world to create all manner of medicines, poisons, potions, and other useful substances and tinctures. In the northern cold climates there are vast coniferous forests much like the northern parts of our own world. Further south there are grassy plains and deciduous woodlands with dense vegetation. Sill further along the southern coasts of the Continent are the kinds of low shrubbery and greenery similar to those found in the more arid parts of our own world. Olives, figs, and dates and the like are common in Ilrecinia. Many forms of fungus also grow in the damp parts of the Continent, often harvested for food in the forests and caves, and some of them growing to the size of trees or still larger.

### Faera

Faera are further categorized into three sub-groups, those being sentient, semi-sentient, and bestial. Most are bestial or semi-sentient, with species of sentient faera being exceedingly few in number and extremely rare. The tables below list most of the known faera in Jørtheim.

**Semi-Sentient**
 Leþanen(Lethano, Lethánasha)

 Aljenio
(Ženijen, Ashénienna)

**Sentient**
(Draken, Idrábhuinna)

 The Old Things

 Stīlken
(Silceuo, Siélkinasha)