Mutants

**Mutants** are the hostile enemies of The Fallow. The **Cracked Lands** is generally occupied by weak mutants and the occasional strong mutant, while the **Hollow Forest** is largely occupied by strong mutants. The **Devoured Expanse** is almost entirely occupied by mutants exclusive to this region, with a combination of Corrupted Mutants and Mender-designed automated security. Each world contains two final fights; the first against multiple Evolved or Alpha Mutants, and the second against a standalone Boss.

## Muties

Below is a list of enemies which appear throughout the surface, caves, and underground chambers as described by the Tome of the Ancients. Each mutant belongs to a corresponding page detailing variants, combat abilities, and strategy.

* **Killobite** - "Roaches DID survive the apocalypse... then got annihilated by these low-riding Killobites. They are relentless, but weak and stupid. A warrior with bodacious skills will find them a minor nuisance."
* **Pyrobite** - "Pyrobites don't attack their prey directly. Instead, they streak around with a scorched earth campaign until their victims have burnt to a crisp. Then they snack on the charred remains."
* **Dwarf Maullusk** - "Dwarf Maullusks need to be fast and nimble, since they never developed the large shields of their cousins, the Maullusks. Mind the giant horn protruding from their heads, if you won't want to get perforated."
* **Vombat** - "Vombats are short on wit, and long on bile, and they are more than happy to hock the latter relentlessly at unfamiliars. these flying nuisances go down easy, but disregard them at your peril."
* **Vombeast** - "Vombeasts are bigger, fatter Vombats. They have more cushion, so you'll have to do more work to dispatch them. They can also load you up on bile much faster, so don't sleep on these critters."
* **Dank Vombeast** - "Back in the day, some Vombeasts got stuck in a cave. in the privacy of the cave, they begat and begat and begat, and now Dank Vombeasts are a thing. They are as tough and vomity as any Vombeast you'll come across."
* **Slamphibian** - "Slamphibians were primordial creatures formed from the toxic remnants of the Night of the Glow. Their green luminance makes easy to spot, but their savage pounce makes them difficult to evade."
* **Evolved Slamphibian** - "Evolved Slamphibians are stronger, faster and smarter than the average Slamphibian. You may want to change up your tactics against them, lest they maul your face."
* **Alpha Slamphibian** - "Alpha Slamphibians are the most evolved beasts of the Slamphibian genus. They can cover ground quickly with their leaps, and can devastate you up close. Alphas are known to secrete a toxic ooze that they leave in puddles as they walk. You will want to avoid stepping in that."
* **Dankphibian** - "Some early Slamphibians took refuge in caves, where time had its way with them. They paled and became untrusting of the light, as their ears began to take charge their eyes were relegated to ornamentation. In the Now, Dankphibians are more volatile and aggressive to anything that makes noise."
* **Evolved Dankphibian** - "As if Dankphibians weren't enough of a pain, some of them evolved to have more evasive maneuvers. Life isn't fair."
* **Alpha Dankphibian** - "Pity the fool that rolls up on an alpha Dank. if they don't rake your jaws with their claws, you'll probably sizzle in their toxic drippings. Either way, not good."
* **Bombphibian** - "When these creatures become agitated, it begins a chain reaction in their unstable brains that can't be reversed. Once in this state, an explosion is imminent. Their existence is a miracle, as their life spans are short, and their defect puts quite a damper on their attempts at procreation. Some believe Bombphibians are the result of a Mender program that sought to biologically engineer the eradication of mutants. If that holds truth, then it count among their failures."
* **Smushroom** - "The light of the glow made some fungus sentient and ambulatory. The strain known as the Smushroom has shed its dependence on darkness, dwelling instead wherever it can soak up radiation. it will aggressively defend its territory by compressing its body with enough force to spew painful blasts of rzor sharp spores outward."
* **Evolved Smushroom** - "There is another strain of Smushroom that has grown to a ridiculous size due to increased rad intake. They have bigger brains and bigger blasts."
* **Alpha Smushroom** - "This massive Smushroom has developed spore sacs that can launch thorns, so it's probably safer to not be close OR far from it."
* **Embersnoot** - "Embersnoots emerged from the flames of the apocalypse with bellies full of magma, adapting their bodies to extreme heat. At their whim, they can summon eruptions of flamin' rocks from their probuscis, burning all who dare to get up in their mugs."
* **Evolved Embersnoot** - "Some Embersnoots have evolved to hork multiple magma chunks at once. They have more going on upstairs too, so it will be harder to pick them off like you can with their dopey cousins."
* **Alpha Embersnoot** - "This mofo doesn't play games. You wanna step to the Embersnoot king? Cool. Hope you like magma baths."
* **Land Louse** - "Be vigilant, lest you are taken uawares by the Land Louse. Their camouflaged carapace is often festooned with grassy growth or hardened, rock-like exteriors. They burst from their buried emplacements to surprise their prey, before disemboweling them with their razor sharp claws."
* **Evolved Land Louse** - "The Evolved Land Louse has acquired some weight and smarts over the eons. They'll claw you up from a greater distance. Watch for rocks moving around in the distance for the tip-off."
* **Alpha Land Louse** - "These Land Louse behemoths will devastate you quickly if you aren't on the move. They can also unleash a spinning claw attack, which is just one reason to keep walking when you see one."
* **Grab Louse** - "One species of Land louse, the Grab Louse, mutated to isolate a remnant of the hermit crab klepto gene, and then poured some kerosene on the fire. It will roll you for tapes and whatever else you got, so don't go around lookin' like a mark."
* **Evolved Grab Louse** - "The Evolved Grab Louse has figured how to use trickier hiding spots, to more effectively surprise unsuspecting marks. With more power, speed and an unfair reach, your pockets are as good as picked! Don't trust any inanimate objects!"
* **Maullusk** - "After eons of falling prey to other creatures, the Maullusk's calloused defense wounds have evolved into a spikey shell exterior to bolster both their offense and defense. They have many tiny appendages that enable them to scoot forward at breakneck speeds. No longer the chump of the animal kingdom, they are now one of its biggest aggressors. They are slow to turn, and weak from the rear, so engage them accordingly."
* **Dank Maullusk** - "Dank Maullusks are an accident. A few Maullusks wandered into a cave and couldn't find their way out. As a result, they are angrier than your average Maullusk, and have developed a resistance to toxic pools. Watch out for their Toxic snail trails!"
* **Embershroom** - "Mutants have to coexist with each other. Sometimes it can get boring, just foraging around every day. Maybe one day and Embersnoot notices a particularly fetching Smushroom and sidles up. Maybe the advance it not rebuffed, and maybe one thing leads to another... and maybe a few generations later, there's a bunch of Embershrooms running around blasting fire every which way."
* **Bombshell** - "Bombshell's thing is regurgitating bile bombs like a mortar cannon. They can also bounce you back like a ragdoll if you get in their personal bubble, so stay on your toes and try to read their cues."
* **Sabertusk** - "This wild mutant roams the Hollow Forest looking for prey to gore. Healthy teenagers fit the bill, so if you see a Sabertusk, get to high ground to avoid their charge."
* **Antelobe** - "Is it coincidence that creatures who roam near the excavations of Mender structures tend to have increased psychic capacity? The Antelobe, for instance, can project protective force fields to other creatures to make immune to attack. These projections tax its mental energy, leaving it too drained to think about defense. In the face of danger, they prefer to haul ass."
* **Sentinel** - "Sentinels rove around the landscape looking for punks tryin to take their junk, and obliterate them accordingly. Don't let them spy you with their little eye, unless you like facefuls of Mender energy."
* **Terrorbite** - "You can't eat meteorites, you can only get corrupted by them. Stupid Killobites. They didn't get the memo. Now there are Terrobites running around corrupting everything in their wake."
* **Corrupt Smushroom** - "Smushrooms were attracted to the cool shadows of the meteors. The meteors corrupted them indiscriminately. Now they are just one more strain of 'shroom to deal with."
* **Corrupt Embersnoot** - "These Embersnoots wandered too close to the meteors, and grody things happened to them. The fire in their bellies cooled off, but in its place formed a cesspool of corruption. They are more than happy to share it.
* **Corrupt Bombphibian** - "Evolved Bombphibians act like the Bombphibians you already love, but they can book it, and they developed a better chin. it takes mroe to whittle them down before they get their detonation on."
* **Protector** - "Mender turrets are the automatic security systems installed near high value structures and valuables. They pop up and send out blasts of Mender energy to end whatever is skulking around trying in infiltrate stuff."
* **Guardian** - "The Menders had the forethought to create Guardians to protect their communities and valuable technologies for future generations. Grievously, the Menders' hope of future generations were lost to the Devouring, but their deadly automatons continue their prime directive to this day. Trespassers will be relieved of their innards and appendages. Guardians can also teleport away from danger if they are at a disadvantage."
* **Defender** - "Another Mender security sentry prototype. The Defender pelts intruders with energy missiles, and like the Guardian, can teleport to safety when shields take too much damage. These bots will keep you on your toes.
* **Muteen** - "Muteens are previously re-made teenagers that didn't fare as well as you. Now, corrupted by the Fallow, they are vestiges of their former selves, but their skills have been heightened by the rads. You may be hesitant to fight them, but you bet that emotion won't be seconded by them. Just put them out of their misery before they put you out of yours."

## Bosses

Below is a list of Bosses which appear in Boss Arenas as described by the Tome of the Ancients. Each entry belongs to a page detailing variants, combat abilities, and strategy.

* **Maxotaur** - "Maxotaur is a behemoth hell-bent on the destruction of any being he sees, which explains why he was locked away. In his rage, he will try to slam you, charge you or hurl projectiles at you. You will need to bring your "A" game to get past this dude.
* **Beefmaster** - "Beefmaster has a major burr in his saddle. He doesn't waste precious time messing around with ranged attacks. He would simply like to gore you with his horns and/or smash you to smithereens as quickly as possible."
* **Longhorn** - "Longhorn is a strain of Maxotaur that the Menders fiddled with too much. He's laden with tech and weapons, which he has slowly adapted to use as his primary attack. Charging would just break his sick gear."
* **Feculord** - "Feculord is too massive for her wings to keep her aloft for too long, so she kinda flap-hops around, flopping down like a massive pile of dirty laundry. keep your distance because you do NOT want to under her when she does that. Now do you want to be near her maw when she belches out offspring of plhegm balls."
* **L'Ump** - "L'Ump has tiny joke wings, so it can be difficult for her to ambulate. She is quite adept at oscillating in her own filth to shoot trespassers though, so watch yourself! Like Feculord, L'Ump gives birth orally, and will belch out a blanket of baby B'ats to put a crimp in your plans."
* **B'Donk** - "B'Donk is a raging lunatic, bouncing around setting fire to anything in her path. Her Vompyre B'at babies have fires in their bellies too. Can you stand the heat?"
* **Dividulous** - "Dividulous is an abomination. Three heads shooting semi-digested chunks of bone and other matter, connected at the rear. A few goof whacks at their perforated spots could separate them into three separate beasts, but where would that get you? They will still kill you."
* **The Conjoined** - "The Conjoined are twin triplets, fused together at their nether regions. Like their cousin, Dividulous, they sill spin and fling chunks with reckless abandon to smite their adversaries. Split them at your peril!"
* **Barkley** - "Barkley has been growing underground for... well, nobody has managed to count his rings before getting murdered. Regardless, you'll have to figure something out because he's blocking your way. He can overwhelm you with brambles or bludgeon you with his limbs, and just when you get a handle on that, he'll summon help to pelt you with seeds."
* **Hardwood** - "If you are unlucky, you will meet Hardwood. His bark is worse than his bite, which blows because his bite is deadly. He's got so many rings in him, it's not worth bothering to count them. Suffice it to say that his petrified armor will leave you petrified."
* **Colossus** - "Colossus is the final security measure left by the Menders to guard their most valuable power source. It is equipped with all the bells and whistles you'd want from a death machine, and should keep their power nice and safe."