Varnian Bestiary

The Varnian Bestiary is a book written by Skippy Amethya-Blizun, the councilor of culture for Varn Torum, and it describes unique creatures native to the land of Varn, as well as some important plants and other animals that aren't completely unique to Varn.

Varnian Bullfrog
The bullfrogs of the swamps and lush caves of Varn Torum are not only gigantic but dangerous, as some can get to over 3 meters tall and 1,5 meters wide. It seems that if they do not die of natural causes or by predation from hunters they never cease to grow until they get so big that they can not manage to feed themselves. But this is only the case for the females of the species, for the males only exist for the sake of reproduction and never leave the tadpole stage, living to become a bigger than ordinary tadpole that fills itself with sperm, only to be bite the female giant frog near its reproductive organs and giving up life, becoming effectivelly a part of the female made to store sperm for her entire life. As a result female giant bullfrogs lay enormous batches of eggs for their entire lives. These frogs can get so big that the biggest ever seen, a frog over 6,5 meters high, was known as the Dragon Frog.

These frogs are so mighty that some use it as beasts of burden, able to carry hundreds of kilos and specially made wagons with surprising speed. Some especially insane people use them as battle mounts, for they are able to eat almost anything that they are bigger than, but especially they are used as meat cattle by swamp and cave trolls, albeit their meat, especially their legs, are eaten by various peoples all over Varn Torum.

Royal Wolves
The wolves of Varn are ferocious pack hunters that rule the tundras, the forests and the plains. They are known as King Wolves or Royal Wolves, for they are significanlty bigger than the wolves of elsewhere and fairly smarter, and their colours vary a lot more, ranging from snow white to leafy green to the golden shin of wheat and tall grass. They are the bane of shepards and their flock, travellers and traders, for they are bold enough to even attack armed caravans when in big enough packs. Strangelly enough their main source of food is not sheep nor travellers but different kinds of trolls, which is the main believed reason of why they got so big and so smart when compared to other species of wolves. Their eternal war and arms race against the trolls of Varn Torum is known as The War of Elewhere. They seem to be immune to the deadly effects that eating raw troll meat, albeit they have been seen many times throwing pieces of troll meat at fires then waiting for it to extinquish itself naturally then coming back to eat the carbonized flesh. It seems they really enjoy it.

Some anbitious dwarves in the distant past used these royal wolves as deadly mounts of war and legitimate companions for life.

Fox Squirrel
The fox squirrel native to Varn Torum is a tree canopy dwelling marsupial that predates other small mammals. They are generally very friendly and can be used as pets... or food, depending on the person. They used to be hunting partners for the ancient dwarves that predated Varn Torum. More specifically they chased small game into the trees or burrows, killed them and brought them to the hunter, in exchange getting some of the meat back.

Pard
The pard is a feline native to the many forests of Varn Torum, with its territory heading a bit into Aristos turf. It is the natural enemy of both the Royal Wolves and Forest Wyverns, for it competes with for prey with both, albeit in different ways. Juvenile Royal Wolves, still not big and strong enough to hunt their preferred prey, the troll, gather together in small, three member packs to hunt relativelly small game, like deer or elk, and practice hunting tactics. In this juvenile form they compete with the pard, who uses ambush tactics to get its prey. The forest wyverns are considered to be oportuniscit scavangers, for they fly into the battlefield between a pard and a pack of royal wolves to snatch their prey, not alert to attacks from above, right under their noses. This three way competition makes it so that the pard population is never high, for they struggle to feed their young. As such, they are considered very rare and it is a good omen to spot one.

Legends say that the breath of a pard upon waking up is so sweet that it attracts every animal around to its den, including sentient species like dwarves or humans, but the pard is so good natured that it licks the wounds of the incomers and lets them be without taking advantage of the situation to eat. In contrast the only animals that the sweet breath does not attract but actually drives off is the forest wyvern, although it is debated if other draconics would suffer the same effect, for the pard is a omen for good and a dragon is a omen for evil.

Kelpie
The kelpie is a bizarre creature native to Varn Torum. It lives on bodies of water, skulking around in the shallows, waiting for people to come nearby so it can pull them with its frog-like tongue to the dephts and devour them. It also lives on the lush caves found in the underrealm and its a terribly dangerous creature. They are about the size of a horse on the small end, and are almost as fast as the equines. Legends tell that some kelpies are able to manipulate nearby water, shooting droplets like bullets and shaping water around their target to drown them. Beware! Never go against one of these creatures in the rain, for it will use the water all around against you.

The leather of a kelpie can be used to make armour that grants the user a similar effect to the helmets made of turtle scutes, and its tongue is an extremely strong rope. Its eyes, too, also have a use, specifically in making tea. Yes, tea! Kelpie Eye tea grants perfect vision when under water and immunity to the dehydrating effects of salted sea water, meaning you can open your eyes when emerged innit and actually drink it with no side efects.

Abyss Demons
Also called Withers, these demons, as the name written upon here suggests, live amogst the deepest areas of the very bowels of the earth, so much so some believe they actually spend most of their life cycle beneath bedrock. They are extremely dangerous and even the mightest of varnian cave trolls dare not to get near the lair of one of these creatures. They are almost extinct for, even if they are absurdly dangerous, from their hearts you may gather the Wither Star: a singularly powerful artifact that is used to craft a supremely useful and supremely expensive beacon, albeit the iron or other minerals that are needed to operate the beacon is found elsewhere.

Trolloids (Troglodytarum)
Trolloids are a bundle of related species that mostly live on the underealm and have taken the name of the most famous species to be part of the sub-group: the troll.

Schnoz
Schnozi, the plurar version of schnoz, are underground creatures that have found that the strip mines that run beneath all of Varn Torum are suitable for living, as they hunt rats, bats and silverfish for food. Yes! They are flesh eaters, and their big noses hide a mouthfull of sharp teeth. Dwarves hunt the schnoz for their meat, to prevent overpupulation and because their snot is not only edible but flamable and can be used as lamp oil. Legends say that they are distantly related to dwarves, for the they are just as stocky, just as short, just as angry and have just as big of a nose. Beware when approaching one of these: if you aren't carefult it will have smelt you coming. The massive nose of a schnoz is taxidermied and used as decoration by some.

Varnian Cave Trolls
The cave trolls of Varn Torum are the main predator on the underealm beneath Khun-Drakhar, and they mainly feed upon schnozi, glow berries, axoatl, fish and glow squids. They are extremely dangerous for just one of them can, with some effort, lift up an entire horse, and one should never approach the territory of a troll without being an experienced hunter or, preferably, alongside a small army, for trolls are never too far from each other. Averaging around 2 to 3 meters, with some outliners going over 5 meters in height, they have black fur that is often covered In moss. Their skin various shades of brown, especially dark brown, and their claws are yellowish white. Their eyes are white, with black pupils, but when they reflect light they become entirely white. They are fairly smart, being able to use simple tools and weapons, as well as crafting with flint and wood. They are basically on the paleolethic era when compared to the other races of eldham.

There used to be a tribe of cave trolls that lived at what is now Khun Drakhar and scholars think that they are responsable for the overhunting of the local sub-species of mountain wyvern. Their burial grounds now make up the market and undermarket and that is why it is very much haunted with the spirits of the long dead. They were known as the Wicker Tribe and they were the most advanced troll civilization ever found, but they could not survive the greed of the dwarves. Legends say that they had begun to use the alloy of copper and zinc known as bronze. General civilization has long passed the bronze age but it is still very impressive for trolls.

There are many different kinds of trolls, including forest trolls, hill trolls, steppe trolls, swamp and river trolls, and even beach and sea trolls, but the most common one in Varn is, by far, the humble Cave Troll.

Troll meat is a delicacy and is seen as delicious and a luxury item all over the world, especially Cave Troll meat since they are so difficlt to hunt. Beware! If you do not properly cook the meat it will expand and mutate on your stomach to the point of, at best, causing stomach ache and, at worse, completelly bursting your digestive system.