World Bestiary Entries

[Forsetti Topaz]

Legion Flies

Overview
Legion Flies are flying insects which spread through parasitic means. These insects are highly invasive and spread their ranks through infecting hosts. To do so, they cut a wound in the creatures skin after stinging them then lay their eggs within. Within days the eggs hatch and quickly begin their lifecycles, which change depending on environmental stimuli. These beings belong to a hive mind and therefor share knowledge easily.


Common Females
Physical Description

Size: 1-2 centimeters in length.
Color: Dark, almost black, with an iridescent sheen that reflects dark purples and greens.
Body Structure:
Thorax: Equipped with a sharp, blade-like protrusion for making incisions in the host's skin. Robust and designed to house eggs.
Abdomen: Slightly bulbous and segmented, with a transparent quality revealing the eggs inside.
Wings: Clear with a slight iridescent tinge, giving off a ghostly shimmer.
Head: Compound eyes deep red, short, constantly twitching antennae.
Stinger: Located at the end of the abdomen, injects a numbing agent.
Lifespan

Lifespan: 2-3 weeks.
Behavioral Patterns

Active Hours: Most active during dusk and dawn, when light is dim and temperature is cooler. Exhibit nocturnal behavior, swarming in the dark and hiding during the hottest parts of the day.
Swarming: Aggressively swarm to protect their nest when threatened. Swarming overwhelm and chases off dangerous creature by using their bladed thorax's.


Empresses
Physical Description

Size: 5-6 centimeters in length.
Color: Deep black with prominent iridescent wings shimmering in dark purples, blues, and greens.
Body Structure:
Thorax: Larger, with a more formidable serrated blade-like protrusion for deeper incisions.
Abdomen: Highly segmented and larger, visibly pulsating with the movement of eggs inside.
Wings: Wider and more robust, producing a loud, menacing buzz.
Head: Larger compound eyes with a crimson hue, longer, more sensitive antennae.
Stinger: Longer and more potent, delivering an effective numbing agent.
Lifespan

Lifespan: 4-6 weeks.
Behavioral Patterns

Active Hours: Most active during dusk and dawn, when light is dim and temperature is cooler. Exhibit nocturnal behavior, swarming in the dark and hiding during the hottest parts of the day.


Males
Physical Description

Size: Slightly smaller than common females.
Color: Similar to common females but with a more muted iridescence.
Body Structure: Less robust than females, with no blade-like protrusion or stinger.
Lifespan

Lifespan: 1-2 weeks.
Behavioral Patterns

Active Hours: Active during the same hours as females and Empresses, primarily focused on mating.


Infected Hosts (Legionnaires)
Early Infection Stages

Appearance: Reddened, irritated skin with constant scratching causing minor wounds and scabs. Patchy fur/feather loss and slightly bloodshot eyes reflecting paranoia.
Day 1-2: Minimal symptoms.
Day 3-7: Skin reddens, constant itching similar to poison ivy.
Mid Infection Stages

Appearance: Visible bumps and lumps under the skin, significant fur/feather loss, skin becoming leathery and discolored. Wild, bloodshot eyes, hunched posture, and uncontrollable muscle twitching.
Day 8-14: Slight paranoia, small bumps form under the fur, unbearable itching.
Day 15-20: Hallucinations, increased paranoia, larger bumps spread to the face, mange-like fur loss.
Late Infection Stages

Appearance: Spines emerging from paw pads and other areas, loose and grayish skin. Nearly all fur/feathers lost, revealing a grotesque, furless visage. Eyes turn almost entirely red, vacant, and predatory. Misshapen body with hardened, shifting bones and fleshy outgrowths for grappling.
Day 21-27: Bodily changes (New bone structures and organs rapidly grow, causing great amounts of pain. New organs include a venom gland in the neck which produces paralyzing toxins), violent outbursts, personality shifts, paw pads develop small spines, skin becomes looser.
Day 28-29: Significant bodily changes, virus in control, begins spreading through contact, spines grow, body shifts, bones harden.
Day 30: Brief moments of the host's normal self.
Day 31+: Host is incurable, completely taken over by the virus, goal is to spread infection, develops fleshy outgrowths for grappling.
Lifespan

Lifespan: 1-2 months post-infection, varying by species and infection stage.
Sound


Habitat
Preferred Environments

Swamps and Marshlands: Ideal due to the perfect combination of moisture and organic matter essential for larval development. Stagnant water bodies, dense vegetation, and decaying plant material create an ideal breeding ground. This is where they are native.
Dense Forests: Thrive in dark forests with limited sunlight, creating humid, shaded conditions. Thick underbrush and fallen leaves provide ample hiding spots for nests.


Nest Characteristics

Construction: Made from decaying leaves, mud, and carcasses of previous hosts. Resemble grotesque mounds with a honeycomb structure, emitting a faintly luminescent glow due to bioluminescence.
Location: Hidden from plain sight, either underground, within hollow trees, or in the darkest corners of abandoned structures.

 

[Forsetti Topaz]

Nebula Stags

Not all creatures are out to hunt you. This is proven by the noble Nebula Stag, which roam Starfall Woods. These majestic creatures wander the forest, feasting upon the leaves from the Starfall trees. These giant deer can reach 30 to 50 feet in size. Other than their great stature, there are a few key differences between these and your usual species of deer. Due to the properties of the leaves, their fur glows a dark purple color. Their antlers will grow in just about any direction, producing strange shapes.

As fore-mentioned, the pelts of these deer glow a dark purple. This has caused their fur to be highly sought after. Even though one of these creatures could create dozens of pieces of clothing, this has caused problems for their species. Since the males are especially popular for the purple glow, most of them are wiped out due to demand. This causes problems with reproduction. These creatures rarely breed already, and with the lessened number of males, this problem has become even worse. If rumors are to be believed, then there is only one of these creatures left out there, known as the Grand Stag. It is one of the larger members of this species. If it goes, so do the rest of the Nebula Deer. These creatures cannot leave the forest, as there is something special about these trees that they need to survive. On a few occasions, people have tried planting these trees in a different area in order to raise a herd of these creatures, but it always ends in terrible results. Another attempt to gather these creatures ended in a panic, during which the groups responsible had been trampled. After a few attempts at this from one group or another and quite a few repeats of the previous tries at this, there was an unspoken rule about not ranching Nebula Deer.

While typically docile, these creatures can inflict serious damage when enraged. Their hooves back quite a punch, sending smaller foes flying and snapping the bones of larger ones. Their antlers can rip and tear through flesh.

Now, I haven't had a chance to check this area out myself, as the forest is hard to reach and holds much more dangerous things than these deer. I've decided that later next week I'm going to head out to the forest in order to better study the deer and the rest of the creatures and plants in these woods. Maybe I can find a way to let these creatures leave the forest. After all, if something would happen to these woods, this species would be wiped out.

 

[Forsetti Topaz]

Starfall Woods
Today, I finally took the trip to Starfall Woods. All in all, this was a rather interesting trip. As people tend to avoid this area, there weren't many paths. During my trip, I got the pleasure of witnessing the Great Stag. But he isn't what we're here to talk about.

While here, I mostly spent time studying the plants. The trees are what most interested me, as that is the namesake of the forest. Starfall trees grow to about 40-80 feet from what I've seen. The bark of the shade of blue that the sky turns right before nightfall. This bark isn't all that tough and can easily be peeled away. The wood underneath it is startling in contrast to the bark, being a blinding white color and somewhat luminescent. This wood is much tougher than the bark. The leaves of these trees are the same deep purple of the Nebula Stags.

Unlike normal trees, these don't rely on sunlight for food. They instead rely on a kind of energy that resonates from the ground here. Thousands of years ago, a meteor fell from the skies and hit the spot where the wood now grows. This meteor held a sort of energy that it transferred to the soil around it. When new trees started growing in this area, they were nothing like those before. This is how the Starfall trees were created. Soon after these trees started to grow, the old trees all mysteriously withered and died. No one knew what caused this mass death of the trees. Even stranger was how quickly the trees decomposed. After only a few days, there were no signs they even existed.

I believe I figured out what happened. During my study of these trees, I discovered that some fungus that grows within the bark gives off spores. These spores take hold of any plants they can find and suck the energy from them. After the organism is dead, it begins to grow inside of them, eating it from the inside out until nothing is left but a patch of glowing purple mushrooms. These patches dot the landscape. I have taken to calling them Decay Shrooms. These mushrooms are extremely toxic and, upon ingestion, cause the same level of decomposition as the spores they came from did. Decay Shrooms can be used to make strong poisons. These are sold for a great deal of money, as the poisons are dangerous to make.

I believe the spores that created the mushrooms have something to do with the fact the deer cannot leave the forest. After all the time the Nebula Deer have lived here, they could have begun to need this spore in order to breathe. Whenever they leave the forest, they quickly die off after starting to breath heavily, so it could make sense. This causes a problem as we cannot plant these trees elsewhere. When we try, either the tree rots or everything around it begins to.

 

[Forsetti Topaz]

Bladerunner Tigers
While not as large as some of the creatures, these felines can be just as deadly. Scurry Cats are roughly the same size as a horse, and, once tamed, can be used as one. In appearance, they are usually covered in a pitch-black fur. They have four long, muscular legs that can take them to blinding speeds. They have two long, sharp teeth that jut out of their mouths. Inside the mouth itself are two rows of fangs. Their tails are interesting, seeing how the tip is made of exposed bone. This bone is incredibly sharp and tough, making it well sought after for weapons. The tail itself is flexible and prehensile.

As fore-mentioned, Scurry Cats can be tamed. While some have been bred down to the size of your average housecat, others are bred for speed and power. These felines have been used for many things, including mounts and in illegal fights. They have been used for as long as anyone can remember to chase after quick animals. They are also used as battle mounts, owned by royalty and the best hunters and knights. People will put these creatures up against people or other Scurry Cats, which can result in interesting matches. I will admit to witnessing one or two myself. These creatures can use their tails as weapons like a master swordsman can use a sword. The battles always end in a bloody death of one of the two creatures. When a foolish man enters the arena, believing he can defeat one of these beasts, the result is nearly always the same.

In the wild, these creatures hunt just about anything smaller than them. They are typically loners but during winter they may band into groups in order to hunt larger prey, as smaller creatures often hibernate during this time. Whenever Scurry cats get together, they never get along, constantly fighting among each other. Due to this, many of them die during winter from battles among themselves. The tamed Scurry Cats have been trained well enough to prevent this, though sometimes fights do still break out.

 

[Forsetti Topaz]

Solar and Lunar Foxes

Solar and Lunar foxes are two species of foxes that live in the Starfall Woods. While these pair of foxes are separate species, they do share many similarities and interact with each other often. These foxes tend to be between 14 and 20 inches from nose to tip of tail. Much like most creatures in the Starfall Woods, the foxes have been affected by the meteor, though in different ways.

Solar foxes are the larger of the two breeds, tending to be between 16 and 20 inches, and have burnt orange fur that seems to glow under direct sunlight. Solars despise being in the dark and almost always find sunny spots to lounge or hunt in. While this doesn't help their hunting too much, it does seem to calm these creatures quite a bit. Some people have taken to keeping Solar Foxes as pets due to their playful behavior and adorable appearance.

Lunar foxes are quite a bit smaller than Solar foxes. They tend to fall between 14 and 17 inches from tail to nose. Their fur is a black or very dark gray. Lunar foxes are nocturnal and have extremely good night vision at the cost of a great sensitivity to light. These foxes have a calm and unbothered demeanor. Lunar foxes are always a common sight due to their breeding habits. Unlike most creatures, who have a certain time of year when they can mate, Lunar foxes go into heat during each full moon. Supermoons in particular can be problematic as they seem to get extremely rowdy during those nights.

While these two breeds do not often interact, when they do it often leads to fights between them. They also have a strange effect upon each other. When the lunar and solar foxes are around each other, the Solar fox's fur tends to dim a little and the lunar fox's changes completely. The lunar fox's fur would start to turn white, starting at the edge and growing out until their whole fur glows white.

While the breeds typically hate each other, there has been a single documented case of them breeding together. This ended with something that looks somewhat like a combination between both, the Eclipsed Vixen, a fox with black fur that is tipped orange. Like the lunar and solar foxes, it has an effect on the other's fur colors. Solar foxes take on an appearance similar to the Vixen, having mostly black fur with glowing white highlights. Lunar foxes take on an crimson color with the same white glowing outline.
The Eclipsed Vixen has been noted to be extremely sought after by the other foxes, their very presence seeming to rile them up. When she is around, fights between males are very common and most females despise her. Just to be around her, the solar and lunar foxes end up around each other way more often, leading to even more fighting between the groups.