Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

[Kraven Kor]

So, my party is now getting ready to deal with some critters from the southern continent of my setting, Lostorum. The south pole always tilts inward, towards the sun, and thus most of the southern hemisphere has no night time; the sun never sets.

 

As such, I have envisioned the southern continent as a large, barren desert at the center, with dense swamps and tropical forests along the coast lines that border the Churning Sea and the Great Storm, and to a lesser degree the northern / western coasts. The continent has little inland rainfall and no snow-melt to provide for rivers, so the internal regions of the continent are a wasteland.

 

Before I discuss what I've come up with so far, I want to say what I am looking for: Ideas on what type of critters could, believably, live in this environment, and what "nifty abilities" they might have.

 

I had decided the main races of this continent would be reptilian / amphibious in nature, and came up with a few basic concepts:

 

The first, the Vaerog, are the "master race" - massive, four armed amphibians that mostly live in coastal caves, where they are protected from the constant sunlight. They stand 8 to 12 feet tall, with short finned tails, stubby legs with webbed toes, and 4 arms - two, larger arms above two shorter arms, all again with webbed fingers. They store water in sacs all along their stomach and lower back, allowing them to operate in the sun for extended periods of time, but much prefer their cavernous cities or remaining in or near the water. These sacs also function as both gills and hydraulic propulsion underwater, sucking water in with their large mouths and expelling it through the sacs via gill-like folds in their skin. Beyond the obvious abilities (growth, LS: extended breathing, extra PD vs. fire / heat, extra swimming, environmental movement, extra limbs, some minor to decent regeneration, etc.), I am thinking they also have some natural poison, probably via spines or a bite. Personality wise, they are cruel and cunning, and raid the trade routes and coastal cities of southern Telos, taking humans or other northerners as slaves or food. They are intelligent, moreso than any of the other races of Ora'hos, and dominate the continent through brute strength and a technological advantage. They have salvaged and adapted Telosian ships, weapons, and armor for their own purposes, but have fewer resources with which to build their own stuff. Their ships hulls are usually built out of the shells of giant sea turtles, or grown from coral, and hardened in the sun, as they have little wood or iron to work with, and then any armaments are adapted from stolen human cannon. They do make their own aether and have plenty of lighter metals to work with, and see steel or iron as one of the most valuable materials in the world.

 

The second, the Goerog, are smaller cousins of the Vaerog, sharing a common ancestor. They are smaller and thinner, standing 6 to 7 feet tall, with similar four-armed frames, but with larger tusk-like lower incisors and claws on their fingers and toes. Unlike their larger brethren, the Goerog are more adapted to living on land, and typically only return to the water for spawning (both Vaerog and Goerog are egg-layers, and hatch in a larval form, mistaken by northerners as a separate species.) Most of the Goerog are subjugated by, or willingly server, the Vaerog. Goerog are not highly intelligent, but are cunning and more cautious than their fierce appearance would infer.

 

The third "species" is really not a species at all, but the larval forms of the Vaerog and Goerog, known to Telosians as the Baerog. These mostly aquatic larva are smaller than men, with tadpole-like tails and somewhat tentacle-like proto-limbs that gradually develop into the 6 limbs of their adult forms. Most humans describe the Baerog as "teeth and tentacles" because the body is mostly a mouth surrounded by the six proto-limbs. The Baerog also retain an ancient defense mechanism their parents lack; the ability to spit mud or ink. The difference between the Vaerog and Goerog larvae are significant, but their appearance and abilities are similar enough that humans have no way to tell one from the other.

 

Inland, the only sentient species are the primitive Drakyn, which live in the cliffsides of ancient riverbeds and the few inland mountain ranges. They are small, winged reptiles somewhat similar in appearance to pterdactyls or pteronodons, but only standing 3 to 4 feet in height, and with much smaller heads. Unlike drakes or other flying reptiles, the Drakyn have both fully functional arms, as well as wings with three talons, and short, but functional, legs.

 

There is almost no mammalian life on Ora'hos, beyond the human slaves kept by the Vaerog, and these humans would not last long outside the Vaerog's damp, cavernous homes.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

Few nitpicks and questions:

 

"willingly serve, the Vaerog"

 

Is Ora'hos the local name for the continent? What is aether?

 

Have you considered sandsharks/worms for the interior?

 

What about a natural spring/river that feeds a lack at the center of the wasteland?

 

Another feature- the ability to blend in like a chameleon (or a wide variety of fish on the ocean floor, really).

 

All I got for right now.

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

Few nitpicks and questions:

 

"willingly serve, the Vaerog"

 

OMG a Typo! *seppuku*

 

Is Ora'hos the local name for the continent? What is aether?

 

Sorry, yes, Ora'hos is the Telosian name for the southern continent. Aether is the pseudo-magical-alchemedical gas that makes all the crazy steampunk tech work on Lostorum; it is a lighter-than-air, magnetically active, flammable gas, and is used for firearms, steam or combustion engines, filling the envelope of airships, and all sorts of other stuff.

 

Have you considered sandsharks/worms for the interior?

 

What about a natural spring/river that feeds a lack at the center of the wasteland?

 

I have some "gravoid" type critters in the north... and don't much intend for the party to venture into the heart of Ora'hos just yet (they are fighting vaerog raiders in the current arc.)

 

The center of Ora'hos will not be completely without water or life, but it will be pretty barren. 130 degrees farenheit year round means almost no surface water.

 

Another feature- the ability to blend in like a chameleon (or a wide variety of fish on the ocean floor, really).

 

Some breeds of Seraps (small lizardmen) of southern Telos have chameleon skin, so probably not a stretch to have some breeds of the Vaerog and Goerog having similar abilities.

 

Would a frog-like tongue be too much of a stretch for a creature this large? Works great on insects, but I see no example in earth's current or past species of a large reptile or amphibian having such.

[Old Man]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

Would a frog-like tongue be too much of a stretch for a creature this large?

 

I see what you did there.

 

For a fantasy game it should be fine. In real life a shootable chameleon-like tongue, twice the body length of the creature possessing it, would tend to droop and/or collapse under its own weight. But even then it's not totally out of the realm of possibility, especially if you postulate some sort of skeletal articulation to help support it.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

Might be interesting to have a big predator, not especially sentient, that uses a psychic power, or possibly some kind of drug produced from its body, to command its prey to walk within range and then devours them. It would be a big fat toadlike creature with a massive gaping maw.

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

might be interesting to have a big predator' date=' not especially sentient, that uses a psychic power, or possibly some kind of drug produced from its body, to command its prey to walk within range and then devours them. It would be a big fat toadlike creature with a massive gaping maw.[/quote']

 

hypnotoad hungers

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

Really? It won't let me type that in all caps?

 

Whole frackin' world has gone nutty it seems - Google tells me I am misspelling words I know I am spelling correctly, and now I can't type in all caps for emphasis.

[drunkonduty]

Re: Lostorum - Looking for input on some races / monsters (hot-climate critters)

 

Shh, shh. Remember: Google is always right. Chant it with me...