Introduction

The unique conditions left on Cairne by having a piece of another plane of existence slammed into it created many varied and unique changes to the ecosphere, bringing with it creatures both horrific and unique. The interaction of positive and negative energy and the creatures that reside in both blends two impossible forms of existence, creating something new. The people of Cairne have spent the last century rediscovering their world and the changes that have occured. These are only the creatures that the scholars and explorers have documented thus far. There are still many uncharted parts of this new world, and undoubtedly many new forms of life and unlife lurk in the unseen places.
While many other species of both beast and animal exist in the world of Cairne, there remain limited fantastical creatures due to the nature of things as they exist in the present. For instance, there is rumor of an ancient wyrm that slumbers in the arctic North, and a number of reports have been made regarding the small reptilian creatures dressed in heavy furs that supposedly guard its lair. The magical creatures of the forests are long dead or have retreated so deep into hidden and inaccessible realms that they remain unseen, and the only extra-planar creatures are the very few that were trapped after the gods left, sealing off the realm from the outer planes and have long enough life spans to have survived a century. The greatest dangers faced by the inhabitants of Cairne are the humans, elves, and dwarves that populate its cities and towns. The energies that inundated the underground wiped out or forever changed countless species of creature, and though there are numerous scholars that seek out and document as much as they can, there are some areas that even science dare not tread.
The majority of the more otherworldly or fiendish entities that now plague the lands and people are manifestations of the Blight, sentient beings made of negative energy that exist only in a state of entropic hunger. The energies that now filter into the vast majority of the globe have a long lasting and mutative effect on the living, and a number of the creatures that survive only do so having changed and evolved in ways that allow them to coexist with the strange addition to the ecosystems that were created by the Void energy mingling with the native flora and fauna of Cairne. New mutations and even unseen species are discovered often, and many of the more adventurous academics make a lucrative living searching out and documenting them.
Many unspeakable horrors exist within the confines of the Blighted Lands, and due to the highly concentrated amounts of negative energy that remain there, no living soul may enter there to explore. There are many who have tried to utilize various scientific and mechanical means to enter it, but none have returned from those ill-fated expeditions, either due to the extreme conditions or the voracious creatures that live there.
Aside from the dangers and tragic losses that came from Cairne's cataclysmic past, there remains a wide, varied array of life in every existing ecosphere. Even the poisoned waters of the Ephemeral Ocean are teeming with forms of life that thrive in the harsh environment. The scholars, explorers, and academicians have compiled great lists of every creature they can find, and this practice continues still as a study of life on a rapidly changing terrestrial landscape is never static, relying instead on the fluidity of life's ability to evolve rapidly alongside an ever shifting landscape.
What follows is a record of but a handful of some of the more unique and fantastical creatures that have been recorded, the ones that have evolved or been trapped here that have exceeded what most would describe as normal parameters. These creatures are iconic in the manner and methods they employ and show a dynamic scope of variety and danger. The Void is a force to never be taken lightly, and these creatures are proof of this.

• Professor Arlen Grant, Lead Researcher and Documentarian on the subject of Cryptids and their Ecologies Representing The University of the Lighted Way