Overview

From simple animals to magical beasts, Empirica Sin is the home of many fantastical creatures. Often they are harmless, and sometimes they are decisively not - one look at the Abominations of the world can lead to nightmares that scar a person for life... assuming they even survive the encounter.

However, even among the abominations, there is one category of creature that defies understanding. They are the Great Beasts - unique creatures whose abilities can challenge the gods themselves.

The vast majority of the time the Beasts are inactive - sleeping or curling in the pits of whatever dark holes or dimensions they call home. However, every so often, a Beast will rise... and the world will shake in its shadow.

 

The Nature of the Beasts

It is unclear where the Great Beasts came from, or when they came into being. The First Generation of the Celestials have said that the beasts were not present when they awakened - or, in any case had not yet made their presence known. Yet, if they were created by an event or brought into the world through other means, it is wholly unclear.

Tempest Serpent

An enormous serpent seemingly made of energy and water. Astrum.


Nar-Narolis

A hole full of teeth that appears anywhere to devours everything in the area. Incaendium.


Karonaks

A enormous spider-like creature that devours life energy and cuts through steel with its pincers. Gaean.

The Beasts Makes Themselves Known

The first to make itself known was the Tempest Serpent. It rose from the sea during the Caelestise-Sura War, destroying ships as it did.

While not directly provoked, many believe that it was responding to the intrusion of chaos into its previously serene home. It destroyed everything in its immediate grasp before sinking back into the Boundless Sea. Since it has been glimpsed only rarely... and those sightings have never been fully confirmed.

In the tens of thousands of years since, various Great Beasts have appeared and disappeared - most of them appearing only once or twice thus far. Because they are so rarely seen, and because their "introduction" to the world is generally unannounced and unforeseen, it is impossible to know how many of the Beasts exist.

Thus far, eight Great Beasts are known; the eight is a relatively recent addition, having made her appearance only a few decades ago.

What Makes a Great Beast?

In fact, there is no specific qualification to be considered a Great Beast - it is unknown whether there is truly any link between them at all. However, many assume that there must be some commonality between them, as they are the only "monsters" in Empirica Sin who are truly unique.

In any event, there are a few general criteria for a monster or creature to be considered a Great Beast:

The Chronomancer

A humanoid figure that warps time and space wherever it moves. Appears in any Realm.


Zuelis-Tyt

A canid resembling magma and rock; melts the ground and exhales molten rock. Incaendium.


Ravoros

A living shadow with an inconstant form. Creatures taken into its shadows never return. Any Realm.

The Creature Is Unique.
Each of the Great Beasts is a being alone: not so much a species as a specific individual being. Though there may be other creatures that seem similar on a surface level (for example, there are sea serpents aside from the Tempest Serpent), there must be some specific and significant different in appearance, powers, intelligence, or other notable feature that indicates they are not of the same "type" as other similar beings.

The Creature Is Powerful.
All Great Beasts are considered Vis level threats, without exception.

The Creature Is Nigh Unkillable.
This may well be the most significant feature of a Great Beast: that there is no known way to kill it. This is what makes them exceptionally dangerous, regardless of its specific power level - while there may be rare individuals who are more powerful than a Great Beast, those individuals are nonetheless incapable of killing it. Instead, Great Beasts must be either trapped or depleted of their energy so that they slink off into their hiding places again, preferably for many generations.

The Creature Is Highly Intelligent.
Unlike typical Beasts, or even Abominations, Great Beasts are all possessed of at least human-level intelligence... with some significantly higher than that.

The Creature Is Hostile.
Whether instinctively hostile (e.g. devouring for food) or consciously hostile (malicious and vengeful), a Great Beast is always a massive threat to those in its area.

The Origin of the Great Beasts

While the Great Beasts' origins are unknown, either as a group or individually, there have been a number of theories floated over the centuries. For example:

Obsidian Phoenix

A black glass bird that is reborn from its own shattered corpse... after blowing up the area. Incaendium.


The Red Woman

A humanoid of red mist. Dissolves victims, who then appear locked in her misty wake. Gaean.

Beasts as Remnants of the Old Ones.
One of the theories on the origins of Empirica Sin as it currently stands involves the death of a previous world which is then reborn in its current form. (See: Birth and Death of the World) This theory posits that the Old Gods - the residents of the old world - did not deteriorate into Godseed - at least not fully - and that their remains evolved into the Great Beasts. This would seem to suggest that the Old Gods were not (or not all?) humanoid, which may well be true (assuming they even existed).

Beasts as Monstrous Aedvectis.
It's well-known that from time to time human (or humanish) people arrive from the Otherworld (see; Aedvect). One theory that might explain the sudden appearance of Great Beasts is that they are also brought to Empirica Sin by whatever means brings the Aedvectis.

Beasts as Creations of the Godseed.
Is it possible that, like the Demons (or even Celestials and Mortals), Great Beasts are formed from the Godseed coming into contact with some substance or emotion and becoming solidified into a new life form? That's what this theory suggests!