Dasoths Bestiary - Animals & Monsters around Koria

Introduction

This Bestiary, written by the generous Master Dasoth and published under the general license managed by Homungar & Brethren, is the most complete documentation of beasts and plants - despite the name - of Koria. We are humbled and proud to call ourselves the publisher of this exquisite compilation of beasts and plants in the own words of Master Dasoth while he travelled the lands of our fine continent.

Please be aware of possible disturbing content since this travel log is written in the original words of Master Dasoth and we humbly thank him for his generous pledge to our small printing service.

— Homungar, executive and head of Homungar & Brethren

Dear Reader.

This Bestiary, written by me, myself and I, is more of a travel log to me. It describes my travels and the beasts I encountered and had the blessed opportunity to study them. I doubt it is the complete collection of every animal, beast, monster or plant which roams around, besides, above and under Koria but it might be a good start for your studies or to quench your curiosity.

My travels where funded by the University of Hulwar, a few very generous merchants and private persons and my own endeavours. Some of my travels had more interests than knowledge - especially those from the private funders - but even these travels left me behind with an absurd amount of liquid funds, adding to my own, even more not really comprehensible, treasure chamber.

No, I'm not kidding you and no, I won't give out anything to random strangers.

BUT, hearken my words, fellow curious stranger, you are not alone. Please refer your inquiry about recieving a fund of your own to the spokespersons list attached at the end of this book or ask your local culture department. May the odds be in your favour and do me a solid: do not get eaten while you step into my footprints or make your own, you hear me?

Good.

Yours sincerely

Dasoth

Velcoraptor (answering Wings, Predator, Pack and Shriek)
Sirens (answering Mythical, Danger, Gentle)
White Shutterfly (answering Silent)
Hoot (answering Nocturnal, Bond)
Ail (answering Shell, Stalk)
Sleeping Bladderwort (answering Parasite, Food)
Sky Whale

Velcoraptor

Sirens

White Shutterfly

Hoot

Ail

Sleeping Bladderwort

Sky Whale

As I travelled through the lands of Koria and stumbled over the border dividing the Emerald Planes and the dry, hot and beautiful desert lands of Pisocenia, I ventured into a flock of Velcoraptors.

Luckily these flying fucks didn't noticed me since they were gorging on some deers they had catched. An unusual prey, to be sure, since their normal prey are the majestic Sky Whales where they can feed for weeks, if not months.

I made a turn and tried to get out of their closer proximity and hid behind some trees which were loosely scattered a few meters away. I was lucky enough to not get noticed by them. Even not being their normal prey, they would have attacked me and their sharp beaks with teeth and poison would have ripped me to shreds in no time. Hence I might would not have felt a thing, I assume. With their poisonus teeth and the sharp beaks they tend to kill the majestic Sky Whales while hunting in flocks and burrowing through the thick skin of the Whales, aiming to destroy their gas bladders. If one is destroyed, the Whale comes crashing down and the pack of Velcoraptors have a feast for weeks and months to come.

Besides that they are drowsy and tend to move only when there are other predators nearby or they spot prey. They lay eggs but I couldn't stay for long enough to get a glimpse of them or see how long it takes for the egg to hatch.

Drawn image of a Velcoraptor by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

I walked over the Bone Shores near Hulwar, as I watched a ship sailing past me. Not an unusual sight, but I heard... a song. Singing. Beautiful singing and I knew I was close to some Sirens which I had hoped and feared to see. Luckily those beautiful creatures had spotted the ship and lured the sailors in. I heard someone screaming, but the Sirens were as merciless as beautiful. Canons barked, swords were drawn, but the ship sunk inevitable and then there was silence. Lucky as I was some sailors had killed a Siren, her motionless body washed upon the Bone Shore, with marks all over her body. She had a iridiscent blue-ish green tail with four small fins, permeated with thin bones. Her skin was not smooth, it was made out of small green scales, her chest looked like a female human, but her "breasts" were actually something I would call "gas bladder", because it was squishy without any other resemblance of a female breast. Allegedly for traversing the seas. Her belly was flat and something like a slit disturbed the waves of scales, colvering her whole body. I assume beneath the slit would be some reproduction organs and other internal organs, but I couldn't examine her further. And she had tiny, sharp fangs in her mouth and sharp claws. Her hair was no human hair, it had the feeling of corals and was scratchy, slender and flexible. I cut some strands off and hurried to get to a safe distance. You never knew when a Siren might want to sing you to death. Even in death her eyes were mesmerizing and I wouldn't dare to come near a living Siren, not for all gold in the world.

Portrait of a Siren by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

As I ventured through the lands of the now lost Dragon Sun Empire I came across a fine man. He was tall, had muscles all over his body - I swear, even on his eyes! - who had a cough. Which wasn't a cough, he later explained. He suffered from the aftermath of the Sneezing Death, caused by the White Shutterfly we saw in the field ahead of us. Beautiful creatures, I have to say. Glittering in the sun, playful around the plants and not afraid of me approaching. But the man hold me back, pointing at their iridescent scales and the cloud of what I thought was dust. It was their scales and he gave me a cloth for mouth and nose. They were really beautiful to look at and some of them sat on my robe, but they could kill me with their scales. I enjoyed the tea the man was offering me - Olaf was his name, I think - and the honey-filled bread, but his story of his near-death experience with the Sneezing Death warned me enough to watch the White Shutterfly from far, far, FAR away.

White Shutterfly by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Most of my adventures were accompanied by some of my dearest and best servants, sometimes I travelled alone. It was one of those travels by me, myself and I, where I discovered that a Hoot can be really friendly and good company. A Hoot, dear reader, is an owl. Nothing uncommon, right? But they are the only owls with green eyes and green feathers. Well, not entirely green, mostly black or brown, but they eye-colour bleeds into their feathers, so to say. To my surprise this colour pattern suits them really well as camouflage. That was the reason I nearly soiled my pants as one of them came to the log I was sitting and greeted me with a loud "HOOT!" The Hoot came to me, sat near me and watched the fire with me. It had black feathers with a tint of green in it and its eyes had the colour of fresh grass. It looked curious in my mug, took a walk around my small camp and sat back on my pouch, making small "Hoot... hoot..." noises. I tried to talk to it, but afar from "Hoot?" or "Hoot!" I couldn't make out if it understood me. It was gone the next morning without a trace, but during the following nights I heard a small "Hoot" here and there while it followed me.

Hoot on a branch by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Venturing around the ruined Ruby Fortress on the island of An Delf I found myself in a large pile of ~~cookies~~ Ails, spoken like Aisle. Their shells were piled up against a wall, all of them hollow and probably dead. I picked one up and the pile got loose, clattering around my feet. Luckily for me they were all dead, but I spotted some of those deadly horrors lurking at the shoreline with their glittering eyes and their venomous nettles around their surprisingly cute faces. I knew that some fisherman harvested their durable shells for whatever reasons and sell them on the markets, but to catch a living Ail is a dangerous idea and a deadly one in general. Not only their nettles were a danger to body and life, but also their oozing fluids and a shooting tail with which they can hunt underwater. A fisher told me that only the shell and their eyes were a good trade, their flesh was so bitter and salty, not even an Orc would dare to eat their flesh. And never have I. But elves and Inquisitors pay a ton of gold for the venom of an Ail, because it is easy to harvest - hello, bladder! - and potent. One drop can kill an entire regiment of one section of the Black Fortress and give the rest life-threatening diarrhea.

Ail snail by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

My journey brought me to an old castle, hugging the side of a hill, I thought it would nice to have a ceiling over your head because a storm was approaching. I was outfitted with a good cloak, a tent and a sharp sword - not counting my improving fighting skills - so if there were any bandits in it, they would find me a difficult prey. But there wasn't any bandits. The castle was empty, at least at the first, second and third look, partly in ruins with plants coming through the walls and the floors. So I prepared a small fire in one of the smaller rooms and had a meal before going to bed on my blanket, covered by my coat. A few hours later I woke up because I heard something. A rustling noise as something was lurking in the bushes. But there weren't any bushes. A wild animal, I thought, my fire had gone out hours ago. I was on edge, my sword in hand and saw it as I looked around the corner: woody vines on the floor, whispering, rattling, rustling, with thick leaves and dream-like moving. I knew what it was: Sleeping Bladderwort. Carnivorous, waiting on their prey, feeding on larger animals and humans for months. I heard stories and now I believe all of them: a corpse was clutched by the vines, dragged with them. I sheeted my sword and got out of this castle into the howling storm. I rather got wet and a cold before I stay a minute more than necessary in a castle with a flesh-hungry plant.

Sleeping Bladderwort by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

I left the desert of Pisocenia in the evening. It wasn't any better than in the desert itself, but my feet thanked me on the instant. Finally good old earthen soil beneath my soles and not that sucking, itching and getting-in-all-your-clothes sand. I loved the people and the culture of Pisocenia, but my hate for their sand was as great as my love to them. I found a small group of pines and sat beneath them, their shadows a welcoming relief on my hot skin. I grabbed my lunch and looked up the the sky to cloud-gaze a bit, but what I saw was a magical sight to behold. A miracle so to speak. I saw a family of Sky Whales. Six of them where floating high above me, their songs bearly to hear. I do not know where they casts their shadow, but the sight...the blue-grey skin, the slow dreamlike movement of their fins and the wavey movement of their bodies was a sight to behold. But my thoughts were clouded as I remembered the flying Velcoraptors weeks ago. Their only natural predator. Dying in a frenzy, excruciating way while the Velcoraptors tore through their skin to destroy the gas bladders inside the whales. But not this family. No, they float like they had no problems and just the endless sky up above. Not even a stormcloud was to see, a thing what some say they chase because of their natural ability to conjure up lightning. I leaned again the bark of the pine and ate my cheese, the rest of my meat, drank some flavoured water and followed the Sky Whales with my eyes until they vanished in a long upward pointing curve, just to plow into high reaching white clouds. I never saw them again.