Zephyra by Region

Zephyra by Region

REMOTE WEST, the "BACK COUNTRY"

The remote western region of Zephyrus is a place of utmost danger, and only the hardiest of communities dare to live there. (It is usually just referred to by the easterners as “The Hills.” The people all across the nation claim that great hordes of treasure form some long-forgotten kingdom can be found among these creatures. Thus many adventurers try to make a name (and wealth) for themselves by exploiting the region’s dangers.

• HORSES, wild (as Heavy Horse, MMIanimalscr1) running wild in some places; considered a great spiritual boon to capture and domesticate one

(CREATURES IN THE BACK-COUNTRY, hills of broken rock, sometimes plains)

• Tatzylwyrms, Kobold Eaters, on the very outskirts of Zephyrus–never coming near any settled area
• MANTICORES, MMIcr5, PFcr6… are known and feared in certain very specific areas of western Zephyran. Their legendary king is said to live high in the grey, rocky hills there, sitting on some throne of some long-forgotten castle. He is MANTIK, BARBED KING OF MANTICORES. Is he real, or merely legend? King: CC5ecr9
• Barbed Kobolds also live around the castle and its nearby environs. CC5ecr1
• Also 5ecr3
• CAVE BEAR (as “polar bear” 5eappcr2) 
• Orcs and Kobolds and Trolls and Giants, all have be place here and there in the back country, roaming in small bands
• Goblins also have cave-like formations where they live in strange societies, in paranoia and also denial of all the dangers around them

FOREST of LEGENDELL

• Every once in a while, a BLIGHT (intelligent destructive plant beings, 5ecrlow) arises in the Legendell Forest and threatens to spread north and east to more populated lands. This call for action…
• Somewhere in this forest lurks the legendary GRENDEL, B2cr19, who periodically goes on rampages against villages and soldieries. Enter the back-country of this forest at your own peril!
• Yeth Hound (MMIcr3; B2cr3) - - escaped from Demonlands
• Sard (tree-spider-lighting-strike-burning), B2cr6 (only one or two in entire forest)
• VIPER VINE, B2cr13
• ZOMOK: plant dragon, B2cr16… protector of the forest; mortal enemy of GRENDEL
• GIANT FLYTRAPS, PFcr10
• (Boar: 5eappcr1/4 and PF)
• (“brown bear” 5eappcr1)

PLAINS and FOREST

• Sometimes more of the same
• GRAY RENDERS (here and there in the west; rare) MMIcr8

HUMANOIDS

• Humans: Zephryn, and some Sindar (all systems for pc)
• Dragonborn roam the outer hills and mountains, wary of those that might hold prejudice against them, but also not fearing to make war. Generally have a grudging respect for the hardy humans of Zephryan; rarely there will differences and violence, particularly if the Dragonborn decide to form alliance with a dragon in their territory. (CC5e) (All systems for PC)
• Sometimes the Dragonborn will enchant a dire bear to become an IRONCLAD MAULER, a brutal beast of war… They have taught this art to some barbarian tribes as well (MMIIIcr9
• Some surviving Dwarven cultures, unique by the separation they’ve had from their cousins so very long a time
• Goblins, Trolls, Giants, Ogres, and others have small enclaves or territories they roam or defend, even if they are relatively small areas.
• OGRES (all, 5ecr2)
• Sometimes manifests: Demi-God Simhamukha, the Dakini goddess of wrath and destruction of evil (CC5e, cr8)
• In the Hills west of Zephyrin there is a strange legend of a creature called “The Grey Man,” known in CC5e as the “fear liath”. It is somewhat of a legend and mystery, like bigfoot. Cr2
  

  OTHER HUMANOIDS IN ZEPHYRA

  WYVERN KNIGHTS are trained extensively and exclusively in Zephyra, or sometimes on the plain to the west, to handle and ride Wyverns… These knights play a special role in patrolling the land, and fighting when called… CCcr5… See WYVERNS above
  MINOTAURS, all hold a special place of honor (and fear) in Zephyran society. In western lands they provide a number of different services, and sometimes friendship, to the people there. (CC5ecrvaries) also 5eMM, MMIcr4, PFcr4, 5ecr3)
  BEARFOLK: PF2e, live in the hills and mountains of western Zephryn, and they are generally on good terms with the people who live there, and down into Zephryn proper. They have been known to take up arms and aid the people in struggles against the various evils of the region.
  And WEREBEARS, MMI, found running wild or running in groups far back away from civilization… rarely their groups will descend into civilized lands, to buy supplies, to see “their kind,”... often a bittersweet experience
  WEREWOLVES, MMI (all)
  KOBOLDS (MMI, PF, 5e)
  STONE GIANT (PFcr8) - - Wildly remote, not reported in years

IN WETLANDS: SLURK (PFcr2)

“THE HILLS”... Creatures far back in the caves and rocks of the western hills

• Troll, MMI5+ and all
• (“brown bear” 5eappcr1)
• Boar: 5eappcr1/4, also in PFcr2
• DIRE BEARS (in the back country)... MMI,cr7
• (WYVERNS themselves live in the west, and some (the choicest and most powerful) are captured as eggs and raised by the Zephyran army. There is a long tradition of this in Zephyra. CCcr7, MMIcr6; 5ecr6)
• In the hills of more remote Zephyrus, there are Akatas (CR1B2) hibernating in some caverns, producing void zombies Cr1B2 to wander down into populated lands to feed. Some also in legendell. It is unknown how this situation came to be; many in the know suspect some kind of necromantic rituals and magice.
• Spriggans, twisted gnomes (B2cr3-7)?
• Hill Dwarves
• Elk, Phantom, (my own, 3.5, cr6)

WEREBAT INFECTIONS
Infected persons coming over the sea to Zephyrus from Tellarus have brought with them a strange magic. This “magic” as it is called has spread to every corner of Zephyrus, although some places more than others, and certainly not common anywhere. This is the curse of the WEREBAT (lycanthrope, CC5e, cr?). The disease originated in northern Narra, in the mountains there.
Other Half / Were-Humans in Zephyra

• Also WEREBOARS (cautiously roam the hills of the back-country, sometimes in bands), 5ecr4
• Planar scion, DUSKWALKERS (rarely, usually on the firnges of society), PFcr4
• Planar scion, AASIMAR (rare, in obscure pockets of Good), PFcr5