야수

Beasts are monstrous creatures of great size and power. They are natural beings—not supernatural entities—but were unknown in the Old World.

To determine the role of beasts in your version of the Ironlands, see page 128.

• Rank: Extreme (2 ticks per harm; inflicts 4 harm)
• Features: • Giant snake • Dull yellow-brown skin • Vibrant yellow eyes
• Drives: • Devour
• Tactics: • Lay in wait • Mesmerizing gaze • Sudden bite • Crush

Basilisks dwell in the Flooded Lands, lurking in the murky waters of the swamps or within marshy thickets. There, they wait patiently for prey. They regularly feed on marsh rats or deer, but will eagerly make a meal out of a passing Ironlander.

Quest Starter: The adventurer set out to slay a basilisk, only to become its next meal. Because the serpent digests its prey slowly, the remains of the adventurer are still undoubtedly within the beast—along with the heirloom sword he wielded. What is your relationship to this person? Why is recovering the sword so important to you?

• Rank: Extreme (2 ticks per harm; inflicts 4 harm)
• Features: • Twice the size of their common kin, or more
• Drives: • Dominate • Protect territory
• Tactics: • Intimidating display • Overwhelming attack

Elder beasts—including wolves, bears, and boars—are huge, monstrous versions of their common kin. They are primarily solitary creatures, though elder wolves have been known to lead a pack of normal wolves. Some call them guardians, avatars of the land itself, and say they are as long-lived as the oldest trees.

Quest Starter: An elder wolf, white as snow, appears to you in a dream. When you wake, the memory of its piercing gaze lingers. Is the vision a dark portent or a promise? Why are you compelled to seek this beast out?

• Rank: Dangerous (2 progress per harm; inflicts 2 harm)
• Features: • Massive fangs • Long legs and bloated body • Eight iridescent black eyes
• Drives: • Lurk • Feed
• Tactics: • Drop atop prey • Bite with pincers • Trap in webbing

These gigantic creatures are a menace in woodlands throughout the Ironlands. Despite their size, they move through high branches with uncanny grace, dropping suddenly to grapple their prey and entomb them in webbing.

Quest Starter: A brood of harrow spiders attacked a contingent of Ironlanders. The single survivor tells of the horrifying encounter and the monstrous brood mother—a harrow spider larger and stronger than a warhorse. What was this group’s mission? What important item are you sworn to recover from one of the victims?

• Rank: Epic (1 tick per harm; inflicts 5 harm)
• Features: • Massive bulk • Flesh as tough as iron • Cold black eyes • Sinuous grace
• Drives: • Slumber in the depths • Destroy those who trespass
• Tactics: • Rise from the depths • Ram and swamp ships • Devour prey whole

These massive sea beasts lurk in the darkness of the deepest fjords and in the abyssal depths beyond the Barrier Islands. They sometimes surface to hunt within shallower waters. They will indiscriminately destroy any Ironlander vessel which strays too close to their hunting grounds.

Watchful sailors might catch sight of a leviathan circling their boat, studying them, in the moments before it attacks. Their dagger-shaped head is as tough and destructive as any battering ram, able to shatter a ship in a single blow.

Quest Starter: A leviathan lurks off the coast, preying on fishing boats and trade ships. Among the dead is someone important to you. Who is it? You have vowed to send this beast back to the depths, but doing so will require a mythic weapon—The Abyssal Harpoon, an Old World artifact said to be carved from the bones of a long-dead sea god. Where is this weapon rumored to be held?

• Rank: Extreme (2 ticks per harm; inflicts 4 harm)
• Features: • Woolly fur • Large head and curved tusks • Prehensile trunk
• Drives: • Migrate to fertile ground • Forage for food • Protect the young of the herd
• Tactics: • Form a protective circle • Charge • Trample • Gore

These beasts resemble the elephants of the Old World’s southern realms, but are larger and covered in a coat of thick fur. They travel in herds among the Tempest Hills, migrating south with the winter and north with the spring. They are not aggressive creatures, but are fearless and will fight to the death to protect their young.

A herd of mammoths is an amazing and humbling sight, but smart Ironlanders keep their distance and stay downwind.

Quest Starter: A mammoth calf wanders alone into an Ironlander settlement. Why do you swear to reunite it with its herd?

• Rank: Extreme (2 ticks per harm; inflicts 4 harm)
• Features: • Huge, bat-like wings • Rows of knife-sized teeth • Thick hide with a metallic sheen • Long tail
• Drives: • Watch for prey from high above • Feed
• Tactics: • Swoop down • Snap up prey • Fearsome roar • Bash with tail

There are several breeds of wyverns in the Ironlands. To the west, tawny wyverns nest in the cliffs of the Barrier Islands and Ragged Coast, diving for fish in the surrounding waters. Inland, the verdant wyverns dwell in forested regions. The largest and most fearsome breed, the iron wyverns, hunt among the Tempest Hills and along the flanks of the Veiled Mountains.

All wyverns have wolfish heads with wide jaws, thick bodies, and sinuous tails. They have short hind limbs and elongated forelimbs which extend along their wings. In flight, they are a terrifying but awe-inspiring creature. On the ground, they lumber heavily on all four limbs, their wings folded back, jaws agape, gaze fixed on their prey. They are the grim cruelty of the Ironlands given form. They are death.

Quest Starter: Ancient cave paintings in the Tempest Hills show humanoids riding atop wyverns. Perhaps these beasts can be tamed. Why are you obsessed with this possibility?