- Found through out the swamps of the Southern Colonies, Canalac trees are recognized by their
putrid yellow leaves and their sweet smelling sap that flows puss-like from nodules out of their soft woody trunks.
Canalac trees grow to massive proportions with trunks reaching widths as large as some small one-room houses and well
over a hundred feet in height. The Canalac tree also bares a succulent fruit that is said to relax most physical
pains. This fruit is so sought after by herbalists and healers the benefits normally out way the negatives from
collecting it. Canalac trees are semi-sentient. The sap from this tree is just as valuable as the fruit, for the sap
can be used as a sweetener to foods and even drinks. That is if the chef can get over the sickeningly cloudy yellow
color of the sap.
Once a piece of fruit is picked from its branches the tree "comes
to life" to defend itself. It has been said that the plant starts moving on its own accord, swinging its branches
wildly as if they were giant arms and its roots extract themselves from the ground to try and crush anything unlucky
enough to be under them. In such cases, trees have been documented to uproot other trees and wield them as
improvisational weapons. The only known ways to deal with a tree when it is in this self preservation mode is to
either run or hang on for dear life. The ride you are about to experience is something the likes very few have
ever experienced.
Canalac Fruit
- The succulent fruit that is found growing from the Canalac tree. The juice of this fruit is used
as a painkiller by healers and herbalists.
Chig
- Chigs are of unknown origins; basically they are a parasite that feed on magical energies and auras. They look
like little balls of floating liquid silver with flagella sprouting at random intervals along their soft surface.
While quite rare, they can be encountered almost anywhere on Selan much to the dismay of those practicing magic for
a living. Chigs absorb magical energy through their flagella.
D
Deadman's Swing
- An ominous looking tree that is normally found in bogs and marsh regions. The black branches of this tree are long,
rope-like and hang along the ground. Deadman's Swing have been used as a ready-made gallows and for this purpose
some villages have taken to plant one of these trees on the outskirts of their village. If naught else it warns
nere-do-wells that this village will treat criminals harshly.
H
Hunter Bugs
- Social insects by nature, they inhabit deep and forgotten forests along the Continent of Selan. These tiny sentient insects
travel in tribes of as few as a dozen individuals to the upwards of a few hundred. They commonly hunt for blossom
nectar, rare herbs, gems, and metals, some of the larger tribes have been found with small pieces of jewelry. Most
large forests have one or two tribes depending on the tribe size.
Hunter bugs have a primitive language of sorts
and are know to trade with adventurers if they feel the trade is equal and fair. They normally trade for roasted
meats and other foodstuffs. If threatened, a warrior class that are quite fearless will protect the members of their
tribe to the death. Their small weapons, while capable of doing only minor damage to humanoids, can be quite deadly
when one of the larger tribes feel threatened. If not feeling threatened Hunter Bugs are quite docile and placid.
I
Ice Frog
- Unlike the name suggests, this amphibian isn't made from ice or even found in the colder climates of Selan. The Ice
Frog can be found below the silt that lays in some swamps in a stasis. It would seem the reason they freeze into a stasis
is because once their body temperature drops below a curtain degree they enter a catatonic state. Adult Ice Frogs
measure just under three inches in length and when found in stasis are a cold clammy frost blue color. As they thaw
their natural coloring is a deep crimson.
Frozen Ice Frogs once were a fairly effective way to quickly reduce dangerous
fevers. However to accomplish this they needed to be sucked on so their frozen mucus layer could be absorbed by the
fevered individual. After a few minutes of this treatment the Ice Frog would defrost and start violently struggling
for their freedom. Once in a while an Ice Frog had been known to be swallowed by a startled fever victim.
K
Kraken
- An enormous sea monster which sometimes attack ships to feed upon their sailors and cargo. Adults are supposed
to be capable of dragging down the largest ships and when submerging they are suspected to be the causes of the
vast whirlpools that suck down sailing vessels. Not many people have ever lived through a Kraken attack and few yet
have given an accurate and common description of what the creature might look like. But there is one characteristic
that all who have seen the creature can agree on: it has tentacles similar to those of the octopi that are frequently
found in the shallows off the southern coast of E'gath.
M
Mandragora
- They look like squat broad trees no taller then five feet in height with gray bark-like skin,
leaves and twigs for hair. They are highly intelligent creatures that are sought after as familiars by some spell-casters
and farmers for their knowledge over plant life and their natural ability to speak the language of plants and trees.
A band of them to the untrained eye might look like a small grove of thick wood. Mandragora are only known to exist in
the far reaches of the Southern Colonies.
They are dormant from sunrise to sunset, but once night falls these denizens
of the wood uproot themselves and travel the forest floor. They search in groups of a few dozen individuals for careless
travelers and unsuspecting forest creatures as their prey. They capture these unsuspecting victims using nets of vines
and grass, and once snared their victims are quickly buried alive. Once buried the Mandragora re-root themselves to
hold their prey in place. They feed off their remains as normal plants would draw nutrients from the soil. Madragora
are intelligent but quite weak creatures, depending on surprise and large numbers to trap and capture their victims.
Being tree-like in nature they have an overwhelming fear of fire and can be driven off quite easily by a show of
strength.
Morpion
- Morpions can be highly aggressive creatures and for this they tend to make poor pets. Living in packs of up to a
dozen or more individuals, they most commonly dwell in bogs, marshes, and swamplands along the Northern coasts of the
Sea of E'gath. A fully-grown Morpion measures a foot in length and resembles a scorpion in shape. Their bodies are
black or dark gray with bright blue tails. A Morpion's sting can causes a death-like sleep that can last for a period
of 24 hours giving the victims health at the time of being stung. Multiple doses of Morpion venom have been known to
extend this sleep for ever longer periods.
S
Scorpion Cricket
- Not much is known where this species of cricket first came from, they are primarily found in root cellars and
basically anything they can squeeze under. Which can be very disturbing when someone lifts up a pile of old clothes
only to find one of the larger versions of this species under them. While this insect is very, very poisonous it is
also extremely timid. The poison of this insect is considerably lethal; assassins tend to use their venom as a base for
several kinds of injury inflicting poisons.
Slime Molds
- Fungal organisms are common to all the world of Selan: from the coldest mountaintops to the hottest deserts. None are
stranger than the Slime Molds. They are normally found in caves, crypts, tombs, and tunnels. All have similar
appearances: blobs or patches of slime. Their colors run the gambit from primary colors to black. Most Slime Molds are
very passive but there are a few that have properties that make them either aggressive or sought after for a noteworthy
property.
- Black Creeper
- They are found mostly in cave systems. They move on their own accord and are highly aggressive. Their preferred method
of attack is dropping down on their prey from above; this is really their only way of attack because they move at most
a foot a day. Once they have dropped on their prey they start to exude a toxin that starts dissolving plant and other
types of fungi. They are merely an annoyance to other types of organic life forms. In a way they are a less evolved
form of a Scavenger Slime.
- Red Spawn
- A fast growing creeper that is a plaque to armies and townsfolk alike. Red Spawn is thought to be a land version of
the aquatic Red Tide. While Red Tide poisons organic life forms, Red Spawn dissolves metals and alloys. In fact it
dissolves metal so quickly a piece of metal exposed to Red Spawn will be pitted and discolored in a matter of minutes
and unusable in the span of an hour. Salt and fire are among the only known ways of killing it.
- Carrion Rot
- This is one of the few molds that has no type of self propelled movement, but is still very devastating to organic
life-forms. Carrion Rot is a motley green and black color and exudes a highly corrosive acid that dissolves and decays
living and dead flesh. Where the Black Creeper is deadly to plants and fungus, Carrion Rot is equally as deadly to
other forms of life: stripping an average sized humanoid in a period of a week. They leave nothing but bones and other
personal materials. Once it reaches the end of its food supply it starts to grow a spherical tuberance from its back
that explodes when the mold finally dies releasing into the air a thin red dust that is quickly dispersed into the air.
This is thought to be how the mold procreates. Very commonly found on ancient battlefields and graveyards.
Somnist Leaves
- Somnist plants are leafy green plants stand approximately 36 to 48 inches in height. Their leaves have a characteristic
curl in even the dryest weather. Found only in the Southern Colonies, Somnist leaves are a major export to the rest
of the known world. The leaves have a relaxant property that affects most of the known races. The relaxant acts as partly
a muscle relaxer and a mental sedative. It has a very distinctive and pleasant taste and is thought of as a flavorful spice
by many villages and towns in the Colonies.
While deemed harmless by the natives, Somnist leaves do count as a poison or
toxin with regards to spells, effects, and options. They can be ingested or inhaled to garner full effect. After
ingesting a portion, the character must roll a Willpower check or be unwilling to perform any physical or demanding
activity for 1d10 hours. Somnist leaves are not physically addicting, but some physicians suggest that an addiction may
in fact be mental in nature.
W
Wasp Leaf
- One of the more dangerous plants found through out Selan, this plant is mostly found in temperate forest systems.
The Wasp Leaf is sensitive to ground vibrations that occur within an eight foot radius of the plants location. The plant
launches a series of a two-inch barbed quills at the slightest vibration. The hollow quills contain a mild poison that
causes an unpleasant burning and itching sensation. If struck in the eye, permanent blindness can result. An adult plant
can contain as many as a dozen such attacks and only takes but a handful of days before the plant can grow a new set of
quills. Hunter Bugs and other small intelligent creatures have been know to use quills from this plant as weapons.
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