Beastiary

[Lief Erikson]

Here we can post, discussing the different types of creatures we invent for our fictional worlds.

Many of us use elves, dwarves, goblins, the Tolkien type races. How many of us do this, or have completely different races? What kinds of creatures do you have?

[Lief Erikson]

Also, is there racism between your different species, or individuals of your species? And if so, is there good reason for this racism? Like, in Tolkien, orcs are bad without exception. Characters have good reason to prejude them based upon their race.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Various kinds of Elves (some original), various kinds of Dwarves (not really original, but developed from very sparse origins, one of them is practically completely re-invented), Gnomes (not really original, but hopefully developed into their own selves; the Gnomes of Lisman are NOT the gnomes of dragonlance or DND); Daywalkers (have become basically original, though were not so at first), Goblins (really not much to them, not very original ), Dark-Elves (originally basically the Drow of Forgotten Realms, but have developed into something else, still influenced by them, though) and um...some more. I'd post more about them, but as is painfully obvious from the Lisman thread, it would be a dreadful bore.

[Lief Erikson]

My species are rather irregular, I think. Elves, dwarves, goblins- I skip those basic ones and have some rather unusual types.
The intelligent species

The first two species that come to mind for me are the humans and the merpeople. The merpeople live under the sea, but they have the ability to revert. This gives each of them two legs in place of a tail and flippers, and makes them look exactly like humans. They cannot stay for too long of periods of time in the drylands without beginning to feel 'dried up' and miserable. The humans can't stay in the undersea for long periods of time without the same difficulty.

Then I have demons. They are very similar to orcs, but they're all locked away in the demon underground.

And I have Ainesar, a race which is far more similar to Biblical angels or demons. These are the spirit creatures of the world, and they dwell on the surface of the sphere, on the outside of the world, sort of above it, on its top. There are good and there are bad Ainesar. I don't tend to like overly much the idea of demons being disgusting monsters in appearance; I've always imagined them more like angels, only bad ones. Becoming bad shouldn't have to change the representative shape, so I give all of them human features. Demons are angels turned bad; did turning bad have to turn them to monsters? So my Ainesar all tend to look good in terms of physical characteristics.

Then I have my gods, or god-like beings. There are four of them, Whelai, Brell, Ilunwe, and Vorcol.

There are numerous creatures in the world which live in Elerev and don't have specific labels for their races. They are the magical creatures of that country- the flying horse is just one of the most commonly used races.

I think that's all of my intelligent species. The most commonly used ones are obviously the humans and the merpeople.

The less intelligent species

The flying horses I have live in Elerev, the country that the Rainbow council is in charge of.

I also invented a species called Orsines, though they actually are almost exactly like the griffin in physical characteristics. They can swim through water, walk on land or fly in air.

And there are dolphins! Normally I wouldn't label a real species in this, but they're a common species in this world, and I think are less common in most fantasy books.

Then there are amageuses. They are large, burly creatures that are used for grunt work by the undersea people.

And there are aquiglars. This is the only species I have in The Uirlon Cord that is most like a real monster. It's a sea creature, but extremely large, fierce and powerful. Many don't believe that they are alive because they're so rare, but they are alive, even if only in a few places of the world.

It's possible that there are other monsters in the world, like I've toyed with dragons in my book's history.

There are at least two species of smaller fish-predators in this world, but I can't remember their names. Those predators aren't used enough.

[Earniel]

Neither Enervyah (a fantasy world which I'm creating with a friend) or Trihlenwelt (my own creation) have elves or dwarves. But since both of them are still under construction, elves and dwarves still can appear in there, though it's quite unlikely. Trihlenwelt does have something resembling elves, but that race isn't entirely fleshed out yet and they features only in a distant past.

In Trihlenwelt I've created Banshees. I borrowed from the existing myths though I did add some things on my own. In appearance they look like humans, though smaller, thin and fragile. Male Banshees can read the structure of all matter. But it's the females who can alter it, heal it or destroy it. They can change the tune by resinging it or destroy it by their earsplitting scream.

Enervyah is more complete and features several other races.

There are the Mowodia (singular: Mowodi) the forestpeople. They are human, though with a streak of plant in them. They can bend living wood to their will and build living, nearly inconquerable walls for those who can afford them.

Next are the Mergikans, humanoid cats. They live in the icecaves beneath the Mergikmountains and almost never come out. They have thick whitish fur and a tail. Females have manes, males only have one streak of long hair running from their forehead to the base of their neck.

Last of the sentient races are the Nitov's (based on a real life person ) Nitovs, are small slimy gollum-like swampdwellers. Most people dispise and desperately try to avoid them because they chat, and talk, and yap, and basicly just never shut up. Though their speech is quite eloquent they are annoying and not that bright.

As for animals, Enervyah has the Wyren. A dragon-deer would be an accurate discription. Basicly a deer but with a scaly skin and boiling blood. They are herbivore and herdanimals.

The Archelons are sea-dwellers. (anyone with some paleontological knowledge may realise that neither the name or the species are entirely made up) Archelons are giant, gentle seaturtles that live on plankton. The sea-people build permanent homes on their carpace.

[Elf Girl]

I usually just use humans, however in one story I have a world of Knomes (yes, with a K) that live underground. The humans live above ground, (with the exception of my heroine and her foster father), and the two races have no knowledge of each other's existence (until the start of the story). My heroine and her foster father are cast out and hated by the Knomes, save for a few who help them.

[frodosgirlfriend]

Original races

Gorla
The Story the Gorla is in has only been written in my mind. The Gorla are Dog like beasts. They have large bear like paws and all over their bodies are flexible spikes. When the Gorla feels threatened the spikes will harden and fill with a very deadly poison. The Gorla are a dieing race and are mostly in old children’s stories.

Raav
Also from a story written in my mind. The Raavs are an evil race that lived in the clouds before the first stroke of time. After the first battle of good and evil the Raavs (who fought with evil and lost) where banished to the caves and mud under the earth. They have dark blue and sometimes black skin large hawk like wings scaly hawk like feet and two large horn spiraling out of they skull.

Qorr
An immortal race. There is only one left and she was once the lady of all evil. At the first battle of good and evil she was the leader of evil. she was banished to dwell with the purest race and ever since the first stroke of time she there she has lived. The Qorr have long claws and are mostly like tall humans with large batty wings.

Swamp Beast
The Baddies. They live in the Marshlands and are bad... They don't have much history because they're a fairly new race. They used to roam all the southern land but where fought back into the marshes by the elves.

Oren
My favorite race. They live high in the trees and the only race that knows they haven't died out is a few royal elves. They don't care about the battles of the world and they're the purest race. They have stripes and have the power of listening and speaking to the winds. They have are tall and thin and the have stripes. The Lady Light was the leader of good at the first battle and she was an Oren.

Serpents

The Serpents are the holders of the elements. There’s Sun, Moon, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, War, Peace, Life, and Death. They fought on the goodies side of the first battle. They've human bodies and a snake body instead of legs


Voon

They're the opposites of the Serpents. They fought on the Baddies side in the first battle. They've human bodies and horse bodies instead of legs.


My only Not so Original race


Elves
At first they where alot like tokien elves but they changed and now there alot like men with really fair skin. My elves are violent and go to many wars. The Elves where created by Lady Light to fight in the first battle.

[Ninquelote]

I'm thinking of writing a fanfiction off of Zelda: Wind Waker. Perhaps I could list some of their creatures? In my own stories, I simply use Elves, Dwarves and Men as the intelligent creatures, but as for others, I don't change what we have in real life (Why mess with a near-perfect system?)

For WindWaker, they bring back old races as well as create entirely new ones.
Perhaps this is a bit off-topic, but I'm in a Zeldaish mood. It's my favourite game series.

Humans - Your average human. No real difference between us and them.

Hylians - A.K.A.- The last remnants of the royal family and the Hero of Time. They have long, pointed ears (So they can 'hear the gods'), and were the most loved of all the races. Only the few with pointed ears remind the humans of their roots in WindWaker.

Gorons - Big, rock-eating creatures that love heat. They kind of look like hedgehogs, and they can curl up into spiked balls like they do, and roll about. They are large, strong, but incredibly slow (phsyically). They believe heavily in blood ties and family. They cannot swim at all, and sink immediately. In WindWaker, they almost have nearly died out, save for a few traveling merchants who wear hawaiian t-shirts and large hats.

Zoras - Aquatic, lithe, and slender fishlike creatures. Humanoid in form, except for their blue and green, dolphinlike skin and a number of fins that protrude from their head, arms, and legs. Their eyes are large, and a deep purple. In WindWaker, they have died out completely.

Kokiri/Koroks - Childlike forest people, always clothed in green. They never age, keeping the same youthful form forever. They are given a guardian fairy as soon as they are 'born'. In WindWaker, they have turned into the Koroks. Protectors of the forest as well, they are rootlike in body, and a large leaf with eyeholes for a face. They use helicoperlike leaves to float about.

Gerudo - Theives from the western deserts, there are no men among them, save for the one born every thousand years. That one male is destined to become the leader of them all. They have died out in WindWaker, save for Ganondorf.

Rito - Once-humans, the birdlike Rito tribe live now in an aerie called Dragon's Roost Island. Atop this Island is their wind God, the Dragon Valoo. When a Rito child comes of age, they travel to the top of the island's peak and receive a scale from Valoo. Soon, because of the scale's magic, they evolve wings. Aside from their wings, the Rito have beaks for noses (almost like Gwaimir.)

[Aralyn]

I use Grageltinai

I got so sick of Faerie stories so I created a "bad" version of them. Grage are moth type creatures who hate faerie's but are tormented by them. I wrote a few stories about them. They usually dress in browns and grey and thier wings are not the pretty things you see on faeries.

[durin's bane]

When I write fiction I usually use regualr humans, but I sometimes use Elves and Dwarves, and a special kind of creautre called Squirrel People, who are humanoid squirrels that like to fight (preferablly with spears and archery weapons) And they are kind of like Aboringinal Peoples.

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

wow...different species, fun!

Well, I pull creatures out of all sorts of myths and legends and so on, and I'm working on some of my own, but here's what I use so far:

Vampires:
Well, this is the obvious one, I talk about them all the time. As I've mentioned in other threads, I've pretty much thrown a ton of things together, with the help of my friends, to make our own version, which are to me the most likely and sensible. So, there you are, the blood-sucking demons of starlight...*snerk*

Tengu:
My other most-talked-about creatures. The Tengu (or Kenku) are Japanese shape-shifting demons. They generally (well, the Karasu Tengu anyway) are human-shaped except for their heads, which are crow or raven heads, and they have large black wings, in addition to their arms. However, they can shape-shift back and forth between crow or raven, and mostly human creatures with particuarly long noses. They are allergic to Buddhism--well, that's one way of putting it anyway. To step on Buddhist holy ground hurts. A lot. And so on and so forth. Tengu are my favorite

The Fey
The Fey are another favorite of mine. I tend to write about both courts, though generally more the unseelie, because "evil is fun." They're the nastier sort. I have one of the Lhiannan Sidhe in a story--these are the ones who are insanely beautiful young women in appearance, but rather more fey-like, with the pointed ears and such, and they lure men into their homes and drink their blood. Fun. And there's all sorts of others. The Fey (or the Sidhe, or the Faeries, or whatever you want to call them) provide quite a lot of story material. They're brilliant fun. I've also a character who isn't really from either Court, called Elwyn. She's 3.5 feet tall, has fluffy silver-blue-white hair, and silver blue wings that she can make disappear for convenience at times. She is the biggest mischief maker aside from Robin Goodfellow, and used to be a friend of his until she was banished from Faerie by Titania (who she used to serve) for being generally obnoxious. She gets to come back eventually, but for now she's stuck in the human world. Despite being ages old, she never really grew up.

Werewolves:
Lupines. Lycanthrope. Fun. I only have one main werewolf character of my own, and she's lots of fun. I could talk about her for ages, but I'll stop now. . .heh. . .

Selkie
I don't actually have any selkie right now, but the seal-women are also lots of fun. I've always liked them because I've often felt drawn to the sea, not to mention I was brought up on the old Irish selkie tales. . .I'm determined one day to write a Selkie story that doesn't follow the generic man-meets-selkie-steals-her-skin-she-eventually-finds-it-and-returns-to-the-sea plotline.

. . .and that's all for now. I use a lot more, though, and I draw from myths from all over the world. I don't generally use the generic elves and whatnot in stories, though.

[Lief Erikson]

Do you get those sources for creatures from the local library or from books at home? I'm surprised you know about the Selkie; it's not a very common creature . I only learned about it largely by chance, when I was hearing my Mom read aloud at the lunch table a library book with Irish folklore.

Though, considering your location is "Sea" it shouldn't be too unexpected.

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

I've picked up my knowledge of these creatures from various sources. I've always been interested in vampires, so I researched those at the library and on the internet. Tengu I heard of first from one of my friends who I write with. I then went and did some more research on my own, and I also discovered some brilliant person put them in the Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Ed. Oriental Adventures book. Yay for them

Selkie I've known for as long as I can remember. Have you seen The Secret of Roan Inish? Lovely movie, with selkie in it. But I think I first heard of them in a book from the library. I used to practically live in the library when I was younger. Now I'm planning on moving into a bookstore so I can keep doing all my research...

Ah, yes, my location... Even if I'm not really at sea, it's where my heart is and always has been.

*is shocked at cheesiness of previous statement*

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Aye, I saw Secret of Roan Inish a few times. I liked it, though my brother thought it was dumb. I'd be quite interested in hearing your take on Vampires. I like all of the olden creatures in your "bestiary".

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

Thanks
Secret of Roan Inish was so good! Yay! Yay for Selkie!

Hmm, as for my vampires, well, I'll put up a description on my Vampire Story thread soon, along with a small section of the story. That'll be one of my tasks for the day

[Earniel]

Ooh, I like selkies! It's a nice concept and I just love the sound of the word. *says selkie ten times after one another*

[Finrod Felagund]

Elves & Dwarves (much like Tolkien's), gnomes, fairies, trolls, and one of my own creation. The Sogan are black skinned (like charcoal black) and come in many shapes and sizes.

[Curubethion]

Dwarves, Elves, Men, Trolls, Raghs...these are somewhat like Tolkien (ragh=nasty big beast kinda like a warg)

Iari
The sea-folk, reclusive from the very beginnings of time.

Maico
The sprites.

Diamen
Dark, evil creatures...somewhat equivalent to demons with bodies...a little like dragons.

[strider8]

Bird-People (idea)

[strider8]

ILMI (plural ILMIES)
Hobbit like creatures with brilliant hearing. They have a great thirst for knowledge and often give out very useless facts. They don't often go to war but if they do they normally go with the good people.