Shadow Beast
Size/Catagory: Large Outsider (Chaotic Evil)
Stats:
Mind: Expert 11
Body: Master 8
Magic: Untrained 20
Number of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: By weapon
Special Attacks: Abyssal Stare, Dark Touch
Special Defenses: Incredible resistance to mundane damage (Enchanted weapons bypass)
Special Abilites: Shadow Walk, Whispers of the Dead
Magic Resistence: Immune to all forms of magic except for Evocation and Abjuration (Banishment/Repel)
Stats:
Mind: Expert 11
Body: Master 8
Magic: Untrained 20
Number of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: By weapon
Special Attacks: Abyssal Stare, Dark Touch
Special Defenses: Incredible resistance to mundane damage (Enchanted weapons bypass)
Special Abilites: Shadow Walk, Whispers of the Dead
Magic Resistence: Immune to all forms of magic except for Evocation and Abjuration (Banishment/Repel)
Climate/Terrain: Shadow Beasts cannot be found, they are the ones who find you. In a place as rampant with ambient magical energy as Zatrikion, it is of little surprise to the more arcanely inclined scholars that creatures such as this are capable of bridging the planes, and they do so only in places of extreme magical power. Sometimes, rarely, enough loss of life and the energies dispersed by such death can create such a powerful field, and allow them to rip through the barrier between planes and haunt the waking world with their terror.
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Solitary/Pack
Activity Cycle: Nocturnal
Intelligence: High to Genius
Language: None (Telepathic)
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
Description:
Shadow Beasts are aptly named, for their origins are of that of the Shadow Plane, a place that borders all things. It is not some distant star to see in the heavens, not some dark corner of the universe, but it is rather the endless void of blackness in between the light.
The Shadow Plane from which these creatures are derived lay overlapped every known material plane, mimicking the expanse of creation and twisting it, perverting it into a mirror world of shadows on their own side. In places of great power, these creatures have been known to spill fourth to rape the world of life, bringing a cold deeper than any winter.
For whatever reason they come, or are brought here, when they arrive their forms become warped and distorted, just as ours would in their world. They become bound by the laws of our world, becoming physical and tangible, although in this, they take on the same density and strength as iron, their entire bodies seeming a twisted black version of the metal.
Their form is infinite in variable, however the majority of these creatures appear as massive spider-like beasts, whom although bound to our physics, can temporarily bend the bridge, and walk between the Zatrikion and the Plane of shadow, allowing them to teleport into and out of conflict as easily as a man can walk.
As dangerous as it is, from time to time, the bold and truly powerful mage has been known to harness the powers of these beasts to an end of their own, using them as warriors or guardians for the accomplished wizards many schemes and assets. However wisdom dictates one might be better off leaving them to their world, for their appetite never ceases, and should one fail to feed, one just might find oneself on the wrong side of the food chain..
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Solitary/Pack
Activity Cycle: Nocturnal
Intelligence: High to Genius
Language: None (Telepathic)
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
Description:
Shadow Beasts are aptly named, for their origins are of that of the Shadow Plane, a place that borders all things. It is not some distant star to see in the heavens, not some dark corner of the universe, but it is rather the endless void of blackness in between the light.
The Shadow Plane from which these creatures are derived lay overlapped every known material plane, mimicking the expanse of creation and twisting it, perverting it into a mirror world of shadows on their own side. In places of great power, these creatures have been known to spill fourth to rape the world of life, bringing a cold deeper than any winter.
For whatever reason they come, or are brought here, when they arrive their forms become warped and distorted, just as ours would in their world. They become bound by the laws of our world, becoming physical and tangible, although in this, they take on the same density and strength as iron, their entire bodies seeming a twisted black version of the metal.
Their form is infinite in variable, however the majority of these creatures appear as massive spider-like beasts, whom although bound to our physics, can temporarily bend the bridge, and walk between the Zatrikion and the Plane of shadow, allowing them to teleport into and out of conflict as easily as a man can walk.
As dangerous as it is, from time to time, the bold and truly powerful mage has been known to harness the powers of these beasts to an end of their own, using them as warriors or guardians for the accomplished wizards many schemes and assets. However wisdom dictates one might be better off leaving them to their world, for their appetite never ceases, and should one fail to feed, one just might find oneself on the wrong side of the food chain..
Combat:
Never you mind them fact that their every touch is a threat to your very being, bringing a cold sting of non-existence into the flesh of mortals, for you would be better off worrying about the disease transmitted as so. Their entire bodies are brimming with dark energies, cold as the void, and the sickness that they carry can bring a person past the brink of death, destroy their bodies and ravage their minds, only to raise their souls as thralls, wraiths which are niether living or dead, but rather exist between the two worlds, and are only to serve their monstrous masters to spread the dark taint.
Needless to say their mere prescence is a thing that can inspire fear irrational, capable of harrowing all mortals near with an ambient flow of ghostlike whispers which taunt them of the world beyond, promising an eternity of damnation and pain, playing on their fears, their sorrows and their regrets, nigh to the point of insanity all within a matter of moments. This by mages has come to be known as the Whispers of the Dead, and should any mind seek to retain its sanity there is rarely any other choice than to flee before the terror so unleashed.
Failing all of these things, the rare Shadow Beast has been rumored to ever sparingly resort to a final, desperate extremity, its many eyes losing their crimson glow of horror to replace it with a deathly void of black, pulsing outwards with a dark, purplish glow. All things touched by this light wane and age, living or not, decaying the flesh and destroying the metal, unleashing a tide of death before the dark reaver.
At length, when it comes to their longevity on this world it is hard fought for, sometimes easier simply to let these beast's fade away than to force them gone. It is eventually inevitable that they leave, however in the meantime so long as they are provided with ample life to desecrate and consume, they just might be a lengthy thorn in someones side.
In addition to this, the Wraiths they create through their huntings are dangerous in their own right, especcially if left unchecked, for they in turn can spawn more wraiths.. whole cities and empires have been known to fall for their disregard to this threat.
Never you mind them fact that their every touch is a threat to your very being, bringing a cold sting of non-existence into the flesh of mortals, for you would be better off worrying about the disease transmitted as so. Their entire bodies are brimming with dark energies, cold as the void, and the sickness that they carry can bring a person past the brink of death, destroy their bodies and ravage their minds, only to raise their souls as thralls, wraiths which are niether living or dead, but rather exist between the two worlds, and are only to serve their monstrous masters to spread the dark taint.
Needless to say their mere prescence is a thing that can inspire fear irrational, capable of harrowing all mortals near with an ambient flow of ghostlike whispers which taunt them of the world beyond, promising an eternity of damnation and pain, playing on their fears, their sorrows and their regrets, nigh to the point of insanity all within a matter of moments. This by mages has come to be known as the Whispers of the Dead, and should any mind seek to retain its sanity there is rarely any other choice than to flee before the terror so unleashed.
Failing all of these things, the rare Shadow Beast has been rumored to ever sparingly resort to a final, desperate extremity, its many eyes losing their crimson glow of horror to replace it with a deathly void of black, pulsing outwards with a dark, purplish glow. All things touched by this light wane and age, living or not, decaying the flesh and destroying the metal, unleashing a tide of death before the dark reaver.
At length, when it comes to their longevity on this world it is hard fought for, sometimes easier simply to let these beast's fade away than to force them gone. It is eventually inevitable that they leave, however in the meantime so long as they are provided with ample life to desecrate and consume, they just might be a lengthy thorn in someones side.
In addition to this, the Wraiths they create through their huntings are dangerous in their own right, especcially if left unchecked, for they in turn can spawn more wraiths.. whole cities and empires have been known to fall for their disregard to this threat.
Habitat/Society:
The Shadow Beasts, more scientifically classifed as Umbra Belua, have an excessively simple social behavior while they exist in our world. They are either solitary, or they exist in packs, wherein the strongest of them acts as the Alpha and leads the rest in its hunts.
A rudimentary caste structure also exists in reference to the interaction between Umbras and their Wraiths, the Umbras controlling only the minions they each individually create, and doing so through means of telepathy.
These horrors which walk the earth know no sleep, know no home, and hold absolutely no regard for life, they are engines of death simply seeking to feed and destroy.
The Shadow Beasts, more scientifically classifed as Umbra Belua, have an excessively simple social behavior while they exist in our world. They are either solitary, or they exist in packs, wherein the strongest of them acts as the Alpha and leads the rest in its hunts.
A rudimentary caste structure also exists in reference to the interaction between Umbras and their Wraiths, the Umbras controlling only the minions they each individually create, and doing so through means of telepathy.
These horrors which walk the earth know no sleep, know no home, and hold absolutely no regard for life, they are engines of death simply seeking to feed and destroy.
Ecology:
Shadow Beasts exist as a disease, a plague that rapes the landscape of its resources, its life, with no regard for the destruction it leaves in its wake, and no compensation for its appetite. When one area is depleted, they simply spread and move on to the next area.
Shadow Beasts do not seem to age by any means of the word, whether in their world or ours, nor do they seem to be affected by any atmosphere or enviroment in our world, be it extreme heat or cold, underwater or otherwise. Furthermore, no native disease to the prime material, magical or otherwise is known to affect them.
Shadow Beasts exist as a disease, a plague that rapes the landscape of its resources, its life, with no regard for the destruction it leaves in its wake, and no compensation for its appetite. When one area is depleted, they simply spread and move on to the next area.
Shadow Beasts do not seem to age by any means of the word, whether in their world or ours, nor do they seem to be affected by any atmosphere or enviroment in our world, be it extreme heat or cold, underwater or otherwise. Furthermore, no native disease to the prime material, magical or otherwise is known to affect them.
Submitted By: Markus
