The Creatures of the Land

The High Elves inhabit the High Mountains to the northeast.  They rarely allow visitors to their mountains, and no one has ever seen their great capitol, the Golden City.  It lives in legend.  It is said they ride upon large falcons, gryphons, and even a select few dragons that meet their standards.

The Forest Elves are by far the most common elves to be found in the land.  They often leave their home in the Forest of Confusion, living in cities or even farming the fertile land around Mage City.  They make excellent guides through the forest.

Sea Elves prefer to keep to themselves, but the business of trading requires their interaction with others.  Yet they are never found far from water, and certainly never much further from their sacred capitol on Mist Isle, where a huge bridge passes across the Straits of Mist and connects this island to the main land.

Dark Elves live in the Shadow Mountains, or rather, beneath them.  These elves have constructed an intertwining system of caverns beneath the mountains and only rarely emerge from their dark home, and prefer it wasn't in full daylight.  Yet they built the gorgeous Waterfall City at the eastern edge of Drow Lake to welcome travelers to the Shadow Mountains.

Fairies can be found nearly everywhere in the land.  And never confuse a forest fairy with a snow fairy with a meadow fairy.  And certainly don't confuse them with the tiny pixies.  Although a fairy can change their regular height in feet (comparable to an elf's) to a proportionate height in inches, they aren't nearly as small as pixies.

Pixies are tiny little magical creatures, no more than an inch or two tall, and usually just appear to be a fluttering ball of light.  Yet for their size they have great magic.  Little is known about their communites or way of life, or even their language.  No one even knows if they are intelligent enough to have a language.

Dragons are perhaps the most victimized creatures in the land.  Most of them once ran wild in the Mountains of Confusion, their capitol being the dark and brooding Dragon Mountain.  However, they are now caught and bred and trained to wage battle upon one another for the sport of others in the arenas of Battle City nestled into the side of Hatchling Mountain.

Between the Forest of Confusion and the Barbarian Forests, just at the edge of the High Mountains, lay the Fields of Gryphons.  These proud creatures are extremely rare and very good about keeping themselves a secret, despite rumors of great armies of High Elves that ride upon them.

Unicorns, though highly sought after, are exceptionally hard to find in their native home of the Forest of Confusion.  Even rarer are white unicorns.  At one time, no unicorn left the Forest of its own will, and wouldn't be found alive anywhere else.  However, the great danger within the forest made it necessary for them to seek protection elsewhere.

Pegasus are a little more common than either gryphons or unicorns, or even dragons for that matter.  Yet the journey to their homeland is harder, clear to the northern edge of the Mountains of Confusion.  Yet once they are found they make excellent mounts and traveling companions.  Sometimes family groups even migrate to other parts of the land.

Centaurs also inhabit the Forests of Confusion.  Their villages are hard to find, and one often needs a centaur guide or a very friendly Forest Elf just to find one.  Sometimes trade finds them in the cities, or hunting upon the meadows or the mountains.  They are very brave and loyal to their laws and way of life.

Ogres are the bane of the centaur's existence, the two are mortal enemies.  Although ogres mainly keep to the mountains to the north and east, they sometimes descend into the forest to seek out their enemies.

While not as large or as stupid as ogres, Trolls are nonetheless evil creatures.  It is not unusual to find them lurking in dark, mountainous places, greedy for gems and jewels.  Very little else is known about them except they attack those travelers who smell like metal or money.

Sirens are often confused with mermaids, but they are not the same.  Sirens are beautiful maidens, but with an evil purpose.  They live upon the Siren Cliffs, echoing their songs out to sailors to lure them to die upon the rocks.

Mermaids are very hard to find, they keep to themselves and only rarely deal with Sea Elves, even though they are friendly enough.  It is said a mermaid capitol sits just beneath the Isle of Mist, and that the great pool in the center of this Sea Elf Capitol leads directly down to it.  Perhaps mermaids and sea elves are closer than anyone knows.

Sprites are a mischievous, wild, and untamed race of magical beings.
They are  weather wielders. There is of course an appointed council, each member a different season, natural phenomenon and so on.

Mainly they like to confuse Fairies, change seasons suddenly, and disrupt the forest.  But all in all, they are good people.  They are either shimmering ivory or silky tan of skin.  They are somewhat shorter than humans, possess wild, smooth features and are enticing to most eyes, and instead of wings they have speeds ten times that of humans.  Though not immortal, they age about the same rate as Fairies and Elves.

Gnomes are friendly little forest people, little meaning no taller than five inches tall - if you count the hat.  They are cheerful people who get along with all the creatures of the forest, and make their houses in the trunks of large trees. 

Dwarves are also small folk, but not entirely pleasant.  They keep to themselves and to their mines within the Shadow Mountains, removing precious metals and gems from the earth and smithing them into items with much skill.

Greatly feared from stories and legends, no one has yet to see a Minotaur this generation.  Perhaps they were all hunted out, or perhaps they are just in hiding.

Fauns, like many other creatures of the land, were once quite plentiful in the forests and meadows north of Mage City, but no longer.  Once good creatures of music, wine, and play; the last sight of a faun was several years ago, and few people today believe they still exist.

Harpies are another mystical creature not seen for years.  Half woman and half beast,
it is believed they worked for
the cause of evil.  It is strange
in a land full of evil not to
see these wicked creatures
flying in the skies.

Goblins are another bane of the land.  These twisted little creatures love to wreak havoc.  While they mostly keep to themselves in mountainous homes, they are much more likely than trolls or ogres to be found anywhere in the land.  They are cunning tricksters, and very malevolent.

The door?
Well?
Aren't you going to go home now?