Aberrations

The line between monster and beast is not always clear, while some study the corrupting influences which create aberrations and seek a definition, most simply consider them those creatures that are a problem. The Imperial academic consensus cleaves to the definition of Aberrations as 'life which cannot reasonably be explained by Nature nor the design of the Gods', where life is defined as 'Beasts, plants, or mortals possessed of a soul, and mind, and body wherein lies a beating heart'

Common Beliefs

The common person does not draw a hard line between beast and aberration. If pressed for a definition, most would claim an aberration would be a bigger, more dangerous kind of beast. A Hochlian peasant would not know of the magical or biological differences between a wolf and a dire wolf, for example, but would simply identify the latter as 'a larger, scarier wolf'.

Dragons and Dire Animals are the most well-known of all aberrations. Many aberrations are readily mistaken for Fey or Demons by those who have only heard of them through folklore.

Loremaster

The origins of Aberrations are unclear, and many theories exist around them. The most prevalent of such theories are:

• That Fey create Aberrations to torment mortalkind. Many myths include examples of Fey causing creatures to birth monstrous offspring or cursing existing beasts into twisted forms.
• That Demons corrupt beasts to perform their evil purposes. This theory is most popular with reference to dragons, as dragons are frequently associated with the demonic.
• Lunan, being a primordial commonly associated with change, is sometimes held responsible for curses such as lycanthropy wherein a creature changes with the phases of the moon.
• Ancient mages created them in the early days of mortalkind. It is unknown in academic circles if such a thing is possible, but disliked mages are often considered suspects when a monster plagues the people.

A strange phenomenon identified in the 10th century by a scholar from Ashamsi is that most Aberrations warp the Aether in some way. This effect, academically referred to as 'pseudo-gnostic magic', allows aberrants some limited innate magic without the necessity of gnosis like mortals. It is unknown why this occurs, and why the presence of this effect varies so much between species. A controversial tractatus circulated in 1021 AI suggested such an effect was possible in Mortals.

Much like normal life, there is a great amount of variation among Aberations, though some broad categories are able to be drawn.

Demi-Mortals

Demi-mortal refers to any aberration 'of mortalesque countenance'. These are often of near-mortal intelligence, and have many traits in common with mortals. The origins of these are subject to the most fierce debates out of all aberrations. Some believe that they were once mortals who were cursed, others speculate that they were early experiments by the Gods to create mortalkind. A less popular opinion is that Mortals are simply greater beasts, and so it stands that there are some beasts that chose to mimic their superior forms.

Unlike mortals, they are assumed to have no capacity for gnosis, and thus cannot become spellcasters. Some, however, benefit from innate magic like all aberrations. Similarly, it was assumed that demi-mortals could not be worldsouls like mortals, being closer to beasts. This was challenged, however, by the appearance of worldsoul animals in Hochlant.

A curious trait of Demi-mortals is that they often have elongated ears in the manner of elves.

A non-exhaustive list of Demi-mortals is:

• Harpies - Winged creatures with the face of a mortal. The most famous of these are the Boreasolan harpies native to the cliffs and islands of Phylennos, which take the form of a feathered mortal with wings in place of arms and vicious talons for feet. Far more common, however, are mountain harpies, which are opportunistic scavengers with the body of a vulture and the face of a mortal. Both kinds of harpies live in social groups of many females and a single adult male, with vast territories.
• Knockers - Known by a variety of names across the empire, such as kobolds or coblyn, knockers are jovanesque creatures with elongated fingers, shorter stature, and eyeless sockets. They can be found in deep caves beneath even where more miners work. Jovan legend holds that they are lost cousins of the Jova who dug too deep and were poisoned by the darkness behind the stone. The hochlian name given to them refers to the sound of knocking on stone that often precedes them, thought to be them finding their way in the dark.
• Sirens - Mortalesque creatures that live in bodies of water, referred to as Loreleien in imperial. There are vast differences between river and ocean sirens, with river sirens being remarkably similar to mortals, while ocean sirens are more piscine in nature. River sirens are elven in shape with notable webbing of the fingers and toes and sharpness of teeth. They are known to be able to have an amicable relationship with mortals, often fishers with whom they trade, and can even learn some small amount of mortal language. Ocean sirens meanwhile have scaled skin, are more monstrous of countenance (though still vaguel mortalesque), and have distended webbed digits. Ocean sirens have a purely hostile or predatory relationship with mortals, and are capable of weaving glamours with their voices (sometimes leading to their confusion with fey - a distinction not aided by ocean sirens often glamouring themselves into forms similar to oceanic fey)

Dire Beasts

Academically referred to as 'Beasts of Virtue', these are creatures which resemble mundane beasts, but often significantly larger. Behavioural differences are often observed in such creatures. It is observed that they often 'act like an exaggerated kind of the normal beast'.

A non-exhaustive list of Dire Beasts is:

• The Dire Wolf - The royal symbol of Hochlant, due to their regal bearing and prominence in the country. They collect a 'pack of packs' around themselves and pose a threat to all in their vast territories.
• The Dire Heron - A solitary hunter, common to the swamps of northern Hochlant. Best left alone.
• The Dire Badger - Possessed of surprisingly calm demeanour, but extremely vicious if threatened.
• The Dire Beaver - Common to large rivers throughout the empire.
• The (Dire) Moldywarpe - A shy creature rarely seen save by miners or after earthquakes.
• The Pinehog - A docile omnivore that is considered a threat only when hungry.

Dragons

Dragons are considered hard to categorise as certain kinds of elementals or even demons have been labelled dragon in the past. Any lizardlike creature of sufficient size and threat may find itself labelled dragon. Common subcategories include:

• The Basilisk - A unique category given to the land-bound serpents of Phylennos and Ashamsi. This huge serpentine creature is large enough to swallow an adult illigen whole, and is venomous as well. It is said to be so deadly that making eye contact with it is enough to guarantee your death. These is often listed separately to other serpentine dragons, and a short-lived but loud movement to rename the creature in bestiaries to the Dire Snake or ‘Sloe-Wyrm’ existed in the University of Grenford, but was shut down by imperial scholars.
• Cockatrices - Refers to bipdel, feathered dragons. The Common Cockatrice is native to Hochlant and the Cold Sea, and its appearance is some combination of the mythical dragon and the common chicken. They are known to spit paralysing venom, and despite their appearance are incredibly vicious, capable of disemboweling with their claws. Rumours from traders tell of a creature much like this found south of Ashamsi, of more elegant bearing, which feasts on Basilisks.
• Serpents - Refers to serpentine dragons incapable of flight, most commonly those that dwell in the sea. They are much less studied due to their home environment, but it is widely believed that they hunt during storms, or even that they create them. There is believed to be many species of serpent, some venomous and some not.
• Wyverns - Refers to any dragon capable of protracted flight possessed of four of fewer limbs, of which some must be wings. Most commonly refers to the Ashambic Wyvern found in the Boreasolan. Such wyverns have a pair of legs and a pair of winged forelegs in the manner of a bat. They defend themselves with claw, fang, and tail, and their bite and breathe is known to be venomous. They roost most of the year on the northern coast of Balad Annoor but sometimes migrate north to Phylennos, Glynry, or Hochlant in warmer months. The Imperial continent is also home to wyverns of their own, such as the Wivres of Iligen lands.

Even these categories of dragon are not exhaustive, as the Worms of the northern empire are frequently placed in multiple of them, most often Wyvern or Serpents, though some have considered placing them in their own category alongside the Basilisk

Minor Categories

As is their wont, many aberrations do not fall into the above categories, or fall into others besides. For example:

• Chimerae - a term to refer to aberrations which appear to be an amalgam of multiple beasts, named for a Phylennic legend. Sometimes applied to the cockatrice due to its galliform appearance, or the surprising variety of extinct phylennic demi-mortals such as centaurs or the minotaur.
• Fey-touched - a term applied to aberrations showing obvious fey influence. Of dubious usage, as most examples turn out to be regular beasts ensorceled in some way by fey, rather than a new creature of its own.
• Living plants - or 'Animate plants' for clarity, these are plants displaying a level of mental presence and mobility beyond their peers. Examples include the fey-ensorcelled leafman, the strangling willow, or the ghostdrop.

Myrmidons are frequently given as an example of aberrations that defy category. Myrmidons are mortalesque ants that manifest in ground upon which much blood has been spilled. They form warlike colonies around a single 'queen' myrmidon and claim the territory for their own, showing an almost mortal level of strategic thinking. They are not draconic, and not mortal of countenance, and show a distinct deviation from the form of the common ant, thus disqualifying them from the label of 'Ant of Virtue'.