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Amongst the Qalyana there was a maiden known as Yamini. Born under a star of resplendent arcane bounty, her potent magicks brought her to the unfortunate attention of imperial recruiters.
Alliance spies determined that they took the Ananta lass to a well-secured corner of Ala Mhigo, where they imprisoned her inside a testing facility.
What foul experiments they performed upon her, I cannot say, but when she was at last released, Yamini had lost all semblance of her former self. She dwelled in a place of shadow, existing only to bring harm unto others.
Ouzelum is a gagana of frightening size, his beak sickle-sharp and often strung with the gore of his latest victim. His stunted wings could never lift his bulk, but do not think yourself safe on higher ground — the bird’s powerful legs propel him over the largest boulders with ease.
For the Ananta and the M tribe of the Fringes, this flesh-craving terror has proven a constant threat to safety and sanity.
In fact, several years ago there was a string of incidents involving the disappearance of the M tribe’s young. When the Miqo’te followed the trail of the suspected kidnapper, it led to one of Ouzelum’s known haunts and a heart-wrenching pile of small, gnawed bones.
Fearing their many natural predators, antlions prefer to burrow beneath the ground and lie in wait for their prey in relative safety. But Orcus is of a different breed — this monster will hunt along the surface, as bold as you please.
As well she might. Why should Orcus cower from aught which walks or flies when she can spit a secretion caustic enough to erode steel?
It is said that she only began displaying such behavior after the expansion of her hunting grounds brought her closer to the Percipient One. Could this proximity have influenced the vilekin’s sudden transformation in some way? A worthy mystery.
You wish to learn what I know of Erle? Of the venomous sting potent enough to fell a jhammel? Of the hurricane winds whipped forth by the beating of her wings?
There is a tale I heard from the Ananta. It is told that the nunh of the M Tribe went forth to battle this vilekin queen, trapping her within a cavern even as her stingers injected his heart with lethal venom.
When the Yawn opened up, however, the ripples collapsed the cavern’s walls, and the imprisoned Erle was set free once again.
Ah, the elusive Udumbara. Patient. Silent. Deadly. This massive man-eating plant is rarely seen until it bursts forth from the ground to feed.
So difficult is this mark to find, it takes its name from a tree of legend whose flowers are said to bloom only once every three thousand years.
One theory has it that Udumbara sense the silent screams of nearby vegetation, their unheard cacophony bringing word of approaching prey. Maphap there is a way to use this knowledge to coax the monster from its earthen nest.
Amongst the kongamato, it’s the lady bugs what are the biggest an’ the strongest.
Violent an’ voracious, they’ll mate with a male an’ then eat the poor bastard for supper.
Now, Gwas-y-neidr, she’s the worst o’ the lot. Bleedin’ huge, she is, on account of all the suitors she’s devoured. That’s the sort o’ woman ye’d best court with a naked blade!
The fisherfolk what drop their lines in the rivers here in the Peaks have a custom o’ leavin’ behind a part o’ their catch on the banks — a way to express their gratitude to nature, or summat.
Well, a muud suud runt by the name o’ Buccaboo was certainly grateful, since eatin’ them fish is how he survived exile from his clan.
One day, though, he decided it’d be quicker to snatch his meals straight from the fisherfolk themselves. He grew larger an’ larger, an’ eventually the fish weren’t enough to satisfy him. That’s when he moved on to manflesh.
Griffins have been bred in Gyr Abania for generations, but the Vochstein family was famous for the quality of its beasts.
The griffins they raised was sought after by all, an’ even the royal house had a few “Vochsteins” in its stables. Then the Empire invaded.
Not wantin’ the imperials to steal his prized breedin’ stock, the head o’ the Vochstein family threw open the door to a certain stall. What flew out in a flurry o’ feathers an’ talons was the biggest, meanest sire what ever hunted the skies.
If I asked ye what imperial supply trains fear the most, ye might say an attack by the Ala Mhigan Resistance. An’ ye’d be wrong.
Them as escort the Empire’s cargo are afraid of a visit from Aqrabuamelu — a bloody enormous lava scorpion with an insatiable appetite for ceruleum.
Every time it sinks its mandibles into a fuel tank, Aqrabuamelu’s lava spray grows hotter an’ hotter. Aye, hot enough to melt the machina sent to slay it, an’ provide the vilekin with yet another ceruleum feast.
When trade with the East was its most prosperous, they used to hire mercenary companies to clear the routes o’ monstrous predators. Seems the buggers were too good at their job, though, an’ managed to wipe out an entire species.
A sort o’ huge, fang-mouthed scalekin, it was, an’ it’s been thought extinct for decades... until one o’ them attacked a merchant caravan just the other day.
The bloke what lent the caravan his chocobos tells me that there weren’t naught left of his birds — no feathers, no tackle, no skulls. Even since, they’ve taken to callin’ this thing the “Bone Crawler”.
Loch Seld is home to a yabby of immense proportions known as “Kiwa.”
The naturalist who requested the creature be registered as a mark was also responsible for its appellation — a name taken from “the south sea isles god of crustaceans,” or so she claimed.
Search though I might, however, I could find no reference to such a deity. Mayhap it is some academic jest I do not understand.
Wherever men gather, one hears rumors. Like the tale of the vast subterranean prison hidden beneath the city of Ala Mhigo.
My own sources tell me its cells held many Ala Mhigan nobles, incarcerated by the mad king Theodoric on the mere suspicion of rebellion. Before their vassals could free them, however, the Empire’s invasion began.
The imperials knew naught of the dungeon beneath their feet, and thus did its prisoners waste away in darkness. It is said that the souls of these unburied and unmourned nobles wander yet, tethered to this realm by their suffering.
Mahisha is a minotaur who dwells in the Lochs, whose immense size and belligerent temperament is noteworthy even amongst his brutal kin.
You might think such a description ordinary for one of our marks, but I confess it was some time before we knew exactly the manner of creature with which we were dealing. Many of the inital sightings were made under the cover of night, you see.
Some believed they were attacked by a lion, others a mammoth, while still others claimed a buffalo as their assailant. It was not until Clan Centurio became involved that we discovered the truth was worse than an amalgamation of all three.
Golems are creations of clay or stone which are imbued with a semblance of life. Luminare might be thought of as such a construction, only one which formed naturally from crystals.
Considering the lack of external impetus, there are scholars of aetherology who theorize its existence is closer to that of a sprite.
All we know for sure, however, is that such crystalline entities began to appear following the Calamity, and that they attack without fear or provocation. They are beautiful to behold, yes... but only from afar.
According to the records of the Resistance, a clan of goblins once came barreling in from the west, and smashed through an imperial checkpoint.
The Empires forces soon gave chase, and cornered the beastmen on the shores of Loch Seld. The goblins were slain to a man, but not before one of them hurled a strange device into the loch’s waters.
The surface of the loch was seen to bulge upwards, forming into a watery giant which proceeded to decimate the Garlean soldiers before suddenly draining away once more. Honestly, folks should be more careful with what they choose to throw away.
In the carnival tents of Kugane, I have seen hornbills trained to mimic the speech of men. Such a trick seems harmless enough, until you hear of the birds’ wild cousin.
There is a cunning cloudkin known as Guhuo Niao which has taught itself a sinister way of hunting. Whimpering and wailing in the voice of a swaddling babe, it lures in its unsuspecting prey. The victims are found torn and pale, their bodies all but drained of blood.
I trust you are aware of the Red Kojin, and their avaricious rampages across the Ruby Sea?
The worst of these raiders is a vicious brute known as Gauki Strongblade.
He is suspected of murdering as many as eight Hingan fisherfolk, his weapon stayed nary a moment by their pleas for mercy. But do not dismiss him as a simple savage — Gauki’s skill with the sword is undeniable.
A funa yurei is, loosely translated, a “ship ghost.” Pray do not misunderstand this to mean the ghost of a ship.
Said to be the lost souls of those who perished at sea, these vengeful spirits seek to sink other vessels by filling them with water. Using a ladle. One could conceive of more effective methods, but who can know the mind of a ghost?
Whatever its purpose, a funa yurei has been seen haunting the area. Folklore has is that a bottomless ladle acts as a ward against such apparitions. Mayhap you could test this theory?
In the lands of Hingashi, if a creature should appear even slightly larger than its kin, it is soon appended with the title of “oni.” The oni yumemi is a perfect example of this.
This demon specimen, however, earns the description not only for its size — though it is certainly large — but also for its violent behavior.
The oni yumemi shocks its prey into unconsciousness, and feeds while the victim is lost in dreams. And if that wasn’t sufficiently horrific, this mark is rumored to wield powers of freezing ice.
Have you heard tales of Okina, the giant striped ray? Drunken pirates insist that the wavekin devours whales, but this is an embellishment — otherwise known as an outright lie. Okina eats only krill.
The tiny shrimp gather to feed on the husks of shellfish, and when the seas teem with their numbers, that is when Okina appears, riding on the spring tide.
But though the great ray does not prey on whales, its cavernous mouth can swallow careless hunters whole. Be sure not to slip in the ebb and flow of the shallows.
The legends of the Far East tell of a giant by the name of Deidar. Our tale, however, begins with a man.
Now, had this man simply dreamed of building a statue of the legendary colossus, all might have been well. But he was an onmyoji of dubious skill, and he succeeded in imbuing his clay sculpture with the spirit of a shikigami.
In Eorzea his creation might have been called a golem. I would call it a failure. Thanks to the onmyoji’s clumsy rituals, only the head came to life... It rolled free of its giant shoulders, and now waddles around the land in search of a more suitable body.
The Namazu are a beast tribe who have long inhabited the riverlands of the Far East. By and large they are a friendly sort, and welcome the trade of men.
There are those among them, however, who have resisted the encroachments of civilization. These wild Namazu are considered dangerous, as they often turn their scaled hands to banditry.
The worst of these bandits was once a peaceful merchant who succumbed to feral instincts, and fell into a life of villainous savagery. With a sad shake of the head and an uncontrollable shudder do folk speak the name of Gyorai Quickstrike.
A beast tribe originating in the Near East, the Matanga are a hulking race of giants easily recognized by their mammoth-like heads.
They have difficulty with the tongues of men, and were thus not recognized as a sapient people by the conquering imperials. Subjected to oppression and hostility, some clans found themselves driven from their own territory.
These displaced Matanga drifted ever further east, where they survived by becoming raiders and pillagers. If any might be called their leader, it is the one known as Gajasura.
In the society of the varana, the scrabble to win the throne of alpha male is an exceptionally violent one. So ferocious are these battles for supremacy that the death of one or both combatants is not an uncommon outcome.
As such, young varana will often leave the group for a time, and seek a solitary existence to improve their instincts for survival.
Angada, the progeny of a formidable alpha, has chosen his time of exile and presently walks the wilds alone. Though not yet in his prime, this juvenile varana is said to have already surpassed the terrible strength of his sire...
Ah, this one. The information on a rogue imperial prototype warmachina did not come cheaply or easily.
Ahem. “Codename: Gamma. This model was designed to be an automated improvement over the piloted armored weapon, allowing it to operate without loss of function in near darkness. The results were unsatisfactory and the project was supposedly scrapped.
During testing, Gamma was commanded to attack a compact craft capable of considerable maneuverability. Now, whenever it detects said craft, the weapon engages in indiscriminate hostility.” Sounds positively cheery, doesn’t it.
A merchant visiting from beyond the steppes claimed he was attacked by a monster from the sky.
At first we thought he spoke of a Yol or a Muu Shuwuu, but the trader insisted that it was neither of these. “A giant winged lizard,” he said, in the face of much laughter.
And yet his was not the last sighting of this fantastic beast. Forced to accept the truth of its existence, we call it by the word the merchant taught us in his native tongue: Aswang.
On the Azim Steppe, the matamatas are venerated for their longevity. To hunt one of these stately creatures is a great honor.
The matamatas, however, are not so easily hunted. And even amongst their enduring number, there is one whose long trail of life is strewn with the bodies of those who sought to claim his shell.
The steppe hunters call him “Kurma,” the name spoken with hushed reverence. If you would hunt this mark, then do so with the respect this venerable legend deserves.
A mammoth is a large and powerful beast. But any Xaela who calls herself a hunter can dance around one of these steppe behemoths and bring it down with spear or bow.
Yet even the elders caution us to avoid the moving mountain known as “Girimekhala” — that we would not survive to their age if we did not.
An outsider scoffed at their words. Thinking to slay this king of mammoths and bask in our adulation, he set off in all confidence, musket in hand. He soon returned, sweat-drenched and shaking, swearing the bullet had bounced off Girimekhala’s wooly hide.
There are two kinds of creatures on the steppes: those whose coloring blends in with the grasses and the rocks...and those who sear the eyes with their motley hues.
Any child could tell you that the first kind is patterned thus to avoid discovery by predators. But what of the second?
Should you ever encounter Sum, you will soon learn why its skin glistens crimson like freshly spilled blood... It is a warning.
The Xaela of these lands have a custom wherein we carve the histories of our greatest heroes and warriors into stone reliefs.
The chuluu of the hero Orghana is an embodiment of his life’s journey. So much so, that the stone itself wanders the steppes, seeking to emulate the story carved upon its surface.
Orghana, a son of the Himaa, was said to have had a twin sister. And one of our most famous tales concerns the vengeance he wrought upon his sibling’s killers.