Building a Dynasty: Monsters
Monsters: The world of building a dynasty is full of dangerous monsters ranging from creatures left over from the age of magic to ancient horrors taking advantage of the fall of man.
Vampires:
One of the three most ancient races, vampires once ruled most of the world with an iron fist. This all changed thousands of years ago when the war of the ancients saw most of the elder races devastated destroying the empires and leaving their civilizations in ruin. Their empires in Romans most of them vampire race went into hiding watching from the shadows as the nations of man grew in power more and more throughout the age of magic. When the war of ruin brought down the great magical civilizations of man and triggered the age of chaos many vampire lords saw their chance to raise themselves to positions of power, once more seizing new lands and taking many humans as slaves and servants. What many of the more brazen vampire lords have seize land and raised armies there are those who still move in the shadows manipulating things from behind-the-scenes.
Physical Attributes: Vampires look mostly human save for pale white skin, long fangs and in human eye colors such as gold or black. Besides these more obvious physical attributes vampires are also substantially stronger, faster, and hardier than humans being nearly impossible to tell with anything except silver or gold enhanced weaponry. A vampire’s immortality comes with a price as they are required to prey upon living creatures in order to maintain their health and vitality.
Cultural Attributes: Even before the word of the ancients destroyed the vampire nations their culture was extremely factionalized with councils of elders ruling over many different vampire clans. Modern vampire culture lacks almost all sense of unity, with each clan looking out almost completely for their own interests even to the detriment of other clans; some believe this is the only reason that mankind has not been overrun since the fall of their great nations in the age of magic.
Trolls:
While there are records of trolls going back thousands of years they have never truly formed anything humans would call a civilization; instead trolls form packs based around need for food and defense much like rudimentary animal behavior. Although animalistic in nature trolls are far from stupid capable of crafting weapons and in some cases forming temporary alliances with other packs for mutual defense against large threats or when sensing opportunities to plunder human cities.
Physical Attributes: Trolls are massive creature standing half again the height of a man and nearly twice as wide. Matching the great physical height trolls are incredibly powerful creatures capable of using huge tree limbs as clubs and tearing a man apart with their bare hands. To human eyes most trolls look alike with gray skin, fanged teeth, yellow eyes, long years, and hoof like feet.
Cultural Attributes: Troll “culture” extends only so far as the extended family groupings that form their packs, though as stated they have been known to form larger groups in order to defend themselves from external threats or plunder human cities. Although pack leaders can be male or female they are almost universally the eldest and strongest of the trolls in a given pack though there have been known cases of younger trolls ascending to pack leader. Trolls do not have loyalty in the human concept of the word; if a troll senses weakness in their pack leader they will often challenge the weak leader in an attempt to overthrow their rule often killing them and feeding them to the rest of the pack as a trophy. The most dangerous thing about trolls is their craving for meat with humans being their preferred food source; not out of need but simply because trolls enjoy their prey being alive and afraid when they eat them. Since the war of ruin there have been entire towns and even cities destroyed by large hoards of trolls seeking feast and wise rulers know better than to ignore gatherings of trolls in their domain.
Jiang Shi:
The Jiang Shi are one of the most horrific weapons left over from the age of magic; created by great wizards during the war of ruin from the bodies of fallen soldiers the Jiang Shi were used to horrific effect against armies and cities alike. With their original masters long dead many Jiang Shi armies have come into the service of new masters including vampire lords and demon hosts. While most Jiang Shi armies encountered since the age of ruin have been in service to other masters there are disturbing rumors that something she have actually been the leading their own armies slowly expanding the numbers as a slaughter isolated settlements.
Physical Attributes: The physical appearance of the Jiang Shi varies almost as much is that of their victims safe for universally dark gray skin, oddly colored eyes, protruding lower teeth and long almost clawlike fingernails. Adding to their already horrific appearance Jiang Shi warriors wear leather armor covered in the bones of victims that they did not convert into their own kind.
Cultural Attributes: Jiang Shi have no true culture of their own as they are merely reanimated corpses with rudimentary intelligence and the drive to expand their numbers using the bodies of their fallen victims.
Frost Giants:
There are very few alive today who know the true origins of the frost giants, all that is known is that they like the elders they are not of this world and arrived sometime just before the war of the ancients. When the age of the ancients ended with the elders and vampires fighting with one another the frost giants, rather than choosing a side wrought havoc upon both sides in the war seizing lands from both and turning them into frozen wastes. For centuries after the age of the ancients the frost giants ruled over much of the world until at last an alliance of elder in human leaders came together to beat the invaders back into their own frozen hold fasts where they remain to this day.
Physical Attributes: As the name suggests frost giants are absolutely massive creatures standing 9 to 10 feet tall on average towering over even trolls with their powerful frames and hideous visages. Frost giants have dark icy blue skin, fanged teeth, pointy ears, sunken eyes, and hair which resemble and ice crystals. Although frost giants per further frozen home Wednesday have been known to venture out into other lands either to read them or to conquer them and turn them into icy lands of their own.
Cultural Attributes: Although most frost giants encountered in the outside world are male they are in fact A matriarchy ruled by their queen Freya. Although their culture is cruel and barbaric in many ways every frost giant has absolute and unwavering loyalty to their queen and people with males action possessing an odd sense of chivalry toward the females of frost giant society bordering on open reverence. Along with their great physical power frost giants also possess powerful ice magic capable of turning entire lands into frozen ground similar to own homelands.
Yao Guai:
The Yao Guai are said to have once been great celestial beings which were cast to earth because of their lust for power and work or cursed to take on a mortal form. Unsatisfied with their mortal forms the Yao Guai used the last of their dark magic to create an enchantment upon themselves which allows them to change forms into beastly creatures to attack unsuspecting prey consuming their flesh and life force.
Physical Attributes: In human form Yao Guai often disguise themselves as a beautiful woman or an attractive man to lure their prey in close however they have no true single form and are capable of changing from human form to a wide variety of animal like creatures.
Cultural Attributes: Yao Guai are solitary creatures by and large although it has been known that some stronger members of their species are capable of gathering small covens together. Yao Guai are extremely territorial creatures often attacking other Yao Guai if they’re not part of the same coven or family in order to keep their feeding grounds to themselves.
Fire Giants:
The fire giants first appeared after the age magic had ended and the realms of man were in shambles barely able to defend themselves. Even more cruel and powerful than their frost giant cousins the fire Giants laid waste to entire provinces and before they were finally brought to a halt by an unusual alliance of mountain dwellers, elders, humans, and cho jir.
Physical Attributes: Every bit as large and powerful a frost giant cousins fire Giants are distinguished having distinctive flame red skin. Fire giant warriors are terrifying on The field of battle, clad in armor made of rare metals unknown outside of their own realm, carrying massive swords the size of men and wielding the power of flame from their bare hands.
Cultural Attributes: Even less is known of fire giant culture than that of their frost giant can all that is known is that they are ruled by a king named Fenrir whose motives remain completely unknown even to this day.
Legions of Dead:
The legions of dead are another horrific weapon left over from the age of magic. Believed to be created in response to the Jiang Shi the legions of dead were created from dead soldiers. Unlike the Jiang Shi however the legions of dead were created in two distinctive varieties. The first form was raised from the bones of the dead these were to create the basis of the legions themselves skeletal warriors; the second form was created using a horrific form of alchemy which raised a soul and placed it in a grisly body with no eyes, no ears and no mouth, yet still able to hear, see and speak; these were to be the commanders of the legions, the horrific dread Lords. Unlike the Jiang Shi when the new dread Lords masters were destroyed they did not fall back on basic programming but instead took charge of their own legions and have been wreaking havoc upon the world ever since.
Physical Attributes: The skeletal warriors themselves appear to be simple skeletons clad in bits of armor and carrying weapons and shields however due to some twisted magic they are colored in the style of their legion’s colors. This has led to observed dead legions having skeletons of black, red, and dark orange.
Dread Lords however all shared distinctive ghostly white skin, eyeless, ear less, mouth less faces and great physical height averaging over 6 feet tall. Dread Lords also wear distinctive black clothing black hoods and black capes and carry distinctive black weapons which reflect no light.
Cultural Attributes: Although the Dread Lords themselves have what remains of the personality they once had in life, the soldiers under the command have no personality or soul and are simply automatons doing is commanded by their Dread Lords.
Harpy:
For as long as can be remembered harpies have prowled the forests of the world killing any who dared to intrude into their domains. Although their numbers were dramatically reduced during the age of magic many of their nests have been rebuilt in the time since the age of chaos has ended leading to many forests being dangerous places for any non-Harpy to enter.
Physical Attributes: Harpies are winged humanoids possessing talons for feet, batlike wings, clawed hands, and monstrous bodies. Harpies start their lives as unfertilized eggs laid in large clutches from fertile females; these eggs are then fertilized by males of the species where they then enter an almost larval state growing into adults rapidly with virtually no adolescence in between. Because of this bizarre lifecycle Harpies are capable of growing their numbers rapidly and dangerously unless they are culled.
Cultural Attributes: Harpies are extremely territorial forming close knit nests made up almost entirely of females save for a handful of breeding males who never leave the nest. Because of the scarcity of males for a long time people actually thought there were no males of the species and that females somehow were able to fertilize their own eggs.
Fell Demon:
Fell demon are from a realm beyond human understanding or knowledge, there have been numerous attacks upon the world launched by these horrific creatures over the millennia; thankfully they have all been driven back. The last attack was during the age of magic for the nations of man United for one final battle against these creatures since the fall may have not been seen again.
Physical Attributes: Throughout the millennia the appearance of fell demon has been widely disputed as different artists have drawn different versions of these beasts.
Cultural Attributes: There are no known cultural attributes associated the fell demon beyond their penchant for cruel and unnecessary slaughter.