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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 23, 2016 22:15:16 GMT -5
This guide is to monsters that are "human sized" versus the giant ones in the other guide. Here, we will be discussing monsters that are not quite belonging to the same category as giant monsters.
What to expect in this guide:
HUMAN-LIKE MONSTERS
Vampires Werewolves Zombies
DEMONS:
Oni Succubus Incubus Devil (only including due to canon with Story game, due to Vlad's adventure in the underworld_
And many more
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 23, 2016 22:34:56 GMT -5
VAMPIRES:
(NOTE: Because I'm not really crazy about the "apex predator" vampire and I find "Twilight" type vampires rather... "un-vampire" I will be sticking with the classical interpretation of them, courtesy of Bram Stoker)
Vampires are creatures of the night. Sunlight is a major weakness, but not the only one. They fear religious artifacts, namely the cross. Anything Holy can hurt them, and they sleep in coffins on beds of consecrated earth, i.e. Dirt from church grounds.
Although they are hurt by anything holy, they must sleep on consecrated earth- to this day, no one understands why.
They cannot cross moving water unaided, and they cannot cross a threshold uninvited. I.e. don't invite them into your house and they can't come in.
They also are repulsed by garlic, and light passes through them. So they don't have shadows or reflections. Some are also shapeshifters, able to become bats or dogs.
When trying to kill a vampire there are a few ways, but the most effective is a wooden stake to the heart. It has to be made of a specific wood though, and if the stake is removed, they can heal and come back to life.
The only way to kill a vampire for good, barring getting it stuck in the sunlight, is to cut off the head after staking the heart.
Two major types of vampires have been identified- purebloods, who were born vampire, and converts... those who were human but became vampires.
Though both kinds of vampires do suck blood, only purebloods do it as a means of sustenance... converts still have the choice to eat regular food, but can become aggressive if they go too long without sucking blood.
When exposed to sunlight, what happens can only be described as "spontaneous combustion". In short, they catch fire and turn to ash.
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 23, 2016 22:45:33 GMT -5
The vampires we've already introduced don't seem to show the fear of religious artifacts (there's vampires in COTHO, like Fang), or sunlight, invitations, or moving water.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 23, 2016 23:00:36 GMT -5
There are various subspecies; I was hoping someone else could cover ones like you talked about in the story game
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 30, 2016 23:31:20 GMT -5
ZOMBIES
Colloquially known as the living dead, zombies are quite literally, walking corpses.
Zombies come in two types; the Solanum-infected kind and the voodoo kind.
SOLANUM ZOMBIE:
The archetypal zombie, they are walking corpses in every sense. The virus Solanum infects the individual by destroying the frontal lobe of the brain and replacing it with a parasite-like organ that continues to control the host body after the person has died.
They are in many ways, the perfect warrior. They show absolutely no fear, they are always on the offensive, and they will destroy themselves to stop their target. They feel no pain, and crave human flesh. Yet mysteriously, they do not need to eat for nutrition, as their bodies are dead throughout, including the digestive system. It seems that they only eat flesh as a means to spread the infection.
While zombie bites are the primary means of spreading infection, they are by no means the only one. Any instance involving the transfer of contaminated fluids to healthy ones can and will cause infection. It is 100 percent communicable and 100 percent fatal, that is the danger of Solanum.
Fortunately, the virus is not found in nature, or is it waterborne or airborne.
Zombies can take much punishment; they can have limbs cut off and still fight. They do not heal, but will keep going until they are stopped. There is only one way to stop a zombie: destroy the brain.
Because zombie bodies are dead, they are also sterile; they are incapable of reproduction, only infection of healthy humans creates zombies.
Although "brave" Zombies have next to no intelligence; they have no sense of former self and they cannot employ logic. All they do is walk, attack, and eat. Research has found their intelligence to be lower than insects. They are also very slow... only walking about a step and a half every second. But they do not stop, at all. They require no rest, but will destroy themselves to get to their targets.
They are incapable of learning; attempts to make them learn have all failed. They are quite simply, hardwired to do only one thing: kill and consume.
Also- the virus only reanimates humans; all other species, put simply, die.
In the Colormen history, though the concept of viruses was not known until later on, they were among the first to recognize the danger of zombies and determined that they were too dangerous to exist. A successful campaign by the Colormen that even lasted among the good ones during the dark era lead to the purging of almost all zombies from the lands they could access. Combined with the efforts of other groups, zombies have ceased to exist, save for some small cases in remote parts of the world. They are so dangerous even on Elbaf they are not welcome.
VOODOO ZOMBIES:
Technically speaking, they are not truly "dead" in the sense of a reanimated corpse. Rather, they are humans that have been exposed to a specific kind of powder that destroys all higher brain functions. In a nutshell, the person enters a death-like coma, the lack of oxygen causes brain damage and the resulting zombie is essentially a slave. Unlike Solanum zombies though, they are capable of thought (though limited), they can feel pain, can communicate, they show emotion and can be controlled. They are only created by voodoo priests and the reaction of the magic community as a whole to them is mixed.
Colormen have almost never encountered them on Sodor, so there is little information available on them.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 1, 2016 23:04:01 GMT -5
WEREWOLVES
Considered by some to be "the monster within" when it comes to humans, werewolves are the result of a curse.
Colormen research into the origin of werewolves has yielded little results; however the nature of the werewolf itself is well understood.
For most days of the year, werewolves are normal people, with some even living among normal people. But once the full moon goes up, an uncontrollable transformation takes place. The human level intelligence is replaced by a "beast level" intelligence, and resulting transformation makes the being stronger, faster, increased stamina, etc. During the werewolf state, the human mind more or less is asleep; they are not conscious of their actions nor do they have control over their werewolf bodies. They prey on humans as both a food source and to spread the curse. All it takes is a bite, or a deep gash to spread the curse. Research into them seems to indicate that the werewolf curse is not spread through reproduction.
Killing a werewolf is straightforward, but dangerous. They are not weak to religious artifacts, but they are to silver. Ancestrally, silver blades were used to kill them, and with the advent of gunpowder, silver bullets were developed by the Colormen in secret.
However, once the werewolf is dead, the job is not done. the head must subsequently be cut off and the whole body burned; otherwise three days later it will return to life as a werewolf zombie.
In Colormen history, they were among the first to recognize the werewolf threat, and sought to combat it. Developing methods and tactics that allowed them to fight the curse. Every full moon, traps were set to lure werewolves to specific areas... then once cornered, the Colormen used Silver to finish them off.
Interestingly, there were also over 200 recorded cases of humans coming to the Colormen asking to be killed, because they knew they were werewolves and did not want to hurt anyone anymore.
The Colormen efforts proved successful, and the last living werewolves were observed in 1620.
There were unconfirmed rumors that some werewolves, when transformed, actually managed to retain their human mind and intelligence. Based on the records in Colormen Archives, this does not appear to be true.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 1, 2016 23:50:08 GMT -5
MERFOLK
Though "mermaids" is the more familiar term, in truth there are also "mermen" they are just less common. Though the reason is unknown, population studies with the Colormen have yielded surprising results; among merfolk populations the ration of mermen to mermaids is about 1:4.
In terms of anatomy, they are the same. Their upper body is that of a human, and their lower body is that of a "fish," though Colormen studies have shown that the lower body of these species are closer to that of dolphins. In fact, research into the merfolk species has found that they reproduce in a manner similar to dolphins.
Surprisingly, little separates humans and merfolk. Their intelligence levels are equal, and barring the lower anatomy, are physiologically similar.
Though rare, cases have been found where mermaids have bred successfully with human men, and mermen bred with human women.
It is unconfirmed at present, but mermaids are also said to have the ability to "swap between legs and tail" to allow mobility on land. (To this day, no one knows what this means)
In Colormen history, since merfolk were inherently peaceful, the 4 major populations of merfolk the Colormen established peaceful relations with, and they regularly interacted on good terms.
When the "normal" peoples began attacking monsters regardless of good or evil, the merfolk of Sodor turned to them for help. They gave the location of Elbaf to them, based on the information provided to the giants, and they subsequently swam to Elbaf and began anew.
All living merfolk now live in the waters around Elbaf.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 2, 2016 0:16:06 GMT -5
SIRENS
While they may have the appearance of alluring human females or mermaids, the truth is far more sinister. When unlucky sailors get to close to the rocks on which they live, their monstrous forms appear and they devour the sailors.
Their behavior and reproductive habits are unknown, since getting too close to them results in an untimely death.
What little that is available of them comes from the Colormen's campaign against them. Since part of the Colomen's powers bestowed upon them by the Prism is a natural immunity to all forms of hypnosis, this allowed them to get close enough to the Sirens without falling under their spell. But whenever they got close, they always were attacked, when the sirens realized their spells were not working.
The Colormen knew the danger they posed, and vowed to stop their deceptions. Using maps related to shipwrecks, they found areas with high concentrations of sunken ships and traveled there... every time, a colony of Sirens were found.
Since Sirens were only found in waters around the European continent, the Colormen did not have to sail far to destroy all the colonies. The last siren colony was destroyed in 1422
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 2, 2016 1:24:17 GMT -5
MINOTAUR
The legend of the Minotaur is known all to well among the Colormen. Legend tells of a king who angered a god, and as punishment the god made the king's wife breed with a steer, resulting in a horrifying creature that had the head of a bull and the body of a man.
The Minotaur ate human flesh, and was a beast, show no human level intelligence. It was sealed into a labyrinth, and every few years sacrifices were sent into it so the Minotaur could feed.
It was slain by a man named Theseus, who used a special sword to kill the Minotaur, and a ball of string given to him in order to navigate his way out of the labyrinth, allowing the other sacrifices to live as well.
Given there was only one, the Colormen have no history with them. Reports that other Minotaurs existed went unconfirmed, and were probably only rumors, given how the first one came to be
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 14, 2016 0:11:36 GMT -5
FISHMEN
Similar in vein to the Merfolk, the Fishmen are humanoid in appearance, but with a couple key differences. While Merfolk have tails, they have legs, allowing unobstructed land travel. Physiologically, they have lungs and gills, allowing breathing in both air and water. Their hands and feet are webbed, and they can be either covered in scales or simply have plain flesh. The pattern of the flesh usually reflects a species of fish.
They have human level intelligence, and like merfolk are capable of breeding with humans; though the human genes are usually dominant over the fishfolk in offspring. Females give birth to live young.
Colormen history with them was peaceful. Like the mermaids, the Colorfolk were able to establish peace with the five populations of fishfolk around Sodor, and they regularly interacted with one another.
When other kingdoms began purging the mythical creatures, the fishfolk turned to the Colormen for help. With merfolk in the same position, the two species came together and migrated to Elbaf at the same time as each other. Now they live in the water and on the coast of Elbaf.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 14, 2016 0:38:34 GMT -5
SUCCUBUS
(NOTE: Due to nature of this monster, it's appearances in 3WSR will be limited)
Known colloquially to some as "sex demons" the term is actually a fairly accurate assessment of what they are. Though popular media may have reduced them to looking like alluring females, this is only a half-truth. While they may for the most part resemble human females, they also possess key characteristics that show they are demons, namely horns, bat-like wings, cloven feet, tails, and some even have fang-like canines.
They attack men in their sleep, appearing to them in their dreams, attacking them with temptation. Because they attack men through their dreams, they therefore exist on a plane of reality that is not entirely understood; i.e. they do not take a physical form. Because of this, they are tough to study. What is known is that they feed on the male's "life force" (for lack of a better term) and this leaves them either weak or dead.
Colormen history with them was brief, but notable. Naturally, the succubus did appear and try to tempt them. As it turns out though, Colormen find wings, tails and horns to be major turn-offs, and didn't bite. Frustrated, the Succubus ended up leaving them alone... though this may also be in part due to some Colormen figuring out how to summon them to the physical plane and destroying them there.
Whether or not they still exist today is unknown.
INCUBUS
Male version of the Succubus; for all intents and purposes are similar. Colormen history with them is minimal, since they preyed on females in their dreams. Colorowomen history with Incubus is unknown.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 14, 2016 23:22:53 GMT -5
TSUKUMOGAMI
One of the more... unorthodox of the creatures in this compilation, this monster was revealed to us through secondhand accounts of Colormen explorers who visited one of the far Eastern countries (Known today as Japan)
As the legend goes, when an object is constantly handled and touched, and upon turning 100 years old, it gains a life of its own. Having never been observed first hand, it is unknown if this means the object itself becomes alive, or an astral projection of a living being manifests from said object.
If these... things exist, it must be though a kind of magic not present in this part of the world, otherwise our ancestral artifacts would have become tsukumogami themselves.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 16, 2016 23:29:05 GMT -5
HARPY
Another creature originating from the Greek mythology, Harpies are a mix between human, and bird of prey.
Described as "having long, fair hair and the faces and upper bodies of women, but the wings, tails, legs, and claws of birds of prey, with sharp talons made of metal" two different types of harpies have been encountered by the Colormen.
One type, the "beast" harpy, lacks any form of human intelligence, and are savage beasts, attacking anyone and anything to satisfy their ravenous hunger.
The second type, the "civilized" harpy, does possess human intelligence, and is capable of being reasoned with. They have also been described as looking "lovelier" than the beast harpies... and while the author would rather not comment on these secondary traits, at the same time we cannot argue with the accuracy of that statement.
Much of Harpy behavior and lifestyle is unknown, since they rarely interact with humans... unless they are beast harpies looking for a meal.
Colormen history with them is... interesting, to say the least. Both humans and civilized harpies would come to Colormen to ask for help with dealing with the beast harpies, since both considered them a nuisance. After the last of the beast harpies were wiped out, it allowed the civilized ones to flourish.
When it came to Elbaf, the only group the Colormen helped was a small flock of 30 or so harpies, who had heard of the previous help the Colormen gave, and asked for directions. The Colormen explained to them where it was by using the stars as reference, and they left. How the rest of the harpies of the world, if they made it to Elbaf, is unknown.
How harpies reproduced remains a mystery, due in part to the combination of two factors: all harpies are female, and when they interacted with humans it was usually to attack them.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 3, 2016 23:38:44 GMT -5
GHOSTS
To call ghosts "monsters" is a bit debatable, due to their origin and nature.
In simple terms, ghosts are the souls of deceased humans who have failed to move on to the afterlife. They can either wander aimlessly, or wander with purpose.
There are a few different kinds of ghosts; the most common take the form of "mist" or "bedsheets" if we were to use colloquial terms. Other ghost have a more "stable" form, and look more like a human form when manifested. Most ghosts are harmless, since they cannot interact with the physical world without a medium. A few ghosts, usually those of malicious spirits who failed to be laid to rest, are a bit more dangerous and can be a threat.
The Colormen's interaction with ghosts was different compared to other monsters. When it came to ghosts, they considered it their duty to help them proceed to the afterlife. So when ghosts were encountered, a series of rituals were developed to help the spirits move on to the afterlife, and ultimately find peace.
Because of these efforts, Ghosts surprisingly became a rarity around the historical "old world." For most modern ghost sightings, the Colormen have described them as "unusual phenomena, but easily explainable by science" since they know the difference between true ghost hauntings and these "false positives"
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 4, 2016 0:01:14 GMT -5
BANSHEES
Spirits originating from Ireland, the Banshee is a "harbinger of death" according to the Old Irish Mythology. As the legend goes, Banshees would come to houses where someone was about to die, and shriek a loud, high pitched cry to signal someone was about to die.
Given the Colormen were based on Sodor, Banshees were rarely encountered, save for occasional travels to Ireland. Technically speaking, the spirits were harmless, as they only were harbingers of death, not grim reapers or collectors of souls.
Though they are technically harmless, they are widely feared due to their high pitched scream and their appearance: they wear red or green, have long, disheveled hair and look like ugly, frightful hags.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 23, 2016 19:04:55 GMT -5
DWARFS
A race of small humanoids, they dwell primarily within mountains. This does make sense, given that they are known for their crafting, mining and smithing skills, and the mountain is a rich source for ore. They are known to be an intelligent, wise race, and in terms of physiology, are actually quite similar to humans. Though unable to breed with humans, they are shown to otherwise have many similarities to humans.
The only dwarfs the Colormen ever made contact with were those who resided on the peaks of Culdee Fell. Though they mainly kept to themselves, they found the Colormen to be the first humans they could trust, and permitted trade with them to obtain resources they could not get on a mountain.
The level of "magic" they posses is unknown, as they primarily are miners, blacksmiths and crafters. Almost certainly, this would be the sole application of their magic.
When other kingdoms began "purging the supernatural species" from their lands, the Dwarfs became concerned that they would be targeted. Leaving the safety of their mountain home, they came to the Colormen for help. They had heard rumors about the giants being sent away to a safe land, and asked if they could go there too.
Because they knew nothing of the sea, a handful of Colormen crew volunteered to help with their ark and navigate to Elbaf, dropping them off and returning. This voyage proved very important to the Colormen history, because it allowed them to update their star maps and gave a more accurate location for Elbaf, allowing them to send more species in the future to Elbaf with a higher degree of confidence.
Only the Sudrian dwarfs came to Elbaf by help from the Colormen; how other groups got there, if they got there, remains unknown.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 23, 2016 19:33:55 GMT -5
ELVES
Elves came in various different shapes and sizes, but on Sodor, there were two types that have been identified:
NIGHT ELVES were the least common of the two. WOOD ELVES were encountered more often.
The WOOD ELVES, also called Forest Elves, lived primarily in forests, and had a great respect for nature. For the most part, they were quite human-like, with the only real differences being that they had pointed ears and they lived far longer lives than humans.
It has long been rumored in Colormen history that it was Wood Elves that encouraged the Colormen to build "up and down" their Great Hall, so they would not have to cut down trees along the flat plain they selected. Due to the Colormen Archives not being established until years later, this has not been confirmed as of yet.
They are for the most part a peaceful race; like the Earth dragons they only attack when nature is threatened, or in defense of themselves. Though they did keep to themselves, the Colormen did win their trust due to their advanced knowledge of medicine helping to save elves' lives on numerous occasions.
Ultimately, when they found themselves threatened, like other species they turned to the Colormen for help. They helped the Wood elves get to Elbaf. It is a known fact that elves from other parts of the world did make it to Elbaf, so only the Sudrian Wood Elves were helped by the Colormen.
Night Elves were more secretive than Wood Elves. The only thing that told the two apart were that Wood Elves primarily wore green, and night elves primarily wore purple. Never being seen during the day, they would only appear at night, and tended to be more stand-offish than Wood Elves.
Colormen had a neutral relationship with them; though not outright allies, they were not enemies either. Other than the occasional request for medical help, there were no major interactions between the two.
Their ultimate fate is unknown. However, a forest fire in the mid 1100's in the forest where they lived did occur, and when the Colormen went to investigate, they were shocked to find more than 2,000 skeletons and burned remains of elves. Saddened, they were left to assume that the Sudrian Night Elves were wiped out by nature.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Feb 12, 2017 1:10:27 GMT -5
GOBLINS
These small creatures are hard to summarize because they come in various forms. Some are outright evil, others simply mischievous. Some tend to be greedy, and will do what they can to get gold or jewelry. They tend not to get much taller than four feet, but their anatomy is quite similar to humans. Some also have magic powers similar to fairies, and others do not have magic. They are said to be cousins to dwarfs, gnomes, and imps.
They come in various skin tones- green, orange and red are the most prolific though.
When it came to the goblins- the Colormen only fought against the outright evil ones; goblins that were mischievous, but meant no real harm, were often spared with the understanding that they "do better in the future."
It was only this group of goblins that the Colormen helped get to Elbaf, and they only did so "in good faith" by forcing the goblins to promise they would not do anything to harm the other settlements on Elbaf.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Feb 12, 2017 1:19:17 GMT -5
HOBGOBLINS:
These resemble small, hairy little men, and are possibly cousins to goblins. They often live within human dwellings, and some of them do small deeds around the house in return for food. Others are practical jokers, and others still are outright dangerous.
Fighting them was straightforward- people who had hobgoblins in their homes would come to the Great Hall and ask the Colormen for help in dealing with them. Usually, the hobgoblins could be reasoned with- but the truly malicious ones had to be killed.
The benevolent ones were encouraged by those who they lived with to go to the Colormen and seek help in getting to Elbaf. They left with the goblins.
Anatomically, they are similar to humans. Though how they breed is unknown, given that only males have been known to exist.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Feb 12, 2017 1:35:16 GMT -5
TROLLS:
It is hard to pin down a general definition of what trolls are, because they are extremely varied.
Among other traits, Colormen have encountered both giant trolls and small trolls; the giant trolls generally being no taller than 20 feet though. Most are described as strong but dim-witted, other are described as docile. Some are said to be man eaters, and others have been observed to turn to stone when exposed to sunlight. They do live in groups, but troll society is largely understood because they prefer to live outside of human contact.
Indeed, the only times when the Colormen would come in contact with the trolls was when they came to the Colormen asking for medical help. The only trolls they killed were the man-eaters; the rest tended to avoid humans.
Since they never approached the Colormen about going to Elbaf, it is unknown if they made it.
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