The Zertinan Caverns

189. Zertinan Caverns: Speartongue

GENUS: Beast
CLASSIFICATION: Toad

[1/2] Observations

Being a land-dwelling toad, lacking the webbed digits of its waterborne kin.

Found most often in arid climes, their skin secretes an oil, thereby to prevent loss of moisture. Their hind quarters are well-suited to traveling on land, and they rear up on them when threatened, freeing their powerful forelimbs for attack.

[2/2] The Adventurer's Handbook

There's a trick to getting your hands on some of the salve known as frog oil.

See, the oil runs through the body along with the blood, and when it reaches the head-horns, only the oil is secreted from the tips. So that's where you need to look.

However, should you kill the creature, blood and oil will congeal, making the oil impossible to extract.

That's why, if you need a lot of oil, you have to cut the horns off while the creature is still alive.

I didn't say it was easy.

190. Zertinan Caverns: Grenade

GENUS: Fiend
CLASSIFICATION: Bomb

[1/2] Observations

Being a bomb built as a weapon of war, augmented by infusions of Mist.

Its explosive power is manu times that of regular bombs, releasing Mist from its body in a devastating shock wave.

Though possessed of a particularly evil smile, this fiend has no thoughts of such, its expression being crafted as a means to threaten foes and harm morale.

[2/2] A Tale Told in Antiquity

There is a tale sometimes told of a great battle that took place in a land of deep snows, a conflict between invader and invaded. Though the invaders took the day, too weary were they to take their leave of the battlefield, for the snow was very deep, and the footing treacherous. And so the snows came in the night, killing the invaders as they slept. Of those who fought in that battle, only one man, a villager, survived to make the journey home. Finding a bomb fragment from one of the invaders' cruel weapons, he used its fire to set light to the bodies of both friend and foe, and by that warmth did he clint to life, and by that glow did he mend his wounds.

191. Zertinan Caverns: Scythe Mantis

GENUS: Insect
CLASSIFICATION: Mantis

[1/2] Observations

Being a variety of mantis with purple and blue coloration, feared for its aggressive nature, and the sharp sickle-like claws with which it rends and dismembers fores.

Their claws are made from an incredibly hard metallic substance, serving both as weapons and as shields against enemies' attacks. Its celadon stripes shift hues with the light, making the woven patterns seem to float above the surface of the creature's carapace.

[2/2] On Being Fashionable

With the exception of the elegant fabrics worn by the very wealthy, giving new life to old garments is the order of the day.

Why, even the tattered garments worn by a man the day before he died would find a buyer at market.

That is why we must always wash our clothes with great diligence. After all, you never know who might be wearing them tomorrow.

192. Zertinan Caverns: Slime

GENUS: Amorph
CLASSIFICATION: Flan

[1/2] Observations

"Should I chance to gaze upon but one more of these foul, fetid, green-slime-coated atrocities, I shall surely lose what wit remaineth to me," wrote the naturalist Merlose after encountering this vile strain of flan.

Their bodies absorb light which they then emit to lure prey in the gloom of caverns. They are also able to release light in a dazzling flash, temporarily blinding foes.

With their giant mouths, they swallow prey whole, using the nutrients from their food to divide and multiply, creating ever more flan-kin to terrorize and disgust.

[2/2] A Curious Treasure

A pure extract of oil from the creature known as the slime has been garnering the attention of natural philosophers.

This slime oil has been found to have wondrous properties when used as a base of reagent in the making of medicines and various tinctures.

Though the specific means of its use are closely guarded, it is clear that the special attributes of slime oil make it better than oil from other sources. We can but hope that our chefs do not discover it to be well-suited to cookery!

193. Zertinan Caverns: Archaeoaevis

GENUS: Dragon
CLASSIFICATION: Plate Wyrm

[1/2] Observations

Being the oldest living variety of plate wyrm, and this thought to be the ancient dragon's original form.

The petrified remains of long-extinct flora clin to its carapace, a testament to its incredible age.

Though it favors dark, sandy caverns, the constantly swirling sand has withered away its sight. Because of this, its sense of touch has heightened to the point where it can sense the slightest movements in the air, thereby to find its prey and strike.

[2/2] Torn Note

The contest for possession of these great, expensive, masterpieces of vanity has brought a kingdom to its knees.

For many years, nowhere was their existence acknowledged, but then, through miraculous circumstance, did they find their way into my hands.

Here I will write the truth of what happened, in its entirety, so that the story be known.

On the surface, they appear to be emperor scales, yet upon clo

194. Zertinan Caverns: Bogey

GENUS: Undead
CLASSIFICATION: Ghost

[1/2] Observations

Those ghosts of the highest rank are called bogeys.

When men die still clinging to fierce passion, that passion stains their souls a deep black. Should these polluted souls not be purified, in due time they become bogeys.

Once such a transformation occurs, even though they be slain, they will inevitably rise again given time, inspired to yet greater hatred and wild violence than in their last incarnation.

[2/2] The Face of Art

Genius painter Jodua Sera has unveiled his first new work in five years to a stunned public. This large-scale painting uses death powder to create a truly unique pallet of hues.

Once noted critic was quoted as saying, between sobs, "It is genius, purest genius. Did I mention it was genius?" Others have been quick to suppose this bold new foray from a well-established art maverick.

Death powder craze has spread to all the ateliers and painters' gardens in town and by all accounts, it looks like a new age of art is dawning.

195. Zertinan Caverns: Mallicant

GENUS: Fiend
CLASSIFICATION: Nightmare

[1/2] Observations

Being an eldritch fiend with tentacles grown on account of its feeding on malborors.

Formerly a herbivore, its mutation has given it the malboro's appetite for flesh.

Using the sharp spikes that grown at the tips of its tentacles, it stabs at its enemy's vitals with disheartening accuracy. It is said that, should each tentacle find its mark, a man would die before sensing the merest touch.

[2/2] A Curious Treasure

Demons rejoice in tempting Man with bewitching words, sweet as nectar, luring all but those with the most stolid of natures.

Of all their tempations, one of the most famous is the magick lamp, said to grant wishes, which indeed it does...though the price be mortally dear.

196. Zertinan Caverns: Shambling Corpse

GENUS: Undead
CLASSIFICATION: Zombie

[1/2] Observations

Being a congregation of souls, with ties to this world so strong they could not go on to the next. Within its frame, more than a hundred souls reside, forcibly fused into a single being, a single flesh.

Each of the souls yearns for what it once had in life, making this horrific creature a violent, twisted thing, wracked with confusion and hatred for the living.

[2/2] The Town Crier

Hear ye, hear ye!

Case of the shambling corpse solved!

The facts behind the death of a young boy at the hands of a shambling corpse a fortnight past have been uncovered! Upon examination of the zombie, it was found that the necklace it wore belonged to a certain young maiden of which the boy was fond, thereby proving that the shambling corse was none other than his bonny lass!

This blood-stained necklance was apparently a hand-made gift from the victim, though as to why the girl was wearing it when she rose from her early grave, and why she attacked her former lover, nothing is known at present.

197. Zertinan Caverns: Buer

GENUS: Fiend
CLASSIFICATION: Gargoyle

[1/2] Observations

Being a creature of an eerie blue complexion, with dragon-like wings upon its back.

The buer prefers to live in dark, dry environs. Though its surroundings be warm, it ever walks in a cloud of cold, evil airs, sending a chill up the spine of any who encounter it.

It has long been said that when one feels a chill a buer is watching you, and they are widely hated and feared as brings of ill fortune.

[2/2] A Curious Treasure

What a work of art, to capture the eyes of so many, and draw a sigh from even the most heartless of creatures.

Yet because of its enchanting beauty, each one, after being made, is stolen forthwith, and now none care to make thise priceless artifacts.

The only ones who remember their true beauty are the demons that clutch them to their breasts in pleasure born of avarice.

They are called the demon's sigh, and the world shall never know their like again.