Mercurial Lion

Mercurial Lion
By Tavaer

Size: 4-5 feet long
Weight: 150-200 lbs

Strength: Above Average
Agility: Average
Health: Poor
Intelligence: Very Poor
Willpower: Poor

Skills: Assorted Projectile Fire Magic, Exceptional Balance, Perfect Memory.

“...The night of the raid, Liev went ahead of us, wanted the gold for himself! I got there only to meet those two leery carved lion statues from before sitting outside the temple; too heavy to steal of course... and in the central room there was another lion statue, one that wasn't there when we scouted the ruins...and in it's jaws were Liev's tools!” 

Mercurial lions are magical sentries of stone created by the ancient royal wizards of a long forgotten imperial court in a land lost to demons. While they always watch over revered temples sites & hallowed temples, they are not to be confused for the similar celestial creature. While resembling large cats, they have cracked stone skin, fiery eyes and regal manes of jade and similar decorative materials, with veins of mercury throughout. They are always made and sold in pairs. In order to preserve the alchemy that animates them, each lion actively avoids falling into bodies of water or lava.

While on guard, they do not patrol, but instead rest like grounded gargoyles, typically near the entrance, often giving some sort of visual clue about whether or not the structure is open to the public, such as bared fangs or closed eyes. They are much slower than real lions but just as agile, building into a devastating charge capable of shattering stone, although they will not risk harm to the structures they guard, returning stolen relics when found. Mercurial Lions move noticeably slower over icy and wet terrains, and will avoid mud altogether. They will avoid being submerged in water at all costs.

They cannot repair themselves, however they can create new guardians by turning the flesh of enemies to stone with a petrifying breath at close range, and reshaping solid victims into new lions of stone, animating them and other stone creatures with spray of soot and mercury from within. Lions created through these means have no manes or other ornamentation.

In combat, their range is not to be underestimated, employing multiple types of fire against enemies: A basic fireball that will explode on contact with enemies and burn at the flesh, a blue fireball which burns at the magical energies of it's target and saps the ability to focus, and a black fireball that destroys healing ability with temporary necrosis. At close range they may just breath a gout of fire or a blinding billow of ash and soot.

They have a strong resistance to magic, but can be crushed by appropriate force, and a skilled warrior user may be able to turn their fireballs against them.

Oddly enough they are startled by loud noise and bright lights when outside of the places they secure. It is possible for a thief to deter them temporarily with fireworks or flashing lights temporarily, however they will renew the chase until destroyed.

Blight Gnolls

Blight Gnolls

Design and concept by Min, written by Shin

Size: 7'-8'

Weight: 200-400 lbs

Strength: Above average

Agility: Average

Health: Very good

Intelligence: Average

Willpower: Average

Skills: Varies greatly, though alchemy is a common practice

Gnolls are a relatively common species of hyena-like humanoids, known for their primitive and violent culture. Most of them aren't particularly relevant to this archive, with one very notable exception, known as blight gnolls.

Whereas most gnolls favor plains, blight gnoll settlements are found almost exclusively in swampland. While their form is indeed that of an anthropomorphic hyena, they're easily distinguished from their more common kin at a glance. Their fur is a pale green-grey, their eyes glow green, and their otherwise lanky figure is broken by their distended, swollen gut.

Said gut is filled with a bright green ichor. Produced in excess, this ichor is spewed out by the gnolls every few hours. This ichor, called blight ichor, has simple, but effective alchemical uses, increasing the duration and potency of nearly any potion it's mixed into. This benefit, combined with the ichor's ease of production, would revolutionize alchemy entirely were it not for an insidious side-effect: long-term use of blight-infused potions slowly transforms the imbiber into a blight gnoll themselves. While the transformation caused any single dose are easily overlooked, they are permanent, and once they're about half-transformed, they begin producing blight ichor within their own body. At this point, there's no practical way of preventing full transformation, though transformees tend to retain some subtle hint of what they used to be.

While not as violent as the common gnoll, blight gnolls aren't inherently peaceful or benign, either, and different tribes encourage different behaviors. While they're often open to outsiders, it's not unheard of for these gnolls to spike a visitor's food or drink with their bile.