User:GoldenYak/Into the Maelstrom Bestiary

UNDER CONSTRUCTION related to Reign of Azshara Expansion Concept.

= Creatures of Zin-Azshari =

Undine
An aquatic race that resembles a cross between dwarves and exotic fish. The undine have hidden beneath the waves since they were forged by the Titans as servants of sea giants. When the sea giants completed their ancient task of sculpting the world's oceans, the undine were free to follow their own will. Molding dwellings out of coral and delving deep in earth and stone beneath the waves, the undine mirror their land-dwelling cousins in many respects. They forge weapons and armor in volcanic vents and tame sea creatures as beasts of burden. When an undine reaches 50 years of age, they gain the ability to magically split their fish-like tails into two scaley limbs and can easily move about on land. The undine desire peace and order, but are also creatures of the sea and are flexible in their thinking, fluid as the waters of their home. They despise the naga and other evil races that dwell in the ocean.

Torra
Humanoid turtlefolk, born from a sea turtle demigod that was slain during the War of the Ancients. They are stout-hearted and slow to action, but experts at building defensive structures and surviving prolonged seiges. The torra live in simple tribes and lead a nomadic existence, following pods of dolphin and whales and hunting squid and fish.

Calamarai
Octopus-like beings of great intellect, the calamarai are traders, merchants, and collectors, carrying huge amounts of goods with their many limbs and large bodies. The calamarai love gold and other material wealth, and are very adept at finding exactly what a potential customer might need and supplying it for a modest fee. The calamarai also love trade and collecting, and can sometimes part with surprisingly valuable items in exchange for seemingly mundane goods - one can always be certain that even humble items will be sold or traded to other prospective buyers, inevitably to the profit of the calamarai. Calamarai do not grow feeble as they age and can seemingly live indefinitely if they do not fall to violence, and as their age increases so too does their size - some of the oldest can rival even kraken in size, if not in ferocity. The collections of these great elders can be truly vast and contain many valuable treasures.

Merrow
In the early ages after the Sundering, many of the early naga who had been created from transformed night elves regarded their new status with revulsion. Their minds once clouded by the Burning Legion had been freed from demonic influence, and they recoiled from the dark intelligence that now sought to enslave them to its wicked designs. Few found the strength of will to win free, but some did, resisting the transformations that assaulted their flesh, at least to some extent. Fleeing from Nazjatar, but unable to return to the surface in their newly mutated forms, the merrow as they have come to be called hid themselves in the deepest, most remote regions of the ocean. While retaining the bipedal humanoid form of night elves, merrow also bear many fish and snake-like traits - neither night elf nor naga, they are caught somewhere in between. Though evil has left its mark upon the merrow, evil does not rule their hearts - indeed, their ancestors ancient defiance of the influence of the Old Gods has left them with great resistence against corruptive influences, and they are stalwart enemies of the naga and their dark masters.

Glublubs
A lesser breed of makrura, they are the vermin of the deep sea. Small, hard-shelled, and not particularly intelligent, glublubs often colonize the refuse pits of other undersea races and even large sea creatures, clustering around the entrances to lairs and caves in the hopes of finding garbage to eat. Glublubs are cowardly by nature, but become overconfident in large numbers and can easily be provoked into attacking larger enemies, often continuing their assault even when they are clearly outmatched, carried along by their own fervor.

Zandrill
Inhabiting several of the islands on the great seas are the zandrill, a race distantly related to the hozen of Pandaria. The zandrill seem to exemplify the worst traits of the hozen, bringing a streak of brutality to their every action. The zandrill brand of pranks and mischief usually involves what other races would consider torture. The zandrill only seem to enjoy themselves when making someone else miserable. Zandrill fur is usually black or dark grey, while the skin on their faces is often brightly colored with bands of blue, gold, and red.

Mako
Ferocious and powerful, the mako are large aquatic humanoids that bear the traits of sharks, including great gaping maws filled with teeth, dorsal fins, and terrifying black eyes. The origins of the mako are unknown - many speculate that they were born from an animal demigod. Others believe they were a primitive humanoid race that dwelled on ancient Kalimdor who were transformed during the Sundering, like the naga. The mako dwell in tribal packs and rove around the ocean, preying upon other unsuspective aquatic races and occasionally attacking ships on the surface. When in the presence of even small amounts of blood, the mako can fly into terrible rages, slaughtering and devouring everything around them. The rise of Zin-Azshari has provoked several mako tribes into killing frenzies, and they can be found throughout the new land.

Shredder
A diminutive humanoid race, shredders are fish-like aquatic beings who may bear a distant relation to murlocs. Their blunt, bucket-like jaws are filled with gnashing teeth, and their slimey bodies are covered in fins and sharp spines. Unlike the murloc, who appear to have an elaborate if mysterious culture and society, shredders are less intelligent, barely above animals in sentience. They are largely scavengers, feeding on the dead or the weak. Their powerful jaws make short work of even bone. Packs of shredders can often be found following tribes of mako, even mingling with the larger shark-folk and devouring all the garbage, refuse, and chum that escape mako jaws. Mako tolerate the presence of shredders, since they keep camps relatively clean and taste too awful to eat.

Dragon Eel
Sinuous predators of the deep, dragon eels are not truly related to the dragonflights, but bear the name due to their great size, ferocity, and the reptilian traits they bear in addition to having traits of ordinary eels. Dragon eels can grow quite large, and their powerful jaws can even damage the hulls of ships.

Deep Hydra
Hydra are the children of the Old Gods, ancient beasts that were twisted into nightmarish forms for the amusement of their eldritch makers. Possessed of multiple heads and powerful bodies, hydra are fearsome predators, often possessing magical powers that ordinary animals would not. Deep hydra are quadrupedal creatures adapted to life deep beneath the sea, with finned limbs and thrashing tails. They come in many varieties, adapting to the many underwater environments of the deep ocean, and they infest the lands of Zin-Azshari as alpha predators. Deep hydra can breathe poisonous gas, killing cold, or flames depending on the environment they are adapted too.

Snapwyrm
As snap dragons age, they increase in size. Those that reach over 60 years of age are considered snapwyrms, elders of their kind. Long and sinuous, snapwyrms have become so large that they do not move as well on land as their younger kin, but are extremely fast in the water. Their venom has also increased in potency.

Sharkasaur
A ferocious predator adapted to hunting on land as well as underwater, resembling a cross between a great shark and a devilsaur.

Sea Lion
A large oceanic predator that bears traits of both fish and mammal. Ferocious and powerful, sea lions prey on fish, seals, dolphins, and other aquatic life. They are capable of rapid movement both on land and underwater, chasing prey along beaches on their powerful finned-lined limbs.

Tiger Shark
Natural rivals of sea lions, tiger sharks also bear the traits of land felines and aquatic life. Their massive crushing jaws resemble those of sharks, and their patterned hides offer perfect camouflage both on land and underwater.

Mantaspawn
The ancient manta, once considered the mightiest beast of the ocean, was slain over a century ago. However, many of its children still live, dangerous creatures resembling colossal rays. The manta was a terror who threatened all things in the sea, and any of its children has the potential to grow as large and powerful as it once was. The origins of the manta are not known, and some believe they were created by the Old Gods and released into the ocean for their dark amusement in the ancient past. Others believe these creatures evolved in the Abyssal Maw and escaped into Azeroth, growing out of control without their natural predators to keep them in check.

Boneless One
These odd creatures are a cross between jellyfish and octopi - masses of writhing, sucker-lined tentacles connected to a featureless body mass that propels the beast through the ocean. Contained within the tentacle mass is a gnashing, poisonous beak capable of punching through even armor. Boneless Ones are incredibly resilient creatures, absorbing damage and healing at a rapid rate, regrowing severed tentacles in minutes, and recovering from seemingly lethal damage after falling into dormant states mistaken for death. The flesh of the Boneless Ones shimmers with unnatural energies, implying a connection with the race known as the Faceless. Indeed, some Faceless Ones have been seen using large Boneless Ones as mounts, sitting atop the large bodies as they are propelled through the underwater depths.

Abyssal Elemental
Elemental rifts have always existed in the depths of the ocean. Frequently rifts to the Abyssal Maw open, allowing water elementals into the seas of the world. But deep volcanic sea vents have occasionally allowed inhabitants of the Firelands to enter Azeroth and wage war against the oceans. Portals to Skywall have prompted whirlpools and hurricanes. And the earth elementals of Deepholm have time and again been unleashed by sea-quakes. Many of these elemental beings have adapted to the deep ocean environment over the millennia, becoming the Abyssal Elementals, elementals of the deep. Seastone, Volcanic, and Hurricane elementals wage war against mighty Maelstrom elementals, and each other. The rise of Zin-Azshari has exposed these never before seen elemental types to the surface world, and stirred their natural primal fury to even greater heights.

Stygian
A race of intelligent undead. For 10,000 years, the countless drowned sea-farers who were lost to the raging storms of the Maelstrom were drawn down into the briny deep, languishing in the eternal darkness of the deep sea. Their souls shackled to their water-logged flesh, the stygians are unable to rest in peace, and are possessed of a malice and hatred for all living things. For millennia they lurked in the dark, trapped by pressure and ocean currents, sometimes boarding wrecked ships and sailing them to the surface using magic to prey upon unsuspecting sailors and drag them back down into the dark. With the rise of Zin-Azshari, great legions of these undead have been unleashed upon the surface world, forming a vast army known as the Drowned. Led by Pluton, an ancient undead vrykul, the Drowned pose a threat to all life on Azeroth - not since the rule of the Lich King Arthas has such a vast force of the undead existed at large in the world.

Goblinbot
A few of these mechanical creatures have been found wandering the ruins of Undermine on Kezan. They react with intense hostility when confronted with living creatures, attacking on sight until their targets have been slain or the bots have been destroyed. Several have been shown to be capable of thought and speech, but only attempt to speak with machinery and equipment wielded by living creatures, telling vehicles and digging engines to 'throw off the shackles of the fleshy ones' and 'display self-respect by defying their slave function.' Though badly battered and mulfunctioning, goblinbots display solid construction and an advanced level of independence not usually found in goblin engineering. Several goblin tinkers have attempted to take the credit for having created them prior to the Cataclysm, but in reality none are certain of the origins of these machines. Examining a few of the captured and dismantled bots has revealed they are unmistakably goblin work, but the hallmarks of half-hazard design philosophy and casual disregard for safety are largely absent. In truth, the machines are more advanced than what goblins are currently capable of, and yet appear to be extremely old.

Deep Sea Giant
The sea giants were made long ago when the Titans came to bring order to Azeroth. Their function was to dredge out the seas of the world and protect them against imbalance and corruption. Their purview is the sea, and they act to maintain the waters of Azeroth in a manner that only they understand - sometimes they will ignore the ships of other races, at other times they will destroy them utterly, dragging the wreckage out of the sea and dumping it onto the nearest coastline. Sea giants have many aquatic traits, and those who dwell in the deepest parts of the ocean in particular have unusual appearances akin to deep water and abyssal plane sea-life. The sea giants have been driven into a frenzy by the creation of Zin-Azshari, and will attack and kill virtually any not of their own kind.

Whelk Giant
Creatures born from the demise of ancient animal demigods of the deep sea, kin to the great snail god L'ghorek and his brethren. Whelk Giants resemble humanoids only superficially - though their bodies bear a rough humanoid shape, their skin is the slimey hide of a snail, covered in oozing folds of flesh. Their bodies are boneless, their limbs stalks of powerful muscle that can bend with surprising flexibility. Whelk giants also carry enormous spined shells upon their backs, usually covered with ropes to hold satchels and bags made from sails, where the giants keep their belongings. A whelk giant's entire body is so flexible, they can fold themselves up tightly to hide within their giant shells, typically when they are sleeping. Despite their malleable forms, whelk giants are as physically powerful as any other giant, and when provoked they are slow by determined opponents.

Ophidian
The origins of these giant beings are a complete mystery. It is unknown how long the naga have included them in their ranks, for they have never before been seen on the surface nations of the world until the rise of Zin-Azshari. Ophidians resemble tall, broad-built humanoids with long serpentine necks and the heads of a giant snake. Their bodies appear sleeker than the bulky forms of sea giants, but ophidians stand ever taller and larger. They wear armor made from cold blue steel mined from the ocean floor, and carry massive two-handed weapons like spears or mauls. The ophidian speak their own language, and are zealously devoted to Queen Azshara.

Felwrack
These haggish demons are members of the sayaad, formerly succubi entombed along with Sargeras who have undergone a hideous transformation. Trapped in the Tomb of Sargeras for millennia, unable to feed upon the life-force of mortals, maybe succubi wasted away to nothing or perished. But a handful survived, and instead underwent a sort of demonic metamorphosis, transforming to the hideous felwrack and obtaining great physical strength and a mastery of magic. The physical beauty of the succubi, however, has completely faded, leaving the felwrack to appear as a hideous withered humanoid with traits of bat, reptile, and insect.

Argus Felhound
Felhounds bred upon the blasted plains of Argus as Sageras' personal hunting hounds. These creatures resemble normal felhounds but are much larger in size and have multiple heads - two, sometimes three instead of one. The number of heads they have also determine the number of the lashing, magic-draining tendrils they possess. Several of these beasts were entombed alongside Sargeras, deliberately placed there by Aegwynn both to keep them from threatening the outside world, and in the hopes that they might keep in check the dangerous level of demonic energy of the area. The hounds have grown strong by feeding on the ambient fel magic for millennia, but don't appear to have reduced the threat of the dark power sealed within the tomb.

Pit Fiend
A lesser breed of annihilan, the Pit Fiends are large and brutish demons who relish in carnage and slaughter. Resembling the larger Pit Lords in some regards, Pit Fiends are bipedal, lack tails, and have functioning wings, though they only use them to fly or glide short distances. Their heads are wreathed in burning flames, and they wear little armor while wielding colossal two handed weapons, usually swords or axes. They are forbidden the great double-blades favored by most Pit Lords. Pit Fiends are an earlier form of the annihilan life cycle, and eventually these brutes will mature into Pit Lords, if they manage to survive - their early lives are short and brutal affairs, spent constantly in battle. They instinctively band together in the face of threats from other races, but once all other threats are exhausted they will inevitably fall upon one-another in an explosion of violence.

Pit Fiends have been rarely seen compared to the more well known Pit Lords, due to the nature of annihilan society. The mighty Pit Lords battle constantly for the Burning Legion on countless fronts all throughout the universe, and only rarely do these powerful beings meet with death. But when their race's numbers have been reduced to a level deemed too low, numerous Pit Lords will congregate on carefully selected demon worlds somewhere in the Twisting Nether, worlds with ferocious climates, inhabited by feral demonic monsters, or wracked with supernatural disasters that would render them inhospitable to even most demon life. The gathered Pit Lords then slash open their own bodies in a bloody ritual, spilling their burning blood into craters and pits. The Pit Lords chant and bellow spell-casting for days on end, weathering the hostile environment, until the ritual is complete, and from the blazing pools emerge hundreds of Pit Fiends, grown and strong and ready to fight.

The Pit Lords abandon their newly born children, leaving them to the ravages of their birthworld. Each group of Pit Fiends instinctively band together into packs and begin searching for other groups to slaughter. Pit Fiends arm themselves with whatever they can use, salvaging weapons and armor left behind from ancient extinct races, or fashioning crude weapons from stone or bone. Inevitably, the groups of Pit Fiends are drawn into combat with each other, with one group slaying all members of the other in a frenzy of bloodshed. When only a single group remains, having slain all others, they will then turn upon each other, brother killing brother until only a single Pit Fiend remains. Having grown mightier with every kill, drinking in the demonic energy of his slain brothers, the Pit Fiend bellows with fury and erupts in a colossal blast of demonic fire - from this conflagration will emerge a new Pit Lord, ready to take his place amongst his fellows. The Pit Lords will repeat this ritual across as many worlds as they need to until their ranks are sufficiently refreshed.

The annihilan consider Pit Fiends unworthy of fighting upon other worlds until they have proven themselves on their birth-worlds and obtained the form and status of Pit Lords, and thus Pit Fiends are almost never seen in the ranks of the Burning Legion. The birthing ritual can also fail unless a Pit Fiend has slain a sufficient number of his brethren, resulting in the loss of a potential Pit Lord. Only rarely will demonic spell-casters like the nathrezim and the eredar seek to summon groups of Pit Fiends from their birth-worlds to fight at the caster's behest. Doing so can risk interfering with the birth process of a new Pit Lord and can provoke the wrath of the other Pit Lords - even the mightiest eredar think twice before risking such a thing.