Anaxial's Annex

COCKATRICE

Claws & Tail 5W+1, Peck 8W, Scaly Hide +2, Agile 8W, Fly Fast 2W, Resist Magic 5W, Strong 17

Venom: Instant, Petrifying, Potency 18W

Distribution: Maniria, Peloria, Seshnela, Ralios, Fronela, Umathela

Habitat: Any

A very similar spell to that used to create basilisks can be used to create this creature instead; the material components are identical. Unlike basilisks, cockatrices are not automatically under the control of their creator, who must learn and utilise an entirely separate (and equally banned) spell to master the creature.

Like a basilisk, a cockatrice resembles an avian-reptile hybrid, but in this case the bird features predominate. The cockatrice has a body of similar shape to a chicken, but stands nearly five feet in height and is covered in grey-green scales. It has a toothed beak, brightly coloured feathered wings and a serpentine tail.

CATOBLEPAS

(Catoblepas necator)

Bite 5W+2, Grapple 15W, Glance 15W2, Hear Intruder 18, Iron Scales +6, Large 5W, Strong 8W

Distribution: Peloria, Fronela, Ralios

Habitat: Marsh

These chaotic monstrosities have bovine bodies covered in iron scales, a long neck and a bulky, disproportionately large, head. From the top of the head sprout six-foot-long tentacles of writhing, animate hair. The head is so heavy that the catoblepas has difficulty raising it, and normally holds it at ground level to feed on marsh plants and long grasses. The creatures are herbivores, but will attempt to kill any creature which disturbs them. About one in seven catoblepases have a random chaotic feature in addition to those normally associated with their kind.

When disturbed, the catoblepas will immediately try and use its Glance attack on the intruder. To do so, it must first raise its head, which requires a successful contest of its Strong opposed by its own Large. It must reroll this contest in every exchange in which it wishes to use the Glance attack. If successful, the creature can gaze directly at the opponent with its pink-rimmed eyes. If the victim succumbs to the catoblepas' Glance ability, he is instantly killed.

CHAOS GAGGLE

Distribution: Worldwide

Habitat: Chaos Nests and surrounding areas

A Chaos Gaggle is a peculiar association of chaos creatures, most commonly found in highly chaotic environments, such as Dorastor, although they have been known to wander much further afield. Each chaos gaggle consists of five creatures; a brindithum, a bastok, a red gorp, an urgan and a zeech.

Quite how the gaggles are created, and why these particular creatures gather together when they are rarely, if ever, found alone or in groups of their own kind, remain mysteries. The most popular theory is that they are the sundered parts of a chaos god, unable to reform into a whole body. An alternative theory suggests that they may be the remnants of an ancient chaotic ecology which provided some kind of mutual support and which was not wholly banished at the Dawn. All the components of the gaggle have a similar intelligence, equivalent to that of a typical dog, but whether this is a shared mind, as the first origin theory would suggest, is unclear.

Bastok

Bite & Stab 18W2+4, Spit Acid 18W, Right Sting 18W2+3, Armoured Hide +6, Agile 2W, Fly Fast 5W2, Large 10W, Scent Prey 10W, Strong 18W, Tough 2W2

Venom: Debilitating, Lethal, Potency 2W2

A bastok is a chaotic wyvern, and resembles the normal kind save for its two tails and its mottled, bluish-purple colouration. A bastok attacks in a similar manner to a wyvern, and can employ both stings simultaneously against any given attacker. However, only the right hand sting is actually venomous, the other merely stabs to cause normal injuries. Bastoks can also spit gobs of acid at their opponents, but tend to reserve this for a tactic of last resort.

Red Gorp

Envelope 18W2, Corrode 18W, Large 12W, Sense Organic Matter 10W

The red gorp is a normal, if large, specimen of its kind, and attacks in the same manner as typical gorp.

Urgan

Bite 10W3, Slimy Hide +6, Agile 18, Fly Fast 8W, Gaze of Terror 10W, Large 10W2, Slither Rapidly 5W, Strong 8W3, Tough 15W2

An urgan is a huge brownish serpentine being which oozes slime from every pore. It can fly through the air as if it were swimming through water, although its actual swimming ability is quite poor. Urgans attack in a manner similar to constrictor snakes but can also bite targets and attempt to swallow them. Its goggling eyes can strike terror into the hearts of those it gazes on, and make them flee in panic, but it cannot use this ability at the same time as biting an opponent.

Zeech

Bite 5W3+5, Thick Blubber +7, Large 8W3, Magic Sparkles 5W3, Strong 18W3, Swim Fast 10W, Tireless 10W2

The zeech is a huge, black whale, that slithers along on the ground and is quite at home, if rather clumsy, on dry land. It can also swim if the need arises, and may carry the other members of the gaggle on its back (except the corrosive red gorp) in order to cross large bodies of water. The zeech is surrounded by a shower of glittering sparkles, which spread out for 150 feet in all directions from its body. Any being which fails to resist these sparkles briefly gains or is affected by a random magical talent and is also tainted with chaos as a result. Each talent lasts less than a minute, but the shower of sparkles is sufficiently dense that the victim is sure to be affected by another almost immediately. Common effects of the sparkles include:

• reduced speed
• mental confusion
• feeling of despair or fear
• physical injury
• loss of magic
• reduced combat abilities
• sleep

THE HYDRA OF DRAGON PASS

Bite 15W5+7, Armoured Hide +8, Agile 10W, Drool Acid 15W5, Large 5W4, Resist Magic 15W4, Strong 15W4, Tough 2W4

Distribution: Hydra Hills, Dragon Pass

Greater hydras are vastly more powerful than the lesser variety. Only thirteen are known to exist, each of which lives alone in an isolated location. The creatures lay numerous eggs which hatch to produce lesser hydras. Each greater hydra is unique, and only the greatest of heroes could expect to challenge them and survive, so no generalisations about their abilities are possible. Among the most famous are the Hydra of Dragon Pass, whose number of heads vary from one to six over the course of the years for no apparent reason, and Mojira, also known as the Green Pyrohydra, which lives on the island of Loral and has seventy two fire-breathing heads.

The only greater hydra in Genertela, the Hydra of Dragon Pass is an immense creature, yet rarely seen, for it never leaves its lair unless enticed out with huge quantities of live food. It resembles a typical lesser hydra, except in its size, but it seems to sprout or resorb heads over the course of several seasons, so that the actual number of heads it has at any given time is random. Typically, it has anything up to six heads, although it has occasionally been reported to have twice this many. It is slower breeding than Pamaltelan greater hydrae, and lays only one to six eggs per year. Each hatches out to produce a lesser hydra, most of which rapidly slither away from their mother to find new hunting grounds. None the less, it is commonly encountered with a few of its offspring in attendance.

Unlike lesser hydrae, the Hydra of Dragon Pass can use its heads to attack separate targets. Two heads can attack a single man-sized target simultaneously, while larger targets could face a greater number of heads. Each additional head after the first is treated as a follower, and is able to augment or support the attack. The greater hydra also augments its attacks with its drool acid ability, although it lacks the venom of its offspring.