All posts by Oscar Rios

These extremely dangerous guardian creatures were created by the wizards of Lomar, to guard the lands of their estates. While the secrets of their creation and the ability to control or command them has been lost to history, those scholars who know of the Fallen Kingdoms and the Shadow War surmise that such monsters were created by magically cross breeding a terrestrial lion with certain unknown extraterrestrial mythos creatures. Luckily, they cannot breed, and no new Nemean lions have been created in millennia. Unfortunately, they are incredibly dangerous, immortal unless slain through violence, and nearly indestructible.

This creature is found far north of the Antonine Wall in the wilds of Caledonia, land of the savage Picts. It is greatly feared in those lands but mostly unknown in other countries. Legends tell that these creatures are created when a normal snake’s head is cut off. If the dying snake finds it’s severed heat the two halves can be rejoined, and the snake then transforms into the dreaded Beithir. It is often called The Lightning Serpent, as the creatures are most often seen after thunder storms.

They gather frankincense by burning that storax which Phoinikes carry to Hellas; they burn this and so get the frankincense; for the spice-bearing trees are guarded by small Winged Snakes of varied color, many around each tree; these are the snakes that attack Aigyptos Nothing except the smoke of storax will drive them away from the trees . . .

Herodotus, Histories III

In the Roman province of Arabia there lives a most unusual, and dangerous, serpent that is found nowhere else on earth. They are small (about a foot long), aggressive, colorful and armed with deadly venom. What marks them as unique is that they possess a pair of leathery bat-like winged. They fly with a nimble grace and if need be swoop down to attack with deadly accuracy. Their colors seem to constantly shift in the light, and their moods, sometimes rippling across their bodies in pulsing patterns when agitated.

These creatures are shape changing humanoid predators. Their natural form is a large, powerfully built creature with long claws on both hands and feet. Their powerful jaws can open quite wide and are filled with sharp teeth and bone crushing shearing plates. Their eyes are red and they possess night vision equal to that of a tiger. However, they are usually found in their camouflage form, appearing as a normal average human being. Shifting into their natural form can be done in about 2 minute, but assuming their human form takes half an hour. Their camouflaged form is typically 35-45 SIZ points smaller than their natural once in appearance, but their weight remains constant.

This non-corporeal parasitic entity from another dimension is one of a number of creatures that feed upon very powerful human emotions. This particular variety desires the feelings of profound loss and mourning. The first Beloved Dead was summoned to earth by a reckless wizard seeking to restore their beloved to life. They opened a gateway to another dimension and invited the soul of their lost love back into its body. What they got instead was a powerful, malevolent parasite which played upon their grief and ultimately claimed their life.

These strange creatures violate most laws of physics. They existing in a parallel dimension of darkness and possess the ability to briefly manifest in our reality through interdimensional weak points created by sinister magic. They serve the Great Old One Nyogtha, Thing That Should Not Be. Powerful wizards who serve Nyogtha are sometimes taught the ritual needed to open a doorway for a Parcel of Darkness. These creatures then lurk near these weak points, waiting to ambush and attack anyone not directly under the protection of Nyogtha.

The Fallen Arabians
Art by Brad Hicks for the OctoberNomicon Art Contest

These creatures first appear after the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) during the Second Persian Invasion of Greece. They were once men, conscripted soldiers of the Arabian tribe, and part of the massive army led by the Persian King Xerxes. They were used as fodder, hurled against the Spartan simply to tire the formidable Greek soldiers before more valuable solders faced them. Thousands of these Arabians died in a single morning accomplishing nothing. Their bodies lay forgotten and unburied, fed upon by crows and wild dogs.  But for the Fallen Arabians death brought them neither rest nor freedom. These men are still called to fight and die, only this time by the dark powers of the Elder Goddess Nemesis, and her cultists. Continue reading »

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  Thee, Nemesis, I call, almighty queen, by whom the deeds of mortal life are seen: eternal, much revered, of boundless sight, alone rejoicing in the just and right.

• Orphic Hymn 61 to Nemesis, 3rd Century B.C.

Continue reading »

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These alien being are not native to our dimension dwelling in a shadow realm parallel to our own. They are most often transported into our world accidentally, when a wizard fails in creating a gate, performing a summoning, or in harness the powers of the cosmos. Once trapped in our dimension the Keck has a single option for survival, as it cannot exist long in our environment. The only place it can find refuge is within a living human host.   Continue reading »

This creature doesn’t have art yet. You can help and possibly even win cool prizes by making the art yourself! Click here to find out more

Thee, Nemesis, I call, almighty queen, by whom the deeds of mortal life are seen: eternal, much revered, of boundless sight, alone rejoicing in the just and right.

• Orphic Hymn 61 to Nemesis, 3rd Century B.C.

Continue reading »