Browse the Grimoire

Creature Bog-Hop Froglok A toad-leap of the black bog, sticky, short-tempered, and absolutely not to be cornered, who keeps its oaths loud and sharp and very short.

Creature Trap-Goblin The goblin that builds the trap the rest of the warren eats by — small, patient, and the only beast that considers a spring-loaded jaw a form of art.

Creature One-Breath Drake The long, coiled shape of the pit — heavy through the shoulder, the crest long, the amber eyes flat, the whole of it built around one breath that does not come back and one dive that ends the argument.

Creature Howl-Keeper Gnoll A heavy-jawed, dry-brown hyena-packer of the bone-totem savanna who keeps the howl and leads the pack, the steppe's aggressive, social, and most certain voice.

Creature High-Fang Wolf The silver wolf of the high country — 70 cm of honour that the orcs keep for the war, and that the war keeps for them.

Creature Height-Sight Drake The tall, thin shape of the high ledge — light through the shoulder, the crest narrow, the amber eyes wide for the height, the whole of it built to see the pit from the top and to choose, one word at a time, which quarrel is worth the dive.

Creature Gill-Deep Water Goblin A gill-rimmed goblin of the drowned cave network who lives under the waves in chambers no chart has mapped, breathing the water as if it were air.

Creature Echo-Read Bat Man A folded-wing, grey-brown cavern kin who reads the echo and keeps the dark, the cavern's patient, territorial, and most certain voice.

Creature Feline-Grace Cat Man A lean, umber feline kin of the sun-warmth warrens who moves with the feline grace and keeps the open warrens, the tribes' quick, proud, and most certain eye.

Creature Fang-Hound The grey-blue warhound of the hold — 55 kg of loyalty that the orcs keep for the word, and that the word keeps for them.

Creature Dark-Sight Basilisk The thin, quick shape of the deep dark — small through the ridge, the eye wide and pale, the whole of it built to see what the stone will not light, and to spend a look the size of a whisper.

Creature Bridge-Spawn The young of the toll-trolls — grey-green and slow to anger, near-impossible to kill, and the only beast in the world that collects its own toll.

Creature Bitter-Distill Venom Goblin A fanged, gill-rimmed marsh goblin who distills the poison of the rust-colored fen and marks the warrens' still air with a bitter, green word.

Creature Bone-Read Gnoll A heavy-jawed, dry-brown hyena-packer of the bone-totem savanna who reads the bones and keeps the low totems, the steppe's aggressive, social, and most certain eye.

Creature Web-Set Bugbear A hulking, club-jawed swamp-ambusher of the mire who sets the trap and plans the kill, considering the swamp a debt the water owes them.

Creature Sonar-Sense Bat Man A folded-wing, grey-brown cavern kin who hunts by sonar and keeps the open caverns, the roosts' quick, patient, and most certain eye.

Creature Shadow-Word Cat Man A lean, slate-grey feline kin of the sun-warmth warrens who speaks the shadow word and moves through the dark as if it were a door left open.

Creature Scree-Wolf The thin grey wolf of the ruined hills — the goblin's partner in the long hunt, whose screech is the warren's horn and whose patience is the goblin's own.

Creature Peak Gryphon A lion-fleshed, eagle-winged guardian of the single sheer peak, whose silence is broken only by the oath and the word.

Creature Mire-Read Bugbear A hulking, club-jawed swamp-ambusher of the mire who reads the standing water by sound and shadow and treats the dry land as a place to avoid.

Creature Ember-Spear Fire Goblin A small volcanic goblin who breeds in the heat and fights with an ember-tipped spear, treating the caldera's slow magma lake as a hearth to be kept.

Creature Cavern-Sense Basilisk The low, broad wall of the dark — heavy through the ridge, the head low, the ivory gaze-ring wet and bright, built to sit still for a long time and spend one look that does not come back.

By Mark

animal (22) bat-man (2) bestiary (5) bittermire (1) bog-hollows (1) brook (1) bugbear (2) carnivore (22) cat-man (2) cavern (2) cavern-kin (2) drowned-warrens (1) eaglepeak (1) emberhollow (1) fang (2) feline-kin (2) fire-goblin (1) gnoll (2) guardian (1) mirehollow (2) pit (2) savanna-kin (2) venom-goblin (1) warren (2) water-goblin (1)