BESTIARY

Welcome to The Bestiary, a living record of the creatures that inhabit Prism. 

Scholars dedicated to cataloguing Prism’s myriad fauna often claim their work is comprehensive. Yet the veteran explorers and dungeon-delvers of the Ruxus Guild would be the first to disagree, insisting countless creatures remain undocumented or even unseen.

This bestiary serves as the first line of defense for any traveler. Study its entries and heed the advice contained within. For those who would traverse the lands of Prism, foreknowledge is the best preparation. 

Quivtol Dire Wolves

Dire Wolves in Kurestal and Quivtol appear similar, but the Quivtol variety is distinguished by subtle differences. Quivtol Dire Wolves tend to sport thicker, more insulating coats in darker, earthier shades, often flecked or mottled to blend in with dense woodland. Their bodies are sturdier and more compact, with broader paws and bushier tails, which provide surer footing on rugged, mountainous terrain.

Across most of the world, Dire Wolves are regarded merely as creatures of the wild—but in Quivtol, the Aegles revere them as symbols of guidance and protection. They have been woven into Aegle culture for centuries, appearing in countless legends and folktales. At the root of these stories lies the earliest and most enduring legend: that of the Wolf of Wulfenwald—an unusually large Alpha Dire Wolf said to have guided Aegles through the forests of Sagacia during the Great War. 

According to the tale, the Wolf of Wulfenwald led a pack of Quivtol Dire Wolves to escort fleeing Aegle refugees during the Burning of Sagacia—a tragic event in which Humans unleashed magical fire that swept through the towering trees of Sagacia and the neighbouring Wulfenwald Forest. The flames razed rural settlements and Sagacia City, the ancient Aegle capital, raging for an entire week before finally subsiding. Throughout this devastation, the Wolf of Wulfenwald and his pack guided the Aegles safely up the Verstand Mountains to the Regalle Mines, where a small Aegle settlement had taken root.

The Aegles would go on to expand the settlement into a fortified stronghold, which would eventually become Regalle City, the new capital of Quivtol. With their home in Wulfenwald Forest lost, the Dire Wolves took refuge in the Wandron Woods at the foot of Verstand Mountain, where they have remained since—steadfast protectors of the Aegles and a formidable deterrent to all those who would dare threaten Regalle City.

Origins

In 1533, Princess Vega—who would one day wear the crown of Queen of the Aegles—and her lover, the Human Mage Altair, discovered that by combining their magic, they could achieve something unprecedented in either of their nations.

Vega possessed rare weaves in wind magic and the even rarer ability to extend those weaves to affect the mind. Altair could wield both yin and yang magic, achieving a delicate balance between the two, and he could also consistently tap into a narrow band of Aethal with almost surgical precision—together, these two masteries allowed him to access a highly specific application of spatial magic. By merging their powers, Vega and Altair discovered they could copy an individual’s memories into a portable form, which they would later call a Mind Hive.
 

Limitations

There is a limit to how many memories a single Mind Hive can contain; attempting to store additional memories—or even a single longer memory—requires multiple Mind Hives. 

These clusters of thought-fragments require regular upkeep by a skilled mage; without it, the stored memories gradually become unstable, fragmenting and suffering irreversible corruption. Severe degradation can cause a Mind Hive to go rogue. The thought-fragments of rogue Mind Hives are highly agitated, hurling themselves at intruders, their impact carrying the force of compressed thought and distorted emotions.  

Mind Hives are normally housed within the Great Library of Quivtol, but those that degrade and turn rogue may escape the confines of the Library’s walls. Any Mind Hives encountered outside the Library are certainly rogue and are often found in groups, moving and acting as a single collective. When defeated, they leave behind Mindhusks—physical remnants containing Aegle memories. However, depending on the extent of degradation and corruption, these memories may be irretrievably lost.

A Sad Ending

In 1535, two years after their discovery, Altair was banished from Regalle for harbouring a secret relationship with Princess Vega. He returned to Kurestal. Although he and Vega began exchanging letters—with the help of one Deneb Whitebeard, who carried the letters between Kurestal and Quivtol—Altair’s correspondence eventually stopped for reasons unknown, leaving Vega heartbroken.

In 1735, more than a century after his disappearance, a still-grieving Vega—now Queen of the Aegles—had accepted that Altair was truly gone. Determined to move on and focus on ruling her people, Vega stored her memories of Altair into Mind Hives and ordered Captain Reinhilde to destroy them.

Violetfair Treants

Gentle guardians of the Everwood Forest, Violetfair Treants emerge from seeds dropped by the Purplebark trees growing near the giant Everwood Tree—arguably one of Prism’s greatest magical wonders, known far and wide as the Tree of Life. Created by Violetfair’s founder, Relian, the Everwood Tree towers over the  logging town, its magic saturating the surrounding soil and gradually seeping into the Purplebark seeds. 

Though naturally peaceful, Violetfair Treants enter a frenzied state when they sense a threat to the Everwood Forest. In this state, they attack indiscriminately, unable to distinguish friend from foe, making them dangerous even to longtime Violetfair residents. 

One of the most severe recorded incidents occurred in 1836 AA, when a set of abandoned Summoning Cards began releasing wisps of dark magic. The spreading miasma caused the Treants to grow increasingly agitated and aggressive, for they perceived the dark magic as a threat to the forest. Matters grew worse when a Summoner named Razielle claimed the Cards as their new master, but a valiant Postknight came to the town’s rescue and drove her away, after which the Treants gradually returned to their normal, calm state.