Lore Spotlight: Maternal Creatures

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! We hope all mothers and mother-like figures in our lives are able to rest, recoup, and relax this wonderful weekend. To celebrate all mother-like figures, today’s Lore Spotlight deep dives into some of War & Aether’s most maternal creatures & monsters. Do you have a favorite memory with your mom or mother-like figures in your life? We’d love to hear more! Leave your story in the comment section below! Now without further adieu, this week’s Lore Spotlight…

The first maternal creature we’ll talk about today is an animal on the Planet Zale called an Arkilli.

An Arkilli is similar in form to a man-sized, earthly salamander. Adorned on it's back are a set of hardened, red scales. Jagged, pointed, and shaped almost like beautiful red crystal gems; running up from the back of it's tail all the way to the top of it's head, and creating two large, even more jagged gems that look similar to horns on top. The underside is a soft, tan underbelly that serves to coddle and warm their young. Arkilli are most often found blending in with the stoneworks of the underworld, but can on rare occasions be found in areas with high concentrations of aether, such as enchanted forests. They are a mildly territorial species, and highly protective of their young. But if attacked in the open, they are likely to simply flee back to their den. While Arkilli tend to keep to themselves and flee, they will fight if their home or offspring are threatened and fight to the death for their offspring.

The second maternal monster we’ll talk about is the most common Specter found in War & Aether, the Vengesh. 

These vengeful, angered spirits twisted by dark Aether seek to only kill humanlikes with little tact and attacking their nearest target. The Vengesh appear often as a twisted and faded form of the body they once inhabited, with the clothing they died with. Vengesh have something that tethers them in the material world; be it their home, their love, a family heirloom, their offspring, or so forth that was on their mind at the time of their death. Whatever the tether, the Vengesh's spirit remains attached by its thread. If the tether is a person, sometimes they will follow the person without harming them, but harming all who come near; other times they will simply kill the person and roam the material world freely until they are forced to the great beyond. Vengesh aren’t tied to this curse for all eternity though, one may free the spirit of the Vengesh by finding it's remains, and burning them.

Finally the last maternal creature we’ll talk about is a wild beast called Vyxen. 

Vyxen appear as a combination between bird, man, and serpent. A feathered body atop two bird-like legs, with two outstretched wings with grasping hands and sharpened talons at the end, glistening serpent-like scales covering the unfeathered parts of it's body, slanted serpent-like eyes that glow green in the dark, and fangs within it's mouth capable of delivering a paralytic venom. A Vyxen is a bond animal, finding a partner and staying with that partner for life. Creating multiple nests, and laying multiple eggs with the same partner. When a Vyxen's partner dies, they never partner with another Vyxen again. A lone Vyxen is often one who hasn't found a partner yet, or who's partner has died. Vyxen lay only 2-3 eggs a year; eggs that are considered a rare delicacy among the nobles of the Western Reaches. In the right markets, Vyxen Eggs could easily sell for 50 coppers each. But be warned, greedy traveler, for if you encounter a pair of two Vyxen they mean life or death. Working in tandem often to protect nests with eggs, and doing whatever it takes to keep their young from harm, pairs of Vyxen are capable of coordinating attacks and picking off weaker targets before moving on to bigger prey. If Severely Wounded, they retreat to their nest where they will fight to the death to protect their young. And though extraordinarily rare, it is possible to find a Vyxen Sanctuary. Sanctuaries, often in extremely difficult to reach places, are where several Vyxen pairs stay and collectively nest together. In these rare Sanctuaries, a Vyxen will not only defend their own eggs, but the eggs of the other pairs as well in one communal effort.

We hope you enjoyed this week’s Lore Spotlight that gave a deeper look into some of the maternal creatures in War & Aether. We hope you have a great Mother’s Day weekend and can celebrate with your mother or mother-like figures in your life! Do you have a favorite memory with your mom or mother-like figures in your life? We’d love to hear about it! Tell us more in the comments below and make sure you check back for all things regarding War & Aether.