Part 14: Chaos Beasts

Part of the problem with chaos is that it ranges from low level mutated animals all the way up to godzilla with a grudge. Uroxi may be stinking, ugly, rude, and brutish, but it is always wise to remember that they fight things even the bravest of our thanes would cower from.

There are all kinds of Chaos Beasts. Check out the section on Chaos in the Original Post for more information on where Chaos comes from and why it's so deserving of our hatred. Thankfully I think our little corner of Dragon Pass isn't terribly overrun with Harpies, Scorpion Men, Ogres and Vampires, but there are some chaos beasts which pop up everywhere...

If we're very lucky, of course, Urox will take mercy on us and we'll never see hide nor hair nor hideous misshapen scale of chaos. Maybe we'll get some strange births or the odd omen, but hopefully nothing more.

If we're less lucky we might wind up with a Broo infestation. Broo are the offspring of the god of rape, horrible goat-headed brutes bearing the animalistic traits of whatever unfortunate womb they burst out of. They impregnate anything they can get their hands on with more Broo. They're not terribly difficult to kill, but if they get into your heard you'll have to put down a fortune's worth of cows in order to stop the infestation. They're also filthy creatures who worship Malia, the disease god, rubbing dung and filth into their fur as they enact their pestilent rituals, spreading plague across the land.

If we're unlucky we might stumble across a dread Walktopus. With the body of a man and an octopus for a head it is easy to take them lightly, but despite how silly they may seem, they can effortlessly tear through most unsuspecting warriors with their tentacles, each of which is stronger than the arms of any man. Rumors say that no matter how much you chop a walktopus up, it will just grow back and that only strong magics can truly destroy them. The Uroxi tell a tale of how Bad King Urgrain spurned the advise of a wondering Uroxi warrior and insisted that a walktopus be chopped up into a thousand pieces and dumped into a nearby lake. They say the next night a thousand and one Walktopi rose from the depths and descended upon the Tula, terrorizing the people until Urgrain was forced to beg the Uroxi Warrior to take mercy and help out. Furthermore, they spit poison gas. Which is gross.

I've heard rumors of some tulas in remote corners of Dragon Pass being attacked by Jack-o-Bears... but those things are to horrible to speak of and so I shant.

If we're very unlucky we'll have to deal with one of the formless, shambling masses that is a full and nameless chaos monster - so horribly misshapen in it's grotesqueness that it defies conventional description. If it helps, think of a Shoggoth. Though no two of these is ever the same they all bear a colossal hunger and hatred that no amount of slaughter can ever satiate. Stronger than most men can imagine and full of horrifying surprises, these abominations are such a serious threat that clans have been known to put aside old rivalries and join forces against them. Even that though, is often not enough. If we're so unlucky as to encounter one of these, then we'd best hope for the intervention of a strong team of Uroxi Warriors, and even then we'd still need a lot of luck.

There are rumors of even more powerful beings, named terrors so powerful they might as well be walking gods. Think of the monsters brave Elmal fought as he protected us throughout the great darkness. The Eater of Skin, the Maker of Bad Growth... but chaos is weaker now than it was back then. Such monsters appear perhaps once an era, and if we have any luck at all we shall not live through such times.

But of course, it is not healthy to dwell too long on Chaos. It is enough to know that it is abhorent and should be put to the sword wherever and whenever it is found. We, as Orlanthi, have no greater enemy. Remember that, but think of it no more.