Category: Gæa

This reptile was inspired by an old Viking Forge / Tabletop Fantasy / Asgard Miniature called “Land Dragon with Lizard Man Rider”.

These large bipedal beasts are not dragons at all, but rather large relatives of the Desert Walker, whom they resemble in many ways. They live in arid, open expanses such as deserts and semi deserts and are carnivorous. Although they live almost exclusively on fresh killed prey, they have been known to take carrion and even eat their own kind at times.

In the wild, these are solitary animals who only meet to mate. Males will often fight for supremacy when they do come into contact with each other. Land dragons are vicious beast who have been known to run down and devour many unsuspecting travellers

Their almost limitless endurance in hot climes has, like the desert walker, many of these large, horse sized lizards to be domesticated so as to provide mounts and, on occasion, to act as beasts of burden. They do not however make good draft animals as their tail, with its lethal bone spike tends to cause much damage to any wagon they are hitched to.

Due to the fact that the land dragon is so viscous, domestic ones are reared from egg. It is extremely rare to encounter one that has been tamed from the wild. Although they thrive in almost any conditions, bar sub zero arctic climes, they are most suited to warm, open places. Land Dragons average between an eleven and eighteen year life span and are oviparous.

The Land Dragon was initially defined on VII August MMII

This Hydra was designed long before I obtained the Elder Secrets box, which also contains details of a Hydra. Later on, I also noticed that the Monster Coliseum box has different statistics for a Hydra as well as the Glorantha Bestiary. This one is quite different to the others however, which I hope will mean that it is quite fun to come up against. It also gives any owner of a d30 an opportunity to use it.

This article assumes a quadruped creature and not the alternative serpentine bodied version.

Hydras are extremely rare terrestrial dragonoid creatures with many heads, that prefer to inhabit swamps and salt marshes (mangroves). Some hydras have however been encountered in river estuaries, shallows of lakes and jungle rivers. The most common ones have three heads but there have been tales of ones with seven heads. They are relatively intelligent and have the ability to breath fire and/or noxious gas. Hydras are solitary by nature and only converge for their infrequent mating.

he smaller wild hydras prefer to avoid confrontation with anything unknown and are likely to withdraw and hide if approached. They will fight however if they feel threatened or are attacked. Larger, intelligent hydras are more often than not in the employ of dragon kind or powerful sorcerers, drawing on their employers vast sources of knowledge in return for services rendered.

No one really knows where hydras come from. Some cults believe that they are the offspring between the dragon god and an unknown partner while sorcerer generally believe them to be the result of an arcane experiment. Shamans on the other hand know full well that hydras are manifestations of spirits, bonded together and trapped in the body of a serpent by a powerful shaman, centuries ago. The statistics below are for fully grown hydras.

These hydra statistics were first defined on MMVI July MMII.

A cave dwelling elfin subspecies. Encountered on many worlds, these malignant creatures have dwelt on Gæa for along time.

Goblins are a species of cave and underground dwelling humanoids. A degenerate form of elf, they prefer to dwell in caves, ravines and rocky land where trees do not easily grow. They despise elves, experiencing a racial obligation to battle them, and are despised and battled on in turn by elves. Generations spent stooped stooped underground have caused goblins to evolve into a far smaller stature than their tree dwelling kin. Their underground nature has led to them becoming adequate miners, resulting in the occasional skirmish as their mines encroach on the domain of other subterranean species.

When goblins do venture into the open, it is usually at night as they are easily demoralised in daylight, with only the hardiest of their kind being able to function normally diurnally. Their elven ancestry is not commonly known and most people view them as a sort of subspecies of orc, a misconception which orcs have been known to take exception to. While orcs will often enslave and sometimes even employ goblins, they hate them as much as elves and will not have a qualm with any action, which may result in the death of goblins.

Goblins come in many sizes, sometimes growing as tall, but not as bulky, as an average human, but they are generally of a far smaller stature. Although usually timid when alone, they can become most aggressive when encountered in numbers, an occurrence that their fast breeding readily facilitates.

Known for their mischievous ways, goblins are often blamed for any small thing, which may go wrong. As such, they are actively hunted to punish them for their misdeeds. They are not very intelligent and lack the ability to plan far in advance, often starving in winter as a result. They also routinely fail to maintain their weaponry, a fine sword in a goblins hand will be rusted and blunt to the point of being useless in a short span of time.

The depredations of orc slavers and other persecutors may keep their numbers in check, for if left to themselves for too long, a tribe will experience a population explosion, resulting in a migration akin to a locust swarm as the excess population leaves it mother tribe to search for a home where they can found a new tribe. Although extremely rare, goblin migrations extremely destructive as the massive number of goblins plunder the land they traverse in search of a new homeland.

See also Elves and The Lopsloss.

This take on goblins was first defined VIII August MMVIII

Inspired by the Land Dragon, the Wazzat Lizards from Snarf Quest by Larry Elmore and a characters need for a decent dog/pack animal suitable for travelling through the hot deserts of Northern Araktor.

These bipedal lizards live in arid, open expanses such as deserts and semi-deserts. They are fleet footed carnivores, but have been known to chew on succulent plants in search of moisture. In the wild, these are solitary animals who tend to group mainly due to local geography rather than any pack instinct. Desert walkers are curious, even tempered creatures, intent on investigating anything new.

The manner in which these creatures are almost docile has lead many of them to be domesticated. In the desert they are more efficient than a dog, to which they can be likened in size. Many are used as beasts of small burden, pets and even exterminators of vermin in plantations.

Although they thrive in almost any conditions, bar sub zero arctic climes, they are most suited to warm, open places. Should one be taken into a place where the desert walker can not see far, they will become unsettled and non co-operative to the extent that they will refuse to accept food. If kept in such circumstances for too long, they will surely perish. Desert walkers average between eight and thirteen year life spans and are oviparous.