Diversity of species

Fragments from the Tree of Life

Tem is teeming with life. Sages have wrestled with understanding the multitude of life forms for centuries. The adjacent illustration, prepared by Mst. Dorn Pagen of the University of Coth-Rom, shows the tree of life with a few example species listed.

Some of these species are highly advanced, i.e. they worship the Gods, are adept with magic, are capable of reasoning, and create art. These include humans, nar, schild, nis, galub, trollocs, and centaurs.

Other species are beasts and monsters: they don’t worship the Gods, are incapable of moral reasoning, and exist only to procreate and die. These include slimes, kuo-toa, griffons, thri-kreen, troglodytes, giants, gorns, and ogres.

Humans

Approximately half of the land area of Kalderesh is occupied by humans; the current adult population is about 3 million. Kalderani are of Janee stock, and generally resemble Malantheans. There is, of course, diversity of appearance, but on average, Kalderani have darker skins and straight brown or black hair.

The adjacent diagram shows the range of skin, hair, and eye colour of humans on Tem.

Superficial human features

Non-humans

The remainder of the land – mainly mountains, rough hills, and swamps – are dominated by various humanoids and monsters. Commonly found creatures include groks and skrags. Less common are trollocs, scrugs, rhuks, orogs and night hunters. Rare creatures include centaurs, iku, and giants.

This rather small variety of native non-humans are summarised in the adjacent table. An unknown number and variety of other creatures and monsters have also made their way here. Because of the well-patrolled Royal Road, these beasts are rarely a threat.

Interview with Tomass Graff, Monster Hunter for hire, Coth-Rom
Where do monsters come from, you ask? Well now, life’s a bit like a drink, isn’t it? You enjoy a good mead or bottle of wine, ey? So, take a barrel of water. Good stuff on a hot day. But sorta boring. Now, throw in some barley, close it up, say a prayer to Qidra, and leave it. Eventually, when you open it up, it’s become beer! Now, if you leave that for too long, do you know what happens? It goes sour. Pretty disgusting! Tastes like piss and vinegar. And if you leave it even longer, it goes really bad, in fact, it becomes a deadly poison. Or, if you’ve got a more refined taste, then consider that water is used to make wine, but if that goes bad, you get vinegar, and intensified vinegar is pure acid.

So that’s where monsters come from. See, you and me, us humans, we’re like wine and beer, mostly water, and made by Qidra to perfection. But then, there are those bad apples that went wrong and you end up with deadly poison and acid.

That’s what the monsters are: corruptions of people. That’s why I hunt them down and kill them.

Table: Major non-human populations in Kalderesh

location	creatures
FORESTS
Great Forest of Harl	trollocs, scrugs
Forest of Kreth	giants
Hemden Forest	centaurs, giants
Forest of Kascht	shedu
Michaelwood	trollocs, giants
Wetwoods	skrags
WETLANDS
Barban	gorns
Daern	gorns
Kirvan	flind, groks
Krethes	gorns, scrugs
Toreen	flind, gorns, trollocs
Grey Swamp	iku
PLAINS
Barban	trollocs
Kirvan plains	trollocs, scrugs
Toreen plains	trollocs
MOUNTAINS
Barobur Mountains	giants, groks, skrags
Krethes Mountains	giants, gorns, groks, skrags
HILLS
Barobur Hills	giants, groks, skrags
Krethes Hills	giants, gorns, skrags

Creatures of myth, legend, and fantasy

Interview with Professor O. L. Draven, Associate, Bhez-Rizma Institute, Coth-Rom
What happened to the creatures of myth, you ask? Why, nothing! They still exist. A creature of myth cannot die. A myth is believed to be true, by the people who tell their stories. It’s not about the creature, it’s about what it means or represents. The story is true, not the thing. So it doesn’t make any sense to “prove that a myth is true” – it is already assumed to be true, and nobody who tells its story, doubts it. To look for a mythical creature, is pointless. Does a “mythical creature” physically exist? Maybe, maybe not. Who cares? The creature isn’t the point. “Myths are dreams and nightmares of what used to be”, to slightly misquote Fr. Cannon (M.Div.) of Nubanon.

King Maynard is not a mythical being. The Seven are not mythical beings. They actually exist! Hundreds of people have seen, heard, and walked with King Maynard. Billions of people have seen, heard, and walked with the Gods. And ogres, trolls, and centaurs are not mythical beings. Not many people have seen them, and even fewer have walked with them. But there is ample evidence of their tangibility.

A vampire is a mythical being. It represents the unknown, the dangerous, the evil. It takes your blood, the essence of your life, to feed itself. The story of the vampire is a warning. Life starts, flourishes, and ends. And to attempt to go on beyond life, will cause suffering, terror and destruction amongst the innocent.

Jadu is a mythical bogeyman, living in deadly swamps, old mines, and many other deserted places. It appears as either an old, withered man, or a handsome young woman who walks with a limp, depending on who is telling the story. Jadu catches children, the elderly, and foreigners, taking them to its lair for eternal torment. Jadu represents the fear of unknown places, and acts as a warning to the vulnerable to not stray into unfamiliar territory. 

The dragon is another famous mythical being. It is a snake-like reptile that can fly, wields magic, and can destroy a city. It symbolises ultimate power, with terrifying abilities, built on things we are already afraid of: snakes, impossible attack from above, being grabbed up and carried away, destructive magic, and a sinister nature. It is an eternal warning to emperors, kings, and masters, that there is something more powerful than them. 

According to Myths and Legends of Brundonica by Arjel Barre and Aelyssa Walls, these are the three most common creatures which appear across cultures of the continent. Barre & Walls note, in an appendix, that the Druids of Brundonica appear to have very different mythical beliefs, but they do not elaborate on that remark.