Eoraptor
Taxonomy: Scalekin (Raptor)
Description: Named for their immense speed, raptors such as these dwell in arborial regions and hunt in packs, employing surprisingly intelligent tactics in their pursuit of prey. Their attacks have been increasingly focused on spoken.
Capabilities: These particular raptors were able to emit ‘frost breaths’, gusts of what seemed to be air and saliva frozen into a harmfully cold haze.
Etymology Notes: Eoraptors were real dinosaurs, named for the latin word for dawn, eos. This was in reference to the fact that the eoraptor was one of the earliest dinosaurs to evolve.
The Coeurls
Taxonomy: Beastkin (Coeurl)
Description: Coeurl are beastkin native to the Near East, and are famed for both their savagery and ability to channel lightning-aspected aether through the long appendages attached to their face. They have made their way to Vylbrand via smuggling, which explains how some might escape inland and find its home within the Longstop. As well as typical coeurls, there was a fearsome breed known as the torama present.
Capabilities: According to the adventurers that slew the beasts, they were able to unleash energy from their whiskers in a ‘blaster’ technique, while the torama could do the same to produce a field of concentrated electricity known as the ‘charged whisker’.
Etymology Notes: Coeurl have an interesting etymology, actually being named for a fictional alien race from various pieces of fiction written by A. E. van Vogt. This race has gone on to adopted by the Final Fantasy series, as well as others such as Dungeons & Dragons with their displacer beasts, and Guild Wars with their colocals. The torama were named for a conjunction of ‘tora’ or tiger and ‘ma’ or demon, a name that was coined by the franchise early on, likely to avoid copyright issues with Vogt, although in this context it likely merely signifies that the creatures are more fearsome than their cousins.
The Illuminati Armed Forces ☠
Taxonomy: Spoken (Goblin)
Description: A scattered, nomadic beast tribe proficient in their own form of tinkering as well as merchantry, goblins roam Eorzea achieving their own mysterious goals. The Illuminati fielded a number of forms of soldiery, from simple soldiers and footmen bearing axes and suits of armor to a commander who bore heavier plate armor and used a number of bombs to defeat their foes. This leader-figure was unusually large, perhaps due to aetherological overcharging caused by Illuminati science. Amongst the more innovative troops fielded, however, were the gliders, troops that employed the use of fueled (likely by ceruleum) artificial wings, allowing the troops a limited measure of flight, letting them swoop down upon their foes with daggers drawn. The technological prowess of the Illuminati extended to their marksmen, who wielded pistols as well as a shortswords.
Etymology Notes: The Illuminati draw their name, of course, from the Illuminati, a German secret society from the 18th century that enjoyed some influence in their homeland, aiming primarily to promote a rational mindset and oppose religious and governmental abuses, eventually coming to an end in the 1780s although their name has continued to enjoy a status of scapegoat in conspiracy theories both old (including that they caused the French Revolution) and new (such as that they control the world from behind the scenes, despite this being entirely against their stated purpose). Indeed, the Illuminati of Eorzea are a secret society that prizes knowledge and patronizes the sciences.
Gully Galago
Taxonomy: Beastkin (Opo-opo)
Description: Opo-opo are communal creatures that gather underneath a single dominant member, they are famed for their agility and dexterousness. These small beastkin are capable of thriving both on the ground and in the trees, and have become a common farming pest, picking fields clean when they grow hungry.
Raveled Raincatcher
Taxonomy: Seedkin (Ochu)
Description: Ochu originate in Aldenard, the continent on which Eorzea exists, and are some of the landmass’ foremost predatory plants. Their favored prey is small animals and insects, which they bludgeon after luring them in with sweet scents. The ochu will then digest the living yet comatose creatures over a number of hours.
Capabilities: The ochu are capable of emitting a worrying haze of acidic vapor, nicknamed ‘acid mist’ by the adventurers that cleared the Longstop.
Etymology Notes: The word ravel means to untangle, likely a reference to the tendrils of this particular ochu and the ‘raincatcher’ part of its name almost certainly refers to the plant gathering water in its maw when it rains, in lieu of roots.
Painted Colibri
Taxonomy: Cloudkin (Colibri)
Description: Colibri do not actually eat meat, despite their extreme aggression, instead sipping on nectar using their curved beaks. They are proficient mimics of various forms of sound, and have a latent obsession with shiny objects such as gems or gil, which they instinctually try to swallow on sight.
Magitek Vangob G-III ☠
Taxonomy: Forgekin (Magitek Vangob G-III)
Description: Essentially a reverse engineered Garlean vanguard augmented with goblin ingenuity, the vangob could operate either remotely or by a direct operator.
Capabilities: As one might expect from a modification of the classic vanguard model, this construct was able to unleash ‘drill cannons’ and spread puddles of ceruleum across the area, combusting them with an ‘oversurge’ of its systems.
Gobbie Beak
Taxonomy: Scalekin (Ziz)
Description: Speedy creatures, the ziz is not capable of flight but can cover ground at a rapid pace with its powerful legs and sharp claws. They are also often capable of exhaling poison. These particular ziz drew their name from their domestication by the goblins of the Illuminati.
Gobmachine G-VI ☠
Taxonomy: Forgekin (Gobmachine G-VI)
Description: An impressive example of goblin engineering, while most machina use artifical limbs for locomotion the gobmachine instead uses tracks to allow it to function in all manner of terrains and conditions. This fearsome creation also employed highly adaptive and powerful cannons able to function both as artillery and guns for active combat. Surprisingly, the gobmachine was originally built for construction purposes before being repurposed as a weapon of war, and one of the Illuminati’s finest at that. The machina was piloted by Stopklox Grislyfist, a leader amongst the Illuminati tasked by their superiors to retrieve the secret cheese knowledge stolen by Brayflox.
Leave a Reply