Essay: Of Myths and Monsters, by Elenea Heenan-Ortoro

What are monsters? This seemingly simple question has plagued researchers and common people alike, as all systems to understand them has been thwarted by samples that destroy any theories made. For example, logic would dictate that monsters, like men and animals are, would be strongest in places of high background magic. And indeed, in almost every unclaimed highly-magical area monsters are both more common and more powerful than other areas. In fact, there is almost a perfect correlation between monster strength and density with the background magic strength and density. This has been proven so conclusively that there were many theories created stating that what seperates monsters from men and animals is that while we are affected by the background magic, monsters inherently are magical. And again, this seems to hold true. Many monster parts, especially those taken from highly-magical areas, are used as components in spells and potions. So far, so good. However, where this theory falls apart is that of the so-called Badlands, the areas where the background magic is exceedingly low. Rather than containing little to no monsters, these areas are often populated by some of the strongest and most dangerous monsters. Proponents of the magical monsters theory state that these are the extreme cases, where a monster is somehow absorbing so much magic that it is creating the low magic area itself. However, this has been impossible to prove, with the areas remaining as low magic areas after the monster is killed or removed and the parts of these monsters seem to contain virtually no magic. It is therefore hard to see how this theory could be accurate if looked at logically.

Perhaps then, we should look at this by seeing what we do know for certain and make conclusions from that. Unfortunately, there is sadly little that we confirm holds true for all monsters. What we do know is that they are universally aggressive to men. While the weaker monsters will typically hold back if they feel threatened, all monsters will attempt to injure and kill men if they think they can do so, regardless as to whether they will eat them or not. There have been multiple attempts to pacify and tame monsters, but none have worked. All monsters will attack men if they can. Many people who have experience fighting monsters have claimed that it seems to go beyond mere animal aggression and is more similar to rage or even hatred. There have even been recorded cases of a monster stalking large groups of men for multiple days in order to kill anyone it can get to safely. In one particularly grusome case, an Orkanza stalked a group for a week, killing anyone who ventured away from the group by themselves and did not eat the bodies. What makes this particular case stranger is that the group estimates they travelled near to 100 miles before it stopped stalking them.

Another thing that can be confirmed of all monsters is that they have similarities to men or animals. For example, the Gobist appears very much to be a deformed bird, while the Equigare bares physical similarities to the common horse, although the tentacles that make up its mane are often described as particularly repulsive. In keeping with this, the Homegares are man-shaped, but with a wide range of possible differences, ranging from skin colour and texture, to physical deformations of limbs and head, to in extreme cases additional limbs. There is currently debate if there is in fact multiple species of Homegares or they are all the same species with individual deformations. Unfortunately, there has been no conclusion to this, as all attempts to observe them, either in their natural habitat or in captivity have resulted in the Homegares attacking all observers, or attempting to do so until their bodies break if they are restrained. As part of researching this topic, I had the opportunity to observe a Homegare that had been brought back for study under heavy sedation. As soon as it became aware of its surroundings it pushed against its bindings so intensely that it fractured its bones. It then continued to do so until its body went into some form of trauma, which resulted in it dying soon after. During this time, I observed it's expression, which never onced changed from what I perceived to be intense hatred for all the men around it.

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Finally, all monsters only show such hostility to men. Animals are, with certain exceptions, spared this hostility. The only animals that encounter such agression are domesticated animals that have a strong bond with their owners. How the monsters sense this is not entirely clear, but there have been recorded instances of monsters infiltrating herds of horses to kill favoured individuals, while they will hunt down mercilessly any dogs that they encounter. Again, this is only domesticated animals, with wolves spared this animosity overall. The only cases where this does not hold true are wolves that were tamed as pups, although many make the argument that at this stage they are more like dogs than wolves. One thing that this does seem to show is that it is the bond between the animals and men that makes these animals targets. With regards to monsters and animals, monsters can be bred with animals, as long as this is done logically. An Equigare can be bred with a horse, but would not do so with a wolf, or even a deer. Now, while this has been achieved in captivity, the offspring of these matings will bare the hostility to men. It is only after a second generation has been bred from these animals that the hostility stops being an issue. Of course, given the inherent difficulties in doing this, few people bother to do so, which is unfortunate, as the resulting animals are superior to more natural cousins in every way imaginable, with some breeders of these animals claiming that they are even superior to the monsters themselves. As the evidence for this is purely anecdotal, this topic is being ignored for now.

Unfortunately, that is all that has been able to be proven about monsters. While there are many things that hold true for some monsters, nothing else has been proven. Influence of magic, grouping habits, even magical abilities seem to vary without logic between species and in some cases between individuals. An important note here is that this is magical abilities, not using magic. No monster has ever been shown to use a spellform in the way that men do, regardless of how powerful their magical abilities are. This is important to remember, as many magic users have found to their cost, in that these abilities are not vulnerable to the same sort of disruption that spell-forms are, although barriers to prevent the effects of spells seem to work in the same way. It has been hypothesised that the monsters are using the background magic directly to power these abilities, although no physical method for doing so has been confirmed in the monsters, nor have efforts to replicate these abilities proven successful.

Now, while we have discussed monsters that are known to exist, we have not addressed the myths. While some particularly famous species of monsters, such as dragons, are known to exist, they do not do so here. The establised belief is that these mythical monsters existed at some time, but have all died out due to the spread of men. This seems supported by the fact that what purported sightings there have been have all been in proximity to extremely isolated areas where men do travel to. Whether these myths in fact still live or not, it seems safe to accept that the age of supernaturally powerful monsters, the dragons, the krakens and chimeras is over and now is the age of man. Whether or not any individuals of these species still exist, it seems certain that they no longer rule this land.