Flora & Fauna
Unique plants, animals, and supernatural creatures that populate the world. How do they interact with civilizations? Are any domesticated or worshipped?
Malevolent Flora and Fauna
These plants, creatures, and supernatural beings deepen the world’s lore, create unexpected threats or allies, and define the ecosystems of Emberdown.
Emberbloom Trees (Fire-Forged Timber)
Trees with molten sap that glows at night and lights forests with a red-orange glow.
- Mountainfolk use the fire-resistant wood to make heat-proof armor and tools.
- The sap is dangerous but highly valuable and fuels clockwork forges.
- Kobolds see these trees as sacred and believe Dreadthorn gifted them.
Domestication and worship: Landfolk grow them in high-security groves, but kobolds often raid these areas, which leads to conflict.
Whisperwing Owls (Telepathic Messengers)
Large, snow-white owls with blue-tinged feathers. They communicate telepathically with their handlers and relay messages silently across great distances.
- Landfolk and Mountainfolk rely on them for covert military communication.
- Kobolds despise them and believe they carry the voices of their enemies.
- Each owl bonds for life to a single handler. If the handler dies, the owl goes mute and wild.
Domestication and worship: Hearthkin spymasters and scouts revere them. Kobolds fear them and believe that killing one curses an entire brood.
Rustbone Wargs (Corrupted War Beasts)
Hulking, rotting, canine-like creatures covered in rusted iron patches instead of fur. Their bodies decay and regrow, fueled by a strange necrotic energy.
- These beasts are war mounts for elite kobold raiders.
- Landfolk and Mountainfolk fear them, because their presence causes metal to rust and weapons to weaken.
- Warmancer and other war mastiffs can sense them from miles away by their unnatural stench.
Domestication and worship: Kobold cultists worship them and believe Dreadthorn’s curse created them.
Glassfang Basilisks (Crystal-Skinned Serpents)
Snakelike beasts with gemstone-encrusted hides that emit a high-pitched vibration capable of shattering glass and weakening armor.
- Artificers prize their shed crystals for clockwork enchantments.
- Mountainfolk hunt them for their hides, which make nearly indestructible scale mail.
- Kobolds train them as living siege weapons to break fortified gates.
Domestication and worship: Landfolk keep small ones as pets, but wild ones are too unpredictable to tame fully.
Cogmoths (Living Clockwork Insects)
Metallic moths with gearlike wings that naturally absorb ambient magic and static electricity. They generate small bursts of energy that can jumpstart dead clockwork machines.
- Landfolk farm them in massive glass aviaries and harvest their bioelectric charges to power experimental technology.
- Kobolds fear them, call them “lightning thieves,” and consider them bad omens.
- Some Mountainfolk believe Cogmoths are constructs left behind by the King.
Domestication and worship: They are used in city lamps, power sources, and secret technology experiments.
Doomspore Mushrooms (Mind-Warping Fungi)
Black-and-purple mushrooms that release hallucinogenic spores, causing paranoia and vivid waking nightmares.
- They grow in kobold-infested ruins, possibly as a defense mechanism or a test of faith.
- Mountainfolk use the spores to make anti-fear potions that neutralize their effects.
- Landfolk alchemists risk harvesting them to make potent illusion-based magic bombs.
Domestication and worship: Kobolds eat them to enter religious trances, believing it lets them hear Dreadthorn’s whispers.
Shroudstalkers (Shadow-Walking Beasts)
Panther-like creatures whose fur absorbs light and makes them nearly invisible. They move between patches of darkness like ghosts.
- Landfolk assassins and deep-dwelling clans use them as elite hunting companions.
- Kobolds offer blood sacrifices to them to gain their favor.
- They naturally disrupt light-based magic, which makes them deadly against enchanters.
Domestication and worship: Extremely difficult to tame, though a few have bonded with elite Hearthkin warriors.
Thornspike Striders (Forest Guardians)
Massive elk-like creatures covered in vines and thorny brambles that grow out of their bodies. They are symbiotically linked to old forests and act as natural guardians.
- They attack anyone who overharvests wood and are a menace to careless loggers.
- Kobolds fear and avoid them, believing they embody the King’s wrath.
- Mountainfolk respect them but avoid using their bones, which release poisonous pollen when disturbed.
Domestication and worship: Legends say druids once rode them into battle, but no living being has tamed one in centuries.
Bloodroot Vines (Living Parasites)
Sentient, red-tinged vines that attach to living creatures, burrow into flesh, and use their hosts to spread.
- Kobolds deliberately infect themselves as a sign of devotion to Dreadthorn.
- Landfolk burn entire forests if Bloodroot is discovered nearby.
- Mountainfolk have found a way to use the sap to make highly durable armor, though the process is extremely dangerous.
Domestication and worship: Kobold cultists worship the vines and believe they are Dreadthorn’s living veins.
Forgeborn Drakes (Elemental Metal Beasts)
Small, dragon-like creatures formed from molten metal. They absorb heat from the air, which lets them live in Mountainfolk forges but causes chaos in colder environments.
- Mountainfolk domesticate them to help maintain forge temperatures.
- Landfolk use them as living heat sources for mobile camps.
- Kobolds try to enslave them but often fail, because the drakes burn their captors alive.
Domestication and worship: Only the most skilled Mountainfolk smiths can form a bond with one.
Benevolent Flora and Fauna
These plants and creatures offer valuable resources, companionship, and mystical properties to the people of Emberdown, and they pose no threat.
Luminis Blossoms (Glowing Moon Flowers)
Delicate, bioluminescent white flowers that bloom only at night and give off a soft, silvery glow. Their petals drift like fireflies when caught in the wind.
- Landfolk braid them into lanterns that need no fire or fuel.
- Mountainfolk mix the petals into ink to make glowing blueprints for their underground forges.
- Kobolds avoid them, believing they expose hidden things in the dark.
Clockwork Crickets (Tiny Wind-Up Insects)
Small, mechanical-seeming insects that naturally produce rhythmic clicking like the ticking of clocks. No one knows whether they are truly alive or leftover remnants of the King’s old technology.
- Landfolk keep them in workshops, believing their ticking helps keep time for experiments.
- Mountainfolk follow the sounds as natural compasses for underground navigation.
- Kobolds are fascinated but confused and sometimes capture them as “holy relics” of Dreadthorn’s past.
Tinkerfish (Symbiotic River Fish)
Small, shimmering silver fish that follow travelers along rivers and leap out of the water when danger approaches.
- Landfolk consider them lucky and always feed them crumbs during travel.
- Mountainfolk use them to detect poisoned or stagnant water.
- Kobolds try to eat them, but they taste bitter unless cooked with special herbs.
Embercap Mushrooms (Self-Warming Fungi)
Bright orange mushrooms that generate their own gentle warmth and are often found in underground burrows.
- Mountainfolk cultivate them in mines to heat tunnels without fires.
- Landfolk brew them into a tea that wards off the cold.
- Kobolds sometimes hoard them in winter, believing they contain fire magic.
Thimblehorns (Tiny, Gentle Goats)
Miniature goats with coiled, brass-colored horns. They are highly intelligent and trainable, playful and affectionate, and often serve as messengers or therapy animals.
- Landfolk train them to carry letters and small supplies.
- Mountainfolk breed them for soft wool, which is spun into insulating clothes.
- Kobolds often steal them for food, but sometimes bond with them instead.
Silverreed Grass (Echo-Absorbing Plants)
Tall, flexible grass that absorbs sound waves and creates natural pockets of dead silence in open fields.
- Mountainfolk use it in deep tunnels to create quiet zones for secret conversations.
- Landfolk braid it into walls to dampen noise in busy workshops.
- Kobolds fear it, believing it traps the whispers of ghosts.
Starfruit Vines (Celestial-Inspired Fruit)
A rare climbing vine with midnight-blue leaves and gold-speckled fruit said to restore energy and clarity of thought.
- Landfolk eat the fruit during long work sessions, believing it sharpens focus.
- Mountainfolk ferment it into a rich, dark wine for religious ceremonies.
- Kobolds believe eating it lets them hear Dreadthorn’s voice more clearly.
Cloudtail Squirrels (Lightning-Chasing Rodents)
Bushy-tailed rodents with fur that builds static electricity. They attract small lightning strikes during storms and discharge the stored energy when startled.
- Landfolk use them as living batteries and keep them in enclosures near power stations.
- Mountainfolk consider them sacred, tiny messengers of the sky.
- Kobolds try to tame them but often get shocked in the process.
Harmonywood Trees (Singing Trees)
Rare trees with hollow trunks that whistle and hum naturally when wind passes through their branches, producing melodic sounds.
- Landfolk carve their wood into flutes and wind instruments.
- Mountainfolk believe the trees carry the voices of fallen warriors.
- Kobolds refuse to cut them down, believing they are haunted by spirits.
Glowdew Beetles (Firefly-Like Healers)
Small, gentle beetles that secrete a glowing gel with mild healing properties. When they land on an open wound, they apply the gel themselves to seal it.
- Landfolk keep them in medical kits as living bandages.
- Mountainfolk crush their shells and mix them into potions to enhance the potions’ effects.
- Kobolds see them as divine messengers and release them onto battlefields to “bless the fallen.”