Abominations are grotesque embodiments of dark curses and vile afflictions, walking nightmares brought to life through forbidden rituals or the malignant influence of cursed lands and ancient sciences gone wrong. These, sometimes, large undead creatures are twisted amalgamations of decayed flesh, bound together by dark magic and malevolent intent, appearing as horrifying patchworks of body parts from various creatures, often humanoid. Their pallid, necrotized skin is stretched taut over bulging muscles, and their eyes, if present, glow with a malevolent light, casting an eerie glow in the darkness. They move with a lumbering gait, twitching unnaturally as the dark magic that animates them struggles against the remnants of the souls they once were.
Created from curses festering in places of great evil or through necromancers’ twisted experiments, abominations are encased in makeshift armor of natural bone or crudely fashioned metal. Their arms may end in sharpened bones or massive cleavers, and they can expel corrosive bile that burns and poisons flesh. With terrifying strength and resilience, they are able to resist in most environments and survive even the direst curses or incantations. They possess an innate ability to see through shadows to find their prey and can use grasping chains to drag their victims close.
Abominations are not born, but generated from the darkest magic – curses born of hatred or loss, lands suffused with necrotic energy from past atrocities, or created by necromancers binding spirits to mutilated bodies. These creatures are monuments to the perversion of life and death, embodying the undying malice and corruption that fuel their existence, making them formidable embodiments of chaos and evil.
Abominations are not only terrifying manifestations of dark magic/science and corrupted flesh, but are also often found in the sinister company of necromancers, death knights, liches, and other formidable practitioners of sorceries dark arts. These powerful sorcerers are capable of creating (though rarely) or summoning abominations, binding these monstrous entities to their will to serve as guardians, enforcers, or soldiers in their ungodly pursuits. Once bound, abominations carry out the commands of their dark masters with relentless ferocity, making them a common and dreaded tool in the arsenal of those who walk the path of darkness and necromancy.
Automata are humanoid constructs of mad sorcerers and their ilk, the formulæ for the creation of which trace back to a bygone age when Atlanteans, Hyperboreans, Lemurians, and the Mu commingled sorcery and science. Strange wires, conduits, batteries, cells, and circuits are installed in many of these creations, though no two manuals of automaton creation de scribe precisely identical processes; alternative methods of creation were engendered by the ancients, but this is a lost science in rapidly decaying Hyperborea.
Semi-aquatic, predatory reptiles with long jaws and tails, short legs, and horny, textured skin. In Hyperborea, crocodiles scarcely are found about the main continent; they inhabit the tropical isles at the Rim of the World.
Elementals are primal, extra-dimensional creatures of spiritual or dæmonic power granted embodiment by sorcery, science, or the weird deific powers of other worldly and netherworldly beings. Often an elemental is assigned a task, and if long bound to it, it may succumb to madness or develop a potent species of resentment.
Beings of humanoid appearance, though of prodigious size, weight, and strength. Most are brutal by nature. Three species of giant are reckoned to thrive in Hyperborea.
A human with the ability to shapeshift into a rat-man, shark-man, wolf-man, or some other beast. Lycanthropes either purposely set out to become a were-creature, have been cursed by a witch (or other sorcerer), or the affliction stems from the bite or scratch from another lycanthrope. In most cases, transformations can be controlled, except for during full moon nights. Some sages suggest that transformations can be unwillingly triggered when the lycanthrope becomes severely agitated. N.B.: If a PC contracts lycanthropy, SEE LORE for more information.
A giant, serpentine amphibian of legend with ties to the elemental spirits of fire and ice.
Several snake species inhabit Hyperborea. The asp, python, rattlesnake, spitting cobra, and viper are some of the more eminent varieties. They typically hibernate during the winter years, except perhaps on the warmer outer islands, such as New Amazonia and The Lemurian Remnant.
Snakes of great size inhabit the dark corners of Hyperborea; whether their prodigious length is a natural development or the result of sorcery is a matter of conjecture. Except on some islands at the Rim of the World, these reptiles are less active during the winter years.
Sometimes considered a type of wood elemental, these strange beings typically dwell in ancient forests. Nearly all observed examples are conifers (e.g., fir, pine, spruce).
Marine mammals oft of prodigious size. Many lurk close to coastline of mainland Hyperborea during summer years and migrate close (sometimes perilously) to the Rim of the World during winter years.
The woolly mammoth is the only member of the elephant family known to thrive in Hyperborea. Two species of these massive, shaggy-furred herbivores are extant: the woolly mammoth and the woolly mammoth superior. Mammoth ivory, which is a rich yellow, is prized by some cultures, and tusks can fetch 100–600 gp apiece.
This is the undead, corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a human, humanoid, or quasi-man corpse. The most prevalent example is the standard zombie, but strange variations have been recorded, such as the gloom-eater zombie and the intestine zombie.
Throughout the Monster Tab, special indications are made for creatures that are otherworldly (Aberrations) and undead. This is because instances occur in which special rules or modifiers may come into play when these creatures are faced. For example, a ranger has special rules for facing the otherworldly (Aberrations), and clerics can turn undead as well as others such as DÆMONS.