☀️ Arselia and Akonia

Some creatures of the Dark Lands didn't quite fit into the general idea regarding biological changes, appearing as if they were something entirely different. Of course, I could be radically wrong about them, because even representatives of the T people, although considered superstitious phenomena of unclean forces, are in reality established to be merely a very specific artificial hybrid, bred by all known evil mages. But is the boundary between worlds truly so thick when speaking with regard to the Lands? I have no answer. Be that as it may, below I list the representatives I know of something not just distorted, but clearly possessing an ominous aura.

Shadows. One of the most dangerous spawns of the Dark Lands, clusters of some incomprehensible energy, and moreover, seemingly sentient. During my first encounter with a shadow, it tried to speak to me, or so it seemed, as the shadow's "speech" only vaguely resembled language, a certain combination of grinding metal and the sound of a broken brass instrument. Also, these sounds were very sharp and short, and the shadow itself was, apparently, an impulse-type anomaly: it was impossible to track its movement, at each moment it was in one place and motionless, and then it would be somewhere else. This is the only such anomaly that showed signs of sentience. And yes, after the attempt at dialogue, the shadow attacked me; it was a strong enemy, seemingly trying to tear the body apart from the inside. At that time, I had the sword "Guide," which I forged specifically for the Dark Lands; its bright light proved highly effective in battle, otherwise I might not be writing these lines. Afterwards, I encountered shadows again, but they seemed to start avoiding me, teleporting away. Well, the better for them. Kill count: 1.

Hellhounds/wolves. Black, the size of a large Great Dane, a maddened gaze, fiery breath, they run much faster than any horse. Often two-headed or three-headed. Strangely enough, they do not hunt in packs; at most, I've seen groups of two individuals. Usually, different types of monsters in the Lands are not averse to devouring each other, but I swear, the dogs deliberately ignore any local fauna except humans. Their favorite method is to suddenly attack travelers, and, grabbing one by the neck with their jaws, drag them off somewhere into the desert. When I myself encountered this situation and decided to pursue the kidnapper of my friend, I found the abducted person dead, his head burned out, but the hellhound was nowhere nearby: it seemed to have no interest in food, killing only for the sake of killing itself. Henceforth, we managed to prevent the worst outcome; a dog attack can be predicted if you know what sounds to listen for. Kill count: 7.

Oglers. Huge eyes with wings, their victims die from a cerebral hemorrhage. Moreover, just like with the dogs, oglers do not feed on the killed, instantly losing interest in them after their "victory," which suggests their unclean nature. Fighting them with closed eyes or using reflective surfaces (polished my bracers to a shine) is a time-consuming but effective method with almost guaranteed success; without their psychic attack, oglers can only bite, and their ability to bite through armor is frankly mediocre. Kill count: ~50.

Demons. The most obvious unclean creatures, their surrounding aura cannot be mistaken for anything else. Solitary. Sometimes accompanied by one or two hellhounds. Large horns, red skin, black armor, glowing eyes. They possess fire magic and combat techniques at an excellent level, often able to teleport. They hunt in the Lands, and yes, not monsters... They are encountered rarely, but these are very memorable encounters. I have also formed many hypotheses regarding their distant similarity to the cultists of the ES. Moreover, the blood and heart of these beings allow the creation of weapons and armor of an unprecedented level, but with the same aura of terror as their donors: in the Dark Lands, where everything already presses heavily on the mind, this was a serious drawback. Fortunately, not outside them, which I once took advantage of by going beyond the border and exchanging them for goods more necessary to me. Kill count: ~3.

Thus ends the section on unclean creatures, and we can return to other topics. Medusae. No, not women with snakes on their heads, rather a certain formless creature, almost entirely composed of tentacles. Size from several centimeters to three meters. Predator. Upon touching a victim, which can be an animal or a human, it causes a severe burn, similar to petrification, and then absorbs and dissolves it. Growing to maximum size, the medusa attaches itself to the ground and hardens, after a few days producing offspring in the form of small medusae (the parent medusa does not survive this process). Kill count: ~100.

Will-o'-the-wisps. Relatively harmless by themselves, although it's better not to catch them; it hurts. But what you definitely should not do is follow them: for some reason, some inhabitants have come up with the idea that eventually the lights will lead you to treasure, which is far from the truth. Nothing of the sort; after a while of pursuit, the wisp goes underground and almost immediately a fairly powerful explosion occurs, which not everyone will survive. Apparently, this is not a living creature itself, but some kind of anomaly in magical flows, a sign that it is best to stay away from this place.

Mimics. Oh, this is my favorite; I don't know what creatures they are and how they decided to imitate various useful things in the Dark Lands, and their diversity commands respect. Mimics can imitate almost any useful resource in the Lands; they disguise themselves as edible fruits (and would be happy to bite off your fingers, traveler), as harmless non-mutated animals (so, you see a cow grazing in a field, want to catch it, and it turns around and comes at you, with a toothy maw gaping on its side)... I don't know why, but mimics really do love to feed on humans, so they often disguise themselves as things useful to humans and attractive to our kind. Chests. Vessels. Wells with water. Doors. Even an entire hut can be a mimic: to spend the night somewhere not under the open sky, I had to first land a couple of blows with the Bonebreaker on the walls. Oh, and what about mimics in the form of armor on human corpses! A convenient hunting method: an adventurer approaches, searches, and is immediately eaten, and the mimic falls into a slumber awaiting a new victim. Kill count: ~200

Fire Salamanders. Very large, glossy-black animals with smooth skin, tails, and gills. Yes, yes, the skin is exactly smooth, not scaly; salamanders are clearly not lizards. They profusely sweat a highly flammable liquid, which they spray around in case of danger, and then ignite with a spark from friction (there are special growths on the fingers of their hind legs, striking like a flint). They themselves are not harmed by their own fire, but their enemies are. Salamanders are often present in and near certain bodies of water; excellent swimmers, and their flame is not extinguished by water. Predators, of course. Why do they need a defense mechanism in the form of fiery sweat if they don't always use it in hunting? See the next point. Meanwhile, kill count: ~50

Water Guardian. The large Lake K gives the impression of a calm and clear water surface from the outside, but this is a mirage and a deception. An indescribable creature dwelling beneath its surface, larger and stronger than anything else in the Dark Lands. The Water Guardian seems like a kraken with many tentacles, but their size is terrifying; no myths about giant squids and octopuses compare to it. Let's say a kraken is usually the size of a ship? A bit bigger, a bit smaller? Unlike krakens, the tentacles of the Water Guardian can appear simultaneously in two opposite parts of Lake K, i.e., at a distance of two kilometers from each other. The tentacles themselves are also unusual; there are far fewer than eight, at least forty, and at the ends they split into smaller tentacles, resembling fingers. The feeling is that the Water Guardian is a mutation of various duckweed, algae, and plankton fused into one huge organism, but I cannot confirm this. Usually the guardian is motionless, but it is very sensitive. As soon as a living creature touches the water to drink, it is grabbed in an instant. Salamanders live, among other places, in the mouth of the river flowing into Lake K, and must often encounter the Water Guardian... But it seems to me that their defense mechanism works well in this case, so the amphibians feel relatively comfortable. In terms of combat, I successfully fought the tentacles, using my speed, but I never figured out how to defeat the Water Guardian itself. Perhaps gather the sweat of several thousand salamanders? Sounded fun at the time, but not realistic. Thus, it is the only opponent in the Lands I have encountered that did not crack. Kill count: 0.

Giant Monitor Lizards. Adults up to ten meters in length from nose to tail tip; hunting them was extremely fun. Not just very strong, they are much faster than they first appear... But their reaction speed allows them to be trickily caught, and using rope traps to tangle their legs is also quite effective (but the rope must be very strong). Too bad they were encountered relatively rarely... Overgrown with lichen, these animals camouflage themselves as small hills in suitable places, periodically waking up to eat. Kill count: 4.

And also... Fungal monsters, fish monsters, multi-eyed cave monsters and so on, and so forth; they are countless, but in my opinion the list is already decent enough. In any case, as was said, it is the representatives of the species above that seemed to me the most well-understood and predictable. Based on the number of tortured critters, one can probably draw an obvious conclusion that I had quite a blast in the Lands, but here, firstly, what else is there to do, and secondly, it was often necessary, as the monsters multiplied no slower than I eliminated them. That is, on one hand, I had the hope of making the Lands safer in principle (well, not really successful), on the other, I feared that they would multiply and launch a raid on my village or other villages I knew. And yes, the practice of exploration showed that the population density of living humans drops sharply the further I move away from the patrolled, controlled surroundings, meaning my efforts are not in vain. On this very optimistic note, I will end today's excerpt for now; starting next time, I will move from a descriptive to a historical method of narration.

20 entries, if possible.

Alright, Aconia with him.

No, Aconia with Ayano.