Alter Aeon The Great Library

Welcome to the Alter Aeon Historical Archive!

Note - as with any topic, researchers should question the reliability
and veracity of these texts.  The library's aim is to preserve
documents, not verify accuracy.

AABN:  7808
Title: a book titled "The Beastmen"

This heavy book is made from bound pages of vellum. It is rather dry
reading:

From the deeps of time arose the Old Folk, Aalves of the Otherworld. Born
of the fruit of the Tree of Sentience, they were manyfold lovers of all
shapes, for some changed in hue and form to become estranged from their
kind. Yet others fell amongst demon-folk and became of a kind mingled, and
many were their offspring in the Spring of the World, servants of Razna the
Slaughterer. Mighty were the wars of Giant and Fey, Dragon and Demon, and a
many-sundered folk arose, kin of Men and Faerie and Beast alike.   Their
kinds of marked here, and what fragments of their history are remembered.

Those that go upon two legs:

Minotaurs - bull-headed men, bred in the the image of the Demon Lord Razna.
Strong they are, and they love their strength. From the Westering Isles to
the Eastern Ocean they were mercenaries of renown, for those with coin
enough to hire them. They are often found in mazes.

Fauns - these sylvan folk are most like men, with horns upon their heads
and the legs of goats. They live in small groups in the wilds, cavorting
with nymphs and dryads. All love music. A few live in settlements with Men,
Gnomes, Dwarves and other folk, and their long lives and skills oft allow
them to climb to high stations.

Ibixians - the goatfolk of the high mountains, nimble and strong. They were
most amiable with Gnomes and Dwarves, and can be found living near them.
They are the most numerous of all the Beastfolk, but their numbers never
approached that of Men. Their great lord, the Grimhorn, founded the village
of Yedil, using his fey powers to curse and scour his foes out from their
underground lair.

Kornbockes - scions of goatfolk and wicked fairies, they can be told apart
from ibixians by their hairless chests and arms. They take joy in the
suffering of others, and delight in dark arts. They build only the crudest
of settlements, and they steal and murder to survive. Some say the Zlatorog
is their father, while others claim they were bred by yakfolk, as such foul
creatures always seem to lurk in their midst.

Yikaria - none speak their vile name: they are called Yakfolk. Most like in
form unto minotaurs, they have great shaggy coats and long horns. They are
practitioners all of necromancy and demon-worship, reveling in the cult of
Razna. They settle nowhere nor are they builders, but they often dupe
groups of kornbockes and other wicked creatures into doing their bidding.

Those that go upon four legs:

Centaurs - fierce folk most curiously wrought, with a Man's body in place
of a horse's head. They are masterful craftsmen, and superbly skilled with
bow and blade. Some are revered as sages, while others are wild savages,
brigands and raiders. Their great leader Skerrit founded their primary
village near the Northern Ocean.

Kameltaurs - like unto centaurs, but they have a camel's body in place of a
horse. They are known from but one savage tribe in the far south, where
they mingle freely with centaurs.

Lamias - these are like centaurs, but with the bodies of great hunting cats
or other beasts of prey instead of horses. They are savages all, hungering
for the flesh of Free Folk.