#bestiary 2

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Book Review: Bestiary 2

It’s been a bit, but we’re finally back to these book reviews, and we’re finally talking about the next bestiary book!

Last time we focused on a bestiary, it was the first one, which established a lot of the vibes for the system as an inheritor of D&D 3.5, but at this point, the system had been out for a few years, more time was given to ironing out some of the major setting concepts, a whole new book of classes was now out, and the system was ready to start establishing it’s own identity, and one of the best ways to do that is with some iconic monster designs.

When we did the first bestiary, I alluded that each bestiary book has it’s own selection of themes. In the case of the first, it was mostly converting 3.5 over along with a heaping helping of monsters unique to the world of Pathfinder.

As we’ll soon see, this time we’re looking at a lot of cleanup from 3.5, others converted from other OGL-compliant sources, a heaping helping of folklore and fiction critters, some delightfully expanded established Pathfinder critters and also filling out some notable missing gaps in the cosmology.

Much like it’s predecessor, this book is pretty well organized and clean, what with individual monster entries taking up one or two pages at the most.

While the first bestiary covered a lot of the stuff they were legally able take from the 3.5 Monster Manual, they didn’t get all of it. Most of the newer conversions of those monsters are found in this book, rounding things out. Everything from Blink Dogs to the Bodak (which has a frankly stellar and spooky illustration. Sure hope they remember how good that looks in 10 years and don’t replace it with a frankly boring visual design), Destrachans, Frost Worms, and so on. Much like last time, these creatures have retained a lot of their character from the 3.5 days, but with new illustrations giving them a very different visual vibe and with their stats balanced for what they were meant to be and the system they were in.

However, they didn’t just borrow from Monster Manual, but also from the other, lesser-known OGL product, the Epic Level Handbook, drawing upon creatures like the Neh-Thalggu and Winterwights. Admittedly these monsters have been considerably toned down compared to their original intent as creatures to be faced beyond the confines of level 20. We even get to see a return of the Worm that Walks, for you Age of Worms lovers out there.

Going beyond the limits of 3.5, however, the are a lot of monsters in this book that draw upon the full history of D&D, not just the parts that Wizards of the Coast have the legal rights to. This surge of old school monsters was helped along by the heavy use of taking monsters from the Tome of Horrors by Frog God Games, which was a bunch of 3.5 conversions of 1st and 2nd edition monsters that WoTC never bothered to do anything with. It happened so often that Tome of Horrors released a PDF-only Revisted compilation of all three books updated for use in Pathfinder! And so, Pathfinder in turn launched their own “official” versions of some of those monsters, leaving the more original ones alone. Creatures like Crypt Fiends, Forlarren, Gloomwings/Tenebrous Worms, Hangman Trees, Skulks, Slurks, and more.

Of course, the book also has it’s fair share of new faces too. Some horrifying and/or tragic, like Attic Whisperers and Totenmaskes, some drawn directly from Adventure Paths like Pathfinder’s take on the Bunyip, or from scifi and fantasy fiction, like the Carnivorous Blob, and some straight out of mythology, like Scylla and Charybdis!

We even get a full set of five new dragons in the form of the elemental-bound Primal Dragons (the Cloud Dragon of which I have a special affinity for). Lesser draconic threats in the form of drakes are also present, as well as new beings like the D’ziriak and also our first introduction to whole new playable ancestries like the elemental planar scions, dhampir, and so on.

Speaking of dragons, the book also gives us Pathfinder’s own answer to the dracolich in the “powerful undead dragon” department in the form of the Ravener, which plays very differently than just “lich, but it’s also a dragon”.

We also get new giants and golems that are more interesting than just “giant but they live here” or “golem but made of this material” (I mean yes, that’s technically what they are, but their abilities and characterization have more nuance.) And gremlins! Originally seen in the Legacy of Fire AP, now we have an entire menagerie of horrible little fey miscreants.

Additionally, the book also has several creatures straight out of the Cthulhu Mythos, thanks to the Call of Cthulhu game creators being cool about the otherwise public domain horrors used in their system.

We also get plenty of expansions to the lore with the likes of the Jabberwock joining two other original “Tane” monsters, which are equally weird, as well as new entities like jyoti and scaenduinar, and the like of mothmen making the world of the setting that much weirder (Still would have preferred the spooky giant glowing eyes version over monster bugman, but we can’t have everything)

Perhaps the last big example to note, however, is how they handled the new outsiders. The first bestiary converted a lot of stuff from the 3.5 monster manual, but not all of it. Among the previously established stuff, we finally got guardinals (renamed to be called agathions), as well as inevitables, both of which also got some new, Pathfinder-unique additions along with the previously-established outsider types from book one.

However, we also got completely new (and relatively new) critters as well. Aeons appeared as the new true neutral outsider as the agents of pure balance (before they were sidelined by psychopomps being legitimately more interesting), as well as proteans, the completely new serpentine outsiders that outright replaced the slaad of 3.5, and were frankly just more interesting. Let’s face it, aside from power sets they were literally all just frog men that reproduce literally like a disease and didn’t really actually serve chaos in any meaningful way.

Less new, however, were daemons, which were basically taken from the Tome of Horrors interpretation of old school D&D yugoloths, but now with a new vibe of being representative of different ways to die horribly as the agents of total cosmic death.

Truly, I could go on with the monsters of this book all day, but let’s move on.

The art in this book is pretty stellar. Once again, the cover features three (actually five in this case) monsters that do a good job of giving you an idea of the power levels and theme of the monsters in the book, with a mighty jabberwock burbling menacingly alongside a keketar protean and jinkin, pugwampi, and vexgit gremlin. Meanwhile, inside the art for each creature helps establish a clear vibe for all of these iconic monsters that would come to become staples of the game. And nobody would come along a decade later and replace them with vastly inferior designs. (*hugs the bodak, derghodaemon, and nightshades protectively*).

Overall, if Advanced Player’s Guide was the book that started making the player-oriented side of Pathfinder feel like Pathfinder, then his book is much the same for the monster side of things. Sure, it had a lot of monsters taken from D&D and other gaming sources, but it also introduced us to a lot of new concepts and critters that would go on to establish the product identity of the game. This is also the book where we first start seeing a lot more monsters that take actual inspiration from folklore instead of just taking a name from an encyclopedia of mythology and designing a monster based on vibes like what D&D tends to do with anything outside of western civilization folklore and whatever media was the new hotness at the time of writing.

There isn’t a lot I can say bad about the book, on the other side, though if you find yourself uncomfortable with monsters that are basically naked women, there is some art of that in this book too, but less so than the previous bestiary. I’m not personally bothered, but I understand some might be. I think the only thing that really bothers me is how some of these great visual designs for monsters were left by the wayside when the successor books in 2e came out, but that’s not an issue with the original book itself.

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Roleplaying Races 7: Fetchlings

 Exodus changes a people. Nowhere in the Golarion setting is this more true than with the Azlanti humans, who spawned not one, but five different entire other races in the events after Earthfall. None ended up being more alien, however, than the ones called fetchlings.

Calling themselves the kayal, these people chose to use the Shadow Plane as their method of fleeing the oncoming apocalypse, but became stranded there for generations. There in the darkness, they became infused with the quasi-real otherworldly energies and matter of that place, becoming an entire other species.

What’s more, many became beholden to the kytons, or velstracs, that make the plane home, alternating between victims, servants, and worshippers. Regardless of their relationship with the shadow fiends, they now exist on the fringes of mortal society, dwelling in the shadows, serving as a literal bridge between the material and the shadow, oftentimes as merchants, carrying goods exclusive to one realm to the other. Meanwhile others have their own reason for dwelling in one or the other.

 Fetchlings, being of human stock, resemble humanity through a shadowy lens. All bright color has been washed from their bodies, their skin ranging from ashen to pitch black, with their hair ranging from white to gray, though some dye it black, or even bright colors, particularly those dwelling on the material plane. Meanwhile, their pronounced eyes have no visible pupils, and seem to luminesce from within, glowing a shade of yellow or yellow-green, with a rare few dipping into green or blue-green.

It isn’t just color that marks their differences, however, their bodies tend to be slight and lithe, bordering on fragile, despite whatever wiry strength they might possess.

 Like humanity, the kayal are of diverse and varied disposition, as well as being extremely adaptable. However, the fact that between the kytons, the nihiloi, the shai, and other shadow denizens, the kayal have never really self-governed on the shadow plane has affected their outlook. As such, fetchlings are liable to cowtow to powerful figures, even if they have no loyalty to them. Even without such influences, they tend to be insular, gathering in small, concealed communities while doing their best to fit in with social norms around them.

That isn’t to say they are spineless, however. Given great injustice or wickedness they can overcome their pragmatism to fight back against tyrants and exploiters alike.

 Fetchlings are agile and passionate, but prone to distraction and an unquiet mind.

At home in the shadows, their combination of dark and dull coloration and the way darkness clings to their forms makes it hard to figure their exact position within a space, even when foes can see them.

As beings of shadow, kayal resist extreme cold and electrical discharges quite well.

Their nature also makes them naturally proficient in staying hidden, and in understanding the planes of existence.

They also possess innate magic that improves and expands as they master themselves. At first, they can conceal their appearance behind illusions, but later, they can dip into the shadow plane to travel long distances, or even fully transfer between the material and shadow.

As one might expect, they also have exceptional night vision, not only able to see in total darkness, but also see more at the edges of light sources.

 Of course, fetchlings are not a homogeneous group, and have plenty of variation, like those that more resemble mortals due to being more strongly bonded to the material plane, those that are resistant to light and shadow magic, are inundated to fear, are professional diplomats, those who can make their forms shimmer and shift, those that use their innate magic to avoid conflict, have greater control over shadow magic, use magic to alter memories and hide their presence, can guide others to the shadow plane rather than just themselves, possess an unnerving and fearsome gaze, and those more knowledgeable about the material plane and it’s environments.

 Whether your fetchling character is a servant of a greater power or someone seeking to escape such servitude, the weight of that history might crop up at any time, and your character’s relationships may be divided into those they are loyal to, those they pretend to be loyal to, and those they actually trust. Given their shadowy powers, any number of sneaky classes make good fits for them, as do any darkness-themed mages, particularly sorcerers or bloodragers of shadowy bloodlines. However, those are hardly the only choices, and you’ll have a lot of options for characters that favor the dark, or play with the dark and the light.

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Roleplaying Races 7: Oread

 Fortitude, patience, resoluteness… all of these things are associated with the element of earth, and few places is this more abundantly seen than in the elemental beings that reflect and dwell within that element.

Like all such otherworldly spirits, however, their influence leaves its mark on the material plane, including in the lives of mortals, giving rise to those blessed by the element of earth, everything from sorcerers to oracles to geokineticists… but sometimes this power manifests in the very flesh, giving rise to the elemental planetouched called oreads.

The name oread comes from a legendary fey creature, a nymph said to dwell in the mountains, a counterpart to dryads and the like. This is likely because unlike the sylph and undine, the classic elemental of earth for alchemy, the gnome or gnomide, is already used as a name for another race, similar to how ifrit is an alternate spelling of efreet, because “salamander” was already taken.

In any case, oreads are born from the union of earth elemental energies and mortality, either from being influenced by those energies in the womb, or perhaps being born from the union of a mortal race and a shaitan genie, a jinushigami kami in mortal guise, earth veela, and the like, or the influence of less humanoids elemental beings.

As their origins would suggest, their populations are greatest in places where the element of earth is greatly influencing the mortal plane, such as mountains, deep caverns, or anywhere with a portal to the plane of earth.

There are even variant races of oreads, namely the Ironsoul or Gemsoul Oreads, which reflect refined aspects of the earth element in either the mineral geometry of crystals and gemstones, or the might and refinable nature of metals.

 Oreads for the most part resemble their mortal parent, though their skin tones range from various grays, blacks, browns, and other earthy colors, with a similar range for their hair. Some even have more blatant earthy characteristics, such as rocky skin textures, rocky outcroppings in the flesh, gem-like eyes, crystalline hair, and more. They also favor wearing earthy tones and simple jewelry.

The other heritages of oreads have their own distinct look as well, with gemsouls leaning heavily into having faceted, crystalline skin and having growths of the same or different material instead of hair, and they favor complex geometric patterns in their clothing, as well as bright colors to complement their own glittering skin. Meanwhile, ironsouls typically have a metallic sheen of any number of colors, and can even sport a vitiligo-like dual-tone, such as copper with blue-green oxidization.

 Due to a propensity for being loners, oreads usually do not create societies of their own, either living on their own as hermits or integrating into other societies. Despite this, they find themselves naturally gravitating to social roles with a great amount of responsibility, for they are a naturally dependable, if stubborn both at rest and in action, the immovable object and unstoppable force all rolled into one.

Gemsouls break this mold by being attention-seekers and artistically inclined, and are the most likely oreads to have a strong presence in mortal society because of this. Many are outright flamboyant, but place high value on cultivated beauty, and make it their personal mission to further the artistic development of their communities.

Meanwhile, Ironsouls favor structure and intentional growth, and thrive when they have a mission that refines and improves the world around them, much like the refined ores that they resemble. While not all are ascetics, they do find the ideals of self-improvement and personal strength to be appealing.

 The standard oread is strong and empathetic, but shy and insular.

Despite being of medium size, however, they are a bit sluggish.

Their earthy flesh is slightly nonreactive, giving them a resistance to corrosion.

Channeling the earthy magics, oreads can enhance a handful of stones into deadly projectiles.

Like most planar scions, oreads have exceptional night vision.

They also have a natural connection to magical energies associated with the earth, making sorcerous bloodlines of elemental earth or divine blessings connected to earth all the more potent in their grasp.

 Of course, given the erratic nature of planetouched heredity, there are plenty of options out there for oreads. Some have flesh so crystalline that it is hard to strike them with magical rays. Others find they have a strong bond to summoned creatures of the earth. A few have a strong connection to shaitans, able to use it to reshape metal temporarily. Some oreads are more in touch with softer earth than stone, able to channel energies towards leafy magics and perhaps even growing plant life on their bodies. A few are so rocky that their flesh is hardened against attack. Especially isolationist oreads might be knowledgeable of the underground, but limiting the socialization to learn as many other languages. Many mountain-dwelling oreads boast impressive lung capacity and adaptation to altitude. A rare few have less pronounced elemental heritage, seeming almost mortal. A particularly potent oread talent lies in their ability to expend gemstones to enhance certain spells, making them potent spellcasters. Some seem to have a mephit heritage, able to unlock sudden bursts of healing when subjected to contact with acid, regardless of whether it harms them. Finally, some oreads are able to reach out with their spirit into nearby earth, making it shift and become unstable, difficult for foes to walk on.

Gemsouls are strong like their more common kin, but are charming and gregacious, if undisciplined. They can also use their innate magic to channel flashes of color through their bodies, and their affinity for magic applies to bloodlines of the deepest parts of the earth and divine power of allure.

Meanwhile, Ironsouls are tough and wise, but a bit stiff. Their magic helps guide weapons towards a target’s vitals, and their affinity applies to shaitan-blooded sorcery and divine power over metal.

 Rooted as they are, oreads take a bit more motivation than most to seek a life of adventuring, usually due to a big change in their lives, which doesn’t necessarily have to be tragic. Afterwards, many oreads find it hard to stop once they’ve achieved their goals, never feeling right staying still. Oreads make great fighters, monks, and other defensive martial classes, plus good wisdom divine casters. Their elemental affinities help make up for their weakness as a sorcerer if you pick the right bloodline, though this is rendered moot if you choose one of the other racial heritages anyway. Among racial archetypes, they boast the student of stone monk shaitan binder summoner, but they also enjoy roles as geomancers of various classes, as well as other class choices not tied to their heritage.

[whiskeywin]

Scarecrow from the Pathfinder Bestiary 2, by Mariusz Gandzel.

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Roleplaying Races 2: Ratfolk

If you’ve ever been a kid, you probably remember at least some exposure to works of fiction involving heroic rodents of usual or unusual size embarking on quests both fantastical and/or mundane, but no less wondrous.

Enter the ratfolk, you answer to every desire to play a Rats of Nimh, Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers, Mouseguard kind of character.

Humanoid and about equal in stature to halflings, ratfolk are a deeply social, but secretive people, preferring to keep to their warrens and themselves, letting no one know about them or their living spaces save for a trusted few, and coming together to support and protect each other.

Ratfolk are naturally urban creatures but only the ignoranat would call them filthy and disease-ridden. Indeed, like real rats that are not otherwise trapped in septic living environments, ratfolk are an exceptionally clean species, and while they might integrate local sewers as part of their warren network, they prefer storm drain sewers to waste disposal sewers, and keep their homes as clean and dry as they can. That being said, if living in a certain location becomes untenable for any reason, such as discovery by outsiders that cannot be immediately quelled, monster attacks or damage to the environment, they have no qualms about packing up and moving elsewhere.

Endlessly curious and social, Ratfolk are always on the lookout for new trinkets, useful objects, and information they can use and share with the warren, having little sense of personal ownership beyond what they use the most. This also makes them consummate tinkerers and merchants, often trading repair jobs and valuable objects for oddities and other interesting things rather than mere money.

In the Golarion Setting, ratfolk have a legend about their creation, claiming that they were originally rats tasked with patching and repairing the final holes and infinished parts of Golarion after it was created, implying that they were agents of the gods working to perfect the prison of Rovagug, which would become the planet Golarion. This draws parallels with a similar story in catfolk myth, which implies that the beastfolk races might indeed all share a similar origin, potentially also the new dogfolk races mentioned in the upcoming Bestiary 6.

Of course, in your setting they could really be anything you wanted, mutants uplifted by strange radiances or magics, avatars of curiosity made mortal, whatever you like.

 Agile in both mind and body, ratfolk are both cunning and quick, though like nearly all smaller races, they are comparatively weak physically.

They are also gifted with machines, alchemy and magical implements, noticing and utilizing them.

Ratfolk, while weak, are extremely adept at fighting together, fighting in extreme close quarters together, striking simultaneously to overwhelm a foes defenses.

Of course, even a race like ratfolk has its variances, including those that fight viciously when alone, those that favor the markets, and even those that have a hint of the unnatural about them, alarming most animals.

Its also important to note that there is also a completely second set of rat-people in the same setting, the Rat-Men of Akiton. These mercantile ratfolk seem to be an entirely separate race that can nonetheless use the same stats if you happen to be adventuring on the Red Planet or otherwise encounter or play one, though I suspect we will learn more to differentiate them once Starfinder, which has them as a core race, launches next year.

 The ratfolk are a fun and interesting race of nomads that definitely deserve a place in your worlds and in your character list. I highly recommend giving them a shot sometime if you’re interested in a character like that.

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Animate Dream

Dreams have power. Whether you’re talking about Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, the Aborigine Dreamland or Jungian psychology, people have always recognized that dreaming is an important part of humanity. This is one of the odd sticking points of Planescape’s cosmology, because dreams are never really dealt with. There have been some occasional references to the Demiplane of Dreams and its Far-Realms corrupted counterpart, the Demiplane of Nightmare, some ties to both the Ethereal and Astral Planes, some pet theories relating to the Ordial Plane, but dreams aren’t really developed. I, however, am a massive Eberron fan and part of that is the fact that dreams to play an important role in that cosmology  with the entire plane of Dal Quor dedicated to dreams and nightmares. Eberron also tied the use of psionics to the power of Dal Quor and dreams, which could also work well in Planescape.

Animate Dreams are dreams gone wrong that have come to life. They are most populous on the Ethereal Plane, but can be found anywhere that has a tie to dreams and memory. The majority of animate dreams are evil, as they have to inflict terror upon mortals to gain the psychic energy they need to survive however there is no reason that a more benevolent dream could come to life... although it could be an adventure to help that dream find a way to stay alive! Feel free to switch around their magic powers, introduce psi-like abilities or even advance them as a psion or a dread to really make the stuff of nightmares.

Animate dreams can occasionally be found wandering the banks of the river Styx, having arisen from the lost dreams and memories the have drained in its black waters. These dreams can be valuable, both for the lost knowledge they contain and since they are born of the Styx, they are immune to the river’s memory sapping powers. 

While the trade of soul gems in the most well-known immortal black market that takes advantage of mortals. It is far from the only kind. Dream herders are specially trained fairies journey to the Ethereal Plane and the Demiplanes of Dream and Nightmare to corral  Animate Dreams for their Fae masters. 

When a powerful Oracle of the Vala Irmo cursed with poltergeists travels to the Ethereal Plane, a Glabrezu of the Dark Lord Melko manipulates the planer travel spells he uses so that the poltergeists drain the magic out of the oracle and become animate dreams. 

Notes: 

1. I’m back in business, but will be very busy with work, so for now I’m going to switch to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and will continue to adjust from there. See you on Wednesday! 

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Akhana

Fair warning: this post is going to go off topic, but it does so with good reason. I talked about Aeons earlier and I name them a blunt instrument when compared to the Rilmani. Meet the blunt diplomat. Yes the Bythos is stronger and the Pleroma has a sphere of annihilation as a weapon, but the Akhana has the best ability when trying to convince someone to do something, it can steal souls. For the Goods and the Neutrals out there, clearly they won’t leave a close friend or family member in spiritual bondage, so they’ll capitulate to the terms an Akhana demands for the soul’s safe release. For the Evils, particularly the fiends, the Akhana modifies its tactics slightly and instead steals a soul important to it. Don’t want to agree to the Aeon’s terms? They’ll just lock up that soul for all of eternity and all of the resources that you put into that soul are wasted, because it will never get released, never be damned and never get turned into a larvae. 

Stealing souls can put a lot of diplomatic pressure on someone, so Akhana are the Aeons most likely to be recruited by other Aeons. They can bring that powerfu l motivator to the fore and, if push comes to shove, neutralize the issue soul and remove it from the planes. Keep in mind that fiends have been trading soul gems for ages and its unlikely that the Akhana don’t know the secrets of creating the gems themselves. They wouldn’t actually introduce any of these souls into the trade without good reason, just hold them as ransoms indefinitely to ensure that the soul can’t just be freed by hired assassins (read: adventurers). 

That got me thinking though, could the Akhana trap the soul of a particularly devote worshiper to cut off a power from the belief generated by that soul? I concluded that it probably wouldn’t, since the deity could use a miracle to free it. That made me wonder though, why don’t deities intervene in the soul trade if their worshipers get caught up in it? If too many of them go down, it could kill that power, at least in Planescape’s cannon. The two solutions are that their is some even better reason not to interfere or that there is some sort of agreement between all of the powers and outsiders (likely spearheaded by the Baatezu) as to the rules and regulations of the soul trade, which is enforced by communal power. The truth is likely somewhere in between and the Akhana will use the rules to their advantage when it is convenient and ignore them when it is not. 

(Art by Beastysakura)

A grief stricken power has resurrected her mortal son, which has angered both the Akhana and the Theletos as the boy-priest was fated to die and has begun resurrecting other bloods, some of them long dead, following his own return from the grave. The Akhana are now abducting the souls of the power’s followers en mass until the boy’s name is once more written in the Dead Book. 

Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungus, has turned to the soul trade to help her create a new breed of sentient mushroom that will reproduce fast enough to force Juiblex back into the underground of their shared layer. Anyone investigating the source of the souls will discover that it comes not from the usual culpriets, but from a Akhana with a sense of poetic justice. All of the souls are those of serial killers and mass murderers, likely bound for the Abyss anyhow, who's essence will now be used to create life instead of destroy it. 

A dispute has broken out in the upper planes. The Agathion Lord Jaidz feels that the souls of a cabal of alchemists who created a virrulent plague out of fear for their homeland should be forgive and should be given an second chance in the form of reincarnation, however a group of Akhana with the support of Damerrich, the Archon Lord of Executions, disagree immensely.

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Akata

With immunity to cold, poison and disease, extreme resistance to fire and a massive vulnerability to salt water, Akata are prefect for conveying the concept of ‘other’. They can survived in locations that are utterly hostile to other organism, such as the extremely fatal Quasielemental Plane of Vacuum, and are clearly alien, but not so much that you couldn’t use them without extraterrestrial connotations. They have low level intelligence, so they aren’t much more than animals, but they should definitely be able to learn and manipulate tools. I could also imagine an Agathion being right freaked out by being utterly unable to communicate with these creatures which are clearly sentient, which is plot hook in and of itself. Finally, Akata have a CR of 1, so if you want to introduce aliens to your planer adventures, you can do that right off the get go. Oh and they have a tendency to start zombie apocalypses wherever they go. Have fun!

The Mortuary erupts into chaos when assassins replace corpses bound for the crematorium with Akata cocoons disguised by illusions. The question now is, who do they want to move on to true death and why? 

When a group of Hound Archons make plans to go raiding on the Grey Wastes, they plan on bringing disease immune Akatas with them, but they need adventurers to both find and train the aberrations to to work with the celestials. 

Akatas are some of the few creatures that can be found in numbers on the Quasielemental Plane of Vacuum owing to their lack of a need to breath. Most remain in their cocoons until some poor berk wanders too close to them while trying desperately to stay alive. Rumor has it that even larger Akata cocoons can be found deeper in the plane that are the size of Wyrms and don’t usually awaken when human-size creatures approach. It could be possible to harvest the noqual metal from these massive Akata if one does so very carefully.