Baazrag Baazrag have been described as "600 pounds of fur and muscle." Generally they only stand to their full height of nine feet when they are angered. Their skin is a mottled red and gray, and a mop of dark hair runs from their foreheads all the way down to the backs of their thighs, but their faces and chests are scaled and hairless. Their arms are disproportionately large for their bodies, and their hands doubly so. With three fingers and a thumb on each hand, the baazrag has hands as large as a half-giant, even though they stand less than half their height. Because of the baazrag's powerful leg muscles, they are often used to pull carts within the cities. A baazrag’s hump is used for water storage and diminishes in size as the creature dehydrates. Belgoi When seen from a distance, this creature appears human, but its blue skin, clawed hands and webbed, three-toed feet soon give it away. The creature has no teeth, no visible ears, and its hair is black and stringy. Belgoi are a race of savage humanoids that live in the most desolate of places, since no other race will allow them nearby. Belgoi seem to revel in destruction, and are considered to be second only to the defilers in the damage they do to the world around them. Belgoi speak their own language and the Common tongue. Braxat A huge humanoid of mixed stock, mostly a combination of mammalian and reptilian, this creature has a thick shell that covers its back and a handful of horny protrusions on the top of its head. Braxats can be found in most parts of Athas, usually hunting for prey. Mostly solitary creatures, sometimes they pick a mate and bear some young. The young are usually hidden away somewhere remote while the two parents go out to search for food for their offspring. Braxats are the ultimate terrors of the desert and are usually nocturnal. Braxats prefer intelligent prey but will eat caravan or other mounts on occasion, all but kanks: kank meat unsettles their stomach. The bony protrusions on a braxat’s head protect its skull as well as being used for attacking its target. Braxats walk upright, are able to speak with a clear, human voice, have opposable thumbs, and are warm-blooded. Braxat shells can be used to make excellent shields and armor, usually crafted to create plate armor because of the shell plating braxats have on their backs. Because of this braxats are sometimes hunted, but in most cases the braxat is usually prepared for such things and the hunted ends up becoming the hunter. Cactus The cacti of Athas can be very dangerous plants. While they provide nourishment to the dehydrated wanderer, they survive in the wastes by being as deadly as the beasts that roam the sands. Below is a brief list of cactus you might encounter. Dune Trapper Elven Rope Hunting Cactus Rock Cactus Sand Cactus Spider Cactus Cat, Psionic Tagster This creature is a shorthaired feline with yellowish hair and a smattering of spots. A cunning psionic predator, the tagster has short yellowish-brown fur with whitish under-parts. Sometimes spotted, tagsters always have some type of distinctive dark marking, such as a spot on the tail or foot, for example. Solitary creatures, they are highly territorial, only congregating during the annual mating season, when males fight for breeding rights. Tagsters that are disturbed during these activities have been known to turn on intruders en masse before returning to their own conflicts. Tagsters are the living embodiment of the survival of the fittest. Athasian traders and herders know this well and will often abandon slow or injured animals to a hunting tagster as a way of protecting the main flock. Tigone This creature is a large feline with deep yellow eyes and a short, greenish hide. Large and sleek, it moves with the steady, padding gait of the predator. A larger cousin of the tagster, the tigone is a psionic great cat that is native to the Hinterlands. Also sometimes seen in the Ringing Mountains, tigones are dangerous predators known for attacking almost any creature violating their territory. In their native environment, tigones are near the top of the food chain. When hidden and motionless in the underbrush, a tigone’s coloration makes it all but invisible. Their noiseless footsteps allow them to creep up on all but the most alert of prey. If forced to leave the forests, however, tigones fare poorly. They dislike warm environments and will often not survive extended trips into the desert. Highly sought for gladiatorial games, most tigones perish before reaching an arena, but will nevertheless fetch a handsome price if successfully transported to a sorcerer-king's city. Halflings prize tigones as hunting partners because of their psionic tracking and hunting skills. An adult tigone grows to a length of seven feet and can weigh over 250 pounds. Dune Freak The dune freaks (or anakore) are a race of dim-witted humanoids who live in subterranean colonies, occasionally roaming the surface of Athas to hunt. They have a dorsal ridge running along their spine that allows them to pick up vibrations traveling through the sand. With it, they can detect creatures moving along the sand. Gaj This horrific beast looks like a twisted cross between a spider and a tortoise. From its huge bulbous head grow three large, feather-like antennae, six compound eyes, and a pair of powerful mandibles. Its body is six feet in diameter and covered by a scaly, rust-orange shell. Six four-jointed legs ending in webbed feet sprout from beneath the shell. Gaj are carnivores and require flesh to survive, but they also need to consume the mental energy of other sentient creatures to live. Giant, Athasian Athasian giants are huge, lumbering, savage creatures that live in the sandy wastes of Athas. The largest concentration of giants inhabits the islands of the Silt Sea. There are three major types of giant: beasthead, desert, and plains. Since they are so rare to encounter in the Tablelands, one will have to find out more about them from personal experience. Gith Standing hunched before you is a vaguely reptilian humanoid with hairless, greenish-gray skin and jet black lidless eyes. With clawed hands and feet and a fanged pronounced underbite, the creature’s appearance is rendered all the more strange by its bowlegged waddling gait. Gith are a lanky race of reptilian humanoids that, when erect, stand close to seven feet tall, but who spend most of their time, bent-over in a crouch that makes them appear to be only five feet tall. Their lower jaws jut forward and, while toothless, they have sharp, bony ridges that they use to crush and grind their food. Their powerful legs allow them to make great leaps, which they use to move about, walking in an awkward waddle only when they cannot jump or when sneaking up on prey. Jozhal This creature is a small, reptilian humanoid with long, spindly arms and legs, a coiling tail and a long neck surmounted by a narrow, muzzled head. It is covered in scales that seem to be colored in deliberate patterns. Jozhals are small, lightly built reptilian creatures which may be distantly related to crodlu. They have long, slender legs, lanky arms ending in dexterous hands, and long, flexible tails. The neck of a jozhal is also long and flexible, ending in a narrow-muzzled head with large eyes and many needle-like teeth. The skin is covered in many tiny scales, which are only visible on close examination, and can change color to match with or contrast against the creature's surroundings. Jozhals have precise control over their skin's color, and sometimes use it to create decorative patterns of color resembling tattoos. Kirre This large feline resembles other great cats, but is distinguished by its eight legs, twin horns sweeping from its brow and tail sporting multiple spikes. Its short, soft fur is striped brown and grey. Kirre are cunning and ruthless predators feared in all of the wooded areas of Athas. Resembling an eight-legged, horned tiger, the kirre is striped in brown and grey, with the exception of its face, which is all grey. The yellow eyes of this creature against the dark grey fur of its face create a fearsome appearance. An adult kirre is eight feet long and weighs 400 pounds. Kirres are normally solitary creatures, but will pair off for mating. Kirre litters number from three to five young and are born in a den in a remote area of the forest where they will be unlikely to be disturbed. During the first five months after birth, both the male and female protect their den ferociously, attempting to kill any creature who threatens their young. Kirre are hunted by the many tribes that inhabit Athas’ forests, both for their meat and for their horns and tail spikes, which are used to fashion weaponry. Magera A muscular humanoid the size of a half-giant grins stupidly, its eyes fixed with greed upon your valuables and its fists balled and ready to swing. Magera are a tribal race of large humanoids that usually make their homes in caves or mountaintops. Their way of life involves frequently attacking and looting caravans and inadequately protected villages. Such places are a rich source of resources, as magera are known to eat nearly anything. More intelligent magera are often found as leaders and wizards, while those with powerful psionic abilities often become leaders of a magera tribe. Magera speak their own language, Magera, as well as common. Mastyrial Mastyrial, Black A darkly mottled scorpion as long as a halfling is tall and with a carapace easily mistaken for jagged rock, this creature moves with rapid scuttling motions, swarming with its fellows to strike from all sides. Despite an apparent lack of any visual organs, its attacks strike with uncanny accuracy. These smaller, sightless cousins to the desert mastyrial spend most of their time in hibernation, either in burrows beneath the surface or lying in sheltered gullies, blending in with the scenery. More intelligent than their larger brethren, the black mastyrials possess a rudimentary hivemind and live in familial colonies, preying upon most living creatures (including black mastyrials from other colonies) through their keen psionic senses. They are a degenerate species, almost unnaturally hardy (leading some to suspect magical tampering in their past) and their nascent hivemind conflicts with the solitary nature of their parent mastyrial species. As a result, black mastyrials are fierce and competitive, and will generally attack any creature of less than giant-size wandering into their territory. Black mastyrials have dark, rock-like exoskeletons and claws with interlocking pincers, and have no visual organs. The average black mastyrial is 3 feet long and weighs as much as 10 pounds. Mastyrial, Desert A deep brown scorpion the size of a man, this clawed menace comes scurrying towards you with unerring accuracy, seeming to hone in on the very scuffing of your footsteps. The desert mastyrial is an oversized breed of scorpion known for its toughness and keen senses. Unlike its black, mountain-dwelling cousin, the desert mastyrial has no psionic powers and no real sentience to speak of beyond the level possessed by other vermin. Instead the desert mastyrial relies upon its finely honed senses, its speed and its sheer size in bringing down prey. The desert mastyrial spends most of its time hibernating beneath the sands. It uses echolocation to navigate underground as well as to detect prey that may pass overhead. Desert mastyrials are generally solitary creatures that occasionally gather in groups of up to three. After mating, the smaller male is slain and devoured by the female, who then cares for as many as 20 eggs in a single batch. A desert mastyrial grows to be up to six feet long. Its chitinous carapace is a favorite ingredient in armor and bears a gentle, swirling pattern that affords burrowing mastyrials camouflage should they become exposed. Rare desert mastyrials lack any pigmentation at all and are bone-white in color. They eat other vermin and will only eat those that they kill themselves. For this reason, desert mastyrials are tolerated as a form of living pest-control. Mountain Stalker These giantlike creatures stand some 10 to 15 feet tall and have strange, beast-like heads with a pair of glaring eyes protruding from the middle. However, the most notable feature of these giants are their arms; each forearm ends in a pair of semi-prehensile tentacles, which they use to rend their prey apart. Mountain stalkers are a strange race of skilled climbers that mostly inhabit rocky and mountainous areas. Although they usually keep to themselves and shy away from civilized areas, they are not above attacking a much less weaker force if encountered. Mountain stalkers have little or no regard for other creatures, except for other mountain stalkers. The life of a mountain stalker is extremely dangerous, and most have short life spans. Mountain stalkers speak Giant in a crude dialect. Plant, Carniverous Below are a list of carniverous plants that one might encounter in Athas. Bloodgrass Bloodvine Blossomkiller Dew frond Poisonweed Strangling vine Others Sand Howler This heavy-set, doglike quadruped has a broad head sporting a nest of eight eyes and a pair of curving tusks. Its semi-reptilian body is muscled and bears armored plates along the spine. Sand howlers are canine-like creatures that roam the deserts in packs, unleashing bloodcurdling screams when pursuing prey. Mercenaries are known to capture and train young howlers to capture runaway slaves. A sand howler’s appearance is unnerving; though doglike, it has eight eyes that can paralyze prey with a glance. A howler’s oversized head also sports large yellow tusks. Its scaly body ranges from dark to light brown, though rare white specimens have been noted. Sand howlers live as a pack in subterranean dens and are ruled over by a dominant male. They dwell in desolate areas, as they do not like to compete with other creatures for resources. Sand Worm A huge, powerful, hundred-foot-long creature burrows through the powdery loess of the Sea of Silt. Suddenly, the worm’s head emerges, revealing a triangular maw filled with triple rows of jagged teeth. The worm’s thick, segmented hide ranges in color from tan to golden brown, providing natural camouflage. Sand worms roam the desert in search of prey. They exist only to eat, for their never-ending hunger doesn’t allow them to get full. While they travel, sand and silt they burrow through adhere to their sides, Strengthening and renewing their hide. When no living food is presence, sand worms have been known to eat rocks, metals, gems, and other minerals. Sand worm hide is prized for the armor and shields that can be made out of it. Several suits of hide armor can be made from one sand worm. This is a long and costly process, so such suits of armor are rare. Sand worm meat is quite delicious, able to be preserved with little difficulty and easy to dry into a jerky. Scrab Although it stands only a little taller than a halfling, this insectile humanoid has a fearless glare. It has a thick, white, sectioned shell over most of its body, separated into three parts, a pair of arms that end in opposable pincers and a small mouth. Hundreds of tiny legs run along the underside of its body. Scrabs are small, insectoid men that live in nests in the desert. A scrab can draw air through sand while submerged due to the long gills located all along the grooves in their shells. Scrabs are ruled over by monstrously bloated members of the species known as nest mothers. Scrabs need very little water to survive and seem to derive all the sustenance that they need from the blood and other bodily fluids of their victims. Scrabs can speak their own language. A small percentage can also speak elvish. Adult scrabs live to be 25 years old, but nest mothers can live twice that long. Silk Wyrm You spy an enormous armored serpent flying through the olive sky above you. It coils and uncoils as it flies, as if it were moving on sand. A silk wyrm is a large, flying, snake-like beast that can reach over 50 ft. in length and has a hard chitinous shell that covers its body. Silk wyrms spin their paralyzed victims into a silk cocoon. This silk casing is highly prized in most city-states because of its fire resistance and is used in the manufacture of most silk clothing. Silt Horror The silt swells as something swims beneath the surface. You catch a brief glimpse of a large, bulbous body with a writhing nest of tentacles sprouting from one end, and then it sinks back into the dust, leaving you wondering where it will next surface. Silt horror is the name given to a group of predators that dwell mostly in the Sea of Silt. These tentacle-armed monsters come in various sizes and colors, but all of them have an unending hunger. Many Athasian sages believe the horrors to be descendants of an ancient water dwelling creature. Their favorite food is the silt runner. Silt Runner Scuttling across the silt as though running on solid ground is a short lizard-man with green scales, jagged teeth, and wickedly clawed hands. Silt runners are cowardly reptilian humanoids with the curious ability to run across open silt. They have tails, but these usually drag along the ground except when they are running or in combat, when the tail is used to help them maintain their balance. They wear trophies taken from their victims. Slig Shambling along with a hunched gait is a muscular humanoid with pale tan skin and covered in ruddy hair. Its body is lean and utterly devoid of fat, its arms end in blunt black claws and broken yellow teeth jut at crooked angles from its broadly grinning mouth. Sligs are wide-jawed humanoids that roam the desert wilderness. They are especially lean, because they cannot store fat in their bodies, and are remarkably hairy. Sligs live in war bands, as the raiding and hunting lifestyle dominates their culture. They are crude craftsmen and often use items stolen from more advanced species. Sporting a hunched posture, they have powerful arms that help with moving. Sligs dress in hides and animal skins, with different clothing denoting rank within the warband and ritual scarification marking excellence in combat and skill at the hunt. Sligs have their own language, and some non-slig know it, but sligs usually do not take the time or the effort to learn another language. Sligs possess a natural telepathy that allows them to communicate essential information to one another regarding battle or the hunt. This telepathy is not sufficiently developed to communicate other concepts, however. Sligs must eat more than other humanoid races; if they go without food for three days they die of starvation. Sligs also recycle body fluids better than other humanoids and therefore only need 1/2 the water requirement of what a human would. Male sligs are tall and muscular, standing seven feet tall and weighing more than 300 pounds. Female sligs are similar in appearance, but much smaller, standing about 5 feet tall. Their hair is always braided, and their skin color is very light, usually white or tan. Spider There are all sorts of Spiders which roam Athas. From the smallest pest in the kitchens of Urik, to the massive desert spiders, or the greatly feared crystal spiders. Ssurran You see a heavy-set reptilian humanoid with a pronounced, toothy snout and thick tail. Its hide is armored, its claws sharp and its gaze steady. The creature is wearing a motley assortment of clothing and kit from all across the Tablelands. Ssurrans are a race of reptilian humanoids that roam the Tablelands, trading, raiding and hunting that which does not hunt them. Standing up to 6 feet tall, they are a hardy species that have adapted to deal with Athas’ unforgiving climate. In the region of the Scorched Plateau, their natural resistance to extremes of heat has allowed them to stake their claim over the immediate environs of Lava Gorge, where the majority of other races simply cannot venture. Ruled over by their priests, ssurrans hold ancient beliefs in strange gods and have a reputation for barbarism that is perhaps a little undeserved. Ssurrans range from 4 to 6 feet in height, weighing anything from 180 to 225 pounds. They are reptilian, even crocodilian in appearance, with pronounced toothy snouts, scales and a long tail. A ssurran’s mouth seems perpetually curved in a slight, sly smile. The ssurran tail is not prehensile and is used for balance, posture and communication. Tarek This muscle-bound humanoid has a square, big-boned head, massive brow-ridges and a domed muzzle full of sharp teeth. Big, hairless and smelly, it also has long, powerful arms that drag along the ground while it walks. Tareks are muscle-bound brutes that are known for their great constitution and will to live. They look dull-witted, with their squared heads with sloping foreheads, and are about as smart as the average half giant. Their features lend them a fearsome presence that has earned them a well-deserved reputation as dangerous foes. Tareks have a distinct musky odor that can be detected from as far away as 30 ft. Xenophobic, hateful and hostile, tareks frequently find themselves in conflict with the other races of the Tablelands. A tarek is so fierce in its love of life that it can continue to fight when lesser races would have succumbed to their wounds. Tembo This creature resembles a large, hairless canine. Its four-foot-long body is covered in loose folds of light brown, scaly hide. All four legs end in razor-sharp claws, and large canines protrude from its upper jaw. The tembo is a savage predator that will eat anything, but it prefers the children of sentient races. Tembos base themselves in a lair or den and hunt in packs throughout the surrounding wilderness. They have also been known to inhabit the ruins that lie beneath many of the large cities of the Tablelands. In addition to their physical speed and Strength, tembos also boast psionic powers and the ability to drain the life energy of their victims. Few are those souls that can brave and endure a den of tembos.