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| Creatures of Adu | |||
| Summary of Fauna on Adu by Dabhuk, Scholar and Historian of Mount Dharbuzha Back in the age of the Tadraki, the most common creatures on Adu were basic to any cold weather climate with brief summers, such as yak, musk oxen, foxes, wolves, snow cats, bears, caribou, reindeer, salmon and fish, seals, various rodents, and predatory birds. In the lower lands and valleys of the island, wooly mammoths, wooly rhinos, and other huge, mammalian creatures roamed, some herbivorous, and others carnivorous – feeding on the giant plant eaters. The worst dangers to the early Tadraki were not just the wild animals and the safety of their herds, but also the weather and the building chaos that eventually erupted into civil war. Some scholars speculate on whether or not Adu would have remained a simple land, with a basic animal food chain in which all lived in ecological balance, had the Tadraki not fallen into war. The advent of the surging swarms of underworld minions and the reign of terror by the icebloods all happened after the split, and some say, because of the divergence of Adu’s original race. The Gadroku went underground and discovered an entirely new realm of creature. Records indicated that the Gadroku originally thought that the monsters were spawn of their mountain gods, but later, after a dead heartstone was discovered in a small mountain south of Bagdu, the dwarves amended their belief. The dwarves knew that their gods would not be killed by their own children, but instead, would be killed by the spawn of a different entity. From that point in time onward, the Gadroku believe that the monsters were implanted in Oheia when Bazgol impacted Umbakha (as per Gadroku religious belief). The evil mountain gods, it is held, are those gods which have been most swayed by the minions of Bazgol. The dwarves believe that the underground monsters they discovered in their explorations and expansion seek to devour the heartstones of the mountains, thus killing their gods, the children of Umbakha. When the dwarves discovered several mountains that had already been thusly desecrated, their divine mission became the total eradication of these foul creatures, even if it means going into the very center of the earth. Gadroku belief holds that the monstrosities brought by Bazgol also inhabit the eastern side of Adu where the giants rule. They have sought to convince the Tarushi that their neglect of the problem has led to the swarming of such high altitude monsters as icebloods and screamers. Gadroku belief states that if the underground minions are not stopped, they eventually devour the heart of a mountain god, and then pour out through openings in the rock to plague the populace who live on the surface. The Tarushi have been slow to embrace this idea, though in recent centuries, have grudgingly given dwarves permission to burrow a few tunnels into their eastern mountains to root out whatever evil they may find. The giants basically feel that all aspects of life are reflected in the world through its races and creatures. In this way, they don’t feel a divine mission to eradicate monsters, as much as a simple need to protect themselves and their communities. The monsters that inhabit the uppermost heights are peculiar, immune to the forces of nature and the thin air and pressure changes. The giants believe that the icebloods and other creatures of the mountain surfaces were once valley dwellers, which were subsequently chased into the mountains by the advent of the Tadraki, over 50,000 years ago. The giants even believe that the icebloods have an advanced civilization somewhere on the mountaintops, but no one has yet survived a discovery expedition to confirm this. Adu is home to a descendant of the sea serpents, which ruled the seas in ages past. Found only in areas with deep snows, this enormous serpent swims through the drifts. The snow serpents have a finely furred pelt, much like the hide of seals, with a thick layer of fat below the skin. There is nothing bulky about these creatures, however, as the insulating fat only covers a body that is muscular and lightning fast. |
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