Fauna

  • Bagarisa

    Bagarisas compete with Fanchakis to be the most-eaten animal in the four kingdoms. Well, to be fair, they didn't have much choice in participating in that competition, but it's their fault that their irresistibly earthy, mushroom-accented meat that isn't too gamey appeases the palate of all races. They are always in packs, and they will not hold back in lighting up their tusks in flames to rush toward you. They are also skilled with ranged attacks by generating a flaming ball between their tusks, then creating a gust of hot wind that begins in the red crest at the tip of their tails and speeds up towards their head. The bagarisa can tilt its head up to make the hot air strike the ball of flame and turn it into a fireball. If that wasn't enough, they also have a distinct musk of shrimp brine that can make a lot of people gag profusely—dealing with that is one of the many things they teach adventures in the one and only adventurers school in Forway. They also teach them that if they are going for a clean shot, then they need an extra long arrow to perforate the two hearts it has in the chest and lower gut.

  • Barina

    Barina is an amphibian notoriously known for its exploding tail that releases obnoxious gases that can toxify even an adult Wooly and spikes that can lodge deep even on a Cruru leathery skin. Despite that, their entire head-to-tail flesh is so damm valuable for nari gels many adventurers will put themselves in danger to grab a few from a pond to make some quick balls. They are easy to spot, but catching them is a whole different story.

  • Cinikas

    Cinikas, meanwhile, are not exactly as extraordinary unless there's a swarm of them and you're a sweaty Wozefaries or Sorefaries; then you're big trouble as they will swarm you, paralyze you, and lick your sweet sweat. The soul energy interface of a single Cinika is not that powerful, but when there's a swarm of them, they might overwhelm even a Hifuna beast. They also behave distinctly differently in reaction to pressure and humidity changes—actually, that is extraordinary! If you see them make a tight-closed swarm and flutter around like they are seeking shelter, then for sure, there's a nasty storm brewing on the horizon.

  • Culuim

    Culuim proves that Hifuna should always be considered a threat to the soul, even if you live as far away as the Freeish Kingdom. This story started when an asshole adventurer from Big Gyut returned from Hifuna with a bag of Walking Hearts ready to sell in the black market. He probably was smiling wide with excitement about making it back without being caught, but then one of his guild mates rattled on him to the guards—because of an affair like usual. Instead of turning the bag in, the asshole adventurer buried it near a pond to get rid of the evidence—the rest is history as worms ate the contaminated soul, and a new species was born. Forway tried to exterminate it, but it was to no avail, so they shifted to focus instead to ensure that it didn't present a danger to the public. Luckily that was the case, and soon after, it somehow became a popular street food for people in a pinch because of its girth size and abundant nature. They taste like dirt, and the flesh is pretty chewy, but with enough seasoning, it goes down nicely after some beers. Scientists love them even more for being an animal model for the effects of Walking Heart.

  • Egua

    Egua became the foundation of trading across the four Kingdoms, and if you think more about it, the core reason why the prosperity treaty is prosperous. Sure, Gravity Repel is still used to decrease the weight of goods, but then you have to deal with volume too through World Decrease. The cost alone would make things prohibitively expensive to trade, but that's not all! The fact that not every good can handle having its density altered by factors of ten, if not hundreds, makes using Soul Energy for everything a pain in the ass. All of this brings back the point that with its interface that allows it to walk on water, endurance to carry a lot of weight, and friction control over muddy terrain, it truly is an essential asset in keeping the balls flowing by enriching trading and making wars unlikely. Some people, mostly Forway and Freeish folks, plus some adventurers here and there still like to indulge in Egua's meat for its meatier notes and low-fat content that makes tasty beef jerky. Just beware of its capabilities to eject its intestines from its bunghole when in self-defense—it's entertainingly bizarre to watch a Wozen, or anything for that matter, give up chasing an Egua when the shower of shit and guts starts to rain towards them.

  • Fanchaki

    Fanchaki is a mutation from Chaki and is proof of one of the first, if not the first, successful Buhraies soul tampering, according to historians. Their capability of breeding quicker, growing stronger and better using their interface for defense must have been fundamental to somehow survive the savage Lishies and then humans—because the Chakis are long extinct. Their marbled, tender purple meat became a staple on everyone's menu after The Prosperity Treaty brought more substantial trading across the kingdoms and even turned some adventurers away from adventuring into just hunting these fat bastards to keep up with demand.

  • Fatupari

    Fatupari, based on their size, would assume they would be classified as Beasts, but not only are they kinda dumb relative to other beasts, but they are also easier to dispatch than one thinks. If you tear their pink webbing, they can't use any magic against you. Or you can fight them fairly if you want to take it up a notch for whatever reason. Either way, some random weirdos swear by its distinctively bitter taste—like soaking wild pheasant breasts in quinine and cooking it until it's stringy and tough for shits and giggles. At least their hide and webbing are usual for a myriad of things for their rugged and water-repellant properties; plus, it looks pretty snazzy too!

  • Fihi

    Fihi looks closer to a mammal than a fish, but I assure you it's a fish. It's even kinda cute, except when it opens its beak and reveals an esophagus that looks closer to turtles that will hunt you in your nightmares. They are commonly found on Buhraies plains, but much bigger ones have been spotted on Lukewarm Lake, and the bigger they get, the more aggressive they become. It's a fun catch, with meat akin to catfish, so special preparation is needed to tame the fishy taste. Or you can sell it! Fihis are used for nari gels to extract their ability to control elemental energy, whether absorbing, creating, or releasing it.

  • Monikas

    Monikas are loner butterflies tightly associated with death and decay. Their interface is considered the best at identifying corpses, especially if the corpse is tied to a soul pooled with lots of soul energy. They also have the ability to turn desired volatile compounds of scents into a visual representation that aids in understanding its concentration and source—known as Monika sight, a nari gel concoction customized with the desired volatile compound, turned even exceptional if paired with Wozen Smell for both finding things like dead adventurers, detect poisonous things like traps, or even track down live animals or humans by using the droppings or sweat. Adventurers on the brink of death often implore to be found by these peaceful-looking butterflies—at least some do until they remember the cost of revival.

  • Sanbi

    Sanbi is the staple of which kingdom? If you didn't answer Sanbi, then oh boy, you might have been smoking too much Magina. If you plan to visit, then give "The True Sanbi King" novel a read first, or you might be baffled as to why people put the dead old people in small boats and push them off their docks (sometimes not quite so dead if the fishing is weak but that's neither here nor there.) Either way, only that fisherman's family seems to have the prowess or pure luck to catch these darn tasty fish! You're welcome to try, though! But you'll likely only catch meat from their lips as they swell and shed it off, or suffer a massive headache as it's always keen to tap into its soul energy interface to fend off predators.

  • Sayna

    Sayna is a "smol" creature that made the desert its habitat. Worshiped in some sense by the Sundeath citizens as it is crucial in reducing the number of deaths by sand worms. Its enormous ears and cuteness make it a highly sought-after companion for adventurers and traders alike—so much so that about two-fifths of export from Sundeath each year are trained Saynas. The city also exports sayna meat as well, but only more affluent folks who enjoy tasting things more than admiring their cuteness can afford it. The ruling pharaohs—a weird name they call the ruler—tried to intervene with a trade blockade to prevent overhunting, but the city ruler cracked under the might of Forway's guards and law.

  • Soreno

    Soreno is favored by scientists who avoid human experimentation or can't contract one to experiment on. It is not exactly a close match to the real thing, but it's good enough to iterate through experiments quickly and cheaply, publish papers, and make a name for yourself! Some are on the other spectrum—with often pearl adventurers tasked to keep the Soreno population in cities, especially in grain silos, on the delicate balance between pest control and being a pest themselves. Plus, it's cheap meat for these pearl adventurers who are probably in so much debt that any single pearl they can avoid wasting now is amethysts off their loan due to their jacked-up interests. The caveat is that the meat smells and tastes like stale piss and that you will likely need to heal yourself if you slip up and don't cook it well done—or have difficulty catching them as they cloak themselves in both sight and heat signatures, and talk to one another in such a high pitch tone you will either need a Sayna or use nari gel to alter your ears to a Soreno. They also imitate other animals and can dash an arm's length as quickly as a blink of an eye in almost any direction a few times too.

  • Winga

    Winga is famous for being a social companion with a remarkable memory of landscapes and people's faces; they are the backbone of the interkingdom Winga mail courier services. Some, on the other hand, find its sweet meat a delicacy! Even the wild ones taste just as great too! Watch out for their interface if you decide to hunt them yourself—they will shriek so loud to make your ears bleed to strengthen their beak and claws to cut through anything to break free. Oh! Almost forgot! You will be in deep shit if you hunt down a Winga working for Forway.

  • Wooly

    Wooly is truly a staple of Gandew. The fact that there aren't many other places it can survive due to its demanding nature is strong enough by itself to warrant Gandew gaining the comparative advantage from Forway—but that isn't the only fact either. Darfaries acquired several unique masteries over the generations over the entire spectrum of by-products! From herding them in Mid-Gandew to processing their milk into varieties of cheeses, creating wet and dry-aged beef that is to soul die for, and even soft, warm wool and clothing! Toleridemians are the heaviest consumers, both in the literal and figurative sense, of these tantalizing exports, and try as they might, they cannot compete with Gandew on that front. Buhraies Plains is just not high enough for these creatures to feel at home, and whatever they produced so far under "research" was laughable.

  • Wozen

    Wozens are pests that wander mostly in the denser forests around Freeish, but it is not unusual to see them attack people at night in the plains close to Forway. They are predators, so their interface usage makes them near impossible to be seen or heard as they prowl around. Once they decide on a victim, they can jump several times their height, and once their jaw shuts tight on your flesh, there's no letting go as it casts attraction on its teeth. Their pelt and some body parts like eyes are certainly valuable, but its incredibly tough and gamey meat is not—except for people in the slums, or poorer villages, so if you have space to haul it to your nearest butcher, then do so! Some places even consider it as charitable tax write-offs!