Excerpts From Nonexistent Books

The noble griffin, the sign and sigil of many a kingly house, has been a favored animal on heraldry for centuries. However, as near as can be ascertained, they have been extinct in the Emperor-King’s realm since the days of the Eternal Empire, and have indeed been extirpated from the continent entirely. They survive elsewhere, however, albeit in far-diminished numbers given their—perhaps unfair—reputation as man-eaters.

Still, griffins are highly prized for menageries and zoological gardens. The Emperor-King’s menagerie currently holds one, as does the Collegium’s, though both specimens—nicknamed “Earl” and “Duke” after their donors—are elderly and sickly, having been fed a steady stream of refuse by paying visitors and being unable to fly due to clipped wings. Indeed, thanks to declawing that was done while they were both fledge-cubs, neither Earl nor Duke is even capable of seeing to their own meals and must instead be fed pre-cut meat. Indeed, it has been observed that both have grown spoilt and rather fat on this diet, but as the Collegium records no information on the proper diet of a griffin—save legends of them eating only infants exposed and left to die—it is currently unknown if, or how, this can be remedied.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

Seelie denizens of peat bogs, the ballybog is a shy herbivore that feeds on decaying vegetation and small animals. Due to its small humanoid shape and alarming appearance of a perpetual scowl, ballybogs are traditionally shunned and often killed on sight as bad luck. The Collegium has been unable to verify this, as the definition and provenance of “luck” is currently a matter of intense scholarly debate, but what is beyond dispute is that the ballybog is in a decline, possibly a terminal one. A last survey of the peatlands which form their last refuge identified only 101 individuals, of which only 14 were the rare sessile females. Debate is currently underway in the Collegium about the possibility if establishing a preserve, while others hold that the ballybog must perish because it is the natural order. In the meantime, the collegisters have been unable to agree on whether to take action on ballybog slaughter, with some holding that it should be banned until the debate is settled, some preferring to merely discourage it, and others agitating for an outright ban.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

So called because of their resemblance to particularly aged women, hags are unseelie fae that have no other appearance whatever their age. Among the most intelligent and ruthless of the unseelie fae, hags are capable verbal mimics that can exactly copy another’s voice only once. They are also capable of casting an aura of darkness about them, which they generally use for concealment and hunting, luring prey with vocal mimicry and then strangling it or slashing it with their talons. Despite this fearsome reputation, hag attacks on humans are rare, and at least one hag, Coligstress Svingril, gained renown as a scholar before unseelie fae were banned from the Collegium by the Emperor-King.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

Centaurs are not native to the realm, having been instead imported from the steppes as part of the Emperor-King’s bodyguard when the current noble house inherited the throne. Nevertheless, thanks to their loyal service, His Majesty’s Own Centaur Heavy Cavalry enjoy numerous legal and social protections not due other seelie fae. However, that retinue has been decreased over time, as cannon and shot have made cavalry more vulnerable, and for those centaurs not serving in His Majesty’s Own hold few if any rights—including the wives and children of serving members. Needless to say, this has been very unpopular with many centaurs, and their repeated demands to be recognized as full subjects have met with fierce opposition in Estates.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

It is a matter of considerable debate within the Collegium how the common selkie’s mysterious shapeshifting powers work. Appearing as an ordinary fur seal, not unlike the thousands that dot the upper coasts, it appears to be capable of taking human—and possibly other—forms. The legends of them shedding their seal skin remain unsubstantiated, with some Collegium members convinced that this is a myth, and others convinced it is some sort of artifact of the shape-changing process. It is believed that, in either event, this power is used for self-preservation, to tempt away or sabotage fishermen or sealers in the form of a comely maiden. Collegister Lara holds that this is an artifact of those trades being male-dominated, and insists that female fishermen would encounter robust male selkies; this has not yet been taken seriously as a matter of scientific inquiry.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

Long known to hunters as the most difficult prey in any of the Emperor-King’s forests, unicorns are officially protected as imperial-royal game, meaning that they can only be hunted with express royal permission. A number of rejuvinative health effects have been attributed to unicorn meat and unicorn blood, but the Collegium has been unable to determine this reliably. What is clear, though, is that unicorns are at least as intelligent as any human or fae, and that they possess several reserve powers that they ordinarily do not deign to exercise. Wild stories of unicorns speaking, changing shape, and using tools and traps have yet to be substantiated for all the interest they have provoked.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

Violent, misanthropic killers by reputation, a barghest is similar enough to a man in size and posture, and will often wear stolen rags for warmth, that its true unseelie nature may not be discovered until it is upon its victim. Using massive spade-like teeth and a distendable jaw, the barghest will kill by crushing or slashing its prey’s throat, after which it will dismember the body to get at the long bones, which it will crack open and suck dry for sustenance. Though attacks on humans are relatively rare, barghest predation on cattle and other livestock has led to its ruthless suppression and hunting, and there are some in the Collegium who believe that less than 1000 of these creatures yet persist in the Emperor-King’s realm.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

Among the most familiar of the seelie fae, brownies will often observe and mimic human activity, and are known to master human trades such as carpentry, cobblery, and joinery. This has made them, unfortunately, key targets for exploitation, especially as the laws in force among the Emperor-King’s subjects do not apply to fae. Many an unscrupulous tradesman has been found to be using an all-brownie workforce, kidnapping the creatures and packing them together inhumanely on a diet of moldy bread and water. It is thought by some in the Collegium that brownies represent a prior and lower form of life that since evolved into the High Seelie such as elves, but this theory has been consistently resisted by conservative collegisters.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

Thought by many in the Collegium to be related to kelpies, the green knights are so named because their leaves seem almost like overlapping scale or splint mail. Lacking the magical illusion abilities of kelpies, green knights instead fashion themselves into roughly humanoid forms mainly for self-defense and occasionally to move to a new location.

While easily identifiable as inhuman in strong light, many a green knight has been mistaken for a mortal in low light or thick fog, and they are not above slaying and consuming those who make such a mistake. With a strongly vascularized woody body beneath their leafy exterior and the ability to both use and wear human arms and armor, green knights are not to be underestimated as opponents.

For a time, there was a fad for cultivating green knights as topiary guardians on private estates, but the difficulty of controlling the creatures as well as the need to frequently fertilize their soil has made it an unpopular choice in later years.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!

When the first emissaries from the land of Daqin arrived in the lands of the King-Emperor centuries ago, they noted that their land had similar creatures to the dragons they encountered. These Tianlong are regarded by the Collegium as being closely related to dragons, possibly sharing a recent common ancestor.

Like dragons, Tianlong are intensely magical beings with the ability to cause terrible damage with their claws and breath. Unlike dragons, they either cannot or do not wish to alter their shape at will, and they also generally have vestigial wings at best, having adapted to rely solely on magical levitation for their flight.

So far as is known, Tianlong have never ventured from their homeland, though a number of their whelps have been given as court gifts and a Tianlong known as Dakkie was once present in the King-Emperor’s menagerie for a period of about ten years before being slain for an organ which would supposedly have cured the King-Emperor’s declining heath—the consumption of which, incidentally, caused him to be struck stone dead.

• Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!