The Great Mountain yeti.
Abstract
Rumors of a mountain man or beast in and around the
Great Mountains have persisted for generations. Yet the thought of such a creature was passed off as nothing more than a mere myth and legend. No one at first believed in the creature that could survive in the coldest of winter. Though many travelers disappeared in the wilderness of the mountains it was usually blamed on the elements or attacks by wild cats and wolves. Yet sightings of these monsters persisted. Rangers, fur traders or hunters who ventured into the heights and depths of the
Great Mountains usually made these sightings. Believing these men and women to be insane, the sightings were always ignored and never followed up.
Physical Appearance
The Crager Beast is a large humanoid-like creature that stands anywhere from 7 feet to 9 feet in height and weighs between 600 to 800 pounds. They are covered from head to foot in a thick, heavy fur that has been seen to be white, gray, brown, black, and more rarely, silvery-white. They have sharp, fanged teeth, which are used to rip flesh and meat from their food. Their hands are large with three fingers and a thumb. The palms are black and rough to the touch, and they have thick, rigid and strong nails for digging, ripping into their food or for attacking. Their bodies are large and thick chested with broad shoulders. Their legs are powerful, large and long, and their feet are equally large with thick leather-like soles for walking over harsh terrain. Their eyes are generally black, though some have had a tint of gray, which provides a natural protection from sunlight glaring off the snow, and affords them a limited amount of night vision. Like any beast of the wild, they have their own scent, which other creatures may detect should they possess a keen sense of smell.
Climate and Terrain
The Crager Beast is always found in high, mountainous regions, especially areas that are thick with forests. Their homes are found in caves and caverns or in massive burrows dug out from a hillside. Generally, the Crager Beast will make their home where they can generally hide themselves away from the races of Telath who would hunt them down. Thus far they have only been seen in the area of
High Peak, but any similar area could contain Crager
Beasts.
Further Reading: Primer to Races
Diet
Crager
Beasts like to feast on the flesh of
Humans,
Elves and
Dwarves, but they will eat just about any creature large enough to sustain them.
Organization
Remarkably, the Crager Beast is a far more organized creature than many think them to be. Their reputation as an evil monster that needs to be destroyed is largely inaccurate. Though they are known to attack unwary travelers, the Crager Beast only does so in the pursuit of food. The fact that their food might be a human, dwarf or elf is of no consequence to them, which makes them feared to all of the intelligent races of Telath.
Organized into clans of ten to twenty, the Crager Beast is lead by a clan chief, usually the strongest and fiercest of the clan. The clan chief is responsible for organizing hunts, settling disputes and making important decision like where they will live, the division of food amongst the clan and whether an outsider is allowed to join with them. Below the clan chief is the Shaman who attends to various rituals, healing and other tasks including a limited form of divination. Though the Crager Beast does have a language, it is limited to a variety of grunts, whines and growls.
Combat
For a Crager Beast, everything comes down to the hunt, and being carnivores, they will eat anything that lives. Generally, the Crager Beast will use its sharp nails to dig into the neck of its opponent literally ripping the life from their ‘food’. When needed, they will use their sharp teeth to rip into the body of their opponent. Sometimes a Crager Beast will use a thick log or large rock in their attacks and more rarely, will throw small boulders to catch their opponent by surprise. Lastly, they do possess a great amount of strength, and will punch, kick or hug their opponents until they are killed or knock unconscious.
Special Abilities
The Crager Beast is incredibly strong and can lift weights five times heavier than a normal man. They also have the ability to make crude tools out of bone, stone and in some cases, wood. These tools are generally restricted to bowls, digging tools or even stone knives for cutting into the hide of an animal. They also have exceptional hearing, which is a main reason why they have been largely hard to catch or spot with great frequency. Large groups of armed men are largely ignored, and only when in greater numbers or with extreme boldness, do they make themselves known. Their eyesight also provides them with great vision to see great distances. Remarkable hunters, all of their senses have been honed over the years to complement each other perfectly.
Resistances
The Crager Beast had an inherent resistance to the cold. Even in the harshest of temperatures, their bodies stay warm allowing them to hunt and forage for food. Furthermore, their tough skin acts like natural armor making stabs and thrusts hardly affect them unless the sword, spear or arrow is able to pierce a vital organ. Finally, they are immune to cold-based arcane attacks, which have little affect due to their inherent resistance. Should they leave their cold climate homes, however, their resistances might decline as they begin to shed some of their fur, much like a
Dog sheds a winter coat.
Weaknesses
Other than their below average intelligence, Crager
Beasts are also somewhat susceptible to fire. Their fur of course is as susceptible as any other furred beast, but their nature makes fire a mystical thing to them. Only a few Crager Beasts in the whole of the
Great Mountains even know how to use fire, let alone create it.
Other Notable Information
Nothing of note.
Credit
Credit goes to Tauro
