There is countless diversity in the fauna of Eikeren and Ellowe. Most wild animals are what you expect to find — wolves and mountain cats, hares and weasels, thrushes and crows — but there are some that are entirely unique to this world. Some are great monsters like those of the Ellowean Wastes, while others are just truly wild and dire creatures like those of the Fens. Some are even rumored, like the great Northern Drakes or the rocs that live just beyond the western horizon.

Even domesticated animals hold some familiarity, though their names might be different from the names used in the real world. There still are house cats, various sizes of dogs, and plenty of caged songbirds.

Here you will find particular animal breeds and creatures that have been given unique history and back story here on Game of Kings. Their names are familiar, but their origins might surprise you.

Domesticated Breeds

Horses of Eikeren


These are the most common of the war horses. They stand typically between sixteen to seventeen hands. They have been carefully bred for size and strength, as well as flexibility and agility, making them ideal for carrying fully armored knights onto the battlefield. Chargers mixed with plainsrunners and drovers are often used as labor in the fields, while purebreds are left for knights and other soldiers. They are recognized by their girth and fringe at their hooves.

The most common coat colors include bay and chestnut, with a small percentage of black, grey, and white.

They are most akin to the modern Warlander and Spanish Norman, which are the closest approximation to the long-extinct destrier.


These are the swiftest of the horse breeds, bred for their speed and endurance. They typically stand between fifteen and sixteen hands with lean musculature. Though not as tall as their charger counterparts, they are leaner with more delicate bones. They are a favorite for couriers, long distance travelers, and scouts. They are often bred with chargers to create workhorse mix breeds or drovers for more fashionable carriage horses.

The most common coat colors include bay, chestnut, and palomino-coloring, with a small percentage of black, grey, and white. They are most akin to the modern Thoroughbreds.

Delicate and refined, they are the preferred mount of fine ladies. Gentle by nature, these horses are of average endurance and constitution, but are sought after for their smaller stature and refined gait. They stand typically between fourteen and fifteen hands, about the same height of plainsrunners without the endurance and speed. Over the course of generations, walkers have been so sought by nobility that it is difficult for commoners to afford their cost.

Their most common coat colors include dapples, chestnuts, and greys. Rarer colors include albino or painted — a mix of white and another color. They are most akin to the modern Arabrian or Tennessee Walker

Sturdy and well-rounded, this is the most common and most affordable breed. They are extremely verstile, from pulling carriages to endurance riding — though they don't have the speed of plainsrunners. They are exceptionally hardy — traits that have been bred into them over their generations. Nothing ill has ever been said about a drover, but they are not exactly the most prized. They stand typically between fourteen and sixteen hands.

Their most common coat color is bay and dappled. Rare colors are chestnut and black, and it is exceptionally rare to find white drovers. They are most akin to the modern day Morgan.

Wild Horses and Shags
Wild horses are almost exclusively drovers, although there are a few small herds of wild plainsrunners, especially in the area around Estermarch. There are also the wild shaggy ponies — known as shags — that live almost solely in the Bornas Mountains to the North and the Mountains of the March in the South. They are short, standing between eleven and fourteen hands high. They are known as being temperamental, possibly due to the harsh life in the highlands. There is something prized about the wild horse, particularly to those of the March. Nobles from the Lohstren House particularly are often tasked to capture their own wild horse as part of their Budding ceremony.

Their colors are all varied, though shags have dense coats and long manes. Shags are most akin to the Highland and Exmoor pony.

Beasts of Ellowe

In the wake of the great cataclysm, the fauna of Ellowe was greatly changed. In addition to this, so was the food chain. No longer was there solely herbivorous animals, because so little of the flora was suitable to eat. Animals throughout the Fens and Wastes were forced to develop more carnivorous palettes. Predators remained predators, though prey animals became scavengers that grazed behind the great hunters to eat what remained. Often times this meant that scavengers became cannibals, eating the flesh of their own fallen kin.

There are two sub-groups of fauna within Ellowen: the Fen-Creatures of Kinhill and the Chimeras of the Wastes.


There are terrible, enormous wolves in those Blasted Fens of Kinhill. They hunt in packs, combing through the fens to hunt. Sometimes, they cross over from the Northern edge of Rhaedan.

Of all the threats against Laketown and other river and lake side towns, fengators are said to be the worst. They frequently swim across Haven and Shelter Lake to attack fishing boats, threaten swimmers, and other unfortunate victims. Like the fenwolves, they are far larger than your typical alligator, though they are solitary hunters.

Though these animals are still considered prey to the larger predators, they have adapted to the harsh conditions of the fens with their own ferocity and danger. They have developed black coats which help disguise them in the dark backdrop of the fens. Their bite is exceptionally poisonous, and fawns are covered in armor-like scales to help protect them from attack. Like everything else in the fens, these deers are no longer herbivores, but instead scavengers that eat on the leftovers of greater predators. They are not often seen outside of the Fens, but occasionally a hunter will venture just within the boundaries of Ellowe to bring down one of the black stags.

These giant arachnids live almost solely in the northern caves of the Fens. They primarily choose caves with lots of twisty tunnels that go deep into the mountains, providing them with much needed chill. In great antechambers within their cave networks are giant webs that are used to store their kills. It can take years for an adult man to be eaten by one of these spiders, whose metabolism is very, very slow. There have been victims rescued months after they were captured by fenspiders, though most suffered permanent paralysis due to nerve damage while being slowly eaten.

Chimeras of the Ellowean Wastes

While the fen-creatures of Kinhill are quite fierce, they at least can still be rooted in what is known of wild beasts. It is the chimeras of the Ellowean Wastes that are truly strange, wicked things. Backlash from the alchemical experiments of the Ellowe, creatures like crocwolves and tarusards run wild around the wastes. Here is just a sampling of the chimeras that are found in the waste, particularly ones that have been known to cross into Eikeren to wreck havoc.

Their names say it all. The crocwolves of the Wastes had once lived as two separate species — the crocodiles of the rivers and brackish wetlands, and the wolves of the fens. Either a consequence of the strange cataclysm that wiped out all the people of Ellowe or perhaps just a throwback from alchemic experimentation, crocwolves have found a way to propagate and are now one of the dominant predators of the waste. They are known to take residence in the Ellowe riverside to the east of Eikeren, and occasionally will attack the townships and hamlets along the river.

More docile compared to the crocwolf, the tarusard is the mix of a bovine and a reptile of some sort. For the longest time, they were confused as typical herd animals, and perhaps could have been bred and domesticated for farming use. However, their unexpected carnivorous nature could not be sated. They would chase down horses, falling upon them as a vicious unit, and all they left in their wake was clean bones. They don't actually hunt, however, but merely aggressively graze on whatever happens to be in their path.

To some, bogs are adorable omnivorous flying creatures that are the result of miniature hogs mixed with bats. They are no larger than a falcon, and they nest in trees across the wastes and fens. They eat everything from bugs, to berries, to small birds. They are actually some of the least dangerous animals coming out of Ellowe, and they have begun to venture into Eikeren more regularly, though their lifespans are severely decreased. They are known as pests, feasting on sprouting crops, nesting in hay lofts, and multiplying like mad.

Another flying species is the hawx — a mountain lynx mixed with a hawk. Solitary hunters, they have adapted to nocturnal hunting where they stalk rodent and small bird prey in the air and then strike from above. Though they are considered to be exceptionally beautiful and graceful creatures, Hawx are also rather territorial; they are known to attack even the largest owlbear when it crosses into its domain.

These terrible creatures are monstrous and strong. They usually attack by grabbing their victim in a vicious hug and sinking their beak into the throat. As their name suggests, they are a combination of an owl and bear. They have maintained the rather nocturnal hunting style of owls, as well as having exceptional eye sight and hearing. They use their bear strength to overpower their prey. Wingless, they have created dens in various trees and caves.

Rumored Creatures

Eikerenian Monsters

Some say that dragons have been extinct since the Age of Legends. Rumors surface now and then about great, terrible winged lizards in the far North, but it is hard to truly believe these creatures still exist.

Far beyond the Still Sea, they say that the rocs live. They occupy great cliffs sticking out of the ocean, flying great distances to attack adventuring sailors. Wrecked ships and other calamities are often blamed on these mysterious, unseen beasts. Some say they are just folklore made up by Sollinger and Westmark, though some swear their existence.

Gigantic squidlike creatures are believed to live far in the depths of the oceans, nesting in great trenches below. Like rocs, they often go hand in hand with ship wrecks. These myths appear to be more centralized around Tharnham and further south rather than north. Whether truth or myth, it is the one thing all sailors fear.

Ellowean Monsters

There has only been one pilgrimage to the Ivory Towers of Ellowe, across the expansive Wastes. Scholars, priests, knights, and curious treasure hunters were just some of those who joined the fellowship. They were gone for nearly a year, and only one of the pilgrims returned. He was full of raving stories, things most cast off as delusions, but the sheer terror of his story manifested into gruesome tales of half-human, half-animal monsters. They are stories that are told to induce fear, and continue the terrible legend of the fallen Kingdom of Ellowe.

These are just some of the creatures that have manifested into terrible tales. No one knows if they exist or not, but what is a common thread is that they are all humanoid in form, mixed with animals — quite similar to the chimeras of the Wastes.

No longer man, no longer bull, it is said that the minotaurs that protect the labyrinth of the Ivory City are some of the fiercest monsters ever seen — even if there are no living eye witnesses to confirm this. They stand around eight feet tall with the horns, tail, and hindquarters of a bull. Solely male, they must venture into the far Southern settlements of Eikeren to kidnap promiscuous young women to take back to the City; there, they are forced to bear the minotaurs' offspring, and often die in childbirth.

They say that harpies are some of the most beautiful and terrifying monsters in all the world. They are predominantly female, according to legend, relying on the rare few males for propagation. The are covered in a fine layering of feathers from head to toe with clawed hands and feet; great wings sprout from their backs, and their eyes are like those of a hawk. They are said to seduce knights and other warriors, attracted to their strength.

Young Harpies
Young harpies are the most commonly seen. They tend to visit the field of battle or wounded, and appear as beautiful young women with downy feathers on their arms, wings and golden eyes. They can seduce and draw away men and make them forget their wounds with the promise of mating with one of them. They are also very capable healers, tending to wounds and nursing those that they take back to health to release later.

Mature Harpies
Once the young harpy has taken a man, she does not propagate with him, instead, she turns him over to the mature harpies. These are more the harpy of legend. Ugly, twisted, half-hawk, half-woman, incredibly strong. They mate multiple times with the captive after he has healed before releasing him once she is sure she is pregnant. Over 99% of these unions will result in a female harpy. Once in a generation a male harpy is born. This harpy alone is allowed to mate with the Queen to make the future Princess and Queen of the race.

Queen and Princess Harpies
Unknown. Noone has ever seen a Queen or Princess Harpy and survived the experience.

These terrible dwellers of dark places are the embodiment of fear. Lion, scorpion, and man, they are truly bred to be predators. They say their mouths are filled with sharp teeth, and their barbed tail contains a paralytic poison that allows them to eat their prey alive without them struggling. They are cunning, though like the minotaurs, rely on brute force. It is said that they speak in chattering growls that no longer resemble that of a human voice.
