Easily the largest city in the entire land of Yokaru and home to the infamous Keepers, Zibaba is a place simply teeming with the wild and rugged spirit of the bush. Welcome to the safari city.

Blessed enough to enjoy friendly relations with many nobles, some of them very close to the king of Haracon himself, the Guild leaders of the Keepers are the criminal big-wigs every wealthy and famous animal collecter wants to invite to the grand opening of his exotic zoo or animal park.

A crude and appearently worthless trinket, this tawdry bit of finery would attract no notice at all, disregarded as as just foolish vanity on the part of an improvished peasant or labourer.

But mind you don't lose one of these when you're on the errand of some powerful guild leader. He'll be sure to skin you for that.

A thief's invaluble companion, this little invertebrate is a must-have among burglars determined to pull off an extremely difficulte heist.

As long as the thief in question, isn't too squemish about what his little accquisition feeds on..

Whenever the earth trembles and shakes, it is the children of the Stinging One furious that the nourishment due to them, has been denied. Honor them unceasingly by sating their hunger, or the earth itself will swallow man-kind whole to feed them''.

-Taken from the Arahuain Codex, the most sacred text known to the priests of Ixtili, the Stinging One.

The gathered crowd watches with a highly palpable combination of of nervousness and awe, as the Quarsooth steps into the great stone cavern.

They had been summoned here by the dictate of their new overlords to heed their sermon, the vision that the newly arrived saviours of mankind had brough with them from their lengthy, astral passage from the great heavens that formed the very roof of the Heavens. But in their hearts, the people are afraid. The Quarsooth for all the benovalence they have displayed, are still creatures too dangerously akin to the demons or angels of their ancient myths or stories. And all dealings with being of supernatural provenance are fraught with peril, as the old tales warn.

But even as they continue to stare at the Quarsooth, their minds in turmoil, the radiant being reaches into the folds of his robes and withdraws a strange metal rod. Putting this to his lips, he begins to play a tune.

Soon, all fear and suspicion and fear is erased from the minds of the gathered folk, as the haunting and poignant song regals them with tales of the lost glories of Zor-Tanis, all the while reminding them how by particpating in the attempts of the Quarsooth to resuract it on this world, they can bring an end to their own endemic sufering and enjoy absolute power over great stores of knowledge that will enable them to ascend to a position of riches and enlightenment that is rivalled only by Zor-Tanis.

And thus is the conquest of humanity being achieved...

''Parasitical worms that breed at an alarming rate , these vicious little creatures are indeed a great plague to other aquatic species that share their habitat. It is regrettable that some of them were able to escape their enclosures and infect our local fish stocks. But rest assured good people, that our illustrious and gifted leaders have an excellent reason for encouraging the domestication of these foul things. Trust in a wisdom that exceeds ours by far ''.

-Village Spokse man for the Quarsooth initiated aqua-culture project.

The Quarsooth stands regally, watching impassively with its disturbingly beautiful golden eyes, as masses of sweating labourers haul massive block of lime stone towards the river banks of the Obo, the most majestic and the largest body of moving water in the little barony of Farkhon. Ample in fish stocks, the new masters of the land have deemed it perfect for humanity's first fledgling attempt at advanced aqua-culture. If this ambitious prject proceeds as planned, the Quarsooth colonizers will introduce into the rivers, aquatic life-forms from their own native home-world that breed abundantly and are platable for the digestive system of most creatures, thereby guaranteeing their subjects a bulwark against mass starvation in the disastrous event of crop faliure or a cattle disease epidemic.

''From the great home land above, do we desecend to this dark world to civilize long sundered kindred that have relapsed back into the degraded state of barbarism. For it is only on their humble backs that the splendours of noble Zor-Tanis can once again be revived to their former majesty. Then shall we resume our rightful place as the keepers of the flame of high civilization in the entire mass of creation''.

Serving extensively in the armies of human kings determined to eradicate the last tribal enclaves of ferocious non-humans that still stubbornly refuse to release their hold on the large tracts of wilderness which yet remain, this mercenary company has only one requirement of any potential recruit willing to sign up with them:He must not not be able to claim kinship of even the slightest kind with their employers..

The siblings of the Emperor:The High Priests

Residing in the core of this giant black megalithic structure built to resemble a crude representation of a lightning bolt, lies a Shard of the Storm.

And a lot else..

In the strict caste based society of the mystical sub-continent of Valur, belief in re-incarnation is powerful and the concept of ''dah'', or the actions of one's previous life having far reaching consequences for the present one, holds powerful sway. Thus, does one receive great punishment or reward in his next life, depending on the actions of his current existence.

There are some men who treat their wives the way they would chattel,that is,with utter control and domination,regarding their spouses not as independent beings entitled to their free will,but as mere objects of theirs,subject to the will of their lords. Such is the nature of those doomed to become the Possessive Ones,upon their death.

The elven race epitomizes the most noble traits to be found among the children of the gods, in keeping with their mythic status as the first-born and most beloved of the creative forces that gave rise to our world.

So we poor benighted mortals guilessly believe,subjugated by the awe that holds us in thrall of these dazzling beings that exude perfection. But rob an elf of his exquisite beauty,and what do you see in the depths of his soul? Does the inside reflect the unflawed sublimity of the surface? Perhaps not...

The Surash are without doubt,the most distrusted and least liked race in existence.

The Daharvati bear a striking resemblance to large kangaroos forced to breed with apes by some deranged scientist.

Towering giants that stand well above 15 feet,these inhabitants of the great grasslands that border the most remote boundaries of the nation of Xhiklus,are an intimidating cross between humanoid and rhino. Their massive heads resemble those of a rhino,but they possess the hunched,hulking lower bodies of a humanoid being,and are endowed with the ability to fashion and use tools with their huge,three fingered hands. Often called ''the Grey Monsters'' by most people of the Hundreds,they are a force to be reckoned with.

The Frozan are revered as creatures so old and ancient that only the very ice caps and glaciers are older than they are.

The Old One is the living core of Tarrod.