INHUMANS
Ultraterrestrial creatures are more abundant than one might imagine at first glance. Demons are the most obvious of these, as winged entities can be seen soaring through the skies at any point, as well as congregating in great numbers near the Hellmouth.
The raven’s crag is another example of a new race, but with an entity of its own and an extension in number that sets it apart from the inhuman creatures. They nest in the highest peaks of the landscape without staying long in one place, transmitting their mutations that become more and more radical in each generation.
At their antipodes are the disciples of the weavers, whose corruption has led them away from the human path generations ago in search of resembling their arachnid masters on a path of no return to madness.
CHANGESKINS
Feared and hated alike, the Changeskins, also known as Shapeshifters or Hybrids, are individuals, are individuals who have suffered alterations to their bodies due to prolonged exposure to mutagens over generations. However, these mutations have altered their genetic code to such an extent that it has allowed those who have survived to transcend simple mutations and to be able to alter their form and bodies at will, adopting either the form of humans, the form of beasts, or hybrid beings that feed the nightmares of the inhabitants of the Unholy Lands.
The changeskins do not have a homogeneous appearance, as mutations develop in each individual in a different way; most common is that they adopt aspects or traits of predators such as wolves, bears or big cats, but there are also those with the appearance of birds, aquatic animals, reptiles, amphibians or herbivores.
Although the changeskins can be integrated to a certain extent in the Human tribes or in the Pack, their changeable nature often arouses suspicion, fear and mistrust, as well as violence against them, so it is more common to find tribes or clans composed exclusively of changeskins who group together more out of need for protection than for the mere pleasure of being among their own kind.
Nomadic by nature, there are some clans that have more defined territories, such as the Agnes’ Pack, a group of werewolves who believe they have the exclusive right to roam the Marshes of Madness, or the inhabitants of the Tusks, near the mounds of Cragmora, who are in reality an extensive clan of boar-like lycanthropes.
DEMONS
Bal’s hosts are countless and his influence permeates this entire place. The Hellmouth spits out a myriad of creatures of unspeakable evil, a parade of malevolent, twisted and nefarious infernals who seek only the pleasure of destruction itself. No one wants to cross the path of these entities of destruction.
From colossal entities that devour souls by the hundreds, to mischievous little devils that play unbearable pranks, to tempting succubi or incorporeal entities, demons can adopt an infinite number of shapes, sizes and appearances. They all seek to harm, deceive and kill, their rewards being the greater the greater the betrayal or ultimate desperation of their victims.
Bal has no long-term plan. For the moment he is content to fiddle with this new land that awakens his delight at lacking any glimmer of salvation. When he finally gets bored, the Mouth will open wide to engulf whole these lands.
DISCIPLES OF THE WEAVERS
Incredible as it may seem, the Disciples of the Weavers were once human, but time and their dark rituals have corrupted them to a point of no return, where they can no longer even remember their human origins. In their distorted minds, those colossal and hideous infernal spiders that inhabit the crevices and shadows of caves and valleys are sacred beings, divine incarnations of supreme power and glory.
Through a myriad of unholy rituals, the disciples seek to imitate these monstrous deities, yearning in each act of self-harm and sacrifice to come a little closer to the divine monstrosity they venerate. Their ceremonies are as macabre as they are unthinkable: they ingest the toxic blood of the weavers, decomposing themselves from within in an agonizing process of “purification”; they amputate limbs without hesitation to sew giant spiders’ legs, integrating into their bodies what they consider to be sacred symbols of power and closeness to their goddesses. In a show of absolute surrender, some disciples allow the weavers to lay their eggs inside their bodies, whispering praises and prayers as the parasitic offspring develop inside. For the most devout, even the act of becoming food for the weavers is seen as an ultimate sacrifice: they believe that, by being devoured, they will be reborn in the next litter, incarnated in the body of an arachnid hatchling, thus achieving ultimate communion.
Where other beings have been molded by mutations into something more than human, the disciples of the weavers, through atrocities passed down from generation to generation, have voluntarily descended each rung of a spiraling staircase to abjection. They have renounced any vestige of humanity and have given themselves over to a depravity that brings them ever closer to madness and damnation. It is in this cycle of devotion and mutilation that their humanity dissolves, leaving only twisted shells that, over time, may become indistinguishable from the monstrous deities they so venerate.
RAVENKIN
Grimna rules with determination over the various tribes of the Ravenkin. He is a corvid of several generations and his mutations would have killed almost any other human. He controls other birds, being able to talk to them to act as messengers or carriers. Those who know him best claim he possesses more powers, which is beginning to earn him demigod status.
It seeks to gain supremacy over the rest of the two-legged races anchored to the earth, and where they cry “Cursed heavens!” to show indignation, surprise, or to launch a curse, the raven warriors squawk in their atrocious snapping tongue a “Heavenly death!” before swooping in for the attack.
Grimna knows that the Coven holds many secrets and is a force to be reckoned with. Their numerous aerial spies always have eyes on the comings and goings of these women, despite all their efforts to conceal their activities. Grimna sees, hears, weighs, and keeps silent. His next move has to be perfect.