"The Old Ones, they knew much. Not the alchemy of man nor the sorcery of warlocks and the like. No, this is the magic of gears and pulleys, the sorcery of science. Watch your every step in the tower: be wary or you may call to life the ancient defense systems. You'll know the Defenders have awoken long before you face them, that's for sure; they're louder than a stomping giant and their hulls scrape the stone walls. You'll hear them coming, I'm sure you can avoid them, go on in the tower. Me? I... I'll stay out here. Got to have a lookout post, right?"

Instinct: Destroy all Intruders! *click* Defend the domain!

• Display immense and uncaring strength
• Soldier on, ignoring all damage until the last
• Reveal a hidden function from the depths of its gearworks

Chariot of the gods, house of the holy, seat of divinity—the juggernaut is a mobile shrine, bearing a blessed idol for the adoration of the faithful. Such is its divine power, it can move on its own when the time for worship has come. On high holy days it emerges from the god's temple for a procession upon the pilgrim's path, and all who see it should bow down alongside in reverence. But the god is a jealous god, and woe betide the worshipper whose heart wanders. The juggernaut shall strike down with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy the brethren. Instinct: To crush the unfaithful

• Advance inexorably
• Hunt the heathen

Among the andropheis, some speak for the gods. The pythians hear the hissings of ancient Python, who knows that which was buried beneath the earth, and feels that which walks upon it, and sees that which will be written in the skies above. As is always the way with soothsayers, the truths they tell are not always welcome even among their own people, yet still is their wisdom sought, and woe betide the one who would defy the divine words. Those who might seek to strike the pythians should beware, for not only do the pythians bear the favor of the gods, but also they know the mysteries of magic common to all the andropheis. Instinct: To prophesy for the gods

• Declaim an enigmatic truth
• Conceal its nature with illusions
• Strike with ancient sorceries
• Hypnotize prey with its gaze

A most curious people, glyptodytes. Kin to the goblins, some say; others call them gnomish folk. Similarly, some will say they’re named and known for always wearing jackets of some tough leather with elaborate grooved patterns; others swear they dwell in carven stone figures like idols to forgotten gods; yet other tales combine the two, describing them as traveling about in strangely-carved shells like some kind of mystical turtles. All agree, though, that they highly prize secrets of all sorts, gathering up knowledge from the obscure to the occult, from the enigmatic to the esoteric, from puzzles to prophecies. Though they treasure their trivia, they can be persuaded to trade secrets for secrets, or sell knowledge for a high price. But the secret-seeker should beware of attempting to deal falsely or forcefully, for the glyptodytes acquire arcana in their investigations, and they will let loose eldritch forces to fend off foes. Instinct: To collect secrets

• Call upon forgotten sorceries
• Cause calamity with incantations

When the forefathers of men still crawled upon tree limbs, the andropheis (plural; singular androphis) walked amongst the thunder-lizards. The ancient rulers, the Serpent People, cold and proud and wise in wizardry, strong in sorcery. But Time brings all things low, and in their turn they crawled into the dark depths, driven below by the rise of the elves and dwarves and men above. Yet they did not perish, nor forget their past, and still they plot to reclaim the world under the sun. Andropheis can cloak their forms with illusions, or reveal their true faces to hypnotize foes with their unblinking gaze. Once they strike, the hypnosis is broken… but often so is their foe. Instinct: To reconquer the earth

• Hypnotize prey with its gaze
• Conceal its nature with illusions
• Strike with ancient sorceries
• Sibilantly summon the serpent-men

Not all the undead act out of hatred and hunger. Some simply long for the embrace of life again, to hold someone close and feel their warmth. Perhaps in death they seek compassion or companionship that they ignored or scorned in life. Or perhaps they could not bear to let go of their loved ones. Whatever the case, now they suffer this curse as punishment, that the life they seek to hold will only wither within their grasp, even as they are withered. Instinct: To embrace

• Clutch the living in its bony arms

The Polar Worm, they call it. A huge ferocious beast that can swallow livestock whole, burning it up with it's churning fiery insides, hot enough to melt weapons that strike it's skin. They hide under the snowy steppes of the north, and it's best you stay as far away from those forsaken places as you can. Instinct: To eat

• Melt weapons that strike it
• Burst from the ground

Weird as strange, weird as supernatural, weird as destiny. Is it a sentinel set here by sorcery, or sea-spawn seeking supper? We only know this worm of water waits unseen within pools, lurking until it can lash out, entwine around a victim, and drag them down to their destiny, a watery death. And how does one fight it? Do the waves fear swords? Can hammers crush currents? You can beat it back for a time, but it'll rise again from its pool as if unharmed; sages say only sorcery or spiritual powers suffice to slay it. Supernatural serpent, indeed. Instinct: To drown

• Drag others into its pool and drown them
• Meld unseen with water
• Grapple victims in coils
• Regenerate mundane damage

Ancient and terrible, these shades dwell in the land of the dead and prey on those who would presume to wield necromancy. A wizard believing himself to be a "master of death" will have to contend with the dark mirror of his own hubris, his own pride turned into an unstoppable monster. Only the wisest wizards and their friends will be able to learn the monster's true nature in time to escape its terrible mastery. Instinct: Replace the souls of the living

• Pursue the proud
• Exploit a secret
• Possess the living
• Feed on fear and pride
• Move between the lands of the living and the dead

Vampires exist in a precarious position. They are powerful and deadly, but at the same time their weaknesses are well know. Particularly their helplessness during the day, where they must rest in their coffins. Then, one night, one vampritic wizard thought to himself, "I wonder if I could merge my coffin with the body of one of my golem servants?" Instinct: Protect the Master

• Protect its vampire master from harm
• Drive someone away by force