Hello all
Another article about my setting, this one is a list of dangers.
Check out my bounty to possibly get a monster into this list.
Will update periodically.
Summary
Across the lands, unseen forces stir in the shadows of civilization and wilderness alike. Ancient spirits linger where resentment or sorrow has taken root, while corrupted energies twist the natural world into something hostile and unpredictable. Travelers and locals alike tread cautiously, for even the most ordinary landscapes—rivers, forests, swamps, and mountains—can conceal entities whose presence warps reality, spreads disease, or brings sudden, inexplicable disaster.
Some dwell in the ruins of once-thriving settlements, their forms towering or grotesque, silently observing or preying upon the living. Others haunt isolated wilds, embodying the fury of storms, floods, or drought, or manifesting the lingering echoes of death and decay. Few forces are wholly malicious or benevolent; often their intent is inscrutable, their actions indifferent to human morality.
The land itself seems responsive, reacting to anger, fear, or neglect, and those who wander too far from the familiar risk encountering powers that defy reason and survival. In this realm, myth and reality blend, and what is unseen is often far more dangerous than what can be faced head-on. It is a place where vigilance, respect, and caution are the only true safeguards, for the world remembers every slight, every injustice, and every forgotten soul.
Monsters
Oni
Oni are ogre-sized Buddhist demons born from souls that died bitter, unjust, or consumed by resentment. They serve under Enma, punish the wicked, and delight in excess and cruelty. Oni are physically immense, regenerate wounds, wield iron clubs, and spread madness, disease, and social collapse wherever they linger.
Rolang
Rolangs are Tibetan risen corpses that animate in stages, beginning with moaning and ending in full locomotion. They spread their condition through bites and can be stopped only by spiritual intervention before the soul fully settles. Their existence blurs the boundary between improper burial and undeath.
Naga
Naga are ancient serpentine guardians associated with water, scriptures, and sacred places. Normally benevolent, they become catastrophically destructive if angered, poisoning rivers or unleashing floods. They may appear as vast serpents or half-human beings.
Hungry Skull
Hungry skull are towering skeletons formed from hundreds of unburied dead fused by shared resentment. They roam aimlessly at night, crushing and decapitating anyone they encounter. They often arise after wars or famines.
Kyokotsu
Kyokotsu are well-ghosts formed from improperly disposed corpses or suicides. They emerge suddenly to curse or kill travelers, driven purely by resentment and abandonment.
Rouren
Rouren are formless masses of rotting flesh haunting abandoned temples and graveyards. They rarely attack but overwhelm victims with stench and existential horror, embodying decay rather than violence.
Makara
Makara are composite aquatic guardians—part crocodile, serpent, elephant, and boar—placed at temples to ward off evil. In the wild, they function as massive territorial monsters tied to rivers, estuaries, and flooded ruins.
Zheng/Ning
Zheng and Ning are ancient horned leopard-beasts with five tails, infamous for ferocity. Their name became synonymous with malevolence, and encounters are remembered as massacres rather than fights.
Sprites
Tiny, malicious fey that hide in forests and ruins. They delight in ambushes, bleeding cuts, and confusion, often attacking from invisibility before retreating into foliage or darkness.
Conclusion
With that, we conclude our survey of the myriad dangers that roam this world. From the towering, vengeful spirits to the cunning, hidden predators of marsh and forest, each creature carries its own history, purpose, and threat—whether driven by resentment, hunger, or primal instinct. Understanding them is more than an academic exercise; it is a matter of survival.
Next article, we turn our attention to the lands themselves. Each region of this world holds its own character, dangers, and inhabitants, with unique interactions between terrain, climate, and the supernatural. By understanding the lay of the land, travelers and scholars alike can better anticipate where these creatures may appear, and how the environment itself can become an ally—or an additional threat.
Thank you all for reading!