Miran's Magnificient Monster Manual

[Togetak]

Daemon Catalogue

II. Babline

 

Likely the most commonly seen Daemon on the entire continent, Babline are what most would call unassuming. Slow, rather immobile slime creatures that slide around inside the egg shells they were born into (and, my research suggests, perhaps are even physically attached to?) they are most commonly seen sitting in forest clearings, chittering and playing in small groups.

 

As any lumberjack or intrepid explorer could tell you, however, this meekness of stature ensures a very... interesting defense mechanism, in that they are inredibly easy to spook, and rely on being terrifically obnoxious in order to ward off predators and travellers alike. Unlike most Daemon which, while easy to startle, are not particularly fearful creatures, the humble Babline appears to be genuinely terrified by sharp movements and loud noises.

 

Babline packs will quickly turn-and violently- on anything that scares them, be it a genuine threat, or simply the crack of lighting, or a loud falling acorn. While barely a threat even to non-magi, their strategy seems to simply rely on scaring their attackers in turn, lashing out with earth and nature magic- specifically vine whips that can cause a nasty concussion should they hit their mark, and tossing boulders of not insignificant size. With a pack all working together, it can be difficult to engage with them with so much mana flying through the air, particularly from range.

 

This is not to say they're hardy warriors in any capacity. Babline are easily dispatched when their squishy bodies are targeted, scarcely being able to take two or three hits from an experienced warrior. While I rarely encourge direct attacks on Daemons and Magimals, as often running is far better for both parties, Babline are a special case- with how fragile they are, simply attacking back can often be enough to scatter the pack and force them away. This is particularly useful as spooked Babline will pelt you with boulders until you leave their sight, sometimes even chasing to ensure they can give you what for.

 

Cave Babeline - A subspecies?

 

 

Like the Swuisarme mentioned in an earlier passage, Babline appear to have their own cave-dwelling subspecies, living within the dank, fertile caves inhabited by the likes of the Granite Crellus. Much like the Swuisarme subspecies, the Babline too are of a far fiercer and more active breed than their surface dwelling cousins. Larger than their kin, gone is the muted fearfulness and sociable behavior, with a strange form of lone agrressiveness in its place- they will actively persue anyone within their territory, and violently so.

 

These creatures, too, have more violent abilities at their disposal, and are far more dangerous than usual. Summoning scattershot clouds of spores, much like the Granite Crellus, and even healing itself with the energies of the lifestream- abilities generally only native to masters of the natural arts. Although retaining the same weakness in their soft bodies, these creatures a more frightening breed, and I recommend staying far from their nests.

 

Bablory- an induced mutation.

 

 

Few are likely to have heard of this creature, let alone seen an example of one, for they are not of natural make. When exposed to large quantities of raw mana, the inherently magical nature of Daemon appears to allow them to, under certain circumstances, survive what would otherwise be a deadly irradiation of magic, and mutate their bodies to accomidate this quantity of raw power. It appears the success rate of this process is... not particulaly high, given how few of these creatures exist.

For the Babline, I have found only one place where such energies meet with a Babline population, deep within the caverns of the northern mines, where the Demons roam and spread their arcane corruption. The Bablory here are, obviously, not prime examples of their kind (if such a thing can even exist for such unnatural creatures?) due to the immense occult corruption of the area, and their bodies. These are a peverse creatures at the best of times, the result of wounds on the lifestream itself, and the occultic population I encountered is far worse.

 

These bloated, almost snail-like creatures- with their Babline egg shells overgrown, and overtaking the rest of their body- are relegated to a life of immobility, mutated form preventing them from movement on their own, leaving them stuck underneath the waterfalls of their underdark homes- perpetually doused in occult energies flowing through the tainted water. Whether their bodies can even naturally sustain this constant influx of mana for any particularly long period of time is something I doubt, but cannot particuarly observe.

 

You see, reader, the influx of mana makes these creatures terrifying examples of a beast innate to the magic it wields. They are masters of the earthen and natural arts, likely beyond most magi who would self profess themselves to be the same. When anything not another Bablory enters their visual range, they simply go rabid, casting an endless stream of impossibly powerful spells- Enough spores to cloud one's vision are unleashed into the area and the very earth shakes against you with their arcane might. Should you manage to land a hit on the monsters, no easy feat given their powers, they can simple rip energy from the lifestream and restore themselves as if nothing occured. 

 

Should some larger swath of damage hit them, such as the strike of multiple trained magi, they are capable of engaging in what is the most perverse action I have ever born witness to: Summoning the raw energies of the lifestream into a Yggdrasil spell, a tree of purifying energy, and twist it so far into the occult that it knits together their own wounds. In the hands of a powerful magi, such an ability may be used to heal the corruption that spawned them, but here.. their taint is so powerful they can corrupt it in turn.

 

Dear reader, in my life I have never encountered a creature- Magimal or Daemon alike- that I believe should be struck from the face of Eternia, and destroyed wherever they take root. Bablory are... well. Daemons twisted this way should not exist, the lifestream should be healed wherever they appear and, should they be corrupted in the way these Bablory were, they should not be permitted to suffer, or cause suffering, through their continued existence.

 

I advise that, should a Bablory corrupted such as those I had the displeasure to discover, you must convince your nearest capable group of Magi to root out the corruption that spawned them, and lay these once-noble creatures to rest.