Stranger-- As promised, the following unit descriptions for your use and edification, to use or not as you choose. As I do not have any false pride or hubris wrapped up in these, if they do not fit your concept of the beast/unit in question, I promise not to pitch a fit and whine if you don't choose to use one or more of them, or any of them, for that matter.
Amazon Huntress
Mercilessly trained from childhood, hardened by living in the wild on their own from the onset of puberty, the Amazon Huntress represents the epitome of her kind. The selection process begins at birth; defectives, the sick and males are all ruthlessly culled. There then follows a training regimen second to none; tracking, trapping, woods-craft, survival skills and intense archery instruction are just part of their education.
Upon reaching sixteen, the young Amazon is sent to live in the wild for 9 months with only the clothes on her back, a small water bottle, ten feet of rope, and an extra pair of shoes. This last test begins on the Summer Solstice, and ends 275 days later. When, and if, she returns, it is expected that she will have developed an empathy with animals. An Amazon must achieve Huntress status to go out into the world; those you see are the best of their kind, and responsible for the Amazons' fierce reputation.
Evil Ents
Considered to be one of the oldest sentients on earth, the ents tended to their arboreal gardens for millennia, content with their place in the cosmic scheme. They sank their roots deep into the nourishing earth, content to tend their trees. But, in every species there are malcontents, ripe for corruption. Sadly, a whole branch of the ent family succumbed to the blandishments of Evil.
Ents were considered to be neutral in the cosmic struggle, with heavy tendencies toward good. This is only our perception, as actually communicating with an ent is terribly difficult for our species. We seem to them like the annoying insect buzzing around our ear seems to us. An angry ent is not something you want to face in a forest, snaring its prey with viney tendrils while poisoning the surrouning flora. Very long-lived, an ent can be exceptionally difficult to subdue.
Nightingale
No one now alive can tell you what the nightingale’s melancholy song signifies. Only the male of the species can sing; legend has it that the sorrow was so great that it struck the females dumb. There are only three ways to form a bond with a nightingale; raising it by hand from birth, forming a bond with a wild-born specimen, or compulsion by magical means.
The nightingale is said to have eyes second only to a hawk; very little escapes their gaze, and next to nothing can cloud or befuddle their vision. Their thought patterns are well enough understood by their bond-mate so as to let them act as an extra set of eyes.
Gorgon
Behind hooded, malevolent eyes, the Gorgon watches and awaits its turn. Seemingly flown out of a nightmare, this lion with wings and cruel talons can stun or freeze a man with its withering gaze, rendering the individual mute and paralyzed. Merciless, pitiless, remorseless, unfeeling and ferocious all describe this horrible beast. Bloodthirsty and savage are two other descriptors appropriate to this species of fantastic beast. Kin to the Medusa, the gorgon is an implacable foe and can seldom be reasoned or bargained with; too often, only death will end an encounter—yours or the gorgon’s.
Werewolves
Lycanthropy: An affliction the gives the afflicted the ability to shift shape and assume the abilities and mental processes of the shape and species assumed, and is most often transmitted through saliva and bites. Werewolves are the best known of the unfortunates afflicted with this curse, but other were-creatures do exist.
Cursed to be an unwilling slave of the lunar cycle, the lot of the werewolf is in some ways pitiable, but in more ways horrible. Subject to primeval urges that it cannot control, many werewolves retain some small mental vestige of their true forms, making their anguish and despondency all the more awful. Should we fear the shape-shifter? Absolutely! But that fear should be tempered with just a touch of sympathy and empathy; no person or creature in possession of their mental faculties would choose to become thus infected.
Stone giant
Close kin to the elementals, stone giants are one of the oldest races on the planet. Some speculate that they are possessed of the power of stone,some believe that they are part stone themselves; their hides are nearly impervious- hence the spell Stone Skin. The remnants of this mighty race have retreated to the last of the great unspoiled wild places on the planet; the deep mountains.
Phenomenally strong, stone giants can hurl stones weighing hundreds of pounds for incredible distances with astonishing accuracy. Upon dying, it is speculated that the bones of the stone giant are reabsorbed by the earth itself. Earthquakes have been attributed by many primitive peoples to be the welcome home celebration held deep within the earth by all that have gone before each time another dies.
Anything else you need?
Arch-Enemy of the Annoyingly Dense
Practitioner of Whimsy
Celt,Finn & Swede Elder Gamer[This message has been edited by kaskoid (edited 12-10-2005 @ 02:46 AM).]