Cynocephalus

     A race of well known Foreshaped, men with heads like that of dogs. Often confused (derogatively) with Gnôles where the two races cohabitate. A large clan from the north-west call themselves Cínbin, and many know their race by this name in general.

    

    See also: Foreshaped, Cínbin; Gwrgi Garwlwyd óCínbin; Gnôles

Croon

    Croon are large bulky beasts, vaguely bird-like, but with fine, short integument rather than feathers. They spend their days in small to large herds in swamps and bogs, feeding on various sorts of vegetation. They are known for their crooning cries, which become more intense in the late summer, when they rut. Docile, but skittish. In some species, the crooning call seems to come from the crest like extrusion crowing the head. They have vaguely duck-like bills.

Constrictor

    Most encountered are no bigger around than a man's thumb, but the Constrictor (also called a Boa, or a Boa Constrictor) may grow to the size of a Great Asp (or larger, according to legend). Like some other beasts, they can live for many years, and seem to never stop growing. For a snake, it is quite docile and slow moving, even at great size, and are kept as pets by some. The creature subdues its prey by wrapping its great bulk around and around, slowly tightening until the prey can no longer draw breath, and dies. It then swallows its meal whole. It has no venom, and only has teeth at the back of its mouth, which point inwards, making it nearly impossible to free from its clutches flesh that has begun to be swallowed.

    

    See also: Asp

Colors, Exotic

    Bellow is a list of colors whose names derive from the Saguza Language. These are colors experienced by Saguzahar eyes alone, as many are mixtures of familiar colors with the color cébre, located below violet on the traditional spectrum, a color visible only to Saguzahar.

Cœrulór

    A Cœrulór appears at first glance to have the form of a large wild cat, like a panther. On closer inspection, this fae creature ceases to be familiar in appearance to much of anything. Between its legs stretches a think membrane, like a flying-squirrel. It may appear to have four, or six, or possibly more legs. Its upper surface is covered in black shimmering fur, while the underside is thick with small finger like appendages and thorns. Protruding from between the neck and front legs are two long grasping tentacles. The beast has the mysterious ability to shift itself in and out of locative materiality, making its precise location difficult to ascertain to an onlooker. In this state, it occupies a superposition within a general area-- any attacks aimed at this area will have only a percentage chance of striking the creature's flesh. The Cœrulór is a secretive creature, and prefers to hide in shadows, striking upon prey from above.

Cockatrice

    Though slightly taller than a man when standing erect, a Cockatrice is more typically seen slinking standing aright. Its head is roughly like that of a rooster, with a comb-like crest, and flesh that hangs beneath the beak. The beak itself is filled with coarse teeth. The body is scaled, snake like, but with a mane of feathers about the neck, and down that covers the armatures of the wings. The front limbs are otherwise like a bat or dragon, with membrane between the digits that would allow flight, though they are only ever to be seen using them to descend gracelessly from a height; they are too massive to fly with wings as small as they are. The beast is indeed dense with bone, muscle, and thick hide, making it a formidable foe in its own right. 

    The gaze of the beast is frightening, paralyzing those weak of will. The creature is indiscriminate with its food-- it has a poison in its belly that will digest bone and wood and some metals. The fumes alone of this poison are deadly toxic on the creature's breath. The creature has warm blood, and is thus not susceptible to the Basilisk curse; the creatures are none the less sometimes confused, due to the paralyzing gaze of the cockatrice. A Cockatrice is born when a rooster lays an egg after eating a snake, which may occasionally happen during certain parts of the year, under the watch of certain constellations.

    See also: Ichneumon; Basilisk

Changeling

    Changelings are infant Fae swapped discreetly for infant humans. They grow to resemble the people who raise them, as a result of eating human food, and being separated from Fae influences. The "infant" Fae would likely not have been truly a newborn, but a Fae convinced entirely that it is an infant human. Whatever lives they lived before becoming changelings are forgotten, as is typical of Fae who shift into drastically different forms. These changelings are often very difficult to raise, and never lose their fae-spirit. They are wild, curious, uncoöperative, and typically disinterested in learning to read, write, do math, etc. They are, however, intensely social by nature, and have a carefree approach to life. They tend to have a wanderlust that drives them to travel from a young age. 

    That is to say, the changeling appears to age at a rate typical for a human. The changeling will have convinced itself so thoroughly that it is a mortal human that they may even appear to "die" if seriously injured. This works in reverse as well. If an attack is not convincingly injurious, the changeling may ignore it. Certain types of magical effects are thusly ineffective on changelings, even if they typically work on other Fae. While it is inevitable that a changeling eventually discovers her true nature, they tend to be very slow to being convinced of it, and may even carry on their lives as usual after finding out. However, once a changeling is made aware of their nature as fae, certain fae characteristics may begin to present themselves- specifically the tendency for Fae to change in form overtime to fit their desires or behavior.

    The human children who the Fae "infants" are swapped for are similarly usually raised in the Greenwood believing they are Fae themselves. Raised eating fae food, they tend to take on fae qualities, and usually remain child-like in form, with greatly extended lifespans. These children are also sometimes known as "changelings" but are more formally known as Fae-Touched.

Centaur

    A Centaur is an amalgam creature with the upper torso of a man tapering to the haunches of a horse, six limbs in all. Certain populations of centaurs prefer to stand on two hind legs, and wear robes to obscure their equine torsos. Centaurs were created as a result of a Fae curse- they were not originally humans merged with horses, but rather horses who had their heads and necks transfigured into imitations of the upper bodies of their riders. As a result, the psychology of the centaur has more in common with that of a horse than with that of a man, albeit more intelligent.

    There is another type of creature called a Centaur, which resulted from the same curse that turned the heads of horses into the upper torsos of their riders. The riders themselves were cursed, having their heads transformed into the head and haunches of horses, rendered incapable of speech, forced to crawl across the ground. Populations of them still exist, tucked away in strange corners. They possess the minds of men, but the generations have rendered them into reasonless beasts

Cetus

     1. (Deity) Mysterious god of the ocean, and of sea monsters in particular. Strange, with an alien mentality, and unknowable motives. Sometimes thought to be malevolent but may merely be indifferent to humanity. Occasionally prayed to by fishermen, begging his forgiveness for robbing his ocean.

    2. (Sea Monster) Cetus is a term used occasionally to refer to any particularly large, frightening sea-monster, weather it be a Leviathan, or any of the other myriad horrors of the sea, as reference to the deity of the same name (see def. 1.) 

    See also: Leviathan

Celanthrîm

    Celanthrîma are sometimes known as Orbs of Clairvoyance, or rarely as The Orbs of Sight. The name of these orbs come from celon, "falcon," + thrûm, "perception, sight," sometimes thus called a falconspy. A Celanthrîm allows the user to perceive (that is, both see and hear) events at a great distance. The distance at which one can gaze is theoretically infinite, however, the farther away one looks, the greater the force of will and concentration that is required. Operating the Orb is draining, and requires a source of constant spiritual energy. 

    To operate, the user must first position themselves around the Orb in the direction they wish to gaze. Then they must focus on the magnitude of distance they wish to look. Users often prefer to have the Celanthrîm located in a high tower to more easily see into rooms, and over obstacles. The device does not work by simply picturing a location, nor can it look forwards or backwards in time. It also will not automatically follow a moving target, so its focus of gaze must be manipulated manually. Usage of the orb is very complicated and is said to take years of practice to master. 

    Though the first thrûmic orbs to be created are said to have been Celanthrîma, the artisanry needed to craft new falconspies has been lost for many centuries. The closest that a modern artificer can manage are Ulthrûma or Oëthrûma, lesser orbs of listening and sight.

    Legend states that Celanthrîma, when used correctly, may permit the viewer to see into the past or future, but that the art of it's usage as it is now known is broken, or incomplete.

Cébre

    Cébre, also known as false-black, is a color that resides on the spectrum bellow blue and violet (what we would call ultra-violet) It is a color invisible to most races, the exception being the Saguzahar. Saguza color vision is shifted down the spectrum slightly-- they cannot see red anymore than humans can see cébre. The word cébre comes from the Saguza word tsábar.

    

    See also: Colors, Exotic

Camel

    A Camel is a strange desert dwelling creature, sometimes called a. Horse-like as a grazer, sheep-like of face, with a long gracile neck. The back bears one hump among the smaller, southern varieties, two for the larger, eastern kind. The two humped eastern Camels are covered in thick hair, to deal with the cold arid climate of their home, and are somewhat larger. The southern, one humped kind is sometimes called a Dromedary, and is easily domesticated, and used as a beast of burden by peoples of Mesembria. All varieties of the animal is well adapted to dry weather, needing little water or food. 

    The camel's urine is dark, thick, and very concentrated, and is said to have medicinal properties. Traditionally, it is mixed with milk (typically also sourced from the Camel). It is quite slow, difficult to encourage to walk at faster than a man's pace. Mountains to the west are said to have a small variety, with no hump, and covered in wool, that the natives weave into cloth.        

    Will spit if provoked. Despite rumor to the contrary, the camel's humps are not full of water, rather it is where the animal stores fatty tissue.