Nexus Fantasy: The Haglands (WIP)

[Kyoki Chudoku]

The Haglands

A vast expanse of searing grassland littered by small phases of abundant life, the Haglands take their name from the various hideous monstrosities that inhabit them. The roaming semi-nomads that wander them now have countless names for their new home, none using the titles once held by ancient societies now buried under the dirt and dust. Searing winds can scour great stretches of the savanna of life when the conditions are right- or wrong, as may be said. Great storms bring irregular floods. Droughts tear away old watering holes, replaced when the rains are merciful, leaving the Haglands an ever-changing set of oases amidst the drying grasses.

Despite this, there is varied life here- not all of it native to this environment. For the full expanse of the Haglands fluctuates also over time. Manticores roam the tall grass and chamber in the fleeting woods, poisonous behemoths and vicious pack hunters by nature. Cokactrices stride across the open fields and flock to the skies with frantic shrieks. Life here is mobile and persistent, often airborne and often venomous.

The Chuuthi

The Chuuthi are, at first glance, as pitiful as they are unsightly. They stand at around half the size of a typical humanoid, and have the physical strength to match their meagre stature. Their faces are covered in wart-like scutes, short breaks extending outwards and containing rows of self-replenishing teeth, terminating in a pair of vicious, ever-developing incisors. They are four-fingered and four-toed, with talons for fingers and feet reminiscent of a vulture’s. A thin layer of feathers dots what parts of their skin are not already marred by a thickened layer of scabs and boils- their plumage almost always dull save for the occasional streak of red. They have a small crest of elongated plumage on their heads. Their most notable feathers, however, are present on their wings- flexible structures capable of furling when the creatures are grounded, and which affords the species with the ability to fly. The Chuuthi may not seem physically imposing, but they retain a vicious reputation. Their lightweight bodies are extremely agile, and they are no slouches when it comes to raw speed. Flight is also a major advantage, and they can utilise the wings both to soar across long distances or to hover through the entangling narrows of a canopy.

Chuuthi are not, in fact, native to the bounds of the modern Haglands. But migration after migration has brought them into the fold, and these diminutive creatures have brought an odd assortment of talents with them. More than anything else, Chuuthi are adaptable- able to handle changes in environment much more easily than other species in the region, and with a notorious drive towards the opportunistic. They have natural drive for competition, whether that be in the markets of lands afar or in the skies of their Hagland homeland. Many stereotypes exist about their greed and duplicity- not entirely without basis, but not an omnipresent truth either. The Chuuthi are a varied people, with numerous ever-evolving clans and warbands contesting the shifting fertile stretches of land in the savanna, competing for control over magically-enriched positions or for the sources of ancient knowledge that are said to lie somewhere beneath the soil.

The scattered and conflicting clans of the Chuuthi place much of their territory in a constant start of declared or undeclared war. Raiding parties are frequently set to put small villages to the torch and to pillage any valuables left too unprotected. But even amidst these fatal squabbles, there does exist one cause of unity amidst the Chuuthi. Should outsiders attempt to intervene in their lands, should sufficiently dangerous hostile forces amass in an effort to drive them out, the Chuuthi tribes as a whole may declare the Krachek- a state of concentrated war against invading forces. The turbulent strife of the everlasting struggle is put aside, and manticore riders of every banner come side by side to repel the threat of interlopers. In more recent times, the Krachek has been used for increasingly aggressive purposes- assaults on outlying territories that may not truly belong to the Chuuthi, but all clans can agree are well worth plundering in unison. This has allowed the Chuuthi to spread like scourge throughout the majority of the Haglands, and even to encroach beyond their newfound home.

Not all Chuuthi who depart their homelands do so to pillage and raid. Between outcasts and exiles, traitorous scouts and forsaken merchants, a sizable number of Chuuthi leave the Haglands behind to seek out their fortunes elsewhere. Often they are traders and hagglers, other times bards and explorers, but most infamous are the mercenary warbands that they forge. Formed by lost raiders or overeager adventurers, these groups range in quality and experience from absolute rookies unfit to commit simple robbery to veteran forces of terrifying ability.