When the first snowflakes whirl through the air, the far-flung outholds of the Northern Forest know that the Winter King's hunting cry is soon to follow. Body like a snow leopard, but huge - higher than a house at the shoulder. Atop it, an owl's face, fell-eyed and with a cruelly hooked beak. The Winter King's crown is a set of stately elk-antlers, broad as tree-boughs. Yet for all his bulk they say he fades like mist into the winter wood. And this beast - this ancient foe - someone must defeat him, lest the turn of the seasons be halted and Winter reign all year. Will you face his claws, his freezing aura, his killing-scream, so that buds may burst green in the spring? Instinct: to prolong winter throughout the year

• Paralyze them with a terrifying killing scream
• Blend perfectly into the snowy background
• Afflict them with frostbite and snow-blindness

Ri'leth is a terrifying demon, tall and powerful. His head resembles that of a vulture, fixed atop a long neck. From his back sprouts an enormous set of wings, each feather shaped from white-pink flames. With a voice like a 100 stinging needles, the words it speaks are horrible to hear and pierces the soul. Instinct: To enslave and corrupt

• Speak terrible, mind warping words
• Cast a horrible spell
• Mutate someone
• Tear a hole in the fabric of reality

Ri'leth is a terrifying demon, tall and powerful. His head resembles that of a vulture, fixed atop a long neck. From his back sprouts an enormous set of wings, each feather shaped from white-pink flames. With a voice like a 100 stinging needles, the words it speaks are horrible to hear and pierces the soul. Instinct: To enslave and corrupt

• Speak terrible, mind warping words
• Cast a horrible spell
• Mutate someone
• Tear a hole in the fabric of reality

Horned blue or red skinned monstrosities clad in tiger hides and exotic armours, and bearing huge spiked steel clubs, these creatures give off an air of brutish strength. While they may be easily as strong as their Ogre cousins, they are superior in every other way. Wielding unnatural magic abilities that enable to them to fly, turn invisible, shroud areas in magical darkness, shapeshift into disguises that would fool the most suspicious of men, and worse; they are to be reckoned with and feared. Instinct: to deceive and devour mortals

• Deceive
• Turn invisible
• Blast them with a cone of cold or shroud them in darkness

Dolomar's quest to find eternal youth has led him to a magical ritual which would take 283 years. If you meet Dolomar it is because you've awoken him from his slumber early and while his body has rejuvenated to that of a man in his twenties his mind is still shattered by his experience with Neverwhen. Dolomar is erratic, confused, angry, happy, kind, and violent, and all in the space it takes him to say one sentence. This man is powerful with knowledge and magic beyond the ken of all but the most scholarly. Beware if you wake him before his time. Instinct: Unpredictable

• Can manipulate time
• Can cast any spell

Mr. Smith? I don't know no Mr. Smith, but I do know a feller' that seems to show up every day like clockwork. Nasty looking sort, always terse with everyone and ornery as all get out when provoked. One day, I took a look at that feller' and we locked eyes for just a moment. I still have nightmares about the things I saw reflected in those hateful orbs. Instinct: To scheme and control

• Offer deceitful deals.
• Distract with illusions.
• Swoop from above

Sailing the seas for treasure or under impressment, these men will slit your throat for fun. Of course, if their captives get loose, the battle may turn; and if you look tough, they'll attack someone else. Instinct: Loot and Pillage

• Fire the Main Cannon!
• Ring for alarm

Instinct: Loot enemy ships

• Man the cannons
• Swing in from above

Bound to their corpses forever by the power of their devotion to the ancient god, these dwarven rise only when their peace is disturbed. They take the image of what they looked like in death: fearsome warriors, many of which have horrific wounds. They are slightly translucent and move with supernatural fluidity, though mortal speed. Instinct: To protect the secrets of the god

• Cut off exits
• Turn mundane surroundings into a trap

The Stoneback Rat isn't really a rat. Rather, these armoured slugs wander the streets of forgotten cities like vermin, preying on small animals unfortunate enough to seek shelter in the ruins. Their sizzling mucus trails carry a pungent smell familiar to the seasoned explorer. The mucus can remain chemically active for hours; it's rumoured that solutions of certain plant oils can protect gear from the slime. Fire can "cure" exposed equipment, though hides and cloth may not survive the treatment. Some Stoneback Rats can spit slime, while others dash around on a multitude of legs, laying a thin, slick trail. Stoneback Rats have been known to blend into walls and pounce on prey, and even to lay slime traps on ceilings that drop at the slightest tremble underneath. The one characteristic universal to all Stoneback Rats is their puzzling propensity for hoarding. Their burrows are invariably full of some array of items, meticulously ordered by some unknown instinct. Stoneback Rats may themselves be artifacts of some ancient civilization - but of course, speculation is best reserved for academia. Instinct: To organize

• Snuffle through refuse
• Hide from large creatures
• Ambush small creatures
• Guard burrow at mortal cost