CREATURE FEATURE HIGHLIGHT: THE IGAGII–THE MAN-BEASTS OF OREGEN PENINSULA!

or

MASHED BY A MAN-BEAST!

Greetings most honored reader!

Magorious is definitely making things interesting. Not content with backing down or escaping as Madame Manhands implores, he’s taking matters into his own hands—literally!—in the form of a 330-lb oaken table. Incredible power! So…just who or what is this Magorious?

Well, as the old proverb says, if it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and looks like a duck—it’s probably a duck! And I think we can apply the same logic here, except—this is no duck. But sneaking a quick glance again in Berp-Orthup’s Bounteous Bestiary, we might venture a guess as to just what Magorious is.

Magorious looks very much like one of the mighty Man-Beasts of the Oregen Peninsula, as I suggested HERE. If this is true, then our hero, Bryan, may be in some deep trouble. These creatures, standing anywhere between roughly 70 to 80 inches and weighing up to 500 lbs, were frighteningly strong. It is not known with certainty just how much stronger one of these creatures was than a typical human (much less a typical Dwarf!). Fortunately, we can again turn to the illustrious (if not somewhat strange) Berp-Orthup for a possible answer.

In compiling his marvelous Bestiary, Berp-Orthup spent months living in the wild and secretly observing the Igagii in their native habitat in the mountainous jungles of Oregen. He reported that while peering through the door of an Igagii home, he accidentally witnessed a domestic dispute between a male Igagii and its mate. During this dispute, in a fit of rage, the male of the species picked up a massive wooden table that the wizard estimated to weigh at least 200 lbs and flung it across the room as easily as a human might throw a flimsy chair. By this estimate, our Peeping-Tom wizard (or should I say Peeping Berp-Orthup) came to the conclusion that a male Igagii was anywhere between 6 and 15 times stronger than the average human (thus, using that table as a shield was no problem for Magorious). Unfortunately, our intrepid Dwarf never expressed to me an interest in reading Berp-Orthup’s work, so (as usual) is ignorant of the danger he’s truly in.

Though resembling hairless gorillas, the Igagii—the Man-Beasts—were actually quite intelligent. Fortunately for most of the people of the north, the Oregen Peninsula was separated from the rest of the continent by a high mountain range, and the creatures seldom ventured forth.

Even more frightening, however, is that as of late, more and more of these creatures have begun to exhibit mystical abilities, but who taught them? Where did they gain this knowledge? In any event, this—in conjunction with their great strength—makes them terrible enemies.

Last week I waxed eloquent on Bryan’s own physical power. It appears that power is going to get a work out as Magorious applies that oaken table to bench press Bryan’s head. Will the Dwarf have enough power to break out? Please tune in with me next time, honored reader, to find out. Until then—

With Cognescentii blessings,

~The Traveller