“No flame has ever taken one. And gods know we’ve tried.” —Outrider Genn Taleth, last survivor of the Skathradel purge
Threnachs are small, brutal wyrm-like predators that haunt the deep ruins and wastelands of Galwyndor. Once believed to be distant dragonkin, their physiology and behavior suggest something far more feral and ancient—less beast of legend, more apex survivor of a crueler age.
Their name, derived from threnody, was given not because they wail or mourn—but because where they nest, graves follow.
Physical Description
- Size: 6–9 feet in length; serpent-bodied with compact, muscular frames.
- Limbs: Stunted, almost vestigial forelimbs; powerful hind legs adapted for burst movement, leaping, and vertical ambush strikes.
- Wings: Present, but useless—curled like withered arms on their back. The skin hangs in strips or is hardened into scale-ridges.
- Head: Broad-jawed, noseless, with a split maw lined with jagged bone ridges instead of teeth. Their tongues are barbed and can extend several feet for soft-tissue feeding.
- Eyes: No pupils—just polished black stone-like orbs that reflect nothing. Can see in total darkness.
Behavior and Ecology
Carnivorous ambush predators, known to stalk prey for days without tiring. They do not fear light or fire and have been seen walking directly through torchlines and smoldering brush. Thrive in ruins, scorched forests, and battlefields, often nesting in dry stone where moisture and vegetation have long since vanished. Display intelligent hunting patterns—herding prey, blocking exits, and waiting in total stillness for hours before striking. Known to eat everything—bone, sinew, cloth, even metal trappings. Nothing remains. Some speculate their digestion relies on extreme internal heat or alchemical secretion.
Unique Traits
Immune to fire. Their scales are hardened by an unknown mineral compound that chars but does not burn. Exposure to flame seems to agitate them rather than repel. Extremely durable—resistant to cutting and piercing weapons. Best killed with blunt trauma or focused acid-based compounds. No vocalizations. They do not hiss, roar, or call. Their silence is part of what makes them terrifying. Blood: Thick, black, and viscous—extremely hot on contact, capable of blistering skin and boiling water.
Cultural Notes
In most rural communities, children are warned of “low-walkers” or “ash-things”—early folk names for Threnachs. Tethuric clergy once claimed they were remnants of pre-divine creation, “things made before fire knew obedience.” Q’evrist herbalists collect their shed scales (if found) to ward off disease, though this is largely superstition.
Recorded Sightings
- Skathradel Collapse (10,622) – 14 Threnachs emerged from beneath a collapsed ruin after a tremor. Three villages were lost before a contingent of 19 Outriders subdued them using heavy blunt-force weapons and alchemical smoke.
- Threnach Pit of Arold Varn – A hunter fell into what was believed to be a cave of sleeping Threnachs. His body was never found—only his teeth, fused into stone.