Phylum: Animal
Class: Lithic
The Lithic Class is often confused with elemental creatures from the plane of earth; however, one must recall that anything that is defined as an animal is a natural, not mystical species. Further, a zoola creature naturally produces vigor in its lifesong. These are quick methods to distinguish between a lithic animal and other monsters. All this said, lithic animals have an outer shell that is made literally of stone. Their entrails may be soft, but their outer skin is a layer of rock. Most eat and draw nutrients from minerals, though a few are capable of digesting meat or plants. Some have even been domesticated. Many of the lithic animals prefer to live in the desert regions.
Basalt Hounds
Lean pack hunters formed from porous volcanic stone and ember-veined interiors. Exhale heated breath. Nearly invisible among lava fields. Often mistaken for statues.
Cairn Turtles
Colossal-sized, slow river creatures whose shells resemble stacked river stones. Some have mistaken them for small islands or archipelagos.
Cinderhorn Rams
Mountain herd animals with black stone skulls and smoking nostrils. During mating season, horns have been seen sparking violently. Male rivalty head-butting produces very loud hammer-strike sounds.
Flintmaws
Predatory tunnel reptiles whose jaws strike sparks when biting stone. Their teeth continuously chip and regrow like obsidian shards.
Forge Crabs
Heavy six-legged creatures with iron-rich shells naturally drawn to heat and industrial waste, Often infest abandoned foundries.
Geode Crawlers
Small insectoid creatures whose shells slowly crystallize over their lifespan. Some refract light, create hypnotic color patterns, and may be harvested illegally for alchemy.
Granitebacks
Massive quadrupedal herd-beasts with layered stone plating like overlapping cliff faces. Moss and lichen grow naturally along their backs, causing travelers to mistake sleeping herds for boulders.
Gravelings
Tiny scavenger creatures resembling animated scree piles. Harmless individually. Dangerous in swarms, as they eat wood around stone or metal. These are the fantasy world pest like termites.
Magma Leeches
Semi-liquid rock organisms living near geothermal vents. They attach to heated surfaces and drain thermal energy. They glow internally and eave glassy trails.
Mormond
These large stone herd animals wander the badlands, feeding on rocks and other minerals. Wise prospectors look for areas avoided by these creatures. They are picky eaters when they can be, seeking stones with low metal contents. As with most herd animals, they attack only in self-defense, and even then prefer to run away, although they are not very good at it.
Mudstone Toads
Broad amphibious creatures living in mountainous regions and geothermal marshes. Their skin hardens into stone when threatened. Eat rock material and produce mineral-rich slime. They are often mistaken for boulders near riverbanks.
Prism Owls
Silent nocturnal predators with crystal feather growths that scatter moonlight around them.. Some cultures associate them with prophetic significance.
Shardwings
Batlike lithic creatures with crystalline wing structures that produce shrieking harmonics while flying. Nest in canyon walls. Can disorient prey
Vein Serpents
Blind subterranean snakes that “swim” through mineral deposits, which happens to soften the stone. Miners fear seeing walls ripple unexpectedly.