Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Lhusu Mines

042: Vampyr
Genus – Undead Classification – Steeling
Observations: Being a variety of steeling draped in crimson fur.
The most vampyric of their ilk, obtaining sustenance from other creatures' blood alone.
Making their abode in magicite mines and other darkened places, they feed on beasts and miners alike.
Because of this, they are renowned for spreading disease, and depriving many
a mine of its entire workforce in the space of days.
Sage Knowledge (54 of 78): Lhusu Mines: A crystal mine located on the sky continent of Dorstonis. Many years have passed since the ore veins were first discovered here, yet even today, high-quality ores are found and processed in these well-worked shafts.
Many claim that the success of the mines is due to a project begun many centuries past by the Ondore family, whereby mining across their domains was closely regulated, never permitting too much to be drawn from one place, thereby allowing the magicite crystals to naturally recover.
The Lhusu Mines are most famous for their high caliber of skystone, the material which enables airships to ply the skies, and memstone, a variety of magicite that can store sound and even images in its unique crystalline structure.
Unfortunately, the dense concentrations of Mist in the mines lure all manner of beasts, and when mining expeditions are planned, palings must be erected to keep such creatures at bay.
043: Headless
Genus – Giant Classification – Headless
Observations: The Headless are surmised to be criminals of the dark lands whence they came. So called for the harnesses they must wear, obscuring their bowed heads.
These poor souls are tortured to distraction, their only hope of release being to coat their harnesses in the fresh blood of others. Thus they cut with blades both cruel and sharp, and in hideous ritual, rub the severed limbs of their victims upon themselves.
Sage Knowledge (53 of 78): Bhujerba: An autonomous city-state found on the sky continent of Dorstonis. Originally formed as a magicite mining colony with the advent of airship travel. The magicite mines of the skylands are superior to crystal mines on the surface in both quantity and quality of ore, and Bhujerba developed quickly on fortunes born of rock.
During the years of the Galtean Alliance, the Ondore family took over much of the daily business of Bhujerba's governance, a rule which continues to this day. Their neutral stance during the Archadian invasion two years ago positioned them as mediators of the peace negotiations that followed.
Like much of Dorstonis, Bhujerba is a city of hills and sloping boulevards. Merchant houses and shops are clustered near the peaks, while residences are found in the valleys. At the very bottom of the hills lies the network of crystalline shafts known as the Lhusu Mines.
Many visitors come to Bhujerba to enjoy the open-air parks with spectacular views only available to those who live in the sky. Very rarely does anyone fall from the skycity, and curiously enough, not a single death has been reported to have resulted from such an occurrence to date.
044: Killer Mantis
Genus – Insect Classification – Mantis
Observations: Being a great insect with forelimbs resembling sharp scythes. The head being directly attached to, and forming a part of, the creature's upper body. The forelimb blades being jointed in three places, the better to grasp prey, their tips sharp as needles.
While aggressive, they are also known to be quite cautious, raising their scythes at the first sign of danger to threaten and give warning to potential predators.
Aletap Rumors: Know what happens if you take entite lightning and direct the charge at electrum?
I'll tell you: you get gold. Or something quite close, at least. Once, the stuff was used in all manner of weapons, for the look. These days, you'll find little other than the odd golden axe that still uses the stuff.
So you see, all that glitters really isn't gold.
Pantages, Alchemickal Scholar
045: Dullahan
Genus – Giant Classification – Headless
Observations: Being a fallen angel with guilt-burdened wings, its behaloed head cut off and a cruel brace set in its place.
Though originally emissaries sent to warn mankind of unnatural death, they came to enjoy the grim spectacle.
The swords they wield are called "blood brands," a sign of their bloody treachery against humanity.
Sage Knowledge (33 of 78): Purvama, The Floating Lands: A great landmass, floating in the skies above the Naldoan Sea. Such landmasses are not uncommon, found throughout Ivalice in every sort and size, though the manner of their formation remains a mystery.
The region in which they float has some bearing on their climate, however most are warm to subtropical, boasting primordial jungles in which flora and fauna both rare and wondrous can be seen.
The crust of these floating islands boasts a high magicite concentration, and after airships became a common mode of transport, mining colonies sprung up on the richest outcrops.
Bhujerba, in Dorstonis, is the largest of the skycities, and oversees the administration of many of the rest.
046: Bug
Genus – Insect Classification – Mimic
Observations: Being a rare strain of mimic, its shell turned a jet black due to magicite consumption in the larval stage.
While the magicite content of its body works to harden its shell against attacks, this effect is lost outside of magicite-rich areas.
Consequently, all attempts at laboratory inquiry into the creature have been in vain, and its mechanisms for absorbing the power of magicite remain a mystery.
Aletap Rumors: Metal of the highest grade is being traded as fast as it hits the market.
Word has it that a certain war council's seen which way the winds blow, and is pouring all its efforts into gearing up for the coming conflict. What's more, it's begun buying up broken weapons from anyone who'll sell.
I suppose even a notched blade is better than a handful of gil when the going gets rough.
Sosi, Navigator
047: Dark Lord
Genus – Undead Classification – Skeleton
Observations: No warrior band of flesh and blood has followed so dark a leader as this cold corpse, wrapped in armor caked in the gore of countless slaughtered enemies. Chilling though it may be, there is reason behind this macabre decoration: in the barbaric past, it was thought that true victory came when you defeated not only the body, but the soul of your enemy. Once the physical vessel of the soul was slain, the victim's remains were defiled and rubbed on the victor's armor withal, so that the soul would find no sanctuary but the arms of its enemy. Yet the hatred of the fallen placed a curse upon these men, trapping them in their grisly armor even in death, and so they fell to dark wanderings.
Aletap Rumors: Not all souls are created equal, my friend. Hmm? No, I ain't no mission'ry tryin' to peddle me faith.
Try listenin' with your ears, not your mouth. Accordin' to my information, and it's as good as its kind gets, the ones what top the list are called empyreal souls, see?
It'd take a hero o' legend, or a first-class crook what's got himself a serious reputation to make that grade.
Dolura-eh-Ro, Streetear
048: Pandora
Genus – Insect Classification – Mimic
Observations: Some boxes are made to be opened, others to remain closed. A prime example of the latter is none other than the pandora, a fiendish creature that assumes the look of a chest or coffer, granting death to any who open it.
But o, the folly! For still it is whispered that the taboo upon the death-box's opening is nothing more than a rumor spread by those avaricious few who would claim the treasures inside for themselves! How many, hearing this, have opened what they believed to be a boon only to find a bane.
A Curious Treasure: Though it appears to be naught but a puppeteer's fantasy, the pandora is a crafty creature, with complex, highly developed innards that somehow harness the power of lightning. Where blood flows in our veins, lightning flows in theirs.
Its heart, charged with the task of sending that lightning to the rest of its body, works much like the engine of an airship. Mechanists call this unusual organ the wrath of the gods.
049: Gazer
Genus – Undead Classification – Reaper
Observations: Being a demon-reaper, said to sense the presence of sinful knowledge with the gleaming, baleful eye in the middle of its forehead.
Look into its depths and there you will see the reflection of all your sins, a revelation which will drive you to madness.
How many have stopped asudden, stricken by the accumulated weight of guilt, even as the cold, cruel claws of the gazer stripped their soul of its earthly husk?
Sage Knowledge (19 of 78): The Bahamut: No. 1 Sky Fortress Class Airship
Belonging to the western divisions of the Archadian Imperial Army, a mobile fortress and tactical base, under the control of the commandant of the Archadian forces, Lord Vayne.
This was the last sky fortress designed by Dr. Cid, powered both by ordinary skystone and manufacted nethicite, the latter absorbing Mist from its surroundings to generate the massive amounts of energy the fortress requires to function.

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