Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

The Demography of Karameikosattracted by the dirt toward large cities andtowns. Giant bats dwell in the Blight Swampand near undead lairs - like their much moredangerous relatives, the giant vampire bats– but sometimes are also found elsewhere.Giant ferrets are found in forests and woods;often those animals are trained as warding orfighting beasts by the humanoid tribes. Direwolves are found in the Altan Tepesmountains and in the region immediatelysouth of them; they are good neighbors of thegoblin tribes, and are often trained as mountsby them.Giant lizards are quite common. Thedangerous horned chameleon dwells in theforests, while geckos are found in any rockyterrain; the solitary and aggressive tuatara isfound in the Black Peaks mountain range.Among giant amphibians, the rock toad issometimes found in areas dotted with cavesor in the mountains.Animals, NormalThe Grand Duchy hosts many common farmanimals, like cattle, sheep, pigs, and mules,but also various wild species: in the hilly andmountainous country live the sturdymountain goats, while boars favorssouthern forests, where game of any kindabounds. Herds of wild horses are found inthe central regions of the realm, and avaluable breed of white horses is raised by theCallarii elves.Among flying animals, ravens are spreadeverywhere, while bats are mostly found inthe Wufwolde region and in the vicinities ofLuln.There are also many predators: black bearsdwell in every wooded area of the GrandDuchy; wolves are common everywhere andoften represent a real danger for lonetravelers; mountain lions are found in thenorthern regions of Karameikos.Snakes of medium and large size are quitecommon in Karameikos.The Grand Duchy is the home of twodifferent species of aggressive and savageprimates. The first are the rock baboons,which dwell in the Wufwolde region and areoften trained as pets and fighting beasts bythe humanoid tribes (like the Yellow Fanggoblin tribe); the second are the larger snowapes, which live in the Altan Tepesmountains, where many of them serve thefrost giant clans.The Dymrak Forest hosts a species ofconstrictor snake similar to the rockpython, while giant racers and pit viperscan be found anywhere in the central andnorthern areas of the Grand Duchy. Thespitting cobra is quite rare but verydangerous and may be encounteredanywhere. Giant rattlers are thankfullymuch rarer, while a species of smallrattlesnake called rock rattler is commonlyfound in the Black Peaks.Regarding fish life, it must be noted thatsome of the Grand Duchy’s ponds arehaunted by a very dangerous fish species,the cold water piranha.Animals, PrehistoricEven if it is not a properly prehistoricanimal, a unique species of great bearssimilar to the ancient cave bears dwells inthe Wufwolde hills.ConstructsThough Karameikos is no powerful wizards’land, many constructs are still found in the27THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1