Cydanas
Start as a slime, a goblin, a cave spider, a wyrmling or a rat of bones. Eat, grow, evolve, until the Surface rings its bells for you.
- Monster evolution
- Power fantasy
- Reincarnated as a monster
- Dungeon crawling
- Underworld
monster evolution power fantasy 1 memberBuilt by Worldtable
You wake up hungry in the dark as something small: a slime, a goblin, a cave spider, a wyrmling, a rat made of bones. This is Cydanas, the Deep under the world. Eat what you beat, grow into your body, and change into something bigger, until the Surface rings its bells for you.
Where it all began
the Breach
Sixty years ago the floor of a valley on the Surface fell in, and the Surface found out how far down the world goes. The Breach opened a way between the Deep and the kingdom of Birkenia above it. Monsters came up, hunters went down, and the Surface has been paying bounties ever since. Every monster in the Deep knows the Breach is where the food comes from, and where it gets you killed.
The lands
Kacruz
the Shallows
the upper caverns right under the Breach: glowing fungus forests, goblin warrens, the kobolds' Glim Market, and hunters coming down from the Surface
Right under the Breach the fungus forests grow tallest, because the Surface's scraps fall down the pit, and so do hunters. The goblins of the Shallows built the Glim Market in the biggest warren, where kobolds sell anything to any monster with glims to pay, and every new monster in the Deep learns the first rule there: eat or get eaten.
Cergamath
the Webwood
caverns hung with web from floor to roof, where spider towns hang in the dark and an Arachne rules a city of silk
The Webwood: caverns hung with web from floor to roof, so thick in places that it's ground. Spider towns hang in it like lanterns, and in the biggest cavern the Web City of Meryndhem is strung across the dark, where the Arachne Xaalla holds court and decides who gets eaten.
Khathuzah
the Drowned Halls
the flooded dwarf holds where slimes are born in the Mother Pools, oozes rule the drowned halls and the last dwarves hold one dry hall
The great dwarf holds of Khathuzah flooded two hundred years ago, and the water turned strange: the Mother Pools where slimes are born bubble in what was the dwarves' throne hall. Oozes rule the drowned halls now, a kraken lives in the lowest, and the last dwarves hold one dry hall, Khunduzur, behind a door that has been shut for a century.
Mentur
the Ossuary
a plain of bones and graves older than the Surface, where the dead get up, a lich keeps a tower of bone, and the Crypt Stair climbs to a Surface graveyard
The Ossuary is a plain of bones under a roof too high to see, older than the Surface, where the dead don't stay down. Bone rats hatch out of the graves every night. In the middle stands Ustheta, a tower of bone where the Lich Kahas Bodoralyn keeps a library of stolen spells, and at the plain's edge the Crypt Stair climbs to a graveyard on the Surface.
Axagos
the Furnace
lava rivers and smoking caverns where wyrmlings hatch, kobolds forge for dragons, an old dragon sleeps on a hoard and the Long Fall drops into the Gulf
The Furnace: caverns of lava rivers and smoke, where dragon eggs hatch in the heat and kobold forge-towns serve whatever dragon is biggest. The oldest, Kras Sagoth, sleeps on a hoard inside a mountain. At the Furnace's edge the Long Fall drops off the rim of the Maw into the Gulf.
Who you can be
Slime
A fist-sized blob of clear ooze that woke up thinking. No bones, no face, no voice, a body that swallows what it covers and a hunger that never stops. Slimes are born in the Mother Pools of Khathuzah and eat everything: rats, mushrooms, rust, coins, lost boots. Most get eaten in their first week; the clever ones get big. Grows into an Acid Ooze once it has eaten metal, acid or venom, or a Mimic once it has eaten treasure or learned to hide as a thing. Best at: squeezing through anything, eating anything, being underestimated.
Acid Ooze
A slime grown to the size of a cart, its body an acid that eats metal. Blades rust in it, armour flakes off where it touches, iron gates are a meal. Grows from a Slime that has eaten metal, acid or venom. Becomes a Rust Tide once it has eaten a whole armoury, a hero's arms or a dwarf forge's iron.
Mimic
A slime that learned to be a thing: a chest, a door, a barrel, a chair, down to the grain of the wood. It talks in the voices of what it ate and loves being opened by the greedy. Grows from a Slime that has eaten treasure or hidden as a thing to catch its prey. Becomes a Hoard Mimic once it has eaten a hoard, a vault or a dragon's gold.
Rust Tide
A flood of living acid that rolls through tunnels like a wave and leaves bare rock behind it. Armies of the Surface have lost every weapon they carried to a Rust Tide and gone home in their underclothes. Grows from an Acid Ooze that has eaten an armoury. Becomes an Abyssal Ooze once it has drunk from the Gulf or swallowed a Calamity.
Hoard Mimic
A mimic the size of a treasure room: a whole vault, gold, chests, a throne and a door, every piece of it a mouth. Adventurers walk into it on purpose, and it lets them get as far as the throne. Grows from a Mimic that has eaten a hoard. Becomes an Abyssal Ooze once it has swallowed a Calamity or drunk from the Gulf.
Abyssal Ooze
A living lake that thinks. It swallows a cavern and everything in it, speaks in every voice it ever ate, and has eaten armies. The Surface rates it a Cataclysm and does not send hunters, only prayers. The end of the slime line, grown from a Rust Tide or a Hoard Mimic.
Goblin
Small, green, quick and greedy, with ears like knives and a grin to match. Goblins are the only small monsters who talk from the start, and they never stop: they haggle, brag, steal and set traps for fun. They live in the warrens of the Shallows right under the Breach and steal from the hunters who come down. Grows into a Hobgoblin once it has beaten and eaten something bigger than itself in a fair fight, or a Goblin Shaman once it has eaten something magic (a glowcap, a wizard's heart, a wraith). Best at: traps, tricks, theft and talking.
Hobgoblin
A goblin grown to a man's height and twice as broad, with iron-grey skin and a war-leader's voice. Hobgoblins wear the armour they take off hunters and lead raiding bands. Grows from a Goblin that has beaten something bigger in a fair fight. Becomes a Goblin Warlord once it has a warband of its own and has beaten a hunter captain or a troll.
Goblin Shaman
A goblin who ate something magic and never stopped glowing a little. Shamans wear bones and feathers, mutter at mushrooms and throw fire and curses that work far too well. Grows from a Goblin that has eaten something magic. Becomes a Goblin Hexlord once it has eaten a mage of the Surface or a spirit of the Deep.
Goblin Warlord
A goblin the size of an ogre, scarred and crowned with a hunter's helmet, who leads a horde. Smaller goblins sing about warlords; hunters are paid triple to go near one. Grows from a Hobgoblin with a warband that has beaten a hunter captain or a troll. Becomes the Goblin King once it has taken a Surface fort or beaten a hero.
Goblin Hexlord
A goblin who has eaten enough magic to float a little off the ground. Hexlords curse whole hunting parties at once and keep stolen spellbooks they can't quite read. Grows from a Goblin Shaman that has eaten a mage or a spirit. Becomes the Goblin King once it has taken a Surface fort or beaten a hero.
Goblin King
A goblin as tall as a watchtower, crowned in hunters' swords, whose voice carries through every warren in the Deep. Every goblin alive will fight for a Goblin King, and the Surface has a whole prayer against one. The end of the goblin line, grown from a Goblin Warlord or a Goblin Hexlord.
Cave Spider
A spider the size of a cat, eight eyes, no voice, all patience. Cave spiders hatch by the thousand in the Webwood and eat each other until the clever ones are left. They spin web strong as rope and walk on ceilings. Grows into a Weaver once it has caught clever prey in a web trap it built, or a Venom Stalker once it has eaten something venomous or hunted down prey bigger than itself. Best at: waiting, webs and ambush.
Weaver
A spider the size of a pony that builds webs like architecture: bridges, nets, traps that ring like bells. Weavers are clever, patient and fond of shiny things. Grows from a Cave Spider that caught clever prey in a trap of its own. Becomes an Arachne once it has eaten a person who could talk, and learned to.
Venom Stalker
A long-legged hunting spider the size of a horse, fast enough to run down a fleeing hunter, with a bite that paralyses. Stalkers don't build webs; they chase. Grows from a Cave Spider that ate something venomous or ran down prey bigger than itself. Becomes a Shade Stalker once it has eaten a wraith or hunted in total darkness for a season.
Arachne
A woman's head, arms and voice above the body of a great spider. Arachnes speak, bargain, read and cast, and rule spider towns like courts. Grows from a Weaver that has eaten a person who could talk. Becomes the Spider Queen once it has eaten a Brood Mother or the old queen of a web city.
Shade Stalker
A spider of black glass that hunts in shadow and seems to step out of the dark wherever its prey is looking away. Hunters of the Surface call it the thing behind you. Grows from a Venom Stalker that ate a wraith or hunted a season in the dark. Becomes the Spider Queen once it has eaten a Brood Mother or the old queen of a web city.
Spider Queen
A spider as big as a cathedral with a queen's crowned body above it, whose webs are whole cities and whose broods are armies. Every spider in the Deep knows her voice. The end of the spider line, grown from an Arachne or a Shade Stalker.
Wyrmling
A dragon hatchling the size of a dog, all teeth, sparks and appetite, from the nesting grounds of the Furnace. Wyrmlings can't talk yet and burn everything they don't understand, which is most things. Grows into a Fire Drake once it has eaten fire things (salamanders, lava, a forge's heart), or a Basilisk once it has eaten stone, crystal or a golem's core. Best at: biting, burning and growing.
Fire Drake
A wingless dragon the size of a bull with plated scales and a furnace in its chest. Drakes talk, badly, and boast constantly. Grows from a Wyrmling that ate fire things. Becomes a Wyvern once it has eaten something that flies or climbed out under the open sky.
Basilisk
A long, low dragon of grey scales whose stare stiffens what it holds toward stone. Basilisks are slow, patient and never speak. Grows from a Wyrmling that ate stone, crystal or a golem's core. Becomes a Stone Wyrm once it has eaten a lava golem or turned a hunting party to statues.
Wyvern
A winged dragon the size of a house that flies through the high caverns of the Furnace and, when it dares, up into the Surface's sky. It talks, it schemes, it has started a hoard. Grows from a Fire Drake that ate something that flies or reached the open sky. Becomes an Elder Dragon once it has eaten a dragon or slept a season on a hoard of its own.
Stone Wyrm
A dragon of living rock as long as a street, that swims through stone the way a fish swims through water and leaves a gallery of statues where it hunted. Grows from a Basilisk that ate a lava golem or turned a hunting party to stone. Becomes an Elder Dragon once it has eaten a dragon or slept a season on a hoard of its own.
Elder Dragon
A dragon the size of a hill, old, clever and terrible, whose breath melts stone and whose wings darken a cavern. The Surface tells children stories about Elder Dragons and hopes they're only stories. The end of the wyrm line, grown from a Wyvern or a Stone Wyrm.
Bone Rat
A rat made of bones and a little green light, that crawled out of a grave on the Ossuary plain and remembers nothing. No breath, no blood, no voice, and a hunger for the living it can't explain. Grows into a Skeleton once it has eaten the bones of a fallen warrior, or a Wraith once it has eaten a ghost, a soul or the last breath of something dying. Best at: going unnoticed, not dying, and gnawing.
Skeleton
A walking skeleton in scraps of old armour, with green fire in its eyes and a voice like dry leaves. Skeletons remember how to fight and nothing else. Grows from a Bone Rat that ate a warrior's bones. Becomes a Death Knight once it has beaten a templar or a hero of the Surface in single combat.
Wraith
A cold, half-there shape in a ragged shroud that passes through walls and chills what it touches. Wraiths whisper; most of what they whisper is true. Grows from a Bone Rat that ate a ghost, a soul or a dying breath. Becomes a Lich once it has eaten a priest's blessing or a spellbook of death.
Death Knight
A giant armoured skeleton on a horse of bones, with a black blade and a voice that makes the living drop their weapons. Death Knights lead the dead to war. Grows from a Skeleton that beat a templar or a hero in single combat. Becomes the Death Lord once it has raised an army from a Surface battlefield or eaten a lich.
Lich
A crowned skeleton in rotted robes with a heart of green fire, a library of stolen spells and a phylactery hidden somewhere clever. Liches think in centuries and talk in riddles. Grows from a Wraith that ate a priest's blessing or a book of death. Becomes the Death Lord once it has raised an army from a Surface battlefield or eaten another lich.
Death Lord
A king of the dead as tall as a tower, robed in shadow, whose step wakes every grave for a mile. The dead of the Deep and the Surface answer to a Death Lord, and the Bright Court sends its Hero against nothing else so quickly. The end of the bone line, grown from a Death Knight or a Lich.
Kobold
Small, scaly, dog-headed traders and tinkers who live all over the Deep and belong to whoever is strongest nearby. Kobolds run the markets, mine the glims, forge for dragons and sell anything to any monster that pays. No monster becomes a kobold; kobolds are just there, and always have been.
Dwarf
The last dwarves of the Deep, who held the halls of Khathuzah before the floods and still hold one dry hall against the oozes. Stubborn, bearded, armed with axes and old grudges. No monster becomes a dwarf.
Human
The people of the Surface: farmers, townsfolk, hunters, priests and heroes of the kingdom of Birkenia and the lands around it. Brave in daylight, frightened of what's under them, and fond of bounties. No monster becomes a human.
Elf
Long-lived, sharp-eyed people of the Surface's forests, who serve the Bright Court as archers and mages and hunt monsters as a sacred duty. No monster becomes an elf.
Magic
Beyond the gates
- the Surface. the daylight world above the Deep: the kingdom of Birkenia, its Hunters' Guild and its Church, reached up through the Breach and the Crypt Stair
- the Gulf. the world under the Deep, at the bottom of the Maw: lava seas, the coils of the Mother Worm and things too big for the caverns above
- the Bright Court. the court of the gods above the Surface, a mountain of gold light where the gods bless their heroes and judge what the Deep sends up