Greywing holds a special place in our annals. First, because no living Hunter actually ever saw its cadaver. Second, because it was responsible for the death of Speaker Margaret, now known more commonly as the Starsteel Saint.

Appearing over the Bay of Fangs in the year 5 AS, Greywing assaulted a ship coming into port. According to the reports, it was a pallid bat some three yards from head to rump, with a wingspan of six yards. Exactly therein lay its strength, as Greywing had no reported special abilities other than its sheer size and accompanying strength.

Greywing appears to have been one of several instances of a Beast having been formed by the enlargement of a dead animal’s body. How the Dark Ones can conjure additional mass in such a manner remains a mystery.

Twins was a horrid Beast, created from two dead Melsciff Foragers in 8 AS. It was apparently some eight feet tall, the Foragers having been elongated until their limbs were disturbingly long and narrow.

Notable in the reports is the mention of markings on the trees among which Twins kept its lair. They reportedly distorted sight and caused an intense feeling of loneliness and discomfort, allowing Twins to sneak up on and surprise the Hunters even after its presence had become known.

Recreations of the shapes have been attempted, but the reported effect was not achieved, and the Hunters present said the attempts somehow didn’t look like the figures they had seen, even though they could find no deviation from the shapes they remembered.

The Muck Toads, which appeared near Ditmus in 12 AS, present an interesting question. Superficially, they seemed to fall into that category of Beast characterised by dead animals becoming substantially larger during their resurrection. However, the Hunters discovered – in quite tragic fashion – that the Muck Toads possessed a potent venom, which they could apply with their sharpened tongues. This venom caused instant pain, soon followed by convulsions, and was apparently quite deadly.

Notably, Hale Bark ointment seems to have had little effect against the venom. As the ointment is a beloved general antivenom across the global network, this suggests some level of alteration of the Beasts’ venom by the Dark Ones. Unfortunately, no Muck Toads survived the Hunters' vengeance in good enough condition to allow any physical study.

Appearing in one of Gladill’s mines in 17 AS, the Knockers posed a particularly large threat. Immensely strong diggers, they would trap their victims by causing cave-ins before emerging to claw and bite them to death.

The Hunters managed to bring back some of the nasal appendages for study. Close inspection revealed that they were covered in what appeared to be taste buds, meaning they probably found their prey by tasting the air, since they lacked eyes.

Notably, there is a species of mole that features a similar adaptation, but as it does not occur in Iseron the question arises whether the Dark Ones may have recreated that ability here. The implications of this are tough to parse, and the fact that other Hunters have since encountered similar Beasts adds to the mystery.

In 22 AS, an errant Hunter encountered the King of the Forest outside Gettildow. It reportedly ignored multiple musket shots, only going down after sustained fire from a prototype repeater. More controversially, it was suggested to have had a spark of human intellect.

The latter is largely based on a single report suggesting the King of the Forest might have been trying to speak. Many have been inclined to reject this notion, but examination of the Beast’s head did suggest it may have once been a human’s, at least partially.

This has led to the uncomfortable question if Beasts – particularly those made from human remains – retain some of their mortal minds. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to definitively research this, and so the matter remains an open controversy.

Bitanling was as old as the coming of the Dark Ones, but was finally slain in 27 AS. Despite its status, it appears to have been a simple turtle, albeit one grown to immense size. 

A point of debate is that Bitanling was described as growing tired in the moments leading up to its demise. Indeed, Master Ophelia had factored this into her plan to slay the Beast. Quite a few Hunters maintain that Beasts tire from regenerating their bodies. A few even wonder if Beasts might not be as different from animals as we believe, since they have been observed to eat and sleep.

Many Hunters disagree with these observations, though, while others do agree but add that only weak Beasts tire and refuse to believe that Bitanling could be considered as such. Experiments to settle the matter have been suggested, but none so far have been permitted.

The Living Rocks were discovered in the hills of Serncar in 28 AS, but reports suggest they had been slumbering there for generations. Despite their name and the evident toughness of their skin, the Living Rocks did not have any kind of stone embedded in their bodies. However, examination revealed these Beasts’ skin to be reminiscent of that of rhinoceroses and elephants, with the rest of their physique being similar to that of great apes.

Two popular explanations have been offered for this. One, the Dark Ones somehow mimicked these features in creating the Living Rocks. Two, the Beasts were created from the animals of the Menagerie of Crowns that stood at Serncar when the Dark Ones first arose. If the latter is true, the Beasts slept undisturbed for centuries, which presents its own disturbing implications.

Found by a Novice in 32 AS, the Drowned Woman hid in the sands of Silwan’s beach. It was reportedly quite weak, unable to do much damage and requiring a substantial amount of time to regenerate from a regular injury.

However, one aspect of this Beast stands out: the human parts of the Drowned Woman were apparently bloated. Notably, it takes at least three days for a human to begin to bloat underwater, at which point the internal organs have been decomposing for two days minimum.

This underlines the belief that not only fresh bodies are at risk of transformation, but all corpses are. And yet, almost all Beasts appear to arise largely intact, the people and animals they sprang from evidently dead for hours, not days. The cause of this discrepancy remains to be seen.

The Clamber Fiends assaulted Nescetan in 37 AS. They were reportedly similar to a pack of wolves, albeit with the ability to run up and across walls, and struck in large numbers. Their attack was vicious, the Beasts actively following people as they fled or hid. This viciousness could be used against them, however, as the Hunters managed to lure them into a trap simply by making enough noise.

The sheer number of Clamber Fiends does raise an interesting point on the creation of Beasts, though. Namely the question if large numbers of similar Beasts occur when large numbers of similar animals happen to die in the same place, or whether the Dark Ones are actively creating specific minions, perhaps by steering their existing Beasts to kill certain animals in order to fulfill their desires.

It should be mentioned that the Darkhearts of Iosabale, discovered in 43 AS, were actually discovered nowhere near the Waynairdian town of Iosabale. Rather, they were discovered by Hunters on their way home to Fenblith from that town, but the name seems to have stuck.

The implications of these Beasts are dire. They were discovered in a cavern filled with marks similar to those described near Melsciff in 8 AS: long and narrow with sudden angles, apparently distorting sight and causing a feeling of loneliness. We believe these to have been sigils, as we have come to call the Dark Ones' signs.

Additionally, the Beasts themselves were elongated – their bodies, limbs, and nails stretched out – not unlike Melsciff’s Twins was. All this combines into the suggestion that some Darkhearts may have found a way to entice the Dark Ones into transforming them into Beasts. The state of mind that would lead to this goal beggars belief, but it is a possibility filled with threatening potential.

The Widegobs were tossed ashore in Cleathad by a storm in 44 AS. They appeared to be chimeras, with attributes of several species of fish and at least a dozen eyes. They managed to kill several people, including one Hunter.

Taken together, the Widegobs fold into existing questions concerning how similar Beasts are created. Whereas examples such as the Muck Toads, Knockers, and Clamber Fiends appear transformations of multiple members of the same species, the Widegobs seem to be a repeated combination of multiple.

An alternative reading, offered by those who find the idea of such repeated combinations unlikely, is that the Widegobs were in fact a single species of fish – perhaps monkfish –, altered more thoroughly than usual. This has proven a contentious idea.

Proponents compare it to the hypothesis that the Living Rocks were created through toughening their skin, rather than their skin being fused with that of different animals. However, opponents argue that the Widegobs appearance did not suggest the alteration of an existing body part, but the creation of new ones, namely the eyes, the fleshy rod extending over them, and the additional teeth. This would mean the Dark Ones spun body parts from wholecloth, something not recorded before.

In 45 AS, the Nightmare appeared in the Wall of Riestaten. Only killed thanks to Wake Root, the Beast had the ability to stupify any who saw it, which it used to enter a Trader’s room several times. What it did to her while she was enthralled, no one knows.

The Nightmare’s power stemmed from the sigils on its skin. We have of course encountered sigils before, but never on a Beast. Moreover, they ceased working as soon as the Beast was dead. Unfortunately, testing how this would work is equal measures forbidden and impossible.

As to its physique: it would appear to have been a child, once, about ten years old. It is unlikely such a child could disappear without being missed, though. It has thus been suggested that the Beast’s deformities were preexisting, meaning a malformed child was hidden away before eventually dying. Unfortunately, this cannot be proven.

The Slinker, which was hunted from Winsterdam to Dunemond in 46 AS, was a large Beast, with a body over two yards long. Caught between canine and reptilian, there exists some debate as to what it was in life. The best guess to date in terms of its origin has been a viviparous lizard, which grows to about eight inches long, has an utterly different build, and has nothing even resembling the Slinker’s hornlike crest.

In order to bridge this gap, some point to the debate concerning the Widegobs, and posit that the Dark Ones are increasing the intensity of the transformations their Beasts are put through. Others counter that there is ample precedent for impressive transformations, citing the likes of Greywing and Bitanling, as well as the Darkhearts of Iosabale. In turn, it is argued that the uniqueness of the Slinker’s body plan, especially in comparison to the animals it could have developed from, should at least be accounted for in the final hypothesis, and that the hornlike crest seems a likely candidate for the second recorded instance of a Beast gaining a body part. This is then discarded by those opposed, who state the crest might well have been a simple elongation of the skull, something that unfortunately can neither be confirmed nor disproved.

Regardless of this still ongoing debate, it is a known fact that the people of Dunemond befriended the Slinker, viewing it as a guardian of sorts. An act of Darkheart depravity, to be sure, but one that raises questions about Beasts’ temperaments. Are there Beasts who do not seek to kill humans? Or do Beasts somehow sense when a human, like them, is in thrall to the Dark Ones?

Three Nobles were almost killed by the Folly of Marmontier in 48 AS, a Beastly indictment of the choice to use horses. It was once a mount of the House of Sanveil, growing equal measures monstrous, powerful, and aggressive in the grasp of the Dark Ones. With a serpentine neck, clawlike hooves, and a paralysing roar, the Folly was a formidable Beast.

Which is what makes the mystery of its appearance so confounding. Reportedly, there had been no trace of it before it suddenly appeared behind the Nobles as they investigated a small chapel containing a corpse, believed to have been the Folly’s rider, whose identity remains uncertain, as no Sanveil Noble was reported missing. No tracks were found after the Beast was dead either, suggesting it appeared out of nowhere. Similarly, the chapel had not been seen for centuries, thought lost in the chaos of the Coming of the Beasts. How this could be remains uncertain.

Additionally, the appearance of the Folly of Marmontier has reinvigorated the debate regarding the Slinker. Those who believe the Slinker to have been evidence of the more extensive transformation of Beasts cite how deeply altered the Folly was as further proof. Opponents of the hypothesis argue that the Beast’s transformation can be boiled down to it growing generally bulkier while its neck elongated, with no sign of additional body parts, something they consider in line with existing records of known Beasts, albeit the more noteworthy ones.

Few Beasts are as loathed in remembrance as the Abhorrents, killed in 51 AS. Hated by the Ceilpleans for being perversions of the seals they hold sacred. Hated by Iseronians for killing an entire squad of Hunters, pulling two of them into the sea, to boot. Seals with their heads replaced by squids with hook-like protrusions along their arms, these Beasts were dangerous indeed, made all the more dangerous by the fact that they were able to scale the side of a ship despite their reportedly prodigious size and weight.

Their origin is – as has become commonplace – a matter of some debate. Those who believe the Widegobs to have been chimeras tend to believe the same for the Abhorrents, while those who believe the former to have been monkfish more extensively transformed than usual tend to believe the same for the latter.

At first glance, the latter position does seem untenable, in this case. However, the suggestion of repeated identical transformations has once again proven to be too unlikely for many, leading them to ask if the squid-like heads might really have formed from the seals’ own heads, rather than the heads being replaced by squids. Sadly, actually finding out the truth of the matter is impossible.

The Weeper was discovered outside Grienteen in 54 AS. The people of Grienteen believed the Beast was a Spirit, and were sacrificing children to it. Coming perilously close to the act of worship of the Dark Ones, the Grienteeners were pulled from the brink by the timely intervention of the Hunters, who killed the Weeper the very night they discovered it.

Believed to have once been a bear, the Weeper was utterly black, almost like a void. It wept incessantly, the sound closer to that of a human than an animal. It made its lair in a willow tree of deep religious significance. How it knew to wait there for sacrifices, where it went during the day, and what it did in between the monthly sacrifices remains uncertain.

What is certain is that one Hunters’ quest to investigate the matter led him to the extremely contentious act of performing a public autopsy on the Beast for the people of Grienteen. Though well-intentioned, it must be concluded that Hunters have become too comfortable in investigating the influence of the Dark Ones. As a result, only Masters are henceforth allowed to perform examinations in the field. Furthermore, debates as to Beasts’ origins will be strictly monitored, and Hunters are encouraged to apply their reason more directly to the matter of how to kill Beasts, rather than how to understand them.

Transformed from an Ontemoux Noble in 57 AS, the Arbiter is the first Beast to name itself. It was reported by seven Hunters to have spoken, six of them hearing it call itself the Arbiter, It Who Levels, The Judging Mouth, and The Straightened Scales. What this meant, one dreads to consider, but it must be mentioned that the Beast covered its lair in sigils resembling balance scales.

A large and powerful Beast, the Arbiter was a formidable foe. It killed two Nobles and bent and broke their weapons and armour. The Hunters reported it took an inordinate amount of violence to lay it low, and emphasised it had taken both the burning of the sigils and the countering of its repeated pronouncements of “Guilty” with “Innocent” to lure the Beast back out. Notably, the Hunters believed the Beast possessed no real reason. We can only hope it’s true.

Old Crackhorn is an enigma. Having terrorised the people of Hochwihr on and off for some time, it was finally killed in 59 AS. The common reading is that it was transformed from an ibex. However, some have posited that it might have been a transformed human, citing the fact that it was reported to be clever to the point of setting up rockslides to kill people lured into dead ends.

Obviously, debate surrounding this matter has been largely curtailed.

The more spirited discussion has concerned the Beast’s methods. Evidently, it lured the Hunters into a purposeful trap, causing a rockslide that took two Hunters’ lives and crippled a further two. Knowing that some Beasts are capable of this, no matter how disconcerting the thought, will no doubt help prevent similar tragedies in the future.

As to how Old Crackhorn was finally defeated: the remaining Hunter removed her cuirass, as it was preventing her from squeezing through the cracks between her and the Beast. This has led to some Masters suggesting experiments with squads in mixed armour, or to taking terrain and type of Beast more extensively into account when choosing equipment. However, as it stands, the supermajority is still in favour of building on top of the established standard, perfecting it over time.

The Boglings were a fact of life in Hellebosch, the settlement unable to deal with them or petition for aid in purging the bog in which they hid. However, when Hunters visited that bog in 61 AS to escort a Council Representative sent to judge its merit as a mining location, they were attacked, and killed every last one of the Beasts.

The Boglings were people lost to the bog. Waterlogged and slow, with fingers turned into or replaced by leeches, they were best suited for ambushes, pulling unsuspecting victims into the water. When the Hunters came, though, they were relentlessly pursued, the Beasts chasing them to an ancient mound, with a dwelling inside it.

From that dwelling, the Hunters made their stand. Whenever the door was shut, the Boglings ceased their pursuit, retreating to a short distance. This allowed the Hunters to kill them piecemeal. How this effect came about remains unknown: when people arrived to study it, the mound could not be found.

In 64 AS, the Damned descended on Lochaid. They carried barrels of gunpowder, fuses lit, dropping them on the city’s central bridge. They carried Blade-Folk, too, dropping them in the streets. Thankfully, the Hunters were there to intervene.

It is hard to say who the Damned were in life. Sailers captured by pirates, Waynairdians taken on Blade-Folk raids, Blade-Folk who died in battle, or all three. What is certain is that they were people, and that their numbers were staggeringly large, their forms consistent.

Few have argued these Beasts were created out of the random malice of the Dark Ones. These were no Muck Toads or Clamber Fiends; the Damned suggest concerted effort. It is thus believed that the Blade-Folk have mastered the ability of some Darkhearts to turn themselves into Beasts, and have turned it on others, creating War-Beasts from their victims. A deeper perversion there never was.