Chimerae
"Most bizarre of monsters is the dreaded Chimera; it's body is a size of a house, and has wicked claws longer than daggers. It's tail lashes like an iron whip, and it's huge leathery wings carry it through the air. This loathsome creature has three heads. One of them is horned, like a head of a ram; the other is like that of a vast lion; the third head is the most frightening of all. It is that of a scaled dragon, and it belches forth noxious smoke and scorching fire."
— Waldemarr, Scholar.
The three-headed Chimera is one of the most fearsome of all Children of Chaos, a beast whose progenitors were so warped that it is now impossible to say what manner of creatures they might once have been.
Overview
Like all monsters that dwell in or near to the Realm of Chaos, the Chimerae take many bizarre shapes. However, Chimerae are more susceptible than most monsters to the twisting power of Chaos. The heads of some Chimerae breathe fire in the manner of Dragons, whilst others sprout razor-sharp fangs or jaws that drip with a poisonous slime. Most Chimerae possess a fiendish tail that ends in a snapping maw possessed of an intelligence and hunger of its own. Regardless of their exact form, all Chimerae share a savage and unpredictable nature, and wherever their tri-throated roars are heard, death and carnage are surely not far behind. For much of the time, when the Winds of Magic are at relatively low ebb, Chimerae are rare and seldom seen - even in the frozen northlands. There might be tales of such beasts guarding mountain passes, or being favored mounts of Champions of Chaos, but most such reports are eventually discovered to have confused the Chimera with some other creature of Chaos, like the Manticore. Some scholars have postulated that in times of magical death, Chimerae simply abandon the mortal plane altogether, to instead hunt prey through the rich and sorcerous fields of the Realm of Chaos. Others believe that Chimerae are not creatures of flesh and blood at all, but rather monsters called into being only when the Winds of Magic are at their most fulsome - savage emissaries sent by the darkest of the Dark Gods. Regardless of where the truth lies, none can argue that when a Storm of Magic bursts, the tri-throated roars of hunting Chimerae are never far behind. A particularly powerful Chaos Lord, or an insanely brave Sorcerer, may sometimes try to bind a Chimera to his service, for the sheer carnage they can wreak upon the battlefield is a spectacle bound to attract the attention of the Dark Gods. It is said that only those truly favoured by Chaos will have any hope of binding such a creature to their will, and a champion may spend a lifetime searching for a Chimera, and never succeed, or else find his prize and be torn apart by it moments later. However, those few who succeed in their quest have at their disposal a monstrous creature of unbridled destructive potential.
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