The Great Bazaar and Other Stories (11 page)

First appeared:
The Desert Spear

Description:
Mimics are the elite bodyguards to mind demons (coreling princes), and are
believed to be the most intelligent and powerful demons short of the princes.
Their natural form is unknown, but they are able to assume the form of any
living thing, including other demon breeds, clothing, and equipment. These
demons are somewhat lacking in creativity, and so are usually restricted to
taking the forms of creatures they have themselves encountered (unless directed
by a mind demon). One of their favorite tricks is to take the form of an
injured human and feign distress to lower the defenses of their prey.

Defensive ward
against:
Mind Demons

First appeared:
The Desert Spear

Description:
Also known as coreling princes, mind demons are the generals of demonkind. They
are physically weak, and have little in the way of the natural defenses of the
other corelings, but they have vast mental and magical powers. They can read
and control minds, communicate telepathically, and kill with their thoughts. By
drawing wards in the air and powering them with their innate magic, they can
create almost any effect. The other corelings, great and small, follow their
every mental command without hesitation, and will give their lives to protect
them. Sensitive to even reflected sunlight, mind demons will only rise on the
three night period of the new moon cycle in the hours when night is darkest.

Defensive ward
against:
Rock Demons

First appeared:
The Warded Man/The Painted Man

Description:
The largest of the coreling breeds, rock demons can range in height from six to
twenty feet tall. A hulking mass of sinew and sharp edges, their thick black
carapaces are knobbed with bony protrusions, and their spiked tails can smash a
horse's skull in a single blow. They stand hunched on two clawed feet, with
long, gnarled arms ending in talons the size of butchering knives, and multiple
rows of bladelike teeth. No known physical force can harm a rock demon.

Defensive ward
against:
Sand Demons

First appeared:
The Warded Man/The Painted Man

Description:
Cousins to rock demons, sand demons are smaller and more nimble, but still
among the strongest and most armored of the coreling breeds. They have small,
sharp scales, a dirty yellow almost indistinguishable from gritty sand, and
they run on all fours instead of two legs. Rows of segmented teeth jut out on
their jaws like a snout, while their nostril slits rest far back, just below
their large, lidless eyes. Thick bones from their brows curve upward and back,
cutting through the scales as sharp horns. Their brows twitch continually as
they displace the ever-blowing desert sand. Sand demons hunt in packs known as
storms.

Defensive ward
against:
Snow Demons

First appeared:
The Dukes Mines (tk)

Description:
Similar to flame demons in build, snow demons are native to frozen northern
climates and high mountain elevations. Their scales are pure white, blending
into the snow, and they spit a liquid so cold it instantly freezes anything it
touches before evaporating. Steel struck with Coldspit can become so brittle it
shatters.

Defensive ward
against:
Swamp Demons

First appeared:
Mentioned in The Warded Man/Painted Man

Description:
Swamp demons are native to swamps and marshy areas and are an amphibious form
of wood demon, at home both in the water and in the trees. Swamp demons are
blotched in green and brown, blending in to their surroundings, and will often
hide in mud or shallow water, to spring on prey. They spit a thick, sticky
slime that rots any organic material it comes in contact with.

Defensive ward
against:
Water Demons

First appeared:
Mentioned in The Warded Man/Painted Man, seen in The Desert Spear

Description:
Water demons vary in size and are seldom seen. They are long and scaly, with
webbed hands and feet, tipped with sharp talons. Some breeds have tentacles
ending in sharp bone. They can only breathe under water, though they can
surface for a short time. Water demons can swim very quickly and delight in
savaging fish, though they prefer warm-blooded mammals as their prey,
especially those humans bold enough to dare to sail at night.

Defensive ward
against:
Wind Demons

First appeared:
The Warded Man/The Painted Man

Description:
Wind demons stand about the height of a tall man at the shoulder, but with head
fins that rise much higher, topping eight or nine feet. Their great long snouts
are sharp-edged like beaks, but hide rows of teeth, thick as a man's finger.
Their skin is a tough, flexible armor that can turn any spearpoint or
arrowhead. That resilient substance stretches thin out from their sides and
along the underside of their arm bones to form the tough membrane of their
wings, which often span three times their height, jointed with wicked hooked
talons that can cleanly sever a man's head when they dive. Clumsy and slow on
land, wind demons have tremendous power in the sky, and can dive, attack, and
reverse direction before hitting the ground, taking their prey away with them.

Defensive ward
against:
Wood Demons

First appeared:
The Warded Man/The Painted Man

Description:
Wood demons are native to forests. Next to rock demons, they are the largest
and most powerful demons, averaging from five to ten feet tall when standing on
their hind legs. They have short, powerful hindquarters and long, sinewy arms,
perfect for climbing trees and leaping from branch to branch. Their claws are
short, hard points, designed for gripping through the bark of trees. Wood
demons' armor is barklike in color and texture, and they have large, black
eyes. Wood demons cannot be harmed by normal fire, but will burn readily if
brought in contact with hotter fires, such as magnesium or firespit. Wood demons
will kill flame demons on sight, and often hunt in groups called copses.