Gnars

Gnars are odd creatures. Though rarely seen, they feature heavily in Altimaran folklore and fairy tales.

No one is quite certain where they came from; even the dragons do not recognize them as a creation of the Earth Mother and Earth Father. The dragons cannot remember, or even agree, as to whether gnars came from across the sea with humans, came from humans, or were native to Enayra, to begin with.

They live in the deep places of the earth, far from the sun and the eyes of the surface dwellers.

Gnars resemble diminished humans, though they lack the same sentience and ingenuity. Their language is unintelligible, and scholars disagree whether they are speaking a unique language or merely chattering like animals.

They are about the size of a small child, gangly, and skinny, and wear nothing but scraps of skins and fur they take from their prey–though some prefer to run about naked. They have long, black nails on their fingers and toes that are sharp as any knife, and sharp fangs and teeth that protrude from their mouths at odd angles. They are completely bald and have sharp, pointed ears. Their skin is sickly and gray, like a decaying whale, and they are said to smell of rotting flesh. The eyes of a Gnar are nearly blind and incredibly sensitive to light, and gnars will only leave their caves for the surface during the night and even then, only for short periods to hunt and scavenge, though it should be noted they are not nocturnal. Gnars will work throughout the day, taking small naps when they tire, and returning to work once they’ve regained their strength.

Gnars live in colonies beneath the ground and will always hunt in packs. Despite their diminutive size, they are not foes to be taken lightly, and they do not discriminate in their choice of food. They’ve been known to be omnivorous, and eat everything from bugs, to cacti, to livestock, and even humans. While gnars favour young children due to their inability to defend themselves, particularly brave and hungry gnars have been known to kill and eat adults.

Because they are known to eat children, many parents in Altimara use gnars as a sort of boogeyman and warn their children to behave or they’ll be left out at night for the gnars.

One episode in Altimara’s history relates that in the year 576 Prosperity (576 Ruin outside of Altimara), the famous Altimaran scientist and eccentric nobleman, Mourin Beriun, Baron of Gaol, theorized that gnars could be domesticated and put to work in Altimaran society to help excavate and work mines, and for pest control on farms. Mourin had been able to gather a dozen gnars from the wild and settled them in special underground chambers on his large estate.

After three years he found himself caring for a small colony of about three hundred gnars settled in Old Gaol and had managed to get them to respond to a combination of whistles and verbal commands, reinforced with scraps of food and shiny objects. However, Mourin’s overconfidence got the better of him, and he underestimated the craftiness of his gnars. One night, when he slept, the gnars had managed to break free of their underground pens. They tore Mourin and his servants apart, then attacked the town in the middle of the night.

When King Veu’sur III Kondorin arrived a week later, responding to Baron Mourin’s invitation to view the progress of his pet project, he found that half the town had been reduced to a ruin, and its people lived in fear of the gnars’ night attacks. After learning what had happened, he had Gaol put to the torch, its people moved, and the lands abandoned. A garrison was stationed nearby at a temporary camp, and the Great Gnar Hunt began, marking a period of gnar bounties that offered large sums for dead gnars.

While the hunt ended after four years, it is said in local legends that the descendants of Mourin’s gnars still live beneath the ruins of Old Gaol, and occasionally, they stalk the streets of New Gaol, looking for fresh meat. This part of the story is considered apocryphal by most scholars, who claim that most of the gnars were eradicated in the Great Gnar Hunt; though very few will travel to the Old Gaol to confirm this.