Civero is a fantasy world, similar to modern day Earth (post-Industrial/Computer Age), but very clearly an alternate world. Here, the existence of psychics and witches (also called espers and mages) are a rare, but accepted part of human society. Monsters and demihumans also exist, but by and large have been driven far from human civilization.
Civero itself is a planet approximately the size of Mars, yet has a gravity and atmospheric conditions similar to Earth. It sports three continents and various random islands. Humans are as diverse on Civero as they are on Earth, but the Eight Human
Nations have only adapted a truly global economy in the last decade, and only
now are seeing a greater mingling of cultures; most nations thus have little
ethnic diversity at the moment. Because of this, there is some degree of bias
between nations, ranging from cultural rivalry to barely concealed xenophobia,
depending on the nation.
There is no formal religion in Civero. Humans know that gods exist, but the
last god to grace its presence on their planet tried to annihilate them all,
and no other gods came to help them. As such, Civerons are not generally people
of faith. The closest thing to organized religion are the scattered remnants of
cults dedicated to the Dark God Temael and outlaw academics who study the Majestic Era mages and espers, but these barely exist.
NATIONS OF CIVERO
GRAN
Gran is the “western” continent of Civero, holding three nations. Grannin is
the common language of the continent.
Argonia – Argonia is a First Class nation. Argonian’s speak Grannin, but
usually not a second language, unless their job requires it. As a capitalist
democracy, Argonian culture values industry and individualism, and many
Argonians have great pride in themselves and their nation. Argonians are fair
skinned, with brown or blond hair.
Bellamy – Bellamy is a First Class nation, and formerly a large province of Argonia.
Bellamy fought for independence from Argonia due to lackluster support from the
latter during a country-wide epidemic. Bellamians are an industrious democracy
that values tradition and family ties. They are not as outspoken as Argonians,
but can be more bullheaded. They have the same features as Argonians, speak
Grannin and alternately Ashi or Modern Curra.
Curran – Curran is a Second Class nation, with a currently weak economy. Once
ruled by a corrupt nobility, forty years ago a violent revolution overthrew the
old regime, and Curran has since remained under the strict control of a
military dictatorship. Currans value a strong hierarchic authority, but tend to
be xenophobic, even in modern times. Curran once banned all Demihumans from
their nation; in current times, although Demihumans are allowed within their
boarders. Currans are also wary of mages and espers as many of the nobility who
were over thrown were superhumans. Superhumans are allowed to live in Curran, but
must work for the current dictatorship as civil servants. Curranians have brown
skin, and uniquely have two-colored hair: the top part of the hair is always a
lighter shade from the bottom, creating a wide stripe. Common combinations are
white-black, white-gray, red-brown, blond-brown. Curranians speak their own language of Modern Curra, with Grannin as a second language.
ASHIM
Ashim is the “eastern” continent of Civero, and holds five nations. Ashi is the
common language of the continent.
Sarkovia – Sarkovia is a First Class nation, and ties with Argonia as the most
powerful in economy and military. Sarkovia is a socialized nation in its prime,
and the people value strong leadership, loyalty to one’s nation, and strong
ties to one’s comrades which can even surpass ties to one’s natural family.
Sarkovia and Argonia are rival nations, and while long Cold War between
them has officially ended, old wounds still linger. Sarkovians are dark skinned with black
or auburn hair, and uniquely may have golden irises. Sarkovians speak Ashi and
usually not a second language unless it is necessary for their jobs.
Atla – A First Class nation, most of Atla’s population lives along the southern
border, leaving most of the nation still covered with untamed wilderness. Atla
also lays claim to the Great Northern Ice Sheet, though no one makes use of it.
Atla is the first nation to allow citizenship to Demihumans, fifteen years
before Iteru, but mainly to encourage them to come to their country as
cheap labor. Nonetheless, Demihumans have earned a strong presence here, and in
modern times, Atlans see Demihumans as equals. There is also a notable presence
of Curran immigrants. Atlans speak Ashi, with either High Zoan or Modern Curra
as the most common seconds. Most Atlans are gregarious and value adaptability.
Native Atlans are fair skinned, with brown or black hair and their ancestors
are thought to be a displaced tribe of Argonians.
Hylan – Hylan is a Second Class nation, and was a Sarkovian province that broke
away from Sarkovia two hundred years ago, when they disagreed with Sarkovia’s
war with Argonia. The Hylan people value peaceful measures to solving problems,
but are willing to use force when necessary. They are known for their martial arts sub-culture. Unfortunately, their economy
suffers from a comparable lack of natural resources compared to the other
nations of Ashim. Hylans share the same features as Sarkovians and speak Ashi.
Elyssia – Elyssia is tenuously a First Class nation, but only due to it’s
advanced medical industry, which Bellamy almost matches. Elyssians as a society
hold mages and espers as special, and still see Demihumans as little more than slaves.
Separated from the rest of Ashim by a large desert, Elyssia had little contact
with other nations until the modern era. As such, Elyssians have strong
national pride and have a bit of a xenophobic streak; while not outright
hostile towards other peoples, Elyssians still have a bias that other cultures
are more brutish than their own. Elyssians have oriental features, and speak
their own language of Elyss, with Ashi as the common second language.
Iteru – Iteru is a Second Class nation, and is a large archipelago. Iteru is
also the closest country to Zoaheim, and is the major hub of Demihuman
immigrant traffic; nonetheless they are the second, and thus far only other, nation to allow full citizenship for Demihumans. Iteru culture welcomes people of all types, with Iteruns
being gregarious and festive. Although all Iteruns speak Ashi, there are dozens
of dialects unique to each major island, and a native Iterun can easily pick
out what island someone is from just due to the dialect or accent. Many Iteruns
also speak High Zoan, as Demihumans have the largest presence here outside of
Zoaheim. Iteruns are olive skinned, with brown, black, or reddish hair.
ZOAHEIM: THE FORBIDDEN CONTINENT
During the Dark War, the people of Zoaheim made a pact with the Dark God Temael to be his loyal servants in exchange for monstrous powers. Thus the Demihumans were created. During the war, Zoaheim was completely overrun by the Demihumans and other monsters. At its end, however, the Demihumans turned on Temael's forces, but by then, it was too little, too late. The continent had been abandoned by all other peoples, leaving the Demihumans to fend for themselves in a land still overrun with horrific monsters.
Almost a thousand years later, however, humanity eventually came back to the continent, to rediscover the lost Demihuman race. Having descended into total barbarism, forming thousands of brutally competing tribes across the continent. Only the relatively safer areas of the northern peninsula held tribes that were even slightly willing to parlay with human explorers instead of just butcher them on sight.
After decades of interaction, humans started to bring Demihumans to Gran and Ashim, saving the least savage of the lot from the horrors of the continent, in exchange for making them a slave race. The idea was that, once Demihuman populations were established to be trustworthy, independence and citizenship would be given to them over time. This has taken longer than most would like, but Demihumans are nothing if not adaptable; many who left the continent, even when very young, would rather face servitude in civilized lands, than go one day in the hell that is the Forbidden Continent.
Zoaheim is considered a Third Class "nation", despite having no central governance or monetary system. The many tribes speak a wide variety of "Wild Zoan" languages and dialects, all clearly descended from a single root language, but so scattered that usually, tribes will only be able to effectively communicate with their nearest neighbors. An attempt to create a unified Demihuman language called "High Zoan" was made, combining aspects of various Northern Tribe dialects, but High Zoan tends to see far more use off the Continent, than on it.
COSMOLOGY
In terms of its placement in the multiverse, Civero is bordered by several elemental planes and realms, most of which are uninhabited and uninteresting. Two, however, are of particular note:
The Fairy Realm, which sits a few realities “above” Civero. On rare occasion, denizens from this reality composed almost entirely of magic have come to Civero to explore or cause mischief. The Djinn are creatures of raw elemental magic, while the Fey tend to represent more ethereal concepts and various types of creatures overall. The fey are the primary cause for the existence of magic and psychic abilities on Civero, though no one is aware of this, and even the fey have forgotten it.
Temael, the Realm of the Dark God, is an entity that is an entire universe unto himself. Temael covets worlds from other universes, and works to draw them into itself. At least once in human history, Temael was able to exert its influence on Civero.
The Aura Realm, an elemental plane of "positive energy," thought to be the origin of the spark of life. The ancient Mages forcibly aligned Civero's cosmological alignment to be closer to the Aura Realm; because of this, necromancy and other death-related magic doesn't work on Civero. Similarly, death-related supernatural creatures such as ghosts, vampires, and zombies cannot function.
HISTORY
In ancient times, certain humans discovered the secrets to magic and psychic powers, fusing themselves with the power of Fey and Djinn creatures. Coveting these gifts, the empowered humans kept their secrets within their own specific clans and families, until the potential to use such power became a natural part of their genetic code. Over time, the Mage Clans and Esper Families came to rule regular humanity as the privileged upper class. Rivalries and wars kept any clan or family from really dominating the other. Humanity, for the most part, lived fairly enough under their rule, but were admittedly powerless to stop any mage or esper who went rogue. This time is known as the Majestic Era.
Eventually, however, humans became sick of being perpetually second class (or lower), and a resistance was formed that sought out possible ways to free themselves. “Salvation” came in the form of a dark and mysterious god who lay sleeping within the world. Appealing to the god, the rebellious humans unwittingly unleashed a horrendous plague of monsters upon the world.
A Dark War war lasting 100 years savaged the land, and when the dust settled, the dark god was put back to rest, and most of the monsters were slain. So, too, was most of humanity, including the Mage Clans and Esper Families. In order to preserve the species, the Mages and Espers opened themselves up to interbreed with normal humans. However, doing so diluted the Esper and Mage genes among the populace, and after two thousand years, the two offshoots became once again fully integrated with humans and the ability to use magic or psychic powers went dormant.
As the secrets of the old world died away, humanity moved on, had a renaissance, an industrial revolution, and are now comfortably within an information age, akin to our own world. The world population is now approximately 3 billion, though this does not account for the Forbidden Continent.
MODERN DAY ESPERS AND MAGES
These days an Esper or Mage can only be born if they have the proper ancestry, and the recessive genetic traits happen to line up just so to create an “atavism” which results in the birth of a mage or esper. Two mages or espers can give birth to another mage or esper, but there is only a 25% chance of the offspring also being one. If a mage and an esper produce a child together, however, the child is almost always human. Most espers and mages are found within specific bloodlines, but it has been known to happen that one may be born seemingly at random from a family with no known manifestations.
In this regard, it is theoretically possible for anyone to be born with either magic or psychic potential. In reality, it is estimated that perhaps 1% of the population has any real possible chance of creating offspring with the potential to be empowered, and only a 0.05% chance that such an offspring would actually manifest any power at all.
In total, it is estimated that about 100,000 mages and 50,000 espers exist world wide. This again does not account for the Forbidden Continent.
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS and RACES
ESPERS
Espers are people possessing psychic powers. Also referred to as psychics or psionics. They all possess Extra Sensory Perception (the ability to sense things undetectable to by normal senses) as well as one or more of the following abilities:
Telepathy – the ability to read minds and communicate by broadcasting one’s thoughts
Telekinesis – the ability to move objects with only one’s mind
Clairvoyance – the ability to see, hear, or otherwise perceive things from far away
Psychometry – the ability to know the history of object or area through simple contact or concentration; can be used to also sense if a person has been in an area recently or used the object in question recently
Post-Cognition – able to view into the past
Precognition – able to predict the future
Illusion – the ability to manipulate a person’s senses to trick them into experiencing sight, sound, touch, taste, or smells that are not really there
Nerve Reading – rather than reading one’s mind, this ability allows the esper to read the flow of signals from the brain through a person’s nervous system
Mind Control – the ability to alter the thoughts and memories of a person
Nerve Control – the ability to alter the signals going through a person’s body; can be used to control a person’s actions without controlling their mind, or as another way to create illusions
THE MINDSCAPE
All living sentient and sapient beings posses a mindscape, a world that exists within each person’s mind. This is the subconscious, where people go to dream. While it is possible for some minds to connect on their own, by and large, each mindscape is separate and unique to each person. This does not mean, however, that people cannot come and go within them. Espers in particular, are capable of entering and manipulating the mindscapes of others, or pulling others into their own mindscape.
While in the mindscape, anything is possible, with the only limit being imagination. Most humans are not adept at controlling their mindscapes, however, and thus tend to experience it either as an empty void or as a standard dream sequence. Most espers are fully capable of lucid dreaming from the outset, and this may be the first sign that someone is an esper. Likewise, normal people and mages cannot enter a mindscape at will; most can only do so via dreaming. Espers can enter and leave their and other people’s mindscapes at will.
There is a notable time difference between mindscape experience and real world experience. Just as seemingly long dreams can take only seconds to occur in real life, activity in the mindscape can go on for hours with only minutes going by in the real world. Time differences can vary from person to person, or even experience to experience, but the general average that has thus far been clocked has been something close to an hour per minute.
MAGES
Mages, also known as witches, wizards, shamans, etc., possess the ability to absorb, channel, and manipulate magical energy, which exists as a sort of fifth fundamental force of nature. Magical energy, commonly referred to as mana, but also known as quintessence or chi in some countries, is generated by a vast spectrum of phenomenon, often in ways that make little to no scientific sense. A mage is usually tied to certain type of mana, and thus must encounter or create the conditions which produce their specific type of mana in order to absorb more. Naturally, a mage who has used up or had their mana drained is rendered powerless.
All mages are capable of the same basic abilities, and “spell casting” for a mage is little more than simply focusing their will on something and using the mana at their disposal to create the desired effect. All mages can sense the presence of other supernatural phenomenon, including other mages. All can project mana in some way to create generic blasts of their mana type for attack, fields of mana for protection, or can energize other beings or objects with mana to enhance, bind, or weaken them. The exact type of effect varies; the “blast” ability for some mages might be a fireball or a lightning bolt, others may create a sleep-inducing white light.
While there are no real “traditions” of magic, some mages are classified by their occupations or specialties. Among those classifications are:
Biomancer – Focuses on healing and the manipulation of organic tissue.
Shadowmancer – Focuses on casting mystically generated illusions
Technomancer – Focuses on the manipulation of machinery
Geomancer – Manipulates the conditions of the local environment
Kinetomancer – Adept at manipulating energy
Auramancer – Focuses magic inward to perform feats of superhuman physical ability
It is notable that due to the Elemental Plane of Lust's energies, Necromancy flat-out does not work on Civero.
MANA
Mana is drawn from a variety of phenomenon, and has some influence the focus of a mage’s abilities. It is unknown if a mage is predisposed to using a certain type of mana, or if a mage settles on whatever is the first type of mana they absorb, or if the way in which a mages power is activated determines the mana type. A woman could, for example, first end up triggering her powers through a particularly intense session of sex, and from then on, would use sex or sexual activities to create the mana she needs to absorb. However, whether her magic imprinted on sex as a source of mana, or whether she only ended up activating her magic due to sex being her mana type is up for debate.
DEMIHUMANS
Demihumans are the descendants of monsters from the dark god realm and humans. Over centuries, this has resulted in the evolution of myriad offshoot breeds of demihuman. Demihumans have two major classifications: Sapient and Bestial.
SAPIENT
Sapient demihumans are those who demonstrate at least near-human levels of intelligence. These usually include Beast Folk (humanoid versions of animals, such as wolf-folk, cat-folk, fish-folk) and Taurians (creatures that are literally half-human/half-animal such as centaurs, lamia, mermaids, winged folk, etc.). However, not all such examples are sapient, and it’s easy for humans to confuse the various sapient sub-groups with their savage counterparts. Only twelve sub-groups of demihumans are officially acknowledged to be Sapient.
Beyond the Forbidden Continent, sapient demihumans are recognized as “sub-human” by most governments of Civero. While they are allowed to live in Civero, they can only do so if registered under the custody of a human. They are denied citizenship and the rights granted thereof. Ergo, Sapient demihumans are extremely rare on Civero outside the Forbidden Continent, but it is not unheard of for a wealthy individual to have a few demihuman servants. Likewise, some scientists may use demihuman assistants, and some businesses may employ demihuman workers to operate in locations unsafe for humans.
BESTIAL
Bestial demihumans refer to those with intelligence akin to lesser animals. They are creatures of instinct and cunning. At best, they may possess the intellect of smart dogs. While studies have shown it possible to train and domesticate some of the smarter bestial demihumans, most remain untamable. Bestial demihumans include all demihumans not recognized as sapient. These can be savage beast folk and taurians, as well as abominations, chimera, and dire creatures.
Bestial demihumans are recognized as “monsters” by all governments of Civero. Should any be found beyond the borders of the Forbidden Continent, they are to be executed with extreme prejudice. It is illegal to “own” a bestial demihuman. The only exceptions are usually secret scientific or military facilities which may house bestial demihumans for study and experimentation. However, it has been known for the occasional wealthy individual to purchase and secret house a bestial demihuman through black market means.
DJINNOA
Djinnoa are half-human, half-Djinn. The Djinn are an elementally-aligned variant of the fey. The result is a hybrid with a human form, but who wields great power over a specific "element." However, this "element" is often very specific, and may even only apply to certain states of matter or an actual scientific element. For example, a Snow-based Djinnoa will have the ability to create and control copious amounts snow, but only snow, not hard ice or water, or even just be able to create cold that doesn't effect their own snow.
Djinnoa are completely immune to the powers and curse of Lust Walkers, but can be vulnerable to being controlled by Geomancers who are aligned with their element.
LUST WALKERS
A new classification of the supernatural has been created to account for the seemingly recent appearance of people who appear to require sex in order to feed upon “sexual energy.” They may possess one or two abilities to assist in this, and are thusly categorized according to how their abilities function, but it should be known that they are all essentially “vampires” that feed upon the energies released during sexual excitement and sexual acts. Note that the categories are named after certain types of mythical creatures, but they are not to be confused with actual creatures of that type.
Lust Walkers appear as completely normal human beings, and indeed, they basically are. However, they must feed on sexual energy every so often, or they will lose their sanity and their health begins to deteriorate. For the most part, Lust Walkers can live perfectly normal lives, as long as they can regularly have sex, and indeed, some Lust Walkers may not even realize they are one, if they’re sex life is active enough that they don’t require big feedings.
Feeding leaves their partner extremely drained and exhausted, and could even risk death if too much energy is taken; what’s more, a person who is fed on enough times by a Lust Walker within a small enough period of time, stands a risk of becoming a Lust Walker themselves. As such, it can be difficult for Lust Walkers to maintain steady partnerships. Some Lust Walkers attempt to ignore what they are, and become somewhat feral, acting normal on the surface, but then going about and ambushing prey when the opportunity arises.
All Lust Walkers are considered “monsters” by most governments of Civero. However, because they are often so difficult to detect unless they start going feral, many Lust Walkers live free among human society. Recent estimations say that 1 in every 100,000 people could be a Lust Walker. This, however, only factors in humans. It is said that some demihumans possess Lust Walker abilities, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Vampires – Unlike most Lust Walkers who can feed directly off the energy of sex without even touching their victim, vampires derive their nourishment specifically from a prey’s sexual fluids. As such, these types can pass off as being dedicated oral fetishists. They can release a pheromone to induce arousal.
Medusas – Medusas are able to sexually excite and stimulate people through the mere sight of their exposed bodies. Medusas feed off the building arousal as their victim is helplessly mesmerized by their nude bodies until they cum. Medusas can often be found employed as strippers, where they can make a killing in both cash and feeding.
Sirens – Sirens use their voices to hypnotize, mesmerize, and excite their victims. The sound of their voice attracts a person, who then becomes more aroused and susceptible to suggestion the more they listen. Some Sirens sing to their victims until they cum, others will describe an erotic fantasy, others may just taunt and tease them. Sirens are particularly dangerous, because they can actually cause their victims to attack others, and the victim will act as commanded if they are deep enough under the spell. Sirens are also especially dangerous as, more so than other Lust Walkers, the effects of their power can become addicting, the victims quickly desiring to hear their voices more and more until it becomes the only thing they can get off with.
Ghosts – Ghosts can render themselves invisible and intangible, allowing them to sneak into a victim and stimulate them without the victim either seeing who it is, or being able to physically resist them. Ghosts can even have sex with a person right through their clothes.
Voodoos – Voodoos are capable of creating a voodoo doll version of a person or their genitals, and with their power, can connect that person to their creation using a piece of hair, cloth, or other significant item. The Voodoo can then fuck or play with the doll, and the victim will feel it, while their sexual energy is channeled to the doll, through which the Voodoo can absorb it. Similarly, Voodoos can create sex toys which can absorb sexual energy, then steal or otherwise retrieve the item back to absorb the energy. Voodoos tend to be among the hardest to catch, since they can perform their feedings and attacks from the privacy of their own home, with the victim never knowing who it might be. Voodoo created sex toys are illegal to own or sell, but some make it onto the black market anyway; that, in fact, ends up being the more reliable way to trace and catch them.
Wet Dreams – Wet Dreams are thought to be Lust Walkers who once had the potential to be espers. Wet Dreams enter people’s dreams via their mindscape and make them experience intense sexual fantasies, often results in the sleeping person having an orgasm. They are difficult to catch, since they can attack victims remotely, but they do tend to favor certain ones, and often reveal their identities in dreams, unless they have mastered the means to hide themselves.
Eromancer – Eromancers, also called Sex Mages, are the rarest, yet far and away most powerful of the Lust Walkers. Thought to be the result of Lust Walkers who once had the potential to be mages, Eromancers are capable of a wide variety of magical powers, all of which have some direct application to sex. Curiously, Eromancers appear to be almost exclusively women, with up to a 95% female/5% male ratio.
SUPERNATURAL OPERATIONS SPECIALISTS
Operating as a sort of freelance police force against the supernatural, S.O.S. consists of investigators, warriors, adventurers, and monster hunters, focusing on dealing mostly with monsters and high-risk black market stings, as well as rogue mages and psychics. Since this is the highly eroticized world of Civero, this incidentally often means dealing with creatures and criminals with a sexual modus operandi, although they can certainly also handle themselves against more traditionally lethal adversaries. SOS is a fairly well spread out organization, with branches throughout the two main continents of Civero, and even a couple contacts within and around the Forbidden Continent. However, no branch is particularly large unto itself, with the largest branch holding 14 Field Operatives, and 30 Support Operatives. Usually, though, the average branch may employ around 6 Field Ops and 10 to 12 Support Ops.
S.O.S. RANKS
Support Operative – A support operative specializes in certain non-combat, non-field oriented duties; most may stay at the base, but may be called into the field in an emergency. However, they are not usually trained to engage against adversaries outside of basic defense tactics. They can be anything from medics, analysts, researchers, engineers, communications operators, etc. Usually a branch will employ twice as many Support Operatives as Field Ops. Only experienced professionals in their field are allowed as Support Ops, due to the inherent risks and liabilities of the job. Support Ops may or may not be super powered; it helps, but skill is valued over power for a support position.
Field Operative – Field Operatives are the agents who actually go out and deal with adversaries in person. While some specialize in certain skills, most Field Operatives must be both investigators as well as combatants, since investigating a situation may often result in engaging an adversary. Almost without exception, Field Operatives are Super Powered Individuals, be they mages, psychics, cyborgs, demihumans, or superhumans. All Field Operatives are equipped with at least moderate defenses against psychic and magical attacks, via either their own powers, shielding imbued by a fellow operative, or through the use of special artifacts or technologies. Rookie Field Operatives are thoroughly trained before allowed into the Field, and are partnered up with an experienced operative to act as a mentor and hands on trainer. Experienced Operatives may work as partners, but as they may start to take lesser solo missions. Veterans are usually capable of handling greater solo missions on their own. However, if the mission or case demands, several Field Operatives may of course join up to tackle larger scale threats.
Commander – Each branch has a Commander, usually the most experienced Veteran Field Operative, who oversees the actions of his or her branch. As such, Commanders may see less field work, but are usually still more than capable of it. In the case of large scale missions, a Commander will act as Field Leader, and may even assign a Secondary Field Leader if a large enough group is assembled.
Drifter – Drifter Operatives are Veteran Field Ops not tied to any specific branch. They are free roaming operatives who can take on a wide variety of missions due to their jack-of-all-trades efficiency. Such Drifter Ops are especially useful in less populated areas, where an SOS branch might not be established. Alternatively, a Drifter Operative may specialize in a certain rare power, skill, or area of knowledge that several branches may be lacking, thus he will work with several different jurisdictions as needed. Drifters have an extended range of jurisdiction, but ultimately must abide by the orders of the Commander whose area they are currently in.
Forbidden Continent Operatives – FC Ops have decidedly different duties than the usual SOS Operative, and operate in direct conjunction with the military stationed to guard the Forbidden Continent. FC Ops tend to focus almost exclusively on search and rescue missions for any humans or Sapient Demihumans who one way or another find themselves lost or abandoned on the continent. Alternatively, they may assist the military special ops in hunt and capture/destroy missions for particularly dangerous monsters.