MASHATAAN

MASHATAAN
"There was nothing remotely human about the Mashataan. Their bodies consisted of writhing swarms of tendrils that pulsed with undiluted mchawi. They possessed no other limbs. From the midst of each clump of tendrils rose a head dissimilar in shape to that of anything ever spawned in Nyumbani. Eyes were the only familiar feature on those nightmarish heads — yes that were multitudinous orbs of bright green light, each on refelecting cold, dispassionate involvement in the struggle against the Erriten...the recalcitrant, pathetic and insignificant Erriten...
Charles R. Saunders, Imaro IV

TARUSI

TARUSI

"Their heads, bodies, and arms were of normal proportions, but their legs were far longer than Dossouye was tall."

"Their faces were their least human aspect: eyes like circular pits of demon-fire; gaping mouths filled with square, grinding teeth; scores of tusk-like projections sprouting from their heads in place of hair.

Charles R. Saunders, Dossouye

DEATH'S MESSENGER

DEATH'S MESSENGER

"In size and shape, it resembled an elephant with tusks like curved ivory spears. But Imaro had never known and elephant to have a hide scarlet as fresh-spilled blood; or grasping, hook-like fingers at the ends of its columnar limbs; or ears ribbed like giant fans; or two pairs of gauzy, insect-like wings sprouting from its back, wings that scarcely disturbed the damp swamp air as they supported the massive bulk of Death's Messenger...."

Charles R. Saunders, Death's Friend

SEMANDO

SEMANDO

"The semando was a grotesque, misshapen thing formed of mephitic grave-mud that oozed with each sickening step it took. But it was not the lurching travesty of a body that bulged Henley's eyes and clove his tongue to the roof of his mouth. It was the face."

"Crudely molded and distorted as its features were, Henley had seen them before—in the portrait that had hung over the mantlepiece downstairs. It was the face of his grandfather, Jeroboam Henley...."

"Blunt, malformed fingers reached clawlike for Henley's throat as the semando drew nearer."

Charles R. Saunders, Jeroboam Henley's Debt

NJINN

NJINN

"Their bodies were like those of stick-insects, magnified to the size of horses. But there was more to them than their sheer mass — much more. For the creatures had twice the number of limbs as those of an ordinary insect. From the ends of those limbs, hand-like paws resembling those of a baboon opened and closed. The fingers of each paw bore talons longer and more lethal-looking than a lion's claws. And the tails of the monstrosities ended in stings like those of scorpions."

"And their heads...the faces those heads bore were more human-like than those of the Sand-kin. Yet there was no comfort in that resemblance, for the demons' faces were twisted into grimaces of hatred so intense as to be incomprehensible to a mortal."

"'Njinn,' Ukenge said in a low whisper."

Charles R. Saunders, Dossouye II

SAND-KIN

SAND-KIN

"The creatures that emerged from the cloud were human in size and general configuration - but that was where the semblance ended. Leaner and longer-armed than humans, the intruders were the color of tarnished gold. Their bodies were swathed in swirling, blood-red garments, and there was a hint of scaliness to the exposed skin of their arms and legs. Their skulls were narrow and flattened and slit-pupilled eyes glared above vestigial noses and wide, snarling mouth, from which serpent-like fangs protruded."

"Large, curved swords and spears with hooked tips were clutched tightly in the intruders' long-fingered hands."

"'Sand-kin,' Ukenge replied in a low tone that implied that the intruders were as dangerous as they appeared to be."

Charles R. Saunders, Dossouye II

PERSON OF THE PLACE OF STONE

PERSON OF THE PLACE OF STONE

"The builders of the Place of Stones were short, squat, manlike in shape...and thoroughly nightmarish. Narrow, elongated eyes glittered balefully in the green light suffusing the ruin. Bestial fangs fille dthei gaping mouths. Colorless hair sprouted in thin patches across scabrous, unclothed skin. Cat-like claws curved from the fingers of hands otherwise human in form. These were the people of the Place of Stones, whose very name had long since been forgotten."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro

GUNKWU

GUNKWU

"The soldiers, encased in steel and bearing long lances, rode gunkwu: beasts that were relics of the time before human feet trod Nyumbani. Although the gunkwu bore a superficial resemblance to the rhinoceros, they were larger and bulkier, rivaling the mass of a small elephant. From their foreheads, pairs of thick, conical, parallel horns projected to a point beyond the beasts' nostrils."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro IV

IMANDWA

IMANDWA

"The wide-spanning horns shrank back into the sides of a head that was reshaping itself: snout collapsing into a smaller nose; forehead rising, hair receding until it covered only a head that became round rather than flat. And the hoofs of the apparition metamorphosed into hands and feet. When the shape-shifting was complete, a naked giant of a man stood before Dossouye."

"Once before, she had known a bovine that could be come human..."

Charles R. Saunders, Kpendu

NANDI

NANDI

"From behind the thick tree trunk a gigantic, shaggy bulk emerged. Imaro's dark eyes went wide in disbelief."

"What swayed before Imaro was no legend. The beast's snarling canine face was framed by flopping, houndlike ears. Its bulky, bearlike form was larger than a lion's, and its mighty paws were armed with long, lethal talons that were fitting counterparts to its dripping fangs."

Charles R. Saunders, Mai-Kulala

MWANGA

MWANGA

"She crouched like a skulking beast at the edge of the clearing, distorted body outlined by a ghostly nimbus of moonlight. Demon-fires smouldered in her crimson eyes. Her lips pulled back in a snarl that revealed sharp, carnivorous teeth. Shaggy beast-hair blurred the lines of her lean, powerful frame. Despite  the hideous misshaping of feature and form, Imaro knew that the feral thing that was even now beginning to creep forward was Mai-Kulala...."

"She transformed into a mwanga, a were-thing that drinks the blood of humans."

Charles R. Saunders, Mai-Kulala

ZAGIWE

ZAGIWE

"The animals upon which the Dancers were mounted were even more singular than Gbo. Although they resembled horses the likeness was superficial. These beasts were slightly larger than equines, but built along leaner lines. Cat-like, tufted tails whipped back and forth as the animals' taloned paws scratched at the ground. Their heads, narrower than those of horses, surmounted long, mane-less necks. From each of the animals' foreheads, a single, short horn protruded."

"Dark-brown spots like those of a leopard speckled their light-brown hides."

Charles R. Saunders, Dossouye II

GETIET

GETIET

"Great doglike jaws ripped voraciously into the flesh of the buffalo, while apelike paws pulled heavy bones from their sockets. The body of the beast sloped downward from the shoulders, much like that of a hyena. but there was also a strong suggestion of the baboon in its form, almost as if it were the result of some unholy amalgam of the two species."

Charles R. Saunders, Death In Jukun

KISUJINI

KISUJINI

"It was a great cat, leanly built, halfway between a leopard and a lion in size. Its fur was scarlet in hue, spotted like that of a leopard with rosettes of a deeper blood-colored shade. Its claws were fearsome weapons, but more dangerous still were the dagger-like fangs that curved an inch below the cat's tufted chin."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro II

SHENDI

SHENDI

"Along with the inguluku, the other major carnivore of the Lowlands was a skulker the size of a large leopard. Its jaws were not nearly as long as the inguluku's, and its body was shorter in proportion to its legs. Its teeth were more feline than reptilian. But the bright-green scales of its hide and its thick, lashing tail were lizard-like. Shendi was the name the Naglopa gave the lesser predator."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro IV

N'KAA

N'KAA

"A moment after the last skull was broken, the corpse of Vorstos collapsed into a pile of dust, as the soul-forces that had preserved it even after his death now departed. Now, eight flame-eyed, filmy wraiths hovered over the shards of their black-painted prisons. These were the n'kaa, the enslaved souls, freed at last from their loathsome servitude."
Charles R. Saunders, Imaro II

EYELESS LIZARD

EYELESS LIZARD

"A long sword was belted to his side and across his shoulders he carried a pale, squamous creature that more than anything else resembled a gigantic eyeless lizard."

Charles R. Saunders, Drum Magic

OTIBIS

OTIBIS

"Their mtekwas eyed the swift-moving, two-legged mounts of the Naaman cavalry. The Reptiles were dark-brown in hue, with lighter-colored horizontal stripes that stretched from head to tail. Their long jaws were filled with needle-sharp teeth, and hooked talons sprouted from forelimbs that ended in curved paws. They held their long tails stiffly behind them when they rain. The Naglopa called the beasts otibis."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro IV

WALKINGDEAD

WALKINGDEAD

"They should have been food for the sharks, these waterlogged husks that had once been men and women. But their bodies betrayed no sign of attention from the scavengers of the deep. The only alteration, other than decay, that the corpses showed was the tips of their fingers. There, the flesh had been torn - or bitten -away, leaving only bare, claw-like bone, capable of ripping into skin...or clinging to wood."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro III

IMBONA

IMBONA

"The most common grass-easter was a swift-running reptile slightly larger than an ostrich. Save for its long, tapering tail and a pair of forelegs that dangled above the ground, the long-legged creatures closely resembled the huge, flightless birds that raced across other parts of Nyumbani. Imbona was the Naglopa name for the runners."

Charles R. Saunders, Imaro IV