July' 19 Polls: Monster Edition! (Patreon)

Hello patrons and welcome to another series of patron polls!

We are now in the middle of producing the assets for the Shieldmaiden questline, which involves sailing about with a crew of Viking-inspired Nordlings as they seek out rare artifacts hidden in monster-infested islands on behalf of the Casino's mysterious mistress, Old Red.

In this grand odyssey, Claire and crew will encounter a myriad of monsters, both friendly and unfriendly, who stand in their way for one reason or another.

Today I'd like to poll on what kind of monsters you guys would like to see appear in this questline! The options are:

HARPY: An all-female race of monsters that are essentially bird-human hybrids, with hawk-like wings, and huge talons for feet. They swoop down upon human girls, carrying them away to slowly infect them and turn them into one of their own. The Harpies are led by a Queen, who dictates all that happens on their nesting grounds.

BEHOLDER: A curious monstrosity that resembles a gigantic, floating eyeball, surrounded by numerous smaller eyestalks of varying sizes, each of which possesses a different magical ability that allows them to torment their victims as they please; shrinking, freezing, burning, amplifying sensitivity, taking away intellect... You name it, the Beholder can cast it. Despite its odd appearance, it is ferociously intelligent and one of the most dangerous monsters in existence. They feed upon the moods and energies of their captives and victims, and their eyestalks grow larger as a result. Upon reaching critical mass, an eyestalk may detach and form into a newly-born Beholder. These infant Beholders, while not as dangerous as their parent, are still dangerous to behold - especially since they often stay very close to their parent until they get stronger and more independent.

OGRE: A gigantic humanoid of massive proportions; he has two heads, and two massive cocks, and each head controls one side of their body (and one cock!). They are strong enough to demolish entire hills on their lonesome, and smart enough to master complex disciplines such as architecture and masonry. Their key weakness is that the twin heads of an ogre are often in disagreement, and anything they construct ends up having two wholly contrasting designs that somehow still work together seamlessly.

MERKIN: The Merkin are amphibian creatures that are dimorphic, meaning that the males and females of the species look physically different. Female Merkin, popularly known as Mermaids, resemble beautiful women from the waist-up, but have fish-like tails from the waist down. They possess hidden fangs, laced with a transformative poison; once a man is lured out to them, they bite down on their necks, infecting them with the poison that eventually transforms them into male Merkin, or Mermen. Apart from looking vaguely humanoid, Mermen no longer resemble humans; their transformed bodies are covered in glistening, dark blue scales, and their extremities have become webbed, clawed appendages. Mermen are known to swim ashore, snatching away fishwives in the dead of the night while their husbands are away at sea, infecting them with their seed that transforms them into mermaids.

MINOTAUR: Ferocious monsters, half-man and half-bull, believed to be mindless beasts, but in reality, possessed of a simple sentience that allowed them to forge a primitive civilization. They even trade with the local gypsy population - their continued survival, and protection from more mindless monsters, in exchange for regular tributes of women.

DRAGON: Technically, not a monster. Far from it. Closer to the gods, even. These ancient, winged, reptilian behemoths predate human civilization itself. They once fought a great war with Eldritch entities, eventually prevailing at great cost. While many of them are still in a deep slumber, one of their kind remains very much awake, and hides away in the Shatterstones, keeping an eye on Eldritch activity. He plots an intricate web of outcomes and contrivances far too convoluted for human minds to ever fathom. During the Shieldmaiden questline, his lair in the Shatterstones can be chanced upon by Claire and crew...  

GIANT ANTS: 'Giant Ant' is a misnomer. These insectoid monsters have eight legs, a hard carapace, and resemble spiders more like ants. However, in terms of behaviour, they certainly resemble ants. Also known as tunnelers, or tunnel bugs, these creatures are known to dig vast tunnel networks wherever they go. They are incredibly strong, capable of lifting a hundred times their body weight, and incredibly industrious. They almost never appear alone, always moving in a group. They are split into three groups: workers, soldiers, and keepers. The workers are shy by nature, running away whenever they see anything approach, and concerned only with digging, gathering, and building. Soldiers are much fiercer, and prone to attacking whatever they perceive as a threat to the hive - which is just about anything except other giant ants... and human women. A hive cannot exist without human women being held captive at the core of the hive. These women are the queens of the hive... and their prisoners. They are surrounded, around-the-clock, by specialized giant ants called keepers, whose duty is to constantly fill these women with eggs via their ovipositors, and then groom the newborn giant ants for their future roles in the hive.

GARGOYLES: Curious creatures said to be the result of a lonely stonemason wishing his creations could come to life and accompany him, before taking his life under the moonlight. This enacted a powerful blood ritual, turning the creatures into stone into living creatures whenever the moon was visible in the sky. They attack nearby villages whenever the moon appears in the sky, slaughtering male inhabitants and carrying away the females to breed and impregnate. The females are reduced to stone statues frozen in erotic acts of debauchery when the moonlight fades, only to be returned to their carnal acts when the moon returns... Again, and again, and again. Thus, when visiting abandoned castles and stonework buildings, if you ever see a curious statue of a woman frozen in ecstasy... It's time to get the hell out of there.

MIMIC: An innocent-looking chest that hides a monster of unspeakable horror and impossible proportions within it. But, it could also be a normal chest filled with treasure. Veteran adventurers tell of a way to discern them - a true chest remains motionless, but if the chest moves ever so slightly now and then, as if breathing... then you better start running!

GNOLLS: Canine humanoids who live in primitive, pack-like societies with a vague semblance of early hunter-gatherer civilization. They will attack anything they perceive as weaker than them, be it monsters, or humans, or otherwise. Given their talent for breeding rapidly, and pack mentality, the gnolls would have been able to take over the entire world... If not for their propensity for infighting once the pack gets too big. They respect strength above all else, and have been known to recognize non-gnolls as "alpha", that is to say, the leaders of the pack.

LICH: Ancient undead creatures who obtained performed the Rite of the Lich, and obtained immortality; however, this immortality only affects their souls, causing their mortal bodies to waste away into little more than bones. They are possessed of amazing magical ability, and can summon vast armies of undead minions to do their bidding.

The winning entries will be the first monsters shown in the Shieldmaiden questline! Non-winning entries may still appear, just at a later date.  

(You can vote multiple times in these polls!)