Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

The Demography of KarameikosGrand Duchy as a legacy of past civilizationswhich have succeeded one another in thedominion over this land. Gargoyles arefound all over the country. Living statuesmade of unusual materials (like silver, steel,or jade) were a specialty of hutaakan wizards,and many of these constructs still lay in theruins left by the Hutaakan civilization; verydangerous is the hutaakan variety of rockliving statue (so called rock/ooze), filled withgray ooze instead of lava and able to spray itover its opponents. Hutaakans, as well as thewizards who ruled the city of Tuma, alsocreated the varieties of living statues morecommonly encountered (crystal, iron, androck). The Tuman wizards also invented avariety of crystal living statue called wingedwarrior, able to fly. Today, Karameikanmagic-users skilled enough to createconstructs are few; among them the mostcommonly built constructs are, besidesgargoyles, wood and bone golems. Somefanciful magic-user is also known to haveembarked in the creation of even moreunusual constructs (like caldron magensand phase stingers).DragonsA number of dragons have dwelled inKarameikos for a long time. Black dragonslive in the Blight Swamp, white dragonsdwell on the peaks of the Altan Tepes, andgreen dragons hide in the depths of theforests. A large area of the Dymrak Forest, atraditional home of green dragons, is todaypart of Argosyl, a draconic realm ruled byArgos, a cunning green dragon who alsocontrols several goblin tribes. A very old reddragon lives in the northern Wufwolde hills– some of his offspring may be foundelsewhere in the Grand Duchy. Lastly, a golddragon hides in Threshold posing as abeggar, but his real intentions are unknownat the moment.Some specimens of wyverns are known todwell in the most rugged and wild regions.HumanoidsBesides the more numerous humanoid racesdescribed in the main section of this article,Karameikos still hosts some reptilian folks.These are very small families of lizard menand troglodytes, who perhaps migrated herefrom the Malpheggi Swamp or represent thelast degenerate remnants of their lostcivilizations. They can be rarelyencountered in the middle of the DymrakForest or in other areas far away fromhuman settlements (some even in the smallmountain swamps which are found nearCastellan Keep, in the Altan Tepes range).Quite inexplicably, two small groups ofreptilian humanoids native to a very distantregion, the westernmost edge of the SavageCoast, are also found in Karameikos: theyare a clan of cay-men, who dwell in theBlight Swamp, and a tribe of chameleonmen, who live in a mountain forest northeastof Threshold. Perhaps both groupswere transplanted to Karameikos as result ofa magical event or mishap, but the realreasons for their presence in this land areunknown.Among the humanoids must also be countedsome woodland or fairy races. Dryads havebeen spotted in the eastern forests which arethe home of the Vyalia, but they areextremely rare. Legends tell of a mountainlake in the Black Peaks where nixies dwell.Very rare as well, but much more dangerousand evil, black hags and crones of chaos lurkin the wilderness, alluring travelers to28THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1