Alias: The Fang of the North, The Sly Bear
Race: Apoc Churl
Aspects: Body 8, Mind 3, Soul 1
Sex: Male; Height: 8'4"; Weight: 442 lbs

"The long night of the north sea cannot bring me to heel; why should you be the one to master me?"

Character Description/Notes: Stash, often referred to as the Sly Bear by the Churl tribes of his northern homeland, is something of a legend; a aurora-spawned Flux storm one long winter night spat several horrors into his tribe's encampment on the northern shores. While many of his tribesmen fell in the ensuing battle, his raw, animalistic cunning allowing him to outflank and slay most of the writhing abominations. More remarkable was his behavior the rest of that winter, hunting Flux-spawned horrors until he was an expert in their destruction; many of the smaller tribes have members who owe their lives to the sudden appearance of the Fang of the North from a snowdrift, his glistening spear piercing some monstrosity just before it could kill.

The swamp is silent, the sound of bugs and night birds suddenly stopped. You hear the water lapping at your boat, a steady rhythmic sound in the darkness. And then you hear it, somewhere behind you in the swamp, the low and steady sound. It fades into the darkness, and then suddenly, from somewhere in front of you, you hear it again. You begin to paddle as quickly as you can, and your boat runs aground, stranded in mud. You jump into the water, trying to swim away, but you know it's useless to run. Something grabs your leg and pulls you underwater. You look down, to see the orange glow of compound eyes and the silhouette of a muzzle clamped onto your leg. You look up for one last glimpse of the surface. But instead of stars, you see more orange eyes looking down at you.

Alias: Bethleus’an (Real Name)
Race: L'na Dawn
Aspects: Mind 5, Body 8, Soul 1
Sex: Male Aspect; Ht: 15'; Wt: 1600 lbs.

"The ice moves slowly. Unstoppable. Inexorable. It will always win….like me."

Character Description/Notes: Bulk is a massive brute of primal power and stark harshness, like the ice swept environs he calls home. A great walrus-like L'na, Bulk is aptly named by the local Churl tribes; he is well over five meters in length and nearly seven hundred and fifty kilos. His skin is smooth and hairless except for whiskers about his mouth and scimitar tusks, a mottled gray/white that blends with the barren shores of his coastal haunts.

The nights had grown slightly cooler, and very much darker. The swamp had grown silent and still, as if the life of the swamp itself had gone into some kind of hibernation with the onset of winter. In the deepest recesses of night, where acid rain once fell, now acid snow drifted in silent, white clouds; the nightmares of a sickly disease dreamed by a dying world.

Shadow stood upon a dead tree, surveying the surrounding landscape, his senses open to everything, taking in the essence of the swamp itself, the essence of life and death lingering in the air itself. Shadow's eyes wandered out along the horizon and came to stop on the ruined, domed temple. A thin, green colored smoke drifted out of the giant opening in the roof. A sickly, green light radiated from within; and the moaning sounds of countless undead offered a greeting chorus to all those who came close to the temple. Shadow's eyes then drifted upwards to the sky, as he gazed not for the first time at the alien stars above. He wondered not for the first time if he often gazed at the stars of Ai. Then he took a deep breath.

Alias: Brother, Blade Brother Beta, Kil'klik
Race: Sand Sniper
Aspects: Body 11
Sex: Male; Ht/(Length): 6' 1"; Wt: 190 lbs.

"Life with my blood brothers was hard — fighting humans and Klik — but life with my blade brothers is infinitely worse."

Biotechnologica
Entry A-23 The Apoc-Shark
Frederick Hubbell, Ichthyologist

Before creatures even considered walking on land, the shark has been the master of the sea. Prowling the depths in one form or another for over 400 million years as a terror to all. They needed little help as the predominant predator beneath the waves and yet the Event has blessed them none the less. Most prominent of the new variations is the apoc-shark, a mutation of the legendary Great White. Already known as a vicious and relentless predators, apoc-sharks have gained upgrades to most of their established arsenal, and been augmented with a few additions, as if they were needed. As with most of these Event hardened species researchers are trying to piece together information as best we can, but with the added aggression of apoc-sharks, there has been no shortage of attacks to provide reference for study. Once the dead doll like eyes fix their glowing red glare on a target, little hope remains for the subject.

Setup: Many Apoc have the misguided belief that the L'na give up too easily sometimes. In truth, the L'na have the uncanny ability to choose their battles, often with devastating results. Such is the case with NAU Research Base Zulu. For years this research facility has huddled on the shore of Lake Michigan, using the aquatic boundary as a defensive bulwark. The L'na have known that whenever the NAU captures something "unusual" in the field, the creatures are brought to this base. The L'na have heard all the rumors about the dissections and experimentation done on the strange races that appeared after the Event. Slys-ayr, krieg and even stranger creatures are confined in perpetual "observation" at this base.

Alias: None (Real Name Unknown)
Race: Apoc High-bred
Aspects: Body 4, Mind 3
Sex: Male; Ht: 6' 6"; Wt: 174 lbs.

"That's need-to-know only, kid, and you? You don't need to know."

"Ewwwwww…"
— an undisciplined High-bred grunt, upon first hearing about the Puke Worm

The puke worm is a creature ranging from roughly a meter in length at smallest to over twenty meters for the most massive specimen recorded. The worm is segmented with a thin outer shell and small, hooked appendages that run the length of the creature and aid it in locomotion. Its coloring is off-white with variegation in browns and greens, ranging from darkest along its underbelly to almost white along its back. This natural camouflage is actually from stains that the beast gathers over time as it transverses the swamps that are its habitat. The head of the worm is a massive lamprey-like mouth containing circular rows of inward curving teeth paired with two sets of flat, black eyes that sit back on top of the worm's head. Much like the earthworm, its remaining length consists almost entirely of stomach and digestive juices — a fact that becomes very dangerous when one realizes how it defends itself.