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Have you lost something recently? A sock or maybe a shiny button?Or maybe you found something that you were sure was somewhere else? A book placed back on a shelf or a toy brought back inside.Maybe you could swear you are being watched but no matter where you look there is nothing there.Maybe you heard a voice or saw a flash of light.It could be your imagination.Or maybe, just maybe, something far more extraordinary In my many years of life, I have come across more than a hundred species of sentient creatures. Each one more varied than the last in terms of appearance, habitat, behavior and even culture, these creatures, that many believe to be nothing more than myths, inhabit the entire world. From the ever expanding sky to the deepest of underwater caves. Some as big as a mountain, where others could fit on your thumbnail.Within the pages of this journal I will be writing down my observations of these beings as well as the many legends that surround them. Welcome, readers, to the Creature Encyclopedia.~Dianna Reeves
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AguaneA species that is made up of 99% females, these creatures are often mistaken for their cousins the Fawn. Whilst they are shape shifters, shifting between the forms of a human and various other woodland creatures, their true form is that of a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair, a long tail tipped with a long tuft of fur, and a unicorn’s cloven hooves. Males of the species, few though there are, have a male’s torso and a long, gleaming horn sprouting from their foreheads. These creatures are found primarily in the Austrian Alps of northern Italy and along the borders of Slovenia. They make their homes near rivers or clear mountain streams, which has given them the title of River Guardians. Their nests are usually made of reeds and grasses, often nestled along a natural bend in the water’s flow. Aguane primarily feed off of berries or fish, though they have been known to feast on the flesh of humans who cross the streams or rivers too close to their nests.Aguane are a social race, often living in groups of twenty or more. They are generally peaceful, easily able to live beside many other species without quarrel. However, there is quite an enmity between them and humans. Adult humans venturing into an Aguane’s territory are seldom seen again, and if they are their bodies are quite often mauled beyond recognition. Aguane are very fond of children, however. This is believed to be due to the Aguane’s reproductive ability. Aguane are, as previously stated, 99% female, with males of their species being born only once every hundred or so generations. It is due to this drastically skewed statistic that Aguane have evolved to have a unique way of producing offspring. Like the Japanese Yuki Onna, Aguane have developed the ability of Parthenogenesis, which is the ability to have children from an ovum without fertilization. The females of the Aguane species are only able to conceive once during their lives, when they reach their hundredth year.It is because of this that Aguane never attack children. The few times a child wanders near their nest the Aguane let them pass unharmed, or sometimes carry them across their rivers while the children ride on their shoulders. On occasion lost, orphaned or abandoned children are adopted into the Aguane herds. It is believed that this is one of the reasons for the rumors of changelings.