Farthest Outpost of the Empire: Dereth Before the Olthoi

An book by Ashif al-Kaba, fellow of the Zaikhal Arcanum. An excerpt of the text from the Collectors' Hunt reads:

It is an accepted truth, thanks to historical and archeological evidence, that gromnies are one of the rare original natives of Dereth. These survivors are believed to be the juvenile form of a yet unseen creature; the quasi-mythical “gromnatross.” The main supporting evidence for this theory may be found on the volcanic island of Aerlinthe. Records recovered from the port clearly state that a gromnatross called Aurlanaa built a nest upon the peaks of the northwest volcano, Cunara. It apparently abandoned its offspring there when the Shadows invaded Dereth approximately two thousand years ago. Now, on the peaks of Cunara, one may find a small colony of ash gromnies.

The titanic gromnatross appear to have been winged, ranging from cottage size to the approximate length of the Empyrean Obsidian Span between Cragstone and Arwic. There is little more detail available on this presumed adult form. While gromnie motifs may sometimes be found worked into the architecture of the Yalaini Seaborne Empire, gromnatross images are conspicuously absent. It is possible this is due to some religious edict; the Yalain held the creatures in high esteem, and may have considered the carving of their likeness to be a graven image. Some known details of their morphology include manta-shaped wings, a long, eel-like luminous tail, and milky, radiant lavender eyes. If the gromnies are indeed their juvenile form, it is to be expected that they share the same cricket-like legs.

Unfortunately, details about the gromnatross' biology and behavior are contradictory at best, and in many ways nonexistent. For example, whether the creatures were carnivorous, omnivorous, or herbivorous cannot be determined from the records available. Although there is evidence that the gromnatross often killed their own young (at which times entire provinces of the Empire apparently mourned), there is no mention of them hunting or gathering. Some have half-seriously suggested that adult gromnatross somehow nourished themselves by tapping the unusual mana patterns of this world.

Most prominent works of literature that mention gromnatross attribute to them an eerie, inexplicable intelligence. However, there are many more references in the Imperial Archives discovered under Xarabydun that record their activity as nothing more than that of exceptionally large and fierce territorial nuisance animals, destroying crops and homes in large swathes around their chosen nests. It may be that while gromnatross had a traditional role as a literary symbol, the reality was far different. It is no different in our own world, where the wild scavenger ursuin is used as a symbol of nobility and stoicism in Aluvian tales.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that a small faction of the intelligencia maintains that gromnies came or were summoned here at some point by the Empyrean. The basis of this theory lies in a handful of obscure old texts in the Falatacot tongue that mention, “the hateful wings sent out from dark-lit skies,” which “wander the span from one star to another,” and whose “glow'ring eyes spill algid light upon the fearful ground.” Aside from their poetic appeal, these texts are so notoriously biased as to be considered unreliable. Major portions of early gromnatross lore have reached us through the fragmentary religious texts taken from the Gelidites of Frore. These ancient people seemed to live in stark fear of the gromnatross, regarding them with horror and awe in equal portions.

There is yet one last fringe theory that claims the gromnatross were never natural creatures of this or any other world. Rather, they state, some ancient people of Auberean created them through lost arcane arts to safeguard their world, much as later civilizations created golems to guard their doors from casual intrusion.

In any case, the beasts have stalked the land for quite some time. Gromnie sculptures were once worked into the architecture of granaries, chapels, and ground supports for the floating “skytowers.” A matched set of gromnie figures often flanked the thresholds of noble houses in the Seaborne Empire. Interestingly, these statues are described as cupping fragrant water in their stony mouths, which travelers would use to wash the dust of the road from their hands. The implication seems to be that by demonstrating a willingness to place his hands in the gromnie's mouth, a visitor proved he bore no ill will towards the resident.