Some living threats in the area do not fit well into any category or are so few in number as to not warrant a category for their type. Still, some of these creatures prove to be more than just nuisances, and unwary travelers in their territories might not return home.
Delvers: A colony of these rare, mysterious creatures lives under Coldforge Ridge, on the north side of Droskar’s Crag. These mostly peaceful subterranean aberrations refuse to deal with other creatures that mine into the mountain. Apparently, these particular delvers consider all of Droskar’s Crag their territory, and while they do not begrudge mountain climbers or surface-based explorers, they do not abide spelunkers or miners. Fortunately for those who do wish to explore under the ground, there aren’t very many delvers. Most tend to stay below Coldforge Ridge, and even those delvers who do come in contact with miners and explorers seem more interested in politely asking the trespassers to leave.
Gricks: A subspecies of grick with shockingly green flesh makes its home in Darkmoon Vale. This particular subspecies is drawn to warmth and spends much of its time lazing on the banks of hot springs or near mudpots. Not terribly bright, gricks sometimes move too close to the edges of these heat sources and fall in, being simultaneously boiled and drowned. Tobias Thrum, owner of the Thrumming Birch in Olfden, witnessed such a spectacle of stupidity while traveling through the hot areas of Darkmoon Vale. After driving off the surviving gricks with the help of his guards, he fished out the boiled creature and took a chance on tasting it. Discovering it quite delicious, he took to selling boiled grick at his famed restaurant. Thrum keeps an open bounty for securely captured live gricks he can throw into his immense boiling vat. As a result, the population of these bizarre creatures has begun to decline rapidly.
Magmin: A clan of roughly 20 magmin lives in the geologically active area near a particularly large mudpot known as Feaster’s Dint. Their presence further leads credence to the idea that Darkmoon Vale stands atop a wide gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire.
While not particularly violent or aggressive, the cowardly magmin do occasionally attack creatures that come too close to their territory without proper attempts at contacting them. Most groups equipped to handle surviving Darkmoon Vale have little difficulty in fending off the magmin, who tend to flee from anything more than token resistance. Because of these unpredictable and infrequent (and completely random) attacks, the Diamond Regiment considers the magmin of Feaster’s Dint a potential threat to Olfden, and groups traveling off the major paths through the vale are advised to give Feaster’s Dint a wide berth.
Manticores: By no means a common species, manticores nonetheless make themselves known among the trees of Arthfell Forest and Darkmoon Wood. Relentless and cold-hearted hunters, manticores in the region survive on deer, wolves, and other animals, although they prize the flesh of humans and go out of their way to hunt lumberjacks. Thanks to the efforts of the Greenfire Circle and the Fangwatch, though, the manticore population in both forests continues to plummet. Those few who still live in Darkmoon Wood occasionally flee north, using the lower passes through the Five Kings Mountains.
One particularly powerful manticore named Grazhgaugh claims a copse of paueliel trees near Darkmoon Wood’s Forest Elder. From his perch, Grazhgaugh watches over his claim with intolerant passion, chasing away or eating any creature larger than a squirrel that dares approach his domain. Some rumors purport that Grazhgaugh is an immortal protector, a guardian of some elven artifact hidden among the tall silver-barked paueliel trees. To date, no one has bothered to attempt parley with the frightening beast to discern the truth to these whispers.
Shocker Lizards: These sometimes menacing nuisances live all over Darkmoon Vale, but they prefer the marshy shores of the River Foam. Every so often, some farmer or rancher living in the lowlands of the vale tries to domesticate, or at least tame, a few shocker lizards, thinking they might make excellent guard creatures. Sadly, these attempts never turn out well for the would-be lizardherders.