The creature of legend known as the Mystran instills fear within any who know of even an inkling of the creature's power. The Mystran is like a living shadow, a spirit-like consciousness of unknown form. It is malevolent and dreadful, and also highly intelligent. The Mystran exists to sow chaos and despair among the living and, it is said, it often uses other mortal races in its nefarious plots of destruction. The Mystran is considered by some to be one of the most dangerous and evil creatures in all of Caelereth as it is said that it not only cannot die by any known means, but it also has the power to bend mortal minds to its will and thus can create entire legions of minions at its beck and call.

Appearance. The Mystran possesses no known familiar form. From the records and lore obtained from the Third Sarvonian War, the Mystran is a powerful spirit-like consciousness from the shadowy Netherworld, a place of existence far removed from the mortal world. The Netherworld is supposedly a place of utter darkness and chaos, according to many scholars, and thus it is often assumed that the Mystran is also a creature that possesses similar attributes. As a spirit, it has no known physical form and is so dark that it appears as a living shadow. Some accounts say that the Mystran absorbs all light around it and to gaze upon a Mystran would be akin to staring into a nothingness darker than night itself. Scholarly opinion differs on whether a Mystran can take any kind of physical form. It is believed that in some orcen and dark elven lore, in an attempt to "humanize" a Mystran, the creature is drawn and described as something akin to a black ghost with vaguely discernible head, arms and legs. This, of course, is by no means a proven and accurate description as most demonologists quickly dismiss any attempt to try to give the Mystran any kind of form.

Special Abilities. The power of a Mystran can not be understated. They have a powerful means of mental attack and have been known to fully turn their victim's fear to their advantage. The creatures feast on fear. The creature's oppressive presence instills dread and despair in its victims. Even the orcs of northern Caaehl'heroth have dreadful myths of the Mystran telling of how the spirit can possess a living host once the victim is reduced to nothing more than a quivering mass of flesh and take the victim's mind as its own. The tales go on to say that once a victim is taken, the person's vision clouds over and their conscience slowly slips away until they are but an empty shell devoid of any mental or emotional capacity.

It is theorized that a priest can heal a victim possessed of a Mystran by using divine magic to drive out the spirit from the mind. However, the healed person will most likely retain permanent damage from the possession. Once possessed, it is thought that the victim begins to lose their mental capacity immediately with no hope of a full restoration. When the person they possess is killed, or a healer manages to separate the body from the possessing force, the shadow of the Mystran will leave the body and search immediately for a new victim. This is also the reason why healing people from a Mystran's possession can be very dangerous for the healer himself.

Many myths say that the Mystran cannot be killed by any known means. Physical weapons of steel cannot harm it, as the creature is insubstantial, and a weapon strike would simply pass through it. Elemental magic is not known to have any affect on a Mystran, although no recent tales exist of a mage pitting their skills against such a dreadful beast.

Perhaps the only method of truly battling such a terrible creature is to show it no fear at all. Common lore says that a Mystran feasts on its victims fear and despair in order to reduce the mind to something malleable and ready for possession. Some scholars theorize that if one shows a Mystran no fear, then one takes away their only means of dominion and the Mystran will flee to instill terror upon another poor soul.

Territory. Mystrans are thought to be able to exist almost anywhere. They can travel quickly and do not tire. It is theorized that they have spread from their original summoning location of northern Caaehl'heroth and now exist in all corners of the world.

One theory, put forth by the Volkek-Oshra demonologist Vekarn Kha'mal, is that the Mystran must remain relatively close by to their place of origin, the Netherworld. One of the only known areas of Netherworld influence is the peninsula of Caaehl'heroth in Northern Sarvonia. It is there, within the mists surrounding the tower of Osthemangar, that the Mystran is most powerful. Should the spirit travel too far from the mists, they grow weaker, albeit they would still be considerably powerful.

This theory is further strengthened when one considers the beginning of the Third Sarvonian War. The orcen armies were strong then they descended south but ultimately lost the war. Perhaps the Mystran's influence waned the farther the orcs went and thus their powerful possession all but flickered out. Regardless, it is impossible to gain any definite locations of Mystran influence, but considering their power, there is no place on Caelereth that would not be within the Mystran's reach.

Habitat/Behaviour. The Mystran is an unfathomable creature and no one truly knows what the Mystran thinks or feels. Lore suggests that the Mystran is primarily a spirit that feeds upon the negative emotions of a living host. Thus, a Mystran possession is one of the most feared things with which to suffer. Most all of Mystran lore give the creature a nefarious, malevolent demeanor whose cunning and intellect knows no bounds and whose sole purpose is to make the living suffer.

The Mystran can live almost anywhere, it is said, but some scholars have theorized that the Mystran inhabits dark, shadowy areas and places known to be evil. Haunted graveyards, battlefields, marshes and swamps as well as forests are all rumoured to be suitable Mystran grounds.

Another theory is that the Mystran is simply a creature born from the dimensional rift that was created when the Deep Winds Gate was opened. Some researchers say that perhaps when the mists flowed free from the Netherworlds along with the monsters, the Mystran was simply a unintended side-effect of the collision of the Nether Void with the mortal world. Perhaps the creature is simply a lost presence seeking to survive in this world. Its presence, known to instill fear, is not its true purpose, but an unintended one. There is no true way to measure the affects of the Netherworld on mortal minds and bodies. There are some mysteries that cannot truly be solved.

Diet. The Mystran is a spirit and requires no physical supplement. However, popular lore suggests that the creature instead feasts on negative emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, and despair. The spirit is attracted to willing, chaotic minds with which to possess and grows strong upon the negative spiritual energy. Thus, the Mystran is always in search of someone to terrorize and possess.

Mating. One interesting theory put forth by the demonologist Vekarn Kha'mal is that the Mystran reproduces only from within the borders of the mysterious mist that surrounds the tower of Osthemangar. The typical belief is that the mist is an area of the Netherworld where the Mystrans are born and live before venturing out into the world to sow chaos. If this is true, then Kha'mal theorizes that the creature enters the mist for a period of time to gain strength and perhaps use the power it has gained from its victims to create another Mystran.

Another theory is that once the portal was opened in 298 b.S., a finite number of Mystrans emerged along with the mist and that they cannot reproduce. Whether or not the portal is still open is a mystery. No one known has ventured into the Deep Winds Portal to verify its state of activity. However, some scholars have said that the portal was closed soon after the defeat of the dark forces during the Third Sarvonian War and the number of Mystrans in the mortal world were all that were left. That number could be as many as a few to perhaps in the thousands. One cannot be sure as to the exact number of the creatures in existence today.

Usages. There are no known usages for a dark, evil creature bent on the spiritual domination of other living beings. No one can control a Mystran, let alone make use of its powers.

Myth/Lore. It is told that some years just before the Sarvonian Dawn, a nameless dark elf quietly made his way from the vicinity of the Ancythrian Sea into the Northlands. He was strong in the ways of dark magicks, and he was proud too and thought himself born to rule. Drawing aside the mists that cover time, he saw that the time was near for the Dark Lord to arise. Believing himself to be the one best suited to be Lieutenant to Coór's eternal minion to come, he delved deep into ancient mysteries, and finally opened a long forbidden portal to a shadowy realm in a distant world. This forgotten portal is located at Osthemangar, the infamous orcish fortress, which lies in the Plain of Ehelvin at the gigantic peninsula of Caaehl'heroth. This doorway to the void is called the Deep Wind's Portal and it is the same portal where Coór'Melór was going to be resurrected 80 years later. In the year 298 b.S. the dark elf summoned insubstantial creatures of strange hungers and brought them through the portal before it closed. So did the Mystran enter Sarvonian lands. The power of these creatures should soon unite many rivaling orcish tribes.

Ten years after he had summoned them, in 288 b.S., the dark elven mage's Mystranish helpers turned on him, driving him finally mad. He leapt from a high precipice to his death. The orcs, thus no longer unified by the dark spirits, began to fight themselves, saving the humans south of Carmalad from their depredations of the Sarvonian Dawn. The Mystrans dispersed. Ever and anon, Mystrans would begin again to gather orcs and trolls around them. Many times an orcish stronghold would put up a fiendish resistance to attack, showing unheard-of cunning - of which very often the guidance of a Mystran is responsible.

The Mystran is often linked to the mysterious floating lights known as the Granther Willow's Lantern. Often mistaken for the wisps, it has to be emphasized that the Mystrans are by no means themselves creatures of the light, but consist of pure, utter darkness, obviously magically transformed in order to come to being. However, Mystrans often are present at locations where the mysterious wisps can be encountered like at swamps or haunted battlefields. Like the wisps, who are often declared as semi-beings who have no real substance, they are seemingly deathless. They affect the minds of those they concentrate on, bringing confusion, desire to follow them, anger, insanity or any other emotion they desire. In combination with the relatively harmless wisps who in fact don't take advantage of humans, the attack of a lurking Mystran may be deadly, at least for the soul of the victim. Wisps hover as half-seen lights and mists in the darkness at the edge of vision and it is said that they sometimes lure travelers deep into trackless wastes, only to let the Mystrans descend upon them.

There are thought to be some orcen clans among the Volkek-Oshra who revel in the dark powers and worship the creatures of the Netherworld. Chief among these clans is the Traag'vok (lit. "Dark Blood") who it is said offer living sacrifices to appease the Mystran. According to some of the more friendlier orcs of the Heaths of Eph'denn, the Traag'vok clan live among the north Cartash Woods near the dreaded Mists of Osthemangar where the Mystran is said to live. Even among some of the orcen clans, the Traag'vok is considered a bloodthirsty, depraved group of dark worshipers with which the other clans leave well enough alone to their twisted rituals.

Researchers. The most famous researcher of the Mystran is the Osther-Oc demonologist Vekarn Kha'mal. Not only has he studied the lore of the Mystran, but also he has written extensively on Granther Willow's Lantern, or the "will'o'wisp". He takes an interest in all things supernatural and the Mystrans are perhaps his most famous research subject.

4th Passing Clouds 1668 a.S. Information providedby Azhira Styralias , Greybark and Artimidor