On Cervders

This time I decided to do something of my own creation. It is always good to know what random nightmares I can toss at ya. Cervder is pronounced like "serv-der". I was hoping that this would be shorter than the other, but darn it all, my imagination just keeps going. I guess this is a good thing...



There are two species of Cervders. One species can be found on the continent of Brun south of the Arctic Circle and East of the Borea River. The other species can be found on the continent of Skothar in the land west of Nentsun Plateaux. What you would call them will depend on what continent you live on. If you live on Brun, you will call Brunian Cervders "Cervs" and the Skothran Cervders "Big Cervs". If you live on Skothar you would call the Skothran Cervders "Seders" and the Brunian Cervders "Lil-sevs". Obviously, the Skothran Cervders are larger than the Brunian Cervders. Elves, Dwarves, and other humanoids normally call the Cervder something more literal, such as "Brain Golems" or "Brain Zombies" (the reason for these names are literal will be explained later on). However, there is no set name for the Cervders among Elves, Dwarves, and other humanoids. Goblins, however, always call them Cervders if they even bother at all. Cervder, you see, is something of a swear word among Goblins. People who live on the continent of Davania or any of the many islands found in the ocean will call Cervders by the name the locals tell them (if they never heard of Cervders before) or by their given name (if they know of Cervders). There are no other variations of the Cervder name.

Cervders are magical constructs. They are made from spiders, brains, and arms. Though they use the arms as legs, they are capable of using them as a normal person. The eyes and jaws are that of a spider (one that is long extinct normally). The rest is mostly brain. The brain grew during the fusion of these objects. The Brunian Cervders stand about two feet tall. Rarely are there ones that are three feet tall. The Skothran Cervders stand eight to twelve feet tall with the average at ten feet 6 inches. The Brunian Cervders have web sacs. They use to web for carrying objects, getting around, and for their lair. The Brunian Cervders' venom can only paralyze. They are made to paralyze small creatures like Goblins, so they are not as effective on humans. The Skothran Cervders do not have web sacs. Instead, they are able to run as fast as a horse. They have, however, poison sacs. Their poison is a strong as a Black Widow Spider. This means that a person who is unable to resists its effects will be dead in around ten seconds without medical aid. The jaws on a Brunian Cervder are not large enough to do much damage to people. They mostly tear and bite. The arms of a Brunian Cervder are rarely used as weapons. The Skothran Cervders are far stronger. Their jaws can cut a man in two with just a single bite. Their arms are strong enough to shatter bones in a person. They sometimes use their arms in order to attack those behind them. Cervders are not very bright. They will attack almost anything that are not too big, or does not outnumber them too much.

Cervders were made in 416 AC by an Alphatian wizard named Dervan Ullit. The Lycanthropy Epidemic of 400 AC were causing servere strain on nations worldwide by spreading the lycanthropy and vampirism curses at alarming rates. Alphatia was funding several new programs to help people during this epidemic since it was Alphatian wizards who accidently made the epidemic. As people have not yet developed means to combat such large numbers of Lycanthropes and Vampires it was becoming increasingly difficult for nations to provide protection within their own borders. Dervan Ullit came up with an idea to limit the threat of Goblins. He created a creature that would hunger for goblinoid flesh. He used human brains to make it easier to program it for hunting Goblins. He gave it the spider aspect because Dervan thought the spider to be a perfect hunter. He gave it the human arms because the creature wouldn't balance out otherwise. He tested the creature on Brun first. It appeared to be a success at first. He used a larger spider for Skothar since the Goblins there are fiercer than the Brunian Goblins. He was about to create a Cervder for Davania when he received orders to cease and desist. His Cervders were not acting as they should. They did hunt Goblins, but they also hunted anything else in the area. The human aspect of them gave them an even greater urge to eat creatures. There was nothing Dervan could do to remove this creatures as their spider aspect allowed them to reproduce into large numbers. In the end, the Cervders did their job. They hungered Goblins more than other creatures, so they would nest in areas where the Goblins could be found. This gave a little bit of breathing room for people of those areas. Some Goblins protest the creation of these creatures outright. Most protest violently. Most of the Civilized Goblins protest them by claiming them to be inhumane. They search for compensation for the damages received from these creatures. People today can still make Cervders. The notes Dervan took can be found in Aasla's library on Alphatia. It is considered an act of necromancy today since it requires a fresh human brain.


The Cervders in Brun hunt in large packs. There are any wear from twenty-five to a hundred of them at a time. This is because Brunian Cervders are not very strong, and they need to hunt in large numbers in order to make an effective hunting party. They work together to make quick strikes in hopes of snagging one or two creatures for their hive. They will not fight for long. When they see that they have gained a body, or when they see that they are loosing to many, they will retreat. It is ill-advised to pursue them as they will normally retreat straight to their hive. These creatures are easy to kill. A person can kill one with a single stroke most of the time. The Skothran Cervders are another story. They tend to hunt in groups of one to three. They are hard to hit as their vitals are located mostly on their belly. To effectively hurt one, a person would either have to get underneath the Cervder (which can puts the person in danger of being trampled by the arms), or to figure out a way to flip the Cervder (which puts everyone around it in danger as it will thrash its arms wildly about). These Cervders will sometimes fight to the death. Most of the time they will try to run away when they see that they are being overpowered. It is usually hard to catch one of these Cervders. They will normally ambush a group, grab one of the group, and run away with that person in their mouth. If they failed to grab someone, then they will stay and try to grab another. If they are hunting with another, then the mate(s) will join the fight when they see that the male Cervder had failed in grabing some food. Skothran Goblins tend to avoid fighting these things when possible. They would even go as far as hiring people to deal with them.

Where there are Cervders, there are Goblins. Where there are Gobins, there are Cervders.