In the year 271, Duchess Madeline D’Argent of the City-State of Newhope put together a crew to voyage to the Outlands to expand an outpost there. After their ship was damaged and the crew was forced to make their way into the Outlands in search of supplies to repair the damage, they discovered they were not alone. A single Syndar watched them from a distance, coming closer to speak to the group. In this conversation, the crew learned that an entire population of Syndar lives in the Outlands, seemingly completely untouched by the mana stream and unaffected by magic.
Very quickly, this crew also learned that there are worse creatures than the Mordok lurking among the trees.
The Syndar taught the group that these creatures were called “Yolqui” by their people, who have fought them for generations. Since then, Mardrun has come to know them as “Salt Beasts”– a nicknamed dubbed for the thick, salty hides of these monsters.
Their most notable features are their limbs, each one a different variation of grotesque protrusions that are often mistaken for swords, but being struck by them causes much more severe injury than any normal sword strike, and it becomes quite clear from closer up that these weapons are grown straight out of their arms.
These creatures have been seen using arcane magic to fell enemies, often releasing a ear-wrenching scream before throwing death-bolts at their targets. Once they’ve taken down their target, a flash of light is seen as they Recall away, presumably to consume their downed target in relative safety.
Their skin can be seen sloughing off their bodies, dropping to the ground in piles of rotting, salty flesh. This shedded skin holds no value or special ability, despite the Northern Syndar’s use of the Salt Beast skins as armor. Presumably, this means the Salt Beast hide needs to be harvested in a certain way to be usable.
These creatures have not been picky in their hunt for targets, attacking the living, the dead, and Mordok alike. The only difference between their hunts in what they decide to take, as one was seen leaving the body of an undead behind. This supports the words of the Northern Syndar– “They are hungry for meat. It doesn’t care where the meat comes from, only that its fresh.”