[For the neural network monsters, I asked some of my friends who are artists if they would design an illustration based on the names. Which turned this into a game of creature telephone. I’m very pleased with how things turned out.]
Desert Beeple This ebony beetle is larger than a
camel. Its face is an open cone, like a megaphone, and it gives a cacophonous
call.
The
caravans and nomads of the desert dread hearing an eerie, atonal honking
drifting over the vast expanse, as that indicates that the desert beeple is
abroad. A desert beeple is a giant insect of faint intelligence, and its song
distracts and confuses those that hear it. Desert beeples are voracious and
wandering omnivores, and they happily prey upon the stores carried by merchants
and the merchants alike. The jaws of a desert beeple are small and contained
within its horn-like musical mouthparts, so unlike many monstrous beetles a
desert beeple cannot bite. They instead reduce food to a thick paste by
crushing it, and then siphon it into their mouths.
Desert
beeples are frequently solitary, as they require plenty of food, but in good
conditions they can gather in small social groups, serenading each other with
their beeping cries. Oases are particularly tempting targets to desert beeple
clusters, and many merchant groups will pay highly to rout these monsters from
a conveniently located oasis. A desert beeple stands four feet tall at the
shoulder, grows to eight feet long and weighs more than a thousand pounds.
Desert beeples are scourges of the sands, curiously found in both Riven and Koll. In Riven, the sand giants barricade their fortresses when they hear the obnoxious song, while the desert giants of Koll stuff wax in their ears and set sentries.
Shores of Swords 