Monsters Faction
The canyon was here first.
And before the canyon had a name, they were already living in it.
Before rails.
Before flags.
Before manlings learned to dig and burn and claim.
Monsters walked Coffin Canyon when the land was quiet.
Before Empires
Long before human history, there was only one true empire of monsters:
The Crow Queen’s Dominion.
She was the first—and last—to try and rule monsterkind. Under her black banners, monsters were enslaved, bound by oaths, geas, and iron will. Wonder became labor. Instinct became obedience. The land itself groaned under her order.
And in an age before manlings, the monsters rose.
The Crow Queen was overthrown, shattered, and cast into exile beyond the edges of the world. Her empire collapsed, and monsterkind swore a lesson into memory:
Never again.
When the Dust King’s empire rose ages later, monsters did not follow him. They watched. They hid. They survived. When his cataclysmic offering to immortality annihilated his civilization, monsters endured once more.
They have learned what empires do.
Why the Monsters Are Here
Monsters did not come to Coffin Canyon.
They remained.
They adapted as ruins sank, as Thyr bled into the stone and into themselves, as the land scarred and healed in crooked ways. Some monsters are ancient survivors. Others are children of catastrophe. All of them belong more deeply to the canyon than any map ever will.
To monsters, Coffin Canyon is not cursed.
It is home, wounded but alive.
Philosophy: Never Be Ruled Again
Monsters do not seek unity.
They do not seek conquest.
They seek freedom from dominion.
They remember the Crow Queen. They remember the Dust King. They recognize the posture of those who arrive believing they have the right to command.
Monsters do not build monuments.
They do not crown kings.
They do not claim eternity.
They survive.
The Stench of Gunpowder
Monsters distrust anyone who has ever touched a gun.
Gunpowder leaves a stain—an invisible stench that never fades. It smells of killing without closeness, of death without recognition. Monsters sense it immediately.
A blade can be read.
A trap can be learned.
A gun promises annihilation.
Those who carry its scent carry the intent of endings.
Monsters have seen too many endings already.
Monsters — On Others
Humans are not hated.
They are recognized.
Manlings arrive loud, armed, and convinced they belong. They bring flags, laws, contracts, and certainty. Monsters have seen this before—many times.
Monster Rangers move differently. They listen. They carry wonder instead of hunger. Trust is rare, but possible.
Shine Riders stink of gunpowder and greed. They come, take, and vanish. Monsters learn to avoid—or ambush.
Liberty Corps carry the posture of empire. Monsters know where that road leads.
Monsterology hunts with intent and pride. Monsters recognize slavers when they see them.
No monster forgets the Crow Queen.
Variety Without Unity
There is no Monster Kingdom.
There never will be.
Some monsters are solitary. Others gather in herds, broods, or fleeting alliances. Some remember the world before the Dust King. Others were born from the Cataclysm itself. Some trade. Some flee. Some kill on sight.
This is why monsters field the greatest variety of beings.
They are not a doctrine.
They are an ecosystem shaped by survival.
What the Monsters Want
They want:
Their nests untouched
Their paths unbroken
Their dead left undisturbed
Their young unharvested
They want no crowns.
No masters.
No empires.
If they must hide, they hide.
If they must flee, they flee.
If they must kill, they kill.
They have learned all three well.
Choose This Faction If You…
Want to play beings older than kings and flags
Enjoy extreme variety and asymmetric objectives
Prefer survival, territory, and escape over conquest
Like reacting to the board rather than controlling it
Want victory to mean endurance without submission
Sound Strategies & Playstyle
Deploy where you already belong
Use ruins, lairs, and terrain as extensions of your force
Pick battles carefully; survival is success
Punish intruders who overreach
Win by remaining when empires fall away
Monsters are not a faction in the usual sense.
They are what remains when rulers fail, crowns break, and the land refuses to be owned.
And they remember the cost of being ruled.