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As we already revealed a few weeks ago, the northern region of Zao will hold tough challenges for you and on your way you will also learn more about Zao's history.
When the reign of the dragons over Zao begun, many old traditions fell out of grace and into oblivion, among them the philosopher monks who travelled the land to teach people and serve as negotiators and judges. If you are strong and brave enough to master Zao's new challenges, you may stumble upon the garbs of these dignified wayfarers and earn the right to wear their outfit with the honour that once accompanied the rank of those travelling monks. Be it the burning heat, stiff mountain air or the damp and dreary undergrounds, show all your venturing pride with these unique clothes that tell tales of exploration, danger and the grim visage of battle. Show others that you are a wayfarer, an adventurer - a hero.
In the northern region of Zao you will not only find the landscape to be even more tainted by the corruption but also its creatures. In order to give you the chance to prepare for theses vicious beasts, we want to introduce them to you today.
The brimstone bugs should not be underestimated and if giant spiders scare you, brimstone bugs will certainly give you the creeps as well. Resistant to poison, diseases and climate, their swarms are always looking for corrupted essence as well as for undead and demonic excrements to feed on. They are especially drawn to spiritually rotten things which seem to fuel several unusual magical powers of the bugs. They are cannibalistic by nature and will devour any fallen swarm member so you better not expect any mercy from them.
But the corruption in Zao comes in many different ways. So beware, adventurers! Sometimes the corruption rather affects the soul than the body and does not become apparent during a whole lifetime. Only in death these pitiful beings learn the horrid truth when their tainted souls twists their nature, refusing them the afterlife that awaited them. And so they are bound to the realm of mortals in an ethereal form, tormented by an eternal hunger and plagued by their twisted vision of the world around them. Everything that exists is a pain to them, even more if it is alive. Destruction and total oblivion seem to be the only salvation. They are in a constant state of hunger since their new ethereal body constantly burns away spiritual energy. To satiate this hunger they feed on the life force and soul energy of mortals. Sometimes, they even toy with their victims by shattering their dreams before they greedily feast on their prey.
And even the mighty draken are not immune to the massive corruption in northern Zao. Some of them have become disfigured in body and soul, a disgrace for their own kind. Being physically even more powerful than ordinary draken but easily influenced by magic they became slaves and servants of the draken spellweavers who completely turned them into loyal and obedient drones without any own ambition. With brutish force, they usually attack anything that does not belong to the place they are bound to. If their wild rage is triggered, they become berserking behemoths of destruction.
Nonetheless, drakens are characterised by power and competence, known for their merciless training and their honour. All of them use the best of their abilities to serve the dragon emperor, willing to die for making the slightest mistake. Yet only the best of the best make it into the elite of the draken society. Each of them is a one-man-army, a living weapon at the disposal of the emperor, able to wield arcane power and weapons alike, with an impressive physique as well as outstanding combat skills and spell casting abilities. Occasionally, the emperor lends some of the elite warriors to one of the dragon kings. Sometimes in times of need, sometimes as a token of respect. In any way, the elite forces handle even the most trivial duties assigned to them with precision and unwavering diligence.