The Blue Mage's Book of Fantastical Beings

by Strago Magus

Illustrated by Relm Arrowny

Compiled by Cid del Norte Marguez

Foreword:

My name is Strago Simonius Magus. I am what you would call an expert in the field of monsters. This book is my attempt to make a complete and accurate bestiary of all the fantastic beings that have inhabited our world, both in the present and in the past. A Blue Mage by training and heritage, it is my foremost desire and goal in life to study, observe, and learn from all the strange and wondrous beasts that roam this world of ours.

And yes, to hunt them.

For many are the creatures that inhabit our planet which would strike me down without provocation or remorse, and I must always be ready to slay them in their turn. I have been blessed with the powerful and magical blood of the ancient Magi, and am well equipped to handle myself in the wilds, even in the extreme age I now find myself.

Even more fortunate for me, I have roamed both the world as it was and the world as it is now, seeking out her forbidden histories and secrets to their fullest. In my younger days I traveled the world seeking adventure, hoping to hone my skills as a Blue Mage. My magical blood calls out to the wild, and when that call is answered, I feel a resonance within me. This resonance gives rise to new, sometimes strange abilities, known as Blue Magic. These unusual and unpredictable powers more often than not have no magical basis outside of my own reproducing of them, but magic they are called nonetheless.

But I digress. Give an old man his diversions, if you may. For many decades, I sought out monsters and learned from them. As I grew in years, my ability and desire to travel far from home diminished, until one particular adventure ended that dream for what I thought would be the rest of my remaining life. I will come to that tale in its own time, as it, too, has a place in this bestiary. What is important is that through a strange series of events and tragedies, I once again found myself traveling the world with a group of warriors, you may have heard of them, and the dormant fires of the Blue Mage were reignited within me.

Shortly after my rebirth as a practicing Blue Mage, the great Collapse befell our world, and for a time, I was lost in my own dark thoughts of loss and regret. Thanks to my wonderful granddaughter, whose peerless works populate the pages of this bestiary and truly bring it to life in a way only her touch can, I was returned to the world of the living, so to speak. But it was a strange world, unlike the one I remembered. All manner of horrid abominations now roamed the land, seas, and skies. Many lost monsters were now found, and great beasts thought extinct were revived. It was a nightmarish zoo of predator and prey, the hunted and the hunter. But I am a hunter by trade, and I gained many new skills as I rejoined my warrior band in their heroic attempt to save our slipping world.

And yes, as any school child knows, the world was indeed snatched from the brink of destruction. For many this was a time of blackest despair and hopelessness, but I will not lie - a part of me reveled in this newfound feast for my mind and body. There were more monsters than I could count, and more varieties than I had ever thought possible, all with powers I had never dreamt could exist. It seemed all the dead, forgotten, and mythical beasts and demons of all the ages of the world had been released in the Collapse.

Even after the defeat of that foulest of fiends, the God of Magic, these aberrations persisted, and I spent several years hunting them down in an attempt to bring some normalcy to our struggling world. I would say I succeeded fairly well, with some help from our ever humble warrior-heroes on occasion. Now, ten years later, I am very old, and fear I only have a few years left to me. The world is at peace, many of the more dangerous creatures have been dealt with, and I find myself with little to do but reminisce on my past exploits.

This bestiary is my last, great contribution to our world. I have spent countless years delving into the deepest secrets of our past to uncover all that there is to know about the menagerie of monsters that inhabited our world, and now I have put that vast knowledge down in writing. Many are those who have helped make this work a reality.

My granddaughter, Relm, with her inimitable ability to speak with and control all manner of beast, as well as her prodigious talent for bringing those creatures to life with her brush. Without her constant support, I would never have had the energy for this undertaking. Her limitless optimism and exuberance is the fountain of youth that allows me to live each of my own days to its fullest.

The Ex-Imperial scientist, and fellow historian, Cid, whose tireless efforts to unlock the secrets of our world has opened up avenues of study for me that I would never have suspected still remained on this planet. If he outlives me, I entrust this work to his care, for there is no other soul alive who is more attuned to my own passions than he. I sometimes wonder if there isn't a little Blue Mage in him as well, for his fanaticism and uncanny ability to understand almost any mystery I put before him truly seems magical.

Gung-Ho, my lifetime companion and friend, and fellow hunter and Blue Mage. Whenever I faltered, he was always there to lift me up, either with his sword or with a kind word(or a rude one!). You left this world before me, my friend, but your spirit will always be by my side. I dedicate this work to you and your memory.

All of the warrior-heroes, the Returners: Terra, Edgar, Sabin, Locke, Celes, Cyan, Gau, Setzer, Gogo, Mog, Umaro, and of course, Shadow. Without their efforts both before the fall and afterwards, I would never have found myself in this position. Each of them also brought to the table their formidable knowledge and experience with the more violent beasts of the world, and saved me much time and effort in hunting these formidable foes by myself.

And last, but not least, Maduin, the mighty Esper whose great work, An Esper's Compendium of Magical Beasts, was the source for many of my theories and histories. Without his own prodigious attempts to uncover and catalog the history and beasts of the ancient world, both before and after the War of the Magi, I would be as a blind man poking around in the dark. I wish I could have talked more with this kindred spirit, this warrior-historian of a bygone era. But his world is no more, and all I have left are the dusty relics of his forgotten past.

I have said enough. Let this work speak for itself, and hopefully both enlighten and entertain a curious world for generations to come. I have much to be thankful for, but of all the things I have done in my life, it is this great work that I hope will become my legacy.

-Strago Simonius Magus

Thamasa, 14 AF