A while back I read on some blog or facebook post about replacing goblins with monkeys on overland travel encounter tables to encourage more social and less murderous behavior from players, so here are some cute and interesting creatures to populate your world with inspired by cartoons like Avatar: The Last Airbender and written from the point of view of an in-world zoologist to give this the feel of an in world artifact you could edit and give to your players as a handout.
1) Screech Gibbons
This species is actually a type of small ape, being tailless and all. These
gibbons mate for life and have specific calls that can be identified by their
mates anywhere within 1 mile. These apes can emit a high pitched screech when
threatened to stun potential predators allowing themselves and their family to
escape.
Can be bribed with: fruit, rare flowers, insects, and eggs.
2) Psychic Lemurs
This one is a contender for most enigmatic species in all of The Holy Empire,
hell, all of Urt!! This creature remains such a mystery not only for its unique
physiology, which has left many of my colleagues scratching their heads
wondering whether or not it's a primate, rodent, or marsupial, but also its only
habitat being the Yld. Due to its proximity to The Wildlings and its implied
religious significance to their druids it is very difficult to study the species
without your brain being scraped off of a rock into a naked man's mouth. They
seem to have extraordinarily slow metabolisms and only move to eat or when
alarmed, but are known to jump extreme distances without warning. Their hands
are unnaturally large compared to their body which help them grip tree limbs and
have a widely abducted hallux which extends a single claw on each foot with
which they hang from trees. There are many different mythologies that surround
them, most notably that they can steal your thoughts and trade you one's they've
stolen from others. They say in darkness the lemurs' eyes become discs of
moonlight which can guide travelers to safety or to the secrets of The Yld if
they are worthy, it is also told that they can cause anyone with ill intent to
become lost in the forest forever. It is common to hear stories from men who
worked logging operations in The Yld about meeting the gaze of a lemur and
forgetting why they were even in the woods until they walked to the forest's
edge, which is when their memory returned. I would pay near any price to be the
one to unravel their mystery, the university would have to show me some respect
then!
Can be bribed with: Secrets, Lost Dreams, and Forgotten Treasures.
3) Badger Uakari
"Skull Badger" this common misnomer for the Badger Uakari is quite apt due to
a lack of subcutaneous fat on it's bald head and badger like face markings
making the face look like a gaunt skull. They most commonly have coarse black or
gray fur with a white stripe down the back. Fascinatingly these blokes have 6
short stubby limbs they use for digging as much as climbing, and have sharp
little nails to chip away at roots. Unlike the badgers they are named for,
Uakari are quite social and live together in warrens dug beneath and into great
trees, you can typically find them in small groups of between 3-12 individuals.
They mostly subsist on insects, plant roots, and the occasional bird's egg.
Can be bribed with: eggs, honey, and impressed by those who show exceptional
skills in digging.
4) Many-armed Marmosets
These adorable little creatures can be quite hard to find in the wild due to
their proclivity for dwelling in the highest reaches of the forest canopy. Due
to their small size and many grasping limbs (including their tails) they are
highly sought after and kept as pets by some clever thieves. They can be trained
to do nearly anything for honey or sweet syrups. Compared to most other primates
their hands are fairly primitive, beset with claws rather than fingernails.
Can be bribed with: small bugs, soft fruits, Honey, and syrup.
5) Glider Macaques
Feathered with a body not unlike that of a large owl, save for the hands and
feet of a primate, these delightful creatures can be found gliding around the
mountainous region of Törm. Although they are feathered like a bird they can
only glide from one mountain perch to another, probably a problem of bone
density, the males have a ring of white feathers forming a collar around their
neck which they puff out to enlarge themselves when threatened, it quite reminds
me of the rough collars many nobles wear to court. You can often find them
bathing in the natural hot springs common in mountainous regions or standing
guard on the rooftops watching over the snow-stone city of Törm. Public opinion
of these monkeys varies from the belief that they are the spirits of the now
long dead dwarven race watching over the city they built, to being common vermin
that dig through trash and steal food.
Can be bribed with: Fiddlehead Fern, edible mushrooms, nuts, the pits of fruits, and seeds.
6) Langur Bats
Flying Monkeys! I would not have believed it if I didn't see it for myself. I
was staying in Windrip during my journey to Törm and one evening I was leaning
on a fence packing my pipe when I heard this otherworldly chirping. I looked out
to see what looked like large bats on the horizon, until I questioned the locals
about them I had no idea how large they truly were, I've heard claims of them
weighing up to 3 stone! I imagine they're out hunting bloatflies at that size.
Until I can recruit an expedition team to accompany me into the caves within
which they dwell I must rely on rumors and folktales from the locals. The common
description I get is one of a creature with large batlike ears, powerful legs
connected to grasping feet, and leathery wings which are tipped with a single
claw each. I assume them, like bats, to be blind and direct themself through a
form of echolocation.
Can be bribed with: Large centipedes, Bloatfly Grubs
7) Three-tailed Howler
These large monkeys have 3 prehensile tails which they use to support their
bodies while hanging from trees or to grasp objects of interest to them. Named
for the low howl they emit which can be heard from up to 3 miles away, they can
often be seen guarding ancient ruins letting out a low cry when sighting
trespassers to alert nearby large predators. [roll for monster encounter]
Can be bribed with: fruit, flowers, buds, nuts, and eggs
8) Fire Grivet
Named for their black faces, deep red fur and their symbiotic relationship with
Armadillo Bison, who notoriously stamp out the campfires of travelers in the
arid grasslands they inhabit, are the most common monkeys in Greater Oren. Held
sacred by local populations, they are associated with Ahmun the patron saint of
travelers and you can find them sifting through garbage and fighting turf wars
with rival troops all throughout the city of Oren. The little buggers have the
most disturbing inclination to sneak into windows of homes in the afternoon to
steal shiny objects they think might be valuable to humans and ransom them back
for food. I've fallen prey to these scammers either in my home or on the street
at least a half dozen times. Regardless, they are quite clever and there may be
much we can learn about ourselves by studying them. [*must live near water
source]
Can be bribed with: shiny trinkets, shoes, root vegetables, eggs of small birds, and melons.
