6. Mutants and Monsters

But Flur did not always create intelligence or useful strength.

Sometimes, it broke the body.

If the radiation was too intense or exposure lasted too long, an animal could turn into a mutant. Such creatures often lost their natural behavior, became aggressive, were driven mad by pain, or became consumed by hunger.

This is how many of the monsters found in old mines and dungeons came to be:

• Flur spiders;

• bloodsuckers;

• altered bats;

• underground worms;

• aquatic mechanical creatures;

• creatures with crystals embedded in their bones and shells.

Most such creatures cannot be domesticated. They are dangerous, unpredictable, and attack anything living.

But there are exceptions.

Some mutated animals retain enough of their instincts to be raised from a young age, trained, or controlled with special Flur collars.

Such creatures are rarely used, and almost always for the most dangerous tasks.