The Horders are among the oldest creatures on Anarkand. they were discovered in the 5th era by travelling scholars hailing from Andromania. They are native to Dumatra, a land already steeped in mystery and ritual. Fossil records recovered from the Obarian Ridge suggest that their lineage stretches back to the Second Era, making them one of the world’s longest-surviving terrestrial carnivores. Scholars of Andromania once classified them as Ossovores Dumatrae (“bone-eaters of Dumatra”) though this is a misnomer, for Horders do not consume bone; they collect it.


Their name comes from the ancient Dumatra word Hor’dar, meaning collector or keeper of remains. In local myth, the first Horder was said to be born from the remnants of a thousand dead soldiers, its flesh woven from the grief of war and its hunger bound to the sins of the fallen. Whatever their origin, by the time of the Fifth Era, Horders had become synonymous with terror.


Though they are apex not predators, their behaviour suggests something beyond mere survival instinct. Horders kill whether hungry or not, their drives shaped by something darker, possibly a compulsion to hunt, to collect, to preserve. In Dumatra’s older texts, this trait is interpreted as a curse. This is formed around the idea that Horders are tasked with gathering the bones of the dead to ensure no spirit is forgotten. Others believe it is pure madness.


Horders never attack alone. In fact, Horders will always avoid confrontations and instead slink into the shadows whenever there is another creature, big or small, in their vicinity. Though they remain curious of travellers around their realm, they will only ever attack when they have the upper hand in terms of numbers. — a genetic aberration that drove an otherwise intelligent species into ritualistic slaughter.



A Horder is a four-legged creature of monstrous design, standing nearly ten feet at the shoulder and extending up to twenty feet in length. Its body is thickly muscled, built for endurance rather than speed, and its gait has a slow, deliberate rhythm, more akin to a stalking cat than a charging beast.


Its head is grotesquely oversized, broad and angular, with bony ridges that resemble carved armour. The jaws are capable of exerting immense pressure, designed to tear through flesh and sinew effortlessly. Their teeth are long, needle-like, and constantly regrow throughout the creature’s life, ensuring a perpetual readiness for violence.


Their hides vary in colour — deep charcoal, earthen brown, or blood-washed grey, and are covered in tough, almost leather-like hide that can deflect small arms and primitive weaponry.



Horders are solitary and territorial, claiming wide tracts of land which they mark not with scent, but with bone monuments. These structures are their signature: vast, intricate towers, lattices, or spiral arrangements constructed entirely from the bones of their prey. Each Horder’s creation is unique, a kind of primal architecture that serves no clear biological function but seems deeply psychological or even spiritual.


These bone structures are found across Dumatra’s wildlands — some small as cairns, others towering higher than a tree. Anthropologists once theorised that the Horders’ compulsion to collect bones might represent an ancient form of memory. Dumatra shamans, however, insist the truth is more mystical: that each bone tower is a gateway for the souls of the dead, and that the Horder is the unwilling guardian of these spirits.


Curiously, Horders rarely attack one another despite overlapping territories. When two do encounter each other, they engage in ritualistic displays such as low growls, pawing at the ground beneath them, and the presentation of bones, as if comparing trophies rather than fighting over them.


Although biologically carnivorous, Horders’ behaviour exceeds normal predation. They hunt not for sustenance, but for completion. Once they choose a target, they will track it for hours, sometimes days, waiting for an opportunity when the kill can be made. They then methodically consume all flesh from the body, leaving only bone.


Using their dexterous forelimbs, which are longer and more articulated than their hind legs, Horders gather these bones and transport them, often miles away, to add to their growing monuments. This behaviour continues even in captivity, where Horders have been observed rearranging debris or animal carcasses in eerily precise patterns.


While not sapient in a human sense, Horders display problem-solving intelligence and memory comparable to early sentient species. They have been documented setting traps, ambushing along migration routes, and even baiting prey with the remains of previous kills.

In Dumatra folklore, they are considered both cursed and sacred. The Dumatrans tell stories of Horders as the Flesh Keepers, creatures bound by divine punishment to cleanse the land of the dead. It is said that when the world is out of balance, the Horders grow restless, emerging from the wilds to remind civilisation of nature’s unrelenting power.


Because of this, Dumatra’s people never destroy a Horder bone tower. To do so is to invite misfortune, plague, or famine, for these monuments are believed to be “grave markers” for the unseen dead.


In modern Anarkand, Horders are exceedingly rare, though their presence remains undeniable. Dumatra authorities designate vast tracts of land as No-Entry Zones, citing both ecological preservation and safety. Reports of sightings have increased in recent eras, particularly around the Southern Wastes and Marakai borderlands, suggesting that either migration or breeding has begun anew.


Scientific efforts to capture or study Horders have ended disastrously — most notably the Sumerian Expedition of Era 12, in which an entire research team vanished without trace. All that was recovered was a bone structure arranged in the exact shape of the team’s expedition insignia.


To this day, Horders remain a living contradiction, a creature of science and superstition, art and annihilation. They are both architects and assassins, keepers of death and creators of beauty. In the culture of Dumatra, they are reminders that nature’s design is not always benevolent — and that even in a world as vast as Anarkand, some things are not meant to be understood.