Kobyss
| Kobyss | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Faction/Affiliation | Independent, Order of Night |
| Character classes | Necromancer, Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, Mage, Ranger[1] |
| Racial leader(s) |
 Tribal chieftains |
| Racial mount |
 Crab[2] |
| Homeworld | Azeroth |
| Area(s) | The Undersea, Hallowfall, Azj-Kahet |
“Horrible, violent, and... stinky creatures.”
The kobyss are a vicious amphibious race resembling large humanoid anglerfish that live deep in the Undersea in Khaz Algar.[4] They are descended from ankoan,[5] making them distant relatives to jinyu and murlocs. The kobyss pose a constant threat to the Hallowfall Arathi, emerging from the Undersea to raid settlements in Hallowfall to eat or necromantically reanimate the dead.[3]
Background
The kobyss were once an ankoan tribe, the only members of their race who could match the viciousness of their naga nemeses, and the two races fought for generations. It's not known when the kobyss diverged from other ankoan, but they were still actively fighting the Zanj'ir at the time that the naga subjugated the ankoan tribes.[5]
Kobyss are violent and foul-smelling creatures[3] who normally dwell far offshore in the deepest parts of the Undersea.[4] They live in tribes led by chieftains.[6] They are capable of speech but only use simple phrases like "Animate bones", "Devour", and "Violence".[7] They enjoy eating sentient humanoids. They consider "land meat" to taste the best[4] and eat their prey alive if given the chance. When hunting alone, they lurk in the shallows of murky water and snatch any who come near, faster than a viper. In large numbers, they are a swarm to be reckoned with.[8] Kobyss can use the lures dangling from their heads to make themselves invisible while projecting images of other humanoids in order to lure victims into an ambush.[9] The kobyss wield Void magic and seem to detest the Light. They are implied to worship the Black Blood dripping from the ceiling of Hallowfall into the Undersea, though according to the Peculiar Fish, they have "twisted the bellowing truths that lie below".[10] They also practice some kind of necromancy[3] and raise their victims as zombie thralls.[11] They have been seen working with makrura.[12] They keep other creatures as pets, such as crabs and salamanthers.[13]
According to some sources, the kobyss have raided the Hallowfall Arathi's outskirt villages since the day the latter first arrived in Hallowfall.[3][8] According to other sources, they only first appeared after Beledar began shifting to shadow on the Day of Darkness,[14][15] years after the Arathi arrived and settled in Hallowfall.[16] Either way, the kobyss emerge every Beledar's Shadow, seemingly drawn toward the crystal by the pull of the Void,[14] to eat or reanimate the Arathi. Faerin Lothar speculates that they choose which option to use by raising the strongest and eating the plumpest.[3] There were initially some Arathi who tried to establish peace with the kobyss, but it quickly became apparent that they only see the Arathi as food. Every scholar sent to study how to communicate with them has ended up dead and eaten.[3][17] At least some kobyss have joined[18] and worked alongside the Order of Night, such as by aiding Aelric Leid in his attack on the Veneration Grounds.[19] According to Aelric, the Harbinger manipulates the kobyss through their hunger.[20] Despite this, some of the kobyss have been seen fighting both the void and the Order of Night at the Bleak Sand.[21]
The nerubian alchemist Al'kubian observed the kobyss tribe that dwelt in the Salien Gutters of the City of Threads for weeks. They determined that the kobyss there were stronger than the rest of their kin and requested an adventurer to retrieve their innards for their 'kobyss-based alchemy'.[22] These kobyss appeared to be getting stronger based on what they were consuming, which included Ascended nerubians, and were hunting the nerubians to grow in strength.[23] Grand Gluttony was noted to also have become much smarter from consuming the amount of nerubians they had eaten.[24]
Tribes
- Darkwater tribe
- Fathomless tribe
- Gutter tribe[25]
- Murkfin tribe
- Ragefin tribe
- Sunless tribe
Notes
- It's unknown how the kobyss interact with their ankoan relatives. In Worldsoul Vision: Descendants of Distant Waters, Ankoan Thralls run around helplessly but are not attacked by the kobyss in the area.
- Players can temporarily turn into a kobyss using the
[Illusive Kobyss Lure] toy. - The kobyss have built the world boss Shurrai from Undersea detritus.
- While likely coincidence, the non-canonical Dark Factions had a conspicuous write-up on mur'gul necromancers, something that was not present in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Gallery
Concept art.
Concept art.
A kobyss banner.
References
- ^ Darkwater Ranger
- ^ Finclaw Bloodtide
- ^ a b c d e f g
[75-78] A Lamplighter's Duty
- ^ a b c Bronze Timekeeper: Velhan's Venture
- ^ a b Descendants of Distant Waters
- ^ [75-78] Alluring Offer
- ^ Awakened Kobyss, Deepwater Kobyss, Murkfin Depthstalker, etc. quotes
- ^ a b [75-78] Tricks of the Dark
- ^ Kobyss Shadeshaper, Murkfin Depthstalker
- ^ Voices of the Deep
- ^ Drowned Arathi
- ^ Darkwater Clawsmasher, Darkwater Tidecrusher
- ^ [78-80] Moonlight Gutter Swim
- ^ a b
[From the Depths They Come]
- ^ Taenar Strongoth quotes
- ^ [75-78] Spar Day
- ^ [75-78] Something's Fishy
- ^ Ragefin Carver
- ^ [75-78] The Bell Tolls
- ^ [75-78] The Shadow Rising
- ^ Kobyss Swordsnapper, Bloodswell Creation, other kobyss at Bleak Sand, etc.
- ^ [78-80] A Fin of Every Kind
- ^ [78-80] That's Pretty Gross
- ^ [78-80] Grand, Gutsy Solutions
- ^ [78-80] Moonlight Gutter Swim
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