Last year for the site’s anniversary, I dropped dozens of monsters for 4 Horror War, a purely hypothetical mons game I made up in homage of a bunch of horror characters I like. Well, one of the things I’m doing this year is the first 4 Horror War DLC, House of 4 Horror War. There will be sixteen new arky families for your perusal this month. Today’s family belongs to Gothic Horror, THE POE-ETTE FAMILY!

The first Arky in the Poe-Ette family is Ne’ermore. Though it appears to be a simple mundane crow perching atop a bust of Pallas Athena, this feathery fiend infects foes with paranoia, driving them to try to destroy it while simultaneously hurting themselves. Though not particularly fearsome or durable on its own, Ne’ermore is exceedingly difficult to hit, and the delusions it incites in its victims allow it to wreak havoc on even the most tightly knit arky teams.

If given a bottle of rare wine, Ne’ermore can evolve into Fortullado. Still adept at playing mind games with its opponents, Fortullado differs from its predecessor by choosing to lower their defenses and speed with empty promises and doublespeak, leaving its enemies open to an elaborate betrayal.

If Fortullado manages to stay on the field while four enemies perish in battle, it can turn into Penduyum. More durable than its predecessors, Penduyum is slow moving but boasts great attack power. Worse, its special ability allows it to pin down one enemy on the field at a time, forcing them to solely focus on killing Penduyum while the monstrous device tries to kill them in turn.

After being slain in battle four times, Ne’ermore can evolve into Loslenore. With decent defenses and a versatile spread of magic attacks at its disposal, Loslenore is a reliable combatant. However, its main strength lies in its bonds with its allies, as they will gain a boost of strength and speed should it fall in combat alongside them, driven to violence in their urge to avenge their fallen friend.

After claiming four kills in battle, Loslenore can evolve into Conquerworm. A beefy physical fighter, this cumbersome beast dismantles any foe unfortunate to fall within its wriggling coils, and can endure a great deal of punishment while it slowly crawls towards its unfortunate prey.

If put on a team with the Ghost arky Grimorte, Loslenore can evolve into Roumorte. Exceptionally fast and difficult to hit, this dangerous arky can sneak behind enemy defenses with ease. Worse, it sports a deadly array of virulent disease attacks, which will continue to linger on the battlefield and affect all who fight there even after Roumorte is destroyed.

After surviving four battles wounded but not slain, Ne’ermore can mutate into Taletell. Beginning as a jack of all trades, Taletell’s stats change the longer it stays on the field. The more physical attacks it witnesses from allies and enemies alike, the more its physical attack stat grows. The more magic it witnesses, the more magic it accrues. If foes raise their defenses, it raises its defense as well, and if they heal lost health, it gains health too. If allowed to linger on the field for a long time, the Taletell will become monstrously powerful.

If allowed to read a book on the powers of Inductive Reasoning, Taletell can evolve into Escapeape. No longer focused on what its allies or enemies do, Escapeape cuts through the nonsense of stat boosts and misdirection by being an orangutan with a straight razor, slicing and dicing enemies through sheer brute force and being an ape in a place people wouldn’t usually expect to see one.