Basilisk

In the midst of the wilds, surrounded on all sides by miles and miles of swamp and rolling forests, lay a statue. A statue that happened to exactly fit the description of the boy we'd been searching for. The detail was unparalleled. His horror-stricken face seemed like it might start screaming at any moment. The arms were broken away, but within the remaining stumps there were details of muscle and sinew chiseled into the stone. Then the underbrush on the far side of the clearing parted. A lizard the size of horse slid towards us. Fangs as long as shortswords dripping with a yellow-grey venom.
-Seeker Herolm

Cait Sidhe

E'r since Mira's kittens grew up, we han't seen a rat for miles. Now, I know having a litter of cats about will keep any inn clear of vermin, but, well, I'm not just saying we ain't see them in the pantry or kitchen anymore. I mean the're gone: pantry, cellar, stables.  I han't even heard 'em scratching in the walls for weeks.  And I know what did it. It's that little dark'n, the one looks like night mists in the candlelight. He gets in there. He gets everywhere. I swear I seen that damn cat walk through a crack in the wall like is a damn window. He just...flow right through. S'fine with me, long as the rats stay gone.  But the misses, she says he's got a devil in 'im, and, well...have you looked 'n its eyes?

-Innkeeper Erim, Earthwander Inn

Rage Elemental

The bloody Rager came at us like something out of the Abyss, screaming and tearing up the forest as it went.  It was like some kind of Ignis but with dark purple flames that gave no light, like...if a fire had a shadow.  We took standard defensive maneuvers like we'd use with any enraged creature but...it was just too damn big.  It crushed Erickson and Kilorn into the ground like it was hammering stakes.  We never did find Rikkard after he was tossed out over the trees.  By the time the bastard was finally put down, myself and Ensign Wente were the only ones still breathing, though it seemed Wente was having some trouble.  He was swearing and hissing through his teeth so I went to assist.  I could feel the heat coming off of him as I got close, and then I saw the fire in his eyes.  I knew I had to put it out before it caught again.

-Testimony of Centurion Haxim 

The Shattered

The air had grown cold in spite of the cresting sun, and the forest around the camp had grown sharply silent. The sprawled remains of the Tribal scouts seemed untouched even though they had been missing for days, preserved perhaps by the unnatural chill. As we neared, however, the bodies began to rise. Their blue-grey flesh crackled beneath a layer of frost that shimmered in the sunlight. Our party stood in horrific awe until our first warrior was struck down.

Wisp

Bards have become rare over the years, often accused of sowing discontent or enticing rebellion, but they have yet to stop Eldrin's songs.  Some claim he could sing the very hymn of creation, the language of the elements.  I thought the stories just exaggerations until I finally saw him myself, and I swear I saw the elements come to life before my eyes.  Little spirits of fire and water, fluttering about on nearly invisible wings.  At first I thought it some Mage's trick, until one of the little creatures lighted on my shoulder, dancing about like a child of wind and fire.

Pyre Vulture

With a few heavy beats of the massive black wings it was atop the remains of our fallen. It did not feast, however. Or at least not on the flesh. The jagged and charred beak opened and the air around the corpse shivered. We heard a noise, a wind, like the rushing of a great bellows. Two orange embers slowly lit in the empty pits of its eyes as it consumed the heat from the corpses. Something beneath its seared feathers glowed, as if the demon-bird were lit from within by some hellish fire.

Definitions

(This section will likely be updated as I think of more categorizations or details to include.)

The following is just a few useful descriptions to make reading this compilation a bit more clear.  While my methods and categories are by no means universal, I have tried to keep them relatively straightforward so that even the novice venturer might make use of this work.