"I am cursed, ... I obey the one who wears the face torn from me. Derthsin tricked me years ago and I have been under his command ever since. Now it is the Mask of Death, and the wearer controls me until I am released."
- Anoret
Anoret is the oldest Beast in existence and the progenitor of the Beast species. A large quadrupedal lizard Beast of immense strength, Anoret is able to influence other Beasts’ minds and bodies, but rarely does so. Anoret produces many fish-like eggs, from which new Beasts are born. Beasts can be created via other magical means, however the natural Beasts native to Avantia and its bordering kingdoms stem from Anoret. The First Beast is subject to the wishes of whoever wears the Mask of Death, a dark magical artefact made from the scales and flesh of her face.
Creation of the Beast Species[]
Anoret was born in either Avantia or a land close to it. As the First Beast, her origin is unknown, though Avantian myth speculates she was created by nature and magic with the specific purpose to stem human fighting. Anoret travelled among various different realms, spreading her eggs and leading to the rise of a number of new Beasts. A majority of these Beasts emerged in Avantia, and as such Anoret spent most of her time in the region. Four Beasts in particular, Firepos, Gulkien, Nera, and Falkor, were extremely loyal to the First Beast.
Gathering of the Five[]
Requiring more power, presumably to aid in defending Avantia, Anoret gathered the four Beasts loyal to her. She proposed that each of them give her a portion of their blood, which she could consume to transfer some of their power to her. The Beasts agreed and wounded themselves. While little more of the event is known, it is known the ritual was not finished. It is likely the Beasts were assailed by the forces of Derthsin, whose activity may have been the reason for the gathering. Derthsin’s forces gathered the blood and would later give it to Vendrake.
Defeat By Derthsin[]
Anoret was pursued by the forces of Derthsin, as the sorcerer was fully aware of the influence she held over other Beasts. The warlord and the Beast clashed, ending in Anoret’s defeat when Derthsin struck her with a spell that ripped the flesh from her face away. Using dark magic, Derthsin made the skin into the Mask of Death, an item capable of controlling Anoret and channelling her influence of other Beasts to the wearer. Derthsin chose not to use Anoret as a weapon during his campaign in Avantia, ending in his defeat when attacked by Firepos during the First Battle of Forton, where he lost the Mask of Death and was thrown into Stonewin volcano. Anoret, at the volcano at the time, fell dormant as neither she or a wearer had the Mask of Death. She would be surrounded by rock and buried within the crater.
The Chronicles of Avantia[]
Anoret emerging to serve Derthsin as the wearer of the Mask of Death.
Derthsin was able to gather the four shards of the Mask of Death from the Chosen Riders and used magic to reassemble the mask. Anoret awoke when Derthsin ordered her to come forward, beginning to smash her body against the rock wall sealing her. The First Beast’s claws emerged first, followed by her head. Unable to free the left side of her body, Anoret bellowed in fury, freeing her second leg as the Mask of Death fell into the magma. With a roar, Anoret began to smash her tail into the ground, trying to free more of herself. The First Beast finally managed to free herself and advanced towards Derthsin and the Chosen Riders, turning her attention to each of them in turn while swaying her tail. As she watched, Derthsin struck Firepos with a spell, defeating her and knocking her into the magma. Presuming the Flame Bird was dead, Anoret became furious with grief, lashing a limb out at Tanner, forcing him to duck to avoid the attack. The First Beast grabbed a Varkule and their rider, lifted the two up, and hurled them across the cavern, instantly killing them when they struck the wall. Nera tried to block the Beast’s advance, growling at her in warning, however Anoret lashed out with her tail, sweeping the Sprinting Puma’s legs away and knocking her friend aside. Firepos revealed herself to have been resurrected by the magma and rose out of the fire with the Mask of Death, gifting it to Tanner. Anoret watched the Chosen Rider until he donned the mask, then approached and asked what his bidding was. Tanner questioned if the First Beast was really evil, causing Anoret to sigh and explain she had been under Derthsin’s control since he had taken her face and that the wearer controlled her until she was released. Tanner ordered Anoret to kill Derthsin, which the First Beast confirmed she would obey and advanced on the sorcerer, grabbing him in her claws while ignoring his pleas. Anoret held Derthsin over the flame until Tanner revealed the warlord wouldn’t be dropped into the magma. The Beast quickly moved Derthsin into her maw and clamped down, ripping him in two. She dropped his lower half into the fire while chewing the rest of his body. The damage of the battle caused the crater around the group began to collapse, leaving Anoret unfazed despite the danger. Tanner called the First Beast towards him and held the Mask of Death above his head, choosing to return it to the Beast. The mask flew out of his hands and reattached itself to the First Beast’s face. Restored, Anoret rose onto her back feet and raised her front claws up, roaring in exaltation. She allowed herself to be buried in the volcano, falling dormant for centuries in the rubble.
Tanner initially documented everything he knew about Anoret early into his tenure as Master of the Beasts, however he came to the conclusion that the knowledge could be used to hold sway over the First Beast again and he burnt the majority of his writing. Over the centuries, various evil magic-users discovered the myths surrounding Anoret, however none was able to gather the needed information to successfully awaken her. The small amount of information on the Beast was kept in the arcane library of Avantia, where it was well protected.
Anoret The First Beast[]
Kensa was able to uncover information about Anoret and steal pages relating to the Beast from the Chronicles of Avantia and other books. The sorceress and the Pirates of Makai travelled to Stonewin volcano.
Anoret emerging from Stonewin volcano.
Kensa ripping Anoret's face off to use the Mask of Death.
Anoret trying to cover her ruined face.
On the slopes of the Stonewin volcano, Kensa began the ritual to awaken Anoret. The magic and the Beast's awakening was detected by Epos, who alerted Tom, already on his way to stop the sorceress. Despite the Avantian’s best attempts, Kensa was able to finish the ritual and the First Beast awoke. Anoret began to rise from the crater, ripping her way out of the ground and causing tremors nearby. The Beast yelled out that she has awoken and emerged from the rockface. The Beast tried to stand, but was far too weak due to her centuries of slumber, collapsing. As Anoret stood, she smashed her tail into the ground and surveyed the area around her, quickly spotting Kensa approaching her. The Beast roared at the sorceress, but Kensa was able to raise her staff and fire a bolt of magic, which wrapped around Anoret as the spell worked to free the Mask of Death. The Beast tried to resist, growling in fury, but grew weak and moaned in pain, her legs beginning to buckle. Kensa was able to tear Anoret’s face off of her body, making her scream in pain. Anoret raised her claws to hide what remained of her face (raw flesh and exposed bone), remaining ashamed until Kensa recovered the Mask of Death and donned it. The First Beast fell still until Kensa, Sanpao, and the Pirates of Makai began to move away from the volcano, sailing towards Rion. Anoret rushed after them, staying directly underneath the flying ship.
Anoret beginning to attack the village.
Anoret beginning to attack the village.
Anoret under attack from Vedra and Krimon.
The group reached Rion at dusk and quickly came across a settlement. In order to test what the Beast under her command was truly capable of, Kensa ordered Anoret to begin destroying the village. The First Beast crushed a fence and revealed her presence to the village, quickly smashing a watermill. Anoret crushed carts with her feet and ripped the roof of a building with her claws. Tom, who had pursued the Beast with Epos by following her rage through the Red Jewel, arrived and slashed his blade at the creature’s ankle, which bounced off but caught her attention. Anoret roared and lashed out her claws, trying to sweep Tom off of Storm, but the Master of the Beasts was able to steer his horse away and taunted the First Beast into making her follow him out of town. As Anoret was about to catch up with her foe, Kensa ordered her to return to the village and as such she came to a sudden halt and began to pace back. Anoret slashed into another building and ripped it out of the ground, throwing the house across the river. As Anoret continued her rampage, Tom was joined by Vedra and Krimon, who wished to help fight the First Beast. The two young dragons approached Anoret as she was smashing her legs into the ground, with both firing jets of flame, forcing the ancient Beast to shield her face and stagger back. The Beast tried to recruit the pair and corrupt them, telling them to join the mother of Beasts and be stronger than before, however Vedra and Krimon only hesitated for a second before recommencing their attack. Anoret tried to swipe at the pair but repeatedly missed and was forced to retreat, ignoring Sanpao's order to stay and fight and forcing the Pirates of Makai to retreat alongside her.
Anoret and Vislak charging towards each other.
Anoret fighting the young Beasts.
Anoret striking Raffkor with her tail.
After recovering from the clash, Kensa discovered the Avantians had approached Wilfred the Beast Keeper for an aid against Anoret and were planning on fighting the First Beast with a group of Beasts in training. Wishing to give her foes as little time to prepare as possible, Kensa, the Pirates of Makai, and Anoret travelled to the valley the Beasts were training in to defeat them. The group was quickly spotted by their foes who entered formation. When Anoret was a hundred paces away, Vislak broke formation and charged, aiming for the First Beast's face, however she easily dodged and clamped her fangs around the Slithering Serpent, tossing him aside and forcing Vedra and Krimon to retrieve him. Tom ordered the other Beasts to attack and charged alongside them, making Anoret grin and swipe her tail at the Master of the Beasts, who somersaulted over it and landed on her back. The First Beast roared as her foe began to climb along her back, smashing his shield into her scales as he climbed. Desperately, Anoret slammed her tail down on her own back as Tom neared her head, forcing him to leap off but badly disorientating the Beast, who dizzily stumbled away. Tikron leapt onto Anoret’s back and began to punch, Falra dug her talons into the First Beast, and Raffkor charged into her legs. While Anoret was forced back and stumbled away from the strength of the attacks, the Beast was saved by the arrival of a large pack of Varkules. The Varkules had been part of Derthsin’s army during the Battle of Stonewin Volcano and had been entombed when the volcano partially collapsed, being preserved for centuries until Anoret’s awakening freed them. In the face of the horde, the young Beasts broke away from Anoret to defend themselves from the greater threat of the Varkules and the Pirates of Makai. The First Beast approached Raffkor as he struggled out of a crater created by the pirate’s cannon fire and quickly lashed out her tail, knocking him onto his back. Anoret raised her tail to finish the Stampeding Brute, but he was saved by Vislak, who attacked the First Beast’s tail while Tikron swept her legs, bringing her to the ground. Raffkor recovered and charged, burying his horns into the remains of her face and releasing his blue flame, making the Beast howl in pain as scraps of flesh were ripped away by the attack. Anoret was able to attack Falra when the Snow Phoenix swooped down, clamping her jaws around her and tossing the young Beast aside. Clambering to her feet, Anoret grabbed Vislak and ripped her off her tail, turning to face Tikron as the Jungle Master leapt at her, backhanding him and knocking him away. The Beasts continued to battle until Tom boarded the flying ship and was able to rip the Mask of Death off of Kensa.
Anoret reattaching the Mask of Death to heal her face.
Anoret leaving to return to her slumber.
With no master, Anoret fell still and the clash ended in the Pirates of Makai’s retreat. Confused, Anoret watched the ship sail away until Tom approached and offered her the Mask of Death, which she took with a claw and stretched over her ruined face. Now able to reason again, the First Beast apologised for what she had did under Kensa’s command and that she had fought the young Beasts. Tom tried to assure her that Rion was safe, however she turned her attention to the body of Raffkor, who had expended all of his energy saving Tom from the Varkules and perished, telling him not all of Rion was safe. Anoret waited for the Avantians to mourn before telling them there would be no sacrifice and approached the dead Beast. Anoret placed a leg on his flank and allowed blue smoke to emerge from her nostrils and coil into the Stampeding Brute to revive him. The First Beast turned to leave, but was stopped by Tom. Anoret explained her dormancy called to her and her time awake was over, telling Tom the young Beasts were the kingdom’s future and that they would remained watched by him, assuring him Tanner would be proud. The Beast turned away and began to return to Stonewin volcano, where she returned to her slumber.
Powers, Abilities and Weaknesses[]
Powers and Abilities[]
- Enhanced Strength: Anoret has enhanced strength, being able to smash through stone walls with ease, rip buildings from the ground and throw them, throw Vislak with ease, and smack aside Beasts like Raffkor.
- Enhanced Durability: Anoret has enhanced durability, being able to survive smacking herself with her tail and getting hit by Raffkor's blue fire.
- Natural Weaponry: Anoret has sharp claws and teeth, as well as a tail to smack opponents with.
- Beast Control: Anoret is said to be able to control all Beasts.
- Resurrection: Anoret can breathe a blue smoke from her nose that can revive Beasts.
Weaknesses[]
- Loyalty to the Mask of Death: Anoret obeys whoever wears the Mask of Death, whether they are evil or good.
A to Z of Beasts[]
"It is believed that this lizard-like creature was the very first to rampage through Avantia. Long ago a warlord stole the Beast's face and wore it as a mask - the "Mask of Death" - giving himself the power to control Anoret. Hundreds of years after this epic battle, Kensa the Witch sought to use the Mask to control not only the First Beast, but six young and innocent Beasts as well."
Compass Text[]
"Read Anoret's story in Beast Quest Special 12!"