Outwardly, the Carnets (the zoographical notes of Captain Lalande) are an OSR bestiary with stats for numerous games including Machiatto Monsters, Sword&Wizardry Whitebox, the French Coureurs d’Orages and the author's own Hunters of the Unknown 2, an adaptation of the famous Searchers of the Unknown. In reality though, the wild imagination of the author (aka Le Grümph) and his fantastic artwork make this a superb source of inspiration. The book exudes atmosphere, with a first person anecdote by the Capitaine Lalande - a beast hunter/collector - for each creature. These are short, and written in a 19th century flourished style, whereas the illustrations and the creatures themselves are by and large more reminiscent of these wacky medieval bestiaries. There are a few sentient species described, but it's mostly animals big and small. The book features 100 creatures, and is a superb source of inspiration for any fantasy game if you're looking to go outside of D&D tropes. It immediately made me want to launch a "lost world" type campaign, and I just might.
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