We are entering into the strange realms of elves and faeries this week, and try to retain some of the dangerous and mysterious aspects of the deep woods. I can't bare it when these spiritual powers are reduced into sex icons and ball-dress butterfly beauties of fashion. Busty babes with long ears are almost worse than bare bodied tattooed rock stars with angelic wings. Try to savour the last pieces of dignity in folk-lore and fantasy. Then we can have sex and a party afterwards... Well, perhaps I'm just getting old?... : )
≡NI-OTH≡
------GENERAL-----------------------------------------
CATEGORY: Faerie
TERRAIN: Forest
FOOD: Sunlight and water
AGGRESSION: Controlled
SIZE: 10 inches tall (25 cm)
NUMBERS: 1
------CHARACTERISTICS-----------------------------
STRENGTH: 1
AGILITY: 12-15
ENDURANCE: 11-13
INTELLIGENCE: 5-15
MENTAL RESILIENCE: 18-22
CHARM: 13-20
(If stats of a human ranges from 3 to 18)
SPEED: Flying (Eagle x 0,2)
(Multiple is times human speed)
MAGIC POWER: 5-30
(Ranges from 0-100)
HIT POINTS: 1-2
(If a human commoner has about 11 hit points)
------PROTECTION-------------------------------------
AVERAGE: 0
BODY: 0
LEAF WINGS: 0
(If Full Plate Armour is 10)
The Ni-Oths are thin and delicate constructions without any natural armour to speak of. They rely on magical illusions for their protection.
------ATTACKS/DAMAGE---------------------------
1 TENTACLE BURN: 1-6 of acidic damage
(If a Long Sword makes a damage of 1-8)
The Ni-Oths are equipped with several burning tentacles and pointy ends to protect them from being captured. These are used for defence only, and they normally affect only one enemy at a time.
------POWERS/EFFECT-------------------------------
VENTRILOQUISM: The Ni-Oths are master ventriloquists. They can mimic any sounds they have ever heard, and make them appear as if coming from any spot within 100 yards from their location. This is a natural magical ability of the Ni-Oths, who may produce such tricks at will, but they cannot distort the natural volume of mimicked sounds into painful levels.
ILLUSORY PROJECTION: The Ni-Oths can project an illusory version of themselves, that may be up to 20 feet (6 m) tall. This illusion lasts for up to five minutes, and may be projected up to 30 feet (10 m) away from the real Ni-Oth. The projected image moves and acts just like the Ni-Oth itself, but has no real body or weight. This power can be used once a day.
------DESCRIPTION------------------------------------
Every once in a while, when conditions are right, and a considerable age has been reached, it comes to pass that specific parts of a forest awaken to consciousness. This can happen to a grove, a glade, a pond, or any other special location, that makes itself distinct from the rest of the wood-land. As this occurs the place emanates a sacredness that can be sensed by sensitive minds, and a Ni-Oth is born from the soil among the undergrowth. Initially it grows, attached to the ground, like any other plant. But as it matures, it lets go and takes it first flight under the stars of night.
The Ni-Oth is the voice of the sacred location. It speaks and acts on behalf of the conscious place that raised it. It has no will on its own but is merely an animated tool, or extension, of its parent. Whatever power the Ni-Oth wields is actually the power of the grove, glade, pond, or place itself. If the location is burnt or otherwise destroyed, so is the Ni-Oth.
These creatures can move about at day-time, but normally fly during the night. They hover above the sacred ground and tend to it in secret and mysterious ways. Once in a while they leave their homes to fly slowly through the woods, and communicate silently with other faerie powers. They thus brings back tidings, and are kept alert to the events of the larger forest.
The look and colour of any Ni-Oth may vary substantially, but they all have wing-like leaves and tentacles. An eerie glow surrounds them when they act, and they never fly above the tree-tops. All Ni-Oth can cast spells of illusion, but apart from their natural power of ventriloquism and projection, these vary. The might of these spells depend on the power and size of their home location.
Once it is parted from the ground, the Ni-Oth drinks water through its mouth. It requires sunlight to live, and can last no more than a week without it. The creature has no need of food, and live for as long as the sacred location remains. Desecration, in the form of black magic or blasphemous rites, may kill the Ni-Oth's source of power. If only the Ni-Oth itself is slain, the consciousness of the forest location produces a new Voice. This takes about six months.
Scholars speculate about if these creatures might the first signs of a greater forest consciousness. If so, some ask, would there be more powerful Ni-Oths, or other forms of life, produced to speak for the forest as a whole? Some Ni-Oths know only elven, or similar faerie languages. Others seem able to convey their message in the language known best to the target of communication. Some kind of mind-reading ability is therefore suggested.
© Copyright 2011 - Nicholas Cloister