Blood Sugar Death Magik

Hey all! The length of the Creature Archive list is becoming decent, I think, and it continues to grow. I suppose the number of visitors should also be, but summer seems to drag people away from their computers... which may be a good thing, all things considered. Do all of these critters a favour and tell someone about RPG-Creatures today. I fear this bestiary is still largely undiscovered, and I have no real idea of how it can reach a wider audience. I can't currently afford sporting it in any of the huge conventions in the US...(which would include besting the Atlantic) though I might try next year. Role-players are either too far apart these days, or the bestiary isn't making enough of an impression to spread mouth by mouth...yet. Oh well, I'll keep the little beasties coming and we'll see. Just don't keep it a secret. ; )

So, where was I? Yes...the blood. Here is an ex-demon that could cause a few troublesome adventures I believe. Anatomically I noticed it has a lot in common with the Con'Laih, but apart from their mysterious backgrounds, and their ability to produce strange energies, and hopping, they have very little in common... wait a minute, that's quite a bit to share. Perhaps they actually are related? Whatever the case, they now share the same bestiary. Here is the Darratha for you! Sweet dreams are made of these...



≡DARRATHA≡




------GENERAL-----------------------------------------
CATEGORY: Reptile (demonic)
TERRAIN: Mountains and caves (Any)
FOOD: Carnivore
AGGRESSION: High
SIZE: 3' 5" - 3' 7" (100-120 cm) tall
NUMBERS: 1-4


------CHARACTERISTICS-----------------------------
STRENGTH: 13-16
AGILITY: 8-10
ENDURANCE: 18-20
INTELLIGENCE: 2-4
MENTAL RESILIENCE: 7-8
CHARM: 0
(If stats of a human ranges from 3 to 18)

SPEED: Running (hopping) x 1, Swimming x 2
(Multiple is times human speed)

MAGIC POWER: 0
(Ranges from 0-100)

HIT POINTS: 14-17
(If a human commoner has about 11 hit points)


------PROTECTION-------------------------------------
AVERAGE: 5
BACK: 11 (0 without shell)
BELLY: 3
HEAD: 6
FRONT LEGS: 5
BACK LEGS: 3
(If Full Plate Armour is 10)

The overlapping leathery shells, strengthened by bony spikes, that cover the back of the Darratha, give a natural protection like few others in the animal world. Underneath the shields is a soft and feathery structure to protect the Darratha from its own razor sharp physique.


------ATTACKS/DAMAGE---------------------------
1 BITE: 2-5
2 FRONT CLAWS: 2-4
(If a Long Sword causes 1-8 points of damage)

The sharp teeth of the Darratha are short but with its bite comes an infection that few withstand (hard saving throw vs Endurance). The blood of the victim is injected by a demonic bacterium that reproduces and permeates the blood system in two day's time (see 'Powers'). The dagger-like claws of the front legs are used as pointy hooks towards soft throats, or cutting devices, ripping up into the guts from below.


------POWERS/EFFECT-------------------------------
CALLING THE BLOOD: The Darratha usually waits a while before attacking, to scan the state of creatures or beings. The blood of an infected one may be called from afar. The Darratha can produce a third magical eye hovering between the horns of its back. Within sixty yards (54m) this eye can pierce into the body of the infected and control the blood in the victim's vessels. To uphold this abysmal magic the Darratha must remain focused. Attacks causing more than 2 points of damage will thwart the call for the round to come, and keep the creature busy defending itself. When successful, the magic will generate a great increase in the blood temperature, and cause an instant fever in the infected targets, affecting all within range with a -4 penalty on all rolls. The Darratha may use a second undisturbed round to further this power, and cause arteries to blow from within (causing 2-8 points of damage). A third round will suffer the heart of all victims to explode and blood to burst out through all orifices. A successful roll vs Endurance may stall this graphical finale for another round and reduce the effect to another 3-9 points of internal damage. If the Darratha is disturbed the call fails and the blood is immediately returned to initial temperatures. It may also deliberately keep the effect low to force or control its targets. The Darratha can use this power at will, but unless the bacteria have had two days to reproduce the call will cause nothing but a warm and uneasy sensation. The infection only spreads further if the blood of a victim is intermingled with another's. An exchange of saliva, or other intimate ways of relation are not enough, as the bacteria never reaches these bodily fluids, as it does in the Darratha.


------DESCRIPTION------------------------------------
When the Darratha are young they are limbless. Born in the waters of cold subterranean lakes, they swim around like armoured ray-fish for some years before they crawl ashore. There they develop legs and haste through the tunnels and mountains like curious dogs, but hopping, in a more rabbit-like fashion. Restlessly they hunt and eat, killing indiscriminately, and eventually, leave to examine the greater world.

Ages ago some Darratha young are said to have entered into this world from the dark waters of the Abyss, finding a passageway of sorts, leading eternally upwards, until it connected with water-filled caves far beneath the weight of ancient mountains. Now, folklore proclaim, they are trapped like misfits in a landscape foreign to them – lost in regions too bright and lush for their nature.

With senses always alert to the smell of evil, seeking eagerly for a trace of their cradle, some Darratha mysteriously manage to find a master to guide them. Several adept mages of demonology and necromancy have found a Darratha waiting on their doorstep, anxious to be led, submitting to the role of familiar, for guidance, for company, or a hope perhaps of one day being channeled back into the depths where they once dwelt.

These creatures have been closely connected with death in several cultures, and the way they often stand still at a distance watching, with a blood red gaze piercing the darkness, has a fearful impact on most beings. They have served many dark powers through time, and have a deservedly bad reputation. Seeing a Darratha in the streets typically means trouble. Wicked men have used their saliva to contaminate drinks, and water-supplies, and one infamous cleric went as far as breeding a small army of them in great tubs of copper beneath his temple, in an attempt to control his unwilling disciples.

The layered shields of the Darratha are highly flexible and shift as soon as the creature moves its head or bends its double spine. The front legs grow a softer but similar structure as the creature matures, while the back legs remain comparatively bare. Along the back of the creature are flexible needle tubes full with the red venom that is also abundant in the saliva of the creature, when it attacks.

Darrathas hiss and produce unsettling rattling sounds with their back-shields, but have no advanced means of communication. They live for 30-40 years and return into the mountains to breed and lay 4-6 eggs in lakes hidden to most. No one has ever seen them asleep.



(Check out more creatures in the 'Creature Archive' menu to the left.)


© Copyright 2011 - Nicholas Cloister

Extinct reptile cheats death

Before you read any further, please quickly answer the simple poll to the left.

I'd like to get a better image of the visitors to this blog, and how it is currently being used. Have you answered that poll yet? ; )

If you have, you may continue with intact conscience and expand your dreams with the once beautiful Enjirachs, and ponder how to expose your players (if you have any) to their unforgotten urge of revenge. Before I leave you with their hooks and teeth I'd like to humbly remind you of the poll to the left... and say that if you think of purple as a girly colour, you may now reconsider your disposition. Purple is the colour of the Sahasrara (crown chakra) and is, in some traditions, understood as the gateway to sexless, non-dual Eternity. As any Enjirach would tell you; Death is not the end.



≡ENJIRACH≡




------GENERAL-----------------------------------------
CATEGORY: Undead
TERRAIN: Ruins and caves
FOOD: (Carnivore)
AGGRESSION: Very high
SIZE: 8 feet (240 cm) tall
NUMBERS: 1


------CHARACTERISTICS-----------------------------
STRENGTH: 21-27
AGILITY: 10-15
ENDURANCE: 22-25
INTELLIGENCE: 3-4
MENTAL RESILIENCE: 7-11
CHARM: 0
(If stats of a human ranges from 3 to 18)

SPEED: Running x 1,5
(Multiple is times human speed)

MAGIC POWER: 0
(Ranges from 0-100)

HIT POINTS: 27-33
(If a human commoner has about 11 hit points)


------PROTECTION-------------------------------------
AVERAGE: 0 (1)
BODY: 0 (1-2)
(If Full Plate Armour is 10)

The Enjirachs have no no skin or natural armour left to speak of. The rare specimens with richer patches of feathers left, may keep 1-2 points of protection on certain parts of their bodies.
The bones of the creatures are unusually hard, and can stand quite a substantial amount of damage before breaking apart.


------ATTACKS/DAMAGE---------------------------
1 BITE: 1-10
2 HOOK CLAWS: 1-12
2 CLAWED KICKS: 1-8
(If a Long Sword causes 1-8 points of damage)

Though dead, the force of the Enjirachs' natural weapons have kept their former strength, and are used with great skill and ferocity. The magical life-force of the creatures moves their skeletons as if invisible muscles were still surrounding their ancient bones.


------POWERS/EFFECT-------------------------------
FEATHERS OF LIFE: The main life-force of the Enjirach was not located in the heart or the brain, but rather in its legendary feathers. Touching a single feather of the Enjirach reptile will restore several hit points and heal minor wounds, with no scarring. A night in a full bed of them can restore a two day dead person to life, with no observable traces of death. If the corpse is older still, minor brain damage, or more severe zombie-like side effects are probable. Torn off the Enjirach, the feathers fade after 10-20 healing touches, or 2-3 times of full resurrection. They then lose colour as well as their power to heal. If untouched by injured beings the magical feathers will last forever, and are easily preservable. Naturally, they are extremely rare.

The undead reptiles can heal themselves (or others if so inclined) by simply caressing themselves with their remaining feathers. The skeletal structures of bones will become whole again as long as they are held together and not completely crushed. 2-6 hit points are restored automatically each round as long as some feathers are still attached to the Enjirach. When the hit points of the creatures reach zero they are considered damaged enough to go still. However, if not properly destroyed, or stripped of feathers, the beasts may rise again the next day.


------DESCRIPTION------------------------------------
Once great feathered reptiles walked the lands. Purple and proud, their plumes played in the wind - a spectacular impression of beauty on the green prairies where they hunted. It is said the grazers were drawn to these displays of colour, like moths to light, and that the Enjirachs could feed with little exertion, as they took down the enchanted prey with hooks and jaws of dreadful power.

Men had killed these creatures for the beauty of their feathers alone, but when they learned of their life-giving power, the fate of the Enjirachs was sealed. In less than a century the last living Enjirach was slain and stripped of its purple treasure. Despite the value of the Enjirach feathers, some creatures were sloppily plucked. When the sacks were full, the hunters cared little for the last remaining feathers. Why spend the strength it took to rip these out of the bone, when they had all the gold they would ever need anyway? Also, some creatures managed to escape. When considered dead, the bird-like reptiles simply rose half stripped in the night and ate their sleepy captors.

The remaining Enjirachs cannot naturally die. What few feathers they retain keep them alive, but are not enough to restore them to a life of breathing. A long time ago their flesh fled their bones, and cold blood dripped out of dissolving veins. Flies and worms took care of the sinews and left-overs while their hardy skeletons stayed erect and mobile, enforced and animated by the magical power of the feathers.

Thus they hide, ashamed to display themselves in the open air. Lurking in places where a glimpse of sunlight is still available, they welcome all chances to take down the two-legged creatures that caused their living death. Patiently they harness their wrath, intelligent enough to know with certainty, that in time, people will enter their hide-outs, for shelter or curiosity, often in small groups, easily slain and devoured. Yes, eaten, not for the sake of nutrition, but for a taste of the old days, and for the humiliation of those still watching.

A few terrible stories however, speak of Enjirachs still surprisingly rich in plumes, which by stroking their kills with their remaining feathers, restores them to life only to slay them again. In such a way they keep them imprisoned in a limbo of pain, re-enacting their retribution until there is nothing left of the body to revive.


(Check out more creatures in the 'Creature Archive' menu to the left.)


© Copyright 2011 - Nicholas Cloister