Flowers from the sky

Wait a minute… didn't I say “I promise to make a more ordinary creature” next time? What a hell was I thinking? Well, consider it a promise broken. This is not an ordinary beast. It is the Elor Than. You know when the players finally reach that hidden valley or the secret magical kingdom? That’s when these creatures enter. Or perhaps when waking up from an unsettling dream and finding themselves upon the banks of a forest river. Yes, you’re the Game Master, and as always everything is up to you. These are simply my suggestions.
Game Masters or not, I want to welcome and greet all the new followers here. You are most welcome, and I will do my best to keep your attention for some time ahead. I would also like to give great thanks to the following sites/people for writing about 'RPG Creatures':

RPG Dumping Ground
Back Screen Pass - A DM's Secrets
The Rune Under Water
Green Skeleton Gaming Guild
Monttu(a Finnish language blog)

Any questions or requests? Send me an email.
(I’m installing a new workstation – computer and screen – this weekend. A long overdue upgrade that I’m rather exited about. Let's see if it affects the quality of my creations...)
Until next time, have fun with the Elor Than.



≡ELOR THAN≡




------GENERAL-----------------------------------------
CATEGORY: Possibly unearthly
TERRAIN: Misty plains and waterways
FOOD: Carnivore
AGGRESSION: Controlled
SIZE: 15 feet (460 cm)
NUMBERS: 2 (or 30-100)


------CHARACTERISTICS-----------------------------
STRENGTH: 28-30
AGILITY: 8-10
ENDURANCE: 20-25
INTELLIGENCE: 7-9
MENTAL RESILIENCE: 20-25
CHARM: 5-7
(If stats of a human ranges from 3 to 18)

SPEED: Running x 3
(Multiple is times human speed)

MAGIC POWER: 0
(Ranges from 0-100)

HIT POINTS: 30-35
(If a human commoner has about 11 hit points)


------PROTECTION-------------------------------------
AVERAGE: 3
HEAD: 4
LEGS: 4
TENTACLES: 2
CHEST: 2
BACK: 6
MEMBRANES: 1
(If Full Plate Armour is 10)

The Elor Than are only well protected on the back and sides of the main body. Even a frail strike towards the membranes are said to anger them, and can make them hostile.


------ATTACKS/DAMAGE---------------------------
4 KICKS: 6-12
4 TENTACLE BURNS: 4-10 (+ acidic damage)
(If a Long Sword makes a damage of 1-8)

The jellyfish-like ends “flowers” of the Elor Than tentacles are dexterous and lethal constructions. Once an animal is caught by the many smaller arms, the centre fungus emits an acidic substance that breaks down and softens the flesh of the prey. Small creatures are digested directly by the red fungi, while others are delivered to and sucked up through the creature’s elongated tongue. Any remaining hard parts are swallowed whole. A sting by these flowers result in great pain, and continues to do 1-4 four points of acidic damage for an additional 4-8 rounds. If necessary the Elor Than can use all four tentacles to bring down larger beasts and patiently work their flesh into a digestible ooze.


------POWERS/EFFECT-------------------------------
(See description)


------DESCRIPTION------------------------------------
Rare and strange, the Elor Than can be seen walking slowly across fields covered by morning mist. Their legs moving soundlessly while their tentacles scour through the soggy grass. In such a way they gather the frogs, the fat worms, the slugs, and all other life forms drawn out by the damp. Sometimes seen striding through a course of water, they trap the fish with their deadly flowers, and then stop to unhurriedly consume them. Many have tried to pursue and track these creatures, but all return with the same story; They were there before us, and then they were suddenly gone. The Elor Than are said to travel – to journey through planes unknown. It is said that they leave for places where no man has ever been. Who knows? What is certain is that they usually appear in pairs. But there are some reports of “forests” of great legs suddenly moving through the fog.

Standing more than twice the height of a man these giants are gentle, and avoid contact with most intelligent beings. They have been worshipped as deities by druidic orders, perhaps due to their breathtaking presence. When attacked the Elor Than usually run off and soon vanishes from all sense perception. However, should they stay and fight, they make a deadly opponent.

These creatures are normally found far away from settlements and civilisation. They are smart and commune with eerie series of sounds – reminiscent of the hooting song of pigeons. Some scholars have spent their entire lives hunting and studying them, most in the hope of revealing and understanding their rumoured plane-travelling abilities.

The big membranes on the head, back and joints of the Elor Than are extremely sensitive to sound, and pick up frequencies beyond the capacity of any normal ear. In reality they hear through several worlds at once, and can sometimes pick up the noises of the future, as well as the lingering waveforms of the past. No human has of yet managed to communicate with the strange Elor Than. That is a quest still to be completed.

No young or small Elor Than have ever been spotted. But ancient tomes speak of “the giants among giants” – huge creatures towering far above the others, and “great hungry flowers” descending from the sky.



© Copyright 2010 - Nicholas Cloister

How cold (sloppy) can you get?

Today I happened to erase this demonic blog entry by mistake and replace it with another one… it all got very confusing. So here it is again, but this time without the introductory writing, which is also gone. :(



≡RHONX AIBIA≡




------GENERAL-----------------------------------------
CATEGORY: Demon (Ice)
TERRAIN: Frozen Abyss
FOOD: Carnivore
AGGRESSION: Extreme
SIZE: 12 feet (365 cm) when hulking
NUMBERS: 1 to numerous


------CHARACTERISTICS-----------------------------
STRENGTH: 50-60
AGILITY: 20-30
ENDURANCE: 20-30
INTELLIGENCE: 6-10
MENTAL RESILIENCE: 6-10
CHARM: 0
(If stats of a human ranges from 3 to 18)

SPEED: Running x 4, Swimming x 3
(Multiple is times human speed)

MAGIC POWER: 0
(Ranges from 0-100)

HIT POINTS: 40-60
(If a human commoner has about 11 hit points)


------PROTECTION-------------------------------------
AVERAGE: 8
HEAD: 10
UPPER LEGS: 9
LOWER LEGS: 4
CLAWS: 9
FRONT ARMS: 9
BACK "VENTING" ARMS: 4
CHEST: 8
BACK: 12
(If Full Plate Armour is 10)

The unnatural and fierce inner cold of the Aibia demon spreads out through its hard body. Any non-magical weapon touching this immense cold face a 50% chance of instantly shattering. All others (including most magical weapons) will inflict 3-6 points of cold damage to the wielder. Gauntlets (not metal ones) and thick gloves can reduce the damage. The material of the weapon handle can also influence this. Note that wounding the Rhonx Aibia with cutting or piercing weapons may result in a burst of liquid ice (its blood). Such a burst may hit home and is to be treated like a vent shower (see 'Attacks'). Magical fires cause half of the usual damage to the demon.


------ATTACKS/DAMAGE---------------------------
1 BITE: 2-6 (+ 10-20 of ice damage)
2 CLAWS: 2-12 (+ 5-10 of ice damage)
2 POURING VENT SHOWERS: 20-30 of ice damage
2 CLAWED KICKS: 4-14
(If a Long Sword makes a damage of 1-8)

The Rhonx Aibia is a killing machine. The liquid cold of its interior is death to ordinary life forms. Before attacking it “dips” its scissor-like claws in liquid ice from the vents, and wielding these it destroys most in its way. When necessary it emits liquid ice in arc-like showers from the vents, effectively freezing, and killing most that it makes contact with. It can bite with some liquid bursting through its mouth, and the hind leg of this demon makes a horse’s kick look frail. The showers spread out 10-30 feet in a 180 arc before the demon. A tough agility/dexterity test must be passed in order to avoid it.


------POWERS/EFFECT-------------------------------
MARK OF ICE: When threatened the Aibia makes use of a trap to protect itself and its territory. By letting go of a part of its inner cold (its life energy) it can leave a mark of never melting liquid ice. This matter (usually applied as a round pool) will make the air and the surrounding ground cold and freezing. Stepping in such a mark will shatter the leg of the unlucky one, as well as causing 20-30 points of damage. Passing swiftly above it (up to three meters above) will cause 1-10 points of damage. Magical protections against cold can decrease the damage. The demon does its best to hide the mark, and place it where its enemies must pass. The place of a mark will remain in effect forever. Only the most magical fires can undo them. The surrounding area up to 1 mile (1,6 kilometres) away will turn noticeably colder for as long as the mark remains. The demon can produce 5 marks in a day. When making a mark it will loose its power to vent liquid cold as showers for an hour.

KISS OF THE FROZEN ABYSS: When desirable, enemies not instantly dying when trapped in the claws of the Aibia, may be temporarily spared and turned into allies. One of the vents is then applied to cover the victim’s face and inject a great amount of liquid ice into brain and body. This quick “freeze-down” will make the chosen body subject to the warped ice and turned instantly into a thrall of its frozen rule. The demon and the victim are made into one, and the fury of the Abyss will reign in them both alike. This transformation will last only for ten to twenty minutes. The victim then dies. For this to succeed the enemy must be held for two rounds. Use your game’s rules for holding/grappling etc.

AURA OF COLD: The Rhonx Aibia carries a constant aura of cold around it. All within 20 yards (18 meters) suffers 2 points of cold damage every round, unless protected properly by magic. Heat will not help against the aura. This is not a normal cold but something beyond it, rebellious and untied from the natural counterbalance of fire and ice. The only way of extinguishing this cold is to kill the demon. Preferably through crushing its bones, or through magical damage – bleeding it is far too dangerous.


------DESCRIPTION------------------------------------
It is said that the lesser deities looked with horror upon the Abyss when it was first created. To end the horror some of them ventured there, into the pits where chaos was lord supreme. There the minor gods gathered their powers and laid a binding cold upon the deeper levels. Frozen into a state of petrification, the life-forms of the Abyss went into slumber, but chaos soon stirred again. The underworld of ice was shattered and the bondage destroyed. Still these parts of the Abyss remain in a cold warped by evil. The cold did not lessen, but was turned colder still, into an unnatural state where the ice liquefied, not into water, but into actual floating ice. This perverted and evil cold – a creation of malevolence untold – was a triumph of chaos. When the demons awoke they had a new kind of energy.

No longer did spending energy cause heat, but cold in the form of liquid ice. When eating, cold was generated inside the demons. Not a regular cold that would have their hearts stop, but a new and distorted cold that brought vigour to demonic flesh. Everything was turned upside down. The abysmal cold was now part of the demons, and in time it became their very essence. There is now little difference between the living cold and the demons themselves. The life forms in these parts of the Abyss were changed forever, and their realms made colder than any other part of the universe.

When a demon from this underworld is summoned or escapes, it brings the warped Abyss inside of it. No longer the mere absence of warmth and energy, but a power in its own right, it cannot be destroyed by natural heat or fire. Inside of it is a sun of liquid cold, strengthened further by consumption of any life or edible matter. The surplus cold thus generated, isn’t let out into the air, but concentrated and vented through special outlets in the body. The entire creature is colder than any other thing alive, but it moves with the power and agility of a predator unleashed, leaving the mark of utter cold in its path.

The Rhonx Aibia is such a demon, and one of the lesser powers from the Abyssian Ice. Still a formidable power it will slay most other creatures without effort. The authority of its cold is so vast it will move unhindered through armies, unless they’re strengthened by magical power. It doesn’t think much, except for short-term scheming on how to gain more energy. It moves and eats, that is about it. Like other beasts it will brand its territory with marks of ice, and usually sees no reason to limit it. It will roam, slaughter and consume all living things until blocked or killed by greater powers. When venting liquid ice in the natural world, the demonic fluid soon freezes, to be melted slowly away if the temperature is high. But inside the Aibia it remains constantly liquid and glows with cold energy. The dark creature can choose to let go of parts of it icy soul, and does so when its territory is threatened. (See ‘Powers’ – Mark of Ice).

The Rhonx Aibia are immortal unless slain. They obey no command if not severely wounded and helpless, or if bound by strong magic. In their home world of the icy Abyss they are numerous and pushed around by Greater Demons, but in the world of men they are a fierce and terrible power. They move over land and through water and fire unhindered. They cannot fly, but leap over two story buildings with ease.


© Copyright 2010 - Nicholas Cloister

Free publishing?

There are some requests coming in, regarding publication of my creatures. Therefore I have decided to make a special entry about the use of these creatures in public contexts. Here I have tried to summon up what you can do (legally) without, and with, my approval. If there are any questions or doubts, just write me an e-mail.


Without asking you are free to:
• Make a small and limited number of copies for use in game role playing situations, or to decorate your wall, school locker, personal t-shirt, club house toilet, etc
• Publish any one creature image when specifically writing an article/review about me or my blog in a public paper/website/blog etc. But only if you add a link (or the address) to this blog and give full credit. (Neo-nazi propaganda posters, porn websites, or any other context/place that risk violating my moral/ethical rights are not included)

If you ask you have a fair chance of getting my permission to:
• Publish a creature or two in your fanzine for free, even as decoration. But only if you add a link (or the address) to this blog.
• Decorate your non-commercial, non-profit website with my creatures for free, if the address to this blog is included somewhere fairly visible.
• Make use of my creatures for your personal tattoos without cost.
• Make use of some of my creatures for your non-profit organisation.
• Use one or two of my creatures for free in any context, but only if you can convince me that it will draw a lot of new people to this blog.

I will add to this list when/if new situations occur that I haven’t yet considered.


On a philosophical level I don’t believe there is such a thing as ownership. I don’t believe you can accomplish anything by yourself, and I certainly don’t believe in the expression ‘self-made millionaire’. In every single action we are completely dependant on the so called surrounding world. Even thinking would be quite impossible without impressions. What would we think about? Still, we can have the experience of making an effort. We can have the experience of concentration and will, and through such effort creativity and accomplishment might follow. That is why I dare call these creatures mine, and claim the copyright to them. I also believe making art all day should be considered a profession, and ignite the chance of making a livelihood.



/Nicholas Cloister