Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: Catching Up II

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Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: Catching Up II

Post by Mangrum »

To clean up the forum a bit, I thought I'd condense all but the most recent blurb threads into one. Thus, here's all the remaining monsters from (D-H) in one thread. (Moderators, you can unsticky the others.)

To add insult to injury, I've added two more half-golems (brass and stained glass) and a handful of lesser golems to the G list. The're fairly self-explanatory. They differ from standard golems only in that they're smaller (generally Small or Medium) and can be created by lower-level spellcasters. (The wax golem and maggot golem have also been bumped here.)

Monsters with an asterisk (*) have added Ravenloft context.

I can also write up brief descriptions for any critter if authors are inerested but don't have the source material.

D is for Dreaded
Done! Dharculus* [Planar Handbook] Pic
Done! Dread warrior [Monsters of Faerûn] Pic
Done! Dustblight [Sandstorm] Pic

E is for Eerie
Done! Effigy [Monster Manual II] Pic
Done! Elemental, corrupted* [new]
Done! Elemental grue, air [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental grue, earth [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental grue, fire [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental grue, water [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental monolith, air [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental monolith, earth [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental monolith, fire [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental monolith, water [Complete Arcane] Pic
Done! Elemental, undead, cinderspawn [Libris Mortis] Pic
Done! Elemental, undead, desiccator [Libris Mortis] Pic
Done! Elemental, undead, voidwraith [Libris Mortis] Pic
Done! Elementite swarm [Planar Handbook] Pic
Done! Ephemera, dusk beast* [Manual of the Planes] Pic
Done! Ephemera, ecalypse* [Manual of the Planes]
Done! Ephemera, umbral banyan* [Manual of the Planes] Pic
Done! Ethereal marauder* [Monster Manual] Pic
Done! Ethereal slayer* [Monster Manual II] Pic

F is for Frightening
Done! Fiendish symbiont: fiendish familiar [Fiend Folio] Pic
Done! Fiendish symbiont: gutworm [Fiend Folio]Pic
Done! Fiendish symbiont: soul tick [Fiend Folio]Pic

G is for Ghastly
Gaki, jiki-ketsu-gaki [Oriental Adventures] Pic
Gaki, jiki-tuku-gaki [Oriental Adventures]
Gaki, shinen-gaki [Oriental Adventures]
Glaistig [Monster Manual III] Pic
Goblin, dread, forestkith goblin* [Monster Manual III] Pic
Done! Golem, alchemical* [Monster Manual III] Pic
Done! Golem, brass* [Monster Manual II] Pic
Done! Golem, cadaver* [Heroes of Horror] Pic
Done! Golem, chain* [Monster Manual II] Pic
Done! Golem, ice* [Frostburn] Pic
Done! Golem, mist* [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, mud* [Monster Manual III] Pic
Done! Golem, lesser, fungus* [Dragon 341]
Done! Golem, lesser, junk* [Dragon 341]
Done! Golem, lesser, maggot* [Requiem, Dragon 339]
Done! Golem, lesser, paper* [Dragon 341]
Done! Golem, lesser, tin* [Dragon 341]
Done! Golem, lesser, wood* [Dragon 341]
Done! Greenvise [Monster Manual II] Pic
Grimweird [Monster Manual III]
Grisgol [Monster Manual III] Pic

H is for Horrible
Done! Hag, bog [Oriental Adventures] Pic
Done! Hag, dune [Sandstorm] Pic
Done! Hag, spectral* [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Half-farspawn [Lords of Madness] Pic
Done! Half-golem, brass [Monster Manual II web enhancement]
Done! Half-golem, stained glass* [Monster Manual II web enhancement]
Done! Half-illithid [Fiend Folio]
Done! Hannya [Oriental Adventures] Pic
Done! Helmed horror [Monsters of Faerûn] Pic
Done! Hopping vampire [Oriental Adventures] Pic
Done! Huecuva [Fiend Folio] Pic

Ravenloft Context
Dharculus: “It is not unknown for these ethereal predators to inadvertently enter the Demiplane of Dread, where they share the Near Ethereal with spirits of the restless dead.”

Elemental, Corrupted: This was in the file of new monsters I put out a while back.

Ephemera: These creatures lurk in the Umbral Curtain (the Plane of Shadow equivalent to the Near Ethereal) -- a concept I never got to try out in the published books.

Ethereal Marauder & Ethereal Slayer: These monsters sometimes enter the Demiplane of Dread by accident while traveling in the Deep Ethereal, after which they lurk in the Near Ethereal. (The underlying RL concext of these ethereal & umbral alien entities is the old Lovecraftian concept of, "If you can see it, it can see you."

Goblin, Forestkith: As discussed in RL Gaz V, all goblin subtypes in RL are different breeds of the same degenerate race.

For a quick recap, goblins, bakhna rakhna, forestkith are actual ("natural") breeds. Hobgoblins are the goblin equivalent of calibans, and bugbears (blurb already written) are produced when hobgoblins breed with each other.

And here's an added physical detail that got left out of RL Gaz V:
Inbreeding, birth defects, and childhood scarring are endemic. Most goblinoids are marked by torn ears, milky eyes, harelips, club feet, skin left pockmarked by disase or fire, twisted limbs, birthmarks, and so on, though these deformities rarely hinder them.
Golems (all): Note that these golems aren't necessarily golems of obsession (the template hasn't been applied). Your blurbs can depict them either way.

Golem, Lesser, Junk: I imagine a Nosos connection for these things.

Golem, Lesser, Paper: Most likely to be created in Far Eastern domains (such as the Scattered Lotus Archipelago).

Golem, Lesser, Tin: One of these actually had a minor appearance in Hour of the Knife.

Hag, Spectral: Y'know, honestly, when you break it down this monster is really just a regular hag with the equivalent of "spectral creature" template stuck on, and I'm seriously considering treating it as such. But go ahead and write a blurb; whether it's under Hag, Spectral or the sample creature for a Spectral Creature, I can still use it.

Half-Golem, Stained Glass: The MM2 stained glass golem is the same creature as Ravenloft's glass golem.
Last edited by Mangrum on Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:03 pm, edited 33 times in total.
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Post by Mangrum »

As a note, thanks to y'all, I now have nearly 300 blurbs in my collection. Considering that I started with about half a dozen, that's a bit of fantastic.

(By my current count, there's only about 350 to go, for some perspective.)
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Re: Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: Catching Up II

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Mangrum wrote:Golem, Lesser, Paper: Most likely to be created in Far Eastern domains (such as the Scattered Lotus Archipelago).
Sorry to interrupt to ask for content rather than provide it, but... I'm not familiar with this place. Was it a plan of yours to put Rokushima into a Cluster? (and with what other domain(s))?
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Golem, Mist

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GOLEM, MIST

The emaciated and tattooed Hazlani mage had lent his very shape, swollen and stretched, to the towering entity, casting in swirling mist a figure so improbable that we were carried off by a terrible laughter that proved ultimately to be the death of two of our number. The desperation of our plight, although hammered home by bone crushing blows, dawned upon us in its full enormity when Song Mistress Lairelle, who had given us courage against its frightful howl, was caught squarely in the chin, dissolved into mists, and was lost to all existence . . . or so I hope and pray at least . . . .

-Working note for Van Ritchen’s Guide to The Created
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Post by cure »

The Effigy sounds interesting, could you give a brief write up on it raison d'état, capabilities, etc.? Thanx.

Ditto for the Huecuva.
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Elemental, Corrupted

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ELEMENTAL, CORRUPTED

“Oh yea of little knowing. Unrivaled is Her power. And great are our dark resources. Yet you fear imprisonment between walls of stone. From the deep I shall call a creature of fire, earth, and whistling bone. And if you so much as flinch before it, I shall add your soul to those already forever bitten by its flames.”

-Grandoch Khardoon, Vomited Up From the Bowels of Hell, unfinished, anonymous manuscript
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Re: Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: Catching Up II

Post by Mangrum »

gonzoron wrote:
Mangrum wrote:Golem, Lesser, Paper: Most likely to be created in Far Eastern domains (such as the Scattered Lotus Archipelago).
Sorry to interrupt to ask for content rather than provide it, but... I'm not familiar with this place. Was it a plan of yours to put Rokushima into a Cluster? (and with what other domain(s))?
Oops; yeah -- check out the most recent posts in the "Care to help make a Gothic Asia netbook?" thread.

But basically: Back in the day, Chris Nichols wanted to put Rokushima Taiyoo and I'Cath in a cluster. I said no, loudly and often.

Cut to today: If we were still working on the Gazetteers, I would so totally put I'Cath and Rokushima Taiyoo in a cluster.

There's slight differences in approach, but basically the cluster would consist of the Poison Sea, home to several islands, each one a domain. Rokushima Taiyoo, I'Cath, and maybe two or three others with Far Eastern cultures. Chris is apparently digging out his notes on the other domains he was cooking up.

So, in my personal version of Ravenloft, Rokushima Taiyoo and I'Cath are now part of a cluster called the Scattered Lotus Archipelago.
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Post by Mangrum »

Sorry cure; I got your mist golem the last time you submitted it but forgot to tick it off the list.
cure wrote:The Effigy sounds interesting, could you give a brief write up on it raison d'état, capabilities, etc.? Thanx.

Ditto for the Huecuva.
Effigy: Medium Undead (fire, incorporeal). CR 17, chaotic evil.

Basically, an effigy is an incorporeal spirit that possesses living bodies. In its true form, it resembles a transparent humanoid composed of multicolored flame. However, it's compelled by its burning hatred, and can't help but destroy the humanoid bodies it possesses. While possessing a host body, it sets the body on fire and uses energy drain against it every round.

So, in short, think of an incredibly powerful odem that causes spontaneous combustion.

Effigy Illustration

Huecuva: Templated undead. The example heucuva was a 5th-level cleric, CR 7, any evil.

A huecuva is a holy person (generally a divine spellcaster or monk) who failed in their vows and were ths cursed to an eternity of undeath. Sometimes they were just evil clerics cursed by their own gods. They look like skeletons wearing rotted ceremonial vestments. They generally retain evil versions of their divine powers and spread a deadly supernatural disease -- "heucuva blight" -- with their touch.
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

Hey, John. Could you give me enough info on the several elemental creatures for me to take a crack at them?
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Golem, Wood

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GOLEM, WOOD

The interrogation of the corpses proved effective. The racial hatred that fired the boyer, driven to the greatest height by the Gundarakite dagger gnawing at his guts, breached the eldritch sphere as he gazed upon himself burnt in effigy. But that alone would not have sufficed to achieve this. The requisite spiritual vessel was the chain of office and the catalyst was the murderer himself who hung it upon the construction and set the whole alight. And what ironic justice, that fool of a farmer kneeling down before it, a divinity indeed, its presence burning away his flesh and its talons skewering him clean through. He too might have thrown off the shackles of the mortal coil had he been cut of better stuff.

-Journal entry of Count Strahd von Zarovich concerning the Effigy of Ivan Szimin
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Elemental grues: Medium elemental, CR 2, always neutral evil. These twisted elemental creatures are spawned by the taint of evil magic in dark areas of the elemental planes. Their presence disrupts elemental magic of their type. Wizards covet them because at the heart of each grue lies a pearl-like elemental spell seed, which a wizard can extract (by killing the grue) and transcribe into their spellbook. [Complete Arcane]

Air grue (ildriss): An air grue is normally invisible, but if rendered visible, it appears as a roiling cloud of dark vapor, its face marked by angry, ever-changing features.

Earth grue (chagrin): A chaggrin resembles a mole the size of a hog, with long, filthy claws and beady, hate-filled eyes. It is made of clumped soil and rock.

Fire grue (harginn): A harginn is a creature of lurid, darting flame that dances and capers obscenely. Its shape and size are roughly humanoid, but its features shift and crackle like the leaping flames of a bonfire.

Water grue (vardigg): A vardigg resembles a loose, frigid mass of tainted water encased in a dripping membrane. Streams and pseudopods of liquid flail away from its shapeless body, while dark malignant eyespots drift across its surface. [Complete Arcane]

Earth & fire grue illustration

Air & water grue illustration

Elemental Monolith: Gargantuan, CR 17 versions of common elementals. They are rulers of their kind, and obeyed even by elder elementals them. [Complete Arcane]

Air & earth monolith illustration

Fire monolith illustration

Water monolith illustration

Undead Elementals: These are very rare, since elementals are usually destroyed utterly when they die. On rare occasion, they're created when a common elemental is killed by a massive exposure to negative energy.

Undead Elemental, Cinderspawn: Large Undead (fire), CR 6, chaotic evil. A cinderspawn is a burnt-out undead fire elemental. It appears as a coal-black, charred humanoid flickering with blue-white flame. it drains Charisma, and anyone who touches it suffers cold damage.[Libris Mortis]

Cinderspawn illustration

Undead Elemental, Desiccator: Small Undead (water), CR 2, neutral evil. Desiccators are dried-out undead water elementals. It resembles a small, salt-encrusted humanoid with withered limbs and a distended belly. Its only facial feature is a round, gaping mouth. It has a desiccating breath weapon and drains water from living creatures with its touch (which deals damage and causes fatigue).[Libris Mortis]

Desiccator illustration

Undead Elemental, Voidwraith: Medium Undead (Air), CR 6, neutral evil. A voidwraith is an undead air elemental. It resembles an extra-amorphos wraith - a formless cloud of darkness. It's surrounded by an aura of vaccuum (so living foes can't breathe) and can steal living creatures' breath with its touch.[Libris Mortis]

Voidwraith illustration

Elementite Swarms: Tiny Elemental (Swarm), CR 4, neutral. These are swarms of barely sentient elementals. They're basically the larval form of elementals. [Planar Handbook]

Elementite Swarm, Air: Resembles a shimmering breeze. It's very good at tripping opponents. [Planar Handbook]

Elementite Swarm, Earth: Resembles buckling earth made up of small rocks. Like earth elementals, it can glide through earth and stone. [Planar Handbook]

Elementite Swarm, Fire: Resembles a crackling mass of sparks and flames. Like fire elementals, its touch sets things on fire.[Planar Handbook]

Elementite Swarm, Water: Resembles a choppy patch of water. it has powers similar to a water elemental, plus the elementites can force themselves down into a creature's lungs, drowning it. [Planar Handbook]

Elementite swarms illustration
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

Elemental Monolith, Water

There is a story told on that coast of the devilry done by a mage there (for they are of all people given to the practice of the Art); for he summoned a elemental spirit, an avatar of Deep Oceanus, to dredge out a harbor for the town he represented. The elemental being greater than any to that time seen or heard of in all that country, it broke his compelling power and seized him, then pulled all that city beneath the waves. Some say this is the origin of the stories of the fabled city Shay-lot, others that Martira Bay is the place where the city once stood.

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Elemental, undead, desiccator

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ELEMENTAL, UNDEAD, DESICCATOR

We did not have time to prepare an appropriate construct and involving outsiders was unthinkable. The unliving would not do and the living, even with the amarnath, were too likely to become their opposite. That left elementals and a test demonstrated that they could withstand the Shroud. Covered by a storm, we entered the city with two bound elementals of the air, eventually setting them upon the natives as a distraction. An earth elemental bore the prize to the Vulchar where a bound water elemental lay in wait with a barge. But its exposure to the veil of death had been too long and a century upon the salt flats of Har'Akir could not have been less kind. What had been a force of nature was now a calcified, inexplicably quadrupedal form, distinguished by a yawning maw and a strength perfectly insufficient to bear us away. Fatally, attention turned from the useless thing to the summoning of a substitute, leaving unmarked, in our very midst, a newly minted minion of Death, with a breath more withering than the wind of the Ashen Wastes.

-Extract from an unsigned and poorly encrypted letter penned in dubious Balok and found by the Kargat in a bottle beached at the mouth of the Musarde River
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ELEMENTAL, UNDEAD, DESICCATOR

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ELEMENTAL, UNDEAD, VOIDWRAITH

The dead whisper true. But Death will not be cheated a second time. The stratagem does not admit of repetition. And I escaped only its bony hands, not its ashen realm. What is to be salvaged from this? Much is confirmed. And I may have glimpsed something unexpected. I do not believe that Death was simply gloating in choosing to torment me with the undead minions newly minted from the elementals that we had summoned to its abode. It shares some profound affinity with them that exceeds that with the other slain. It might have taken my soul personally and I expect it ultimately intended to, indeed still intends to. But it took the greatest pleasure, a mother’s pleasure, in letting the wreck of the air elemental in particular, that roiling, red-eyed abyss, suck from my lungs not just the air that I breathe but, little by little, my very life.

-Extract from an unsigned and poorly encrypted letter penned in dubious Balok and found by the Kargat in a bottle beached at the mouth of the Musarde River
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ELEMENTAL, UNDEAD, CINDERSPAWN

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ELEMENTAL, UNDEAD, CINDERSPAWN

Imagine having every song you ever sang, in joy and in sorrow, drip, drip, dripping out of you like blood. And you are perfectly conscious of the loss counted off by the drops. It is your very genius that quickens the dance, that quickens the night black parody of man licked by, and licking you with, insatiable flame.

-Extract from an unsigned and poorly encrypted letter penned in dubious Balok and found by the Kargat in a bottle beached at the mouth of the Musarde River
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