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Showing posts from August, 2020

Strigiarpy

Large eyes stare from a flat, but feminine, face and the very scent of dread drifts from the feminine abomination. The strigiarpy's head is covered with feathers that come to a sever widow's peak with horn-like plumes flaring from their temples. Their forelimbs are owl-like wings attached to a humanoid's chest covered with a brown and white downy. Its legs are that of a raptor bird, though with five-fingered claws. Beastly Cousins. Scholars debade on if the strigiarpies are actually related to true harpies at all. At first blush, the bipedeal raptors resemble that cursed species. However, they are but feral creatures that are only capable of animal cunning and not a hint of speech. Nor do they have functional hands. Instead of a bewitching voice, the strigiarpies' screech sythes the psyche of those that hear it. They also produce a stench which causes irrational fear in those that catch it. Strigiarpy medium monstrosity, chaotic evil

The Timberlands Campaign Diary: Session 0

An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary For centuries after the fall of the Empire of the sorcerer-king Enuk'Lun , the Timberlands sat silent save the desperate lives of the few survivors of that arcane cataclysm. The wild forests took back the ruins and covered dark, mysterious secrets with their canopy. Fey claimed particular woodland stretches as their own. The magical creations of the dead empire managed to survive at this northern frontier, but these animal-folk have never got enough of a footing to thrive.   Then the refugees of the old world on the other side of the ocean arrived. Lead by the Wandering Knave, Fool of Crossroads and Gallows, these devout followers of the archfey pantheon streamed from magic portals and built a fortress around their collapsed savior. Despite the harsh wilderness conditions they faced in this foreign land, the varied peoples felt fortu

Screecher

Illuminated by its spectral, green feathers this massive predator literally soars through the darkest thickets. The owl-like creature's body ripples as it flies through tree branches and trunks as an apparition would. However, when the screecher strikes, its prey discovers it is terribly substantial after all. Flaked horns rise from the sides of the screecher's brow, giving it a horned owl-profile, and it's head can swivel nearly all the way about like that natural species. Its eyes are not like an owl's exactly, while they are round and dominated most of its flat face they are blue, translucent orbs that cast a distorted reflection of whatever they spy. To round out the monstrosity's terrible mien their claws are five-fingered with skin so tight over bone that they appear skeletal. Necrotic Mutation. Folklore says that the screechers resulted from an arcane disaster, of sorts. A necromancer cult took up residence in the dark heart of the woods. By all account

Lodgemaster Minion: Mangeservant

The fiend resembles a red-furred baboon stuffed into a butler's tailcoat. It's hooked claws scrap against the ground as it scampers along, barbed tail lashing with excitement. Above a wide tuff of stark white hair sits a wolf's skull that is proportionate to its small body. Hellish flames flicker within the cranium and smoke trails down its shoulders like unkempt hair. Pin-pricks of crimson light serve as the mangeservant's eyes. Sinful Retainers. The mangeservants attend to the Lodgemaster's every need and the greater fiend is rarely without a handful of them scampering about. They fetch their master food and drink, weapons and ammunition, sacrifices and daggers and all manner of other things at the snap of a claw. For their loyalty the Lodgemaster allows them to eat his table, or sacrificial, scraps. Though, the mangeservants don't exactly eat. The meat they chew sways within their skulls, roasting away to cinder and ash. Every lodge cult has a more than a

Lodgemaster Minion: Hunting Blind

The hunting blind's frame is built from hell-blasted dryad wood, gnarled and charred. Abyssal runes smolder across its surface. Despite its desiccated nature the construct is incredibly durable thanks to the foul magic powering it. The top third of the conveyance is a partially-covered platform with a pointed canopy. The roof and walls of the parapet are made from enchanted monster hide as hard as steel. Profane fetishes fabricated from beastly skulls hang on its posts, sizzling sigils floating in their eye sockets. Foul Icons. The grisly talismans hanging on the hunting blind are not just for show. Each is laced with malevolent magic that lashes out when a battle is joined. Demonic symbols crackle within the skulls' sockets, their glares lancing foes with destructive spells. Once removed from the construct these fetishes lost their power within moments. Hunting Blind huge construct, unaligned Armor Class 15 (natural a

Lodgemaster Minion: Trophy Wife

The trophy wife wears a crimson frock coat atop a overbust corset of bone-brocade. Her pants match her coat and tall, ivory-buttoned spats are attached to her abyss-blackened hooves. The coat's interior is lined with grisly talismans crafted from various forest animals and sentient creatures. Brazen antlers spiral up from the fiend's platinum blond hair. The trophy wife's eyes are literally doe's, her lips ripe and red, and her skin as pale as snow. In fact, the beautiful fetishmonger is sometimes mistaken as celestial until she smiles and reveals a mouth full of shark-like teeth. Den Mother. Every cult set up by the Lodgemaster has one, and only one trophy wife. These fiends are charged with keeping the infernal lodge running from day to day with duties including: running the kitchen and larder, directing the cleaning staff, and organizing the debauched entertainment that draws members in and corrupts their souls. In this last task they procure a variety of illi

Lodge Members; Devildog & Hellboar

Each cult the Lodgemaster establishes has its own unique name, symbology and social rules on a surface level. One might present as a social club for blue-blood hunters to gamble and drink in between fox chases, another may be an elite safari company catering to wealthy merchants, while yet another is an exclusive boarding school to teach young nobles military skills. However, behind closed doors or when involved in dark deeds their trappings are all the same. Lodge members wear deep-red frockcoats with polished bone buttons, bright red cravats and sashes, riding boots, assorted personal fetishes, and carved bone masks donating their rank. While lodge members can use a variety of weapons all of them carry a lodge knife with them. This cleaver is roughly the size of a short sword, its wide blade stamped with a wolf's skull and hilt bound with human leather. Note on weapons. The lodge members are built using firearms, specifically flintlocks, from the DMG rules. (Page 276,268). I

Lodge Members; Hellcat and Bloodhawk

Each cult the Lodgemaster establishes has its own unique name, symbology and social rules on a surface level. One might present as a social club for blue-blood hunters to gamble and drink in between fox chases, another may be an elite safari company catering to wealthy merchants, while yet another is an exclusive boarding school to teach young nobles military skills. However, behind closed doors or when involved in dark deeds their trappings are all the same. Lodge members wear deep-red frockcoats with polished bone buttons, bright red cravats and sashes, riding boots, assorted personal fetishes, and carved bone masks donating their rank. While lodge members can use a variety of weapons all of them carry a lodge knife with them. This cleaver is roughly the size of a short sword, its wide blade stamped with a wolf's skull and hilt bound with human leather. Note on weapons. The lodge members are built using firearms, specifically flintlocks, from the DMG rules. (Page 276,268). I

Lodge Members; Pup and Redwolf

Each cult the Lodgemaster establishes has its own unique name, symbology and social rules on a surface level. One might present as a social club for blue-blood hunters to gamble and drink in between fox chases, another may be an elite safari company catering to wealthy merchants, while yet another is an exclusive boarding school to teach young nobles military skills. However, behind closed doors or when involved in dark deeds their trappings are all the same. Lodge members wear deep-red frockcoats with polished bone buttons, bright red cravats and sashes, riding boots, assorted personal fetishes, and carved bone masks donating their rank. While lodge members can use a variety of weapons all of them carry a lodge knife with them. This cleaver is roughly the size of a short sword, its wide blade stamped with a wolf's skull and hilt bound with human leather. Note on weapons. The lodge members are built using firearms, specifically flintlocks, from the DMG rules. (Page 276,268). I

Lodgemaster Minion: War Mask

Carved from bone and stained by the blood of the hunted and butchered, the war mask depicts the representation of a snarling, horned beast not of this world. The construct floats on a sulfurous cloud with strands of woven fur and feathers trailing behind it. Yellow orbs fill the eyeholes when viewed from the front, but no trace can be seen of the organs from behind. The war mask's gaze fills with ecstatic intensity whenever prey is near. Hunters' Hounds. War masks are produced by foolish mortals loyal to the Lodgemaster , its parts reaped from the beasts, humanoids and monstrosity the lodge slays. Through prolonged ritual the fetishes are imbued with fiendish power and bound to questioningly serve the organization. The constructs do this by magically marking the hunted and sharing the insight with a nearby lodge member. They can also manifest poisoned-tipped darts out of thin air to slow the prey down. War Mask tiny construct, lawful evil

Gossamurder

Most butterflies drink flower nectar to survive but resort to sucking the putrid juices of a corpse instead of starving. Not so with the gossamurder. The dog-sized insect eschews ambrosia all together in favor of rancid blood. Its dappled wings are dotted with purple splotches, antenna adorned with barbs. Most would say its body resembles a spider more than a butterfly. Ill Omen. Soldiers consider a sighting of a gossamurder feeding on a corpse a forewarning of tragedy. They will often simply refuse to fight until the insect is caught and burned to ash. If the gossamurder gets away it is not unheard of for a commander to retreat to a different position entirely rather than ruin the morale of his troops. Gossamurder small beast, unaligned Armor Class 14 Hit Points 27 (5d6+10) Speed 10ft Flight 30ft Str 5 Dex 18 Con 15 Int 2 Wis 11 Cha 4 Condition Immunities Poisoned Damage Resistances N

Waning Weeper

Nobles of the Waning Court - The beauty of ripe fruit blended with the breach within autumn’s long shadows, every noble of the waning court is a vision to behold. Black, pupilless eyes dominate their fine-boned faces while sharp teeth lurk behind plush lips. The faeries’ ears are pointed like an elf’s, but slightly shorter. This is due to the antelope-like horns spiraling from their temples, the base of which are riddled with red-stained honeycombs. Waning court nobles wear their hair long, often braided with bones and sticks, and is a color of fall leaves. Their skin tone can best be described as bloodless. Commonly, these fey wear leathers cured of eldritch animals, cloaks made from a nightmare or displacer beast pelts, black iron plates, and amber adornments with petrified insects within. Most find their mien more savage than aristocratic. Stray direflies are their constant companions, always buzzing cryptic prophecies as they crawl about. Unlike other waning nobles, the waning w