The harpsichord mimic usually appears as a masterpiece example of the instrument. Its brocade casing is bone white against sepia tones while its legs are filigree affairs which imitate a cloud of bats in flight. When opened, the interior of the mimic’s lid always depicts a gothic romance scene such as a ghost embracing their love atop a grave, a vampire leaning in to bit a paramour’s neck, or werewolf sleeping against their intend’s legs. Baroque Weapon. A lover of music, La Contessa bred the harpsichord mimics partially to fill her lairs with comforting songs. Likewise, she knows her bitter enemies adore the dramatic, romantic instruments as well. It’s easy enough to ensure these pieces end up bought or looted by sentient undead, or smuggled one into a haunted house while the spirits are dormant. The mimic’s songs, produced on its stretched vocal chords, prove dangerous to the living and the dead alike. Harpsichord Mimic Large monstrosity (shapechang

As ostentatious as it is deadly, the coffin mimic fits right in with the rest of a vampire crypt’s decor. This is the point, of course. The monstrosity exudes a coppery perfume that most undead find particularly irresistible once they catch a whiff. This scene lures the creature in, invites it to lay down, and gives the coffin mimic an easy meal. If that doesn’t work, the shapeshifter isn’t shy to resort to violence. The coffin doesn’t just feed on the undead. Pesky heroes poking around in its hunting grounds taste just as good. Macabre Vamp-Trap. As her fight against the vampires that took everything she had neared its in, La Contessa grew frustrated as they went to ground to wait out her wrath. While the alchemist took profane steps to prolong her life, she also bred further chemical-manipulated mimics to aid her fight. The most successful has been the coffin mimic. These wonderful abominations burrow into the dusty tombs where vampires and the like hide from the sun and s

Soiled with blood and great stains, the horseless cart sits devoid of the corpses it usually bears. The cart’s corners are reinforced with rusted iron, it’s railing crafted from the same. The wheels are in good repair, however, appearing to be recently replaced. They too have been reinforced with metal. That is how this particular mimic appears until its prey draws near. The cage transforms into fangs, its wooden tongue becomes a purple, fleshy one, and spokes sprout into mottled pseudopods. Grim Harvest. The corpse cart mimic was alchemically gestiated by La Contessa as another clever tool in her war against the ‘natural’ undead. While it can only assume one shape, the corpse cart is a devastating battlefield controller or cavalry weapon against corporeal undead. Its unique physiology renders it immune to a variety of undead attacks, and it can chow down on ghasts, ghouls, skeletons, and zombies with easy. The same can be said for pesky adventurers or innocent bystanders, o

It looks like a skeleton. It walks like a skeleton. It attacks like a skeleton. However, the skeletal effigy is a clever copy of alchemically-treated that has been painted and garbed to appear as one of the most basic of undead horrors. It takes a keen eye to see through the ruse, at least until the effigy explodes in a shower of shards. Walking Stake. Early on in her battles with the vampires that destroyed her life, La Contessa wondered after their weakness to wooden stakes through the heart. She found no scientific reason for this phenomenon, even after lengthy experiments involving a restrained bloodsucker, their central organ, and a variety of woods. Eventually, the torturous trials paid off and the alchemist was able to develop an alchemical solution that when a length of wood was saturated in it provided a modecrum of the paralytic effect. It didn’t just work on vampires but caused all manner of undead to seize up for a time, as well as poison their mortal lackies. I

Whether a single scrap of richly colored cloth, or banded together as a well-tailored clothing article, silk rats are devious constructs that seek to constrict and devour their prey when the time is right. At rest, they are indistinguishable from inanimate silk and can naturally fold themselves into appealing shapes or nest together in a fine imitation of any attire. Once in motion, the silk rats snap into an angular approximation of an oversized vermin, complete with remarkably sharp teeth and a lashing tail of loose threads. Killer Outfit. In life, La Contessa loved fashion. She and her younger sisters sponsored many a seamstress and tailor in their kingdom. Whenever she was at court, the woman sported the latest fashion. Most didn’t know that La Contessa directly consulted on the designs she wore, and even stitched together a few dresses herself. After vampires destroyed everything she held dear, the alchemist’s first creation was the silk rats. These constructs could hide

Session Thirty Five: Leoleth, the Gorse Dragon An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary With the bewitched paladin, Ser Silvercrown, freed and his fey lover, Lichenclaw, likewise released from prison, the heroes took a well-deserved respite. Staying in the portable inn of their new allies, the Wrathyrst Brothers, the party got a good night’s sleep despite the ceaseless, moaning wind. In the morning, it was time to part ways. Ser Silvercrown thanked the heroes for all they’d done. However, he regretted he could not travel back with them to Hillsbrook Valley. He suspected the testimony they needed him to oversee was important, yes, but not as important as aiding the war effort to the southeast. If what the Wrathyrst brothers said was true, the waning court host there was a bigger threat. While his powers had diminished due to his recent actions, the paladin knew his sword

Slim and long, the yellowjacket chrysididae is girded in sickly, yellow and black armor plates that are a fair imitation of chitin. Unlike its kin, the yellowjacket’s chassis is spindly in the middle and bulbous at both ends. Its swelled thorax thrums with voltaic menace, the black plates there popping open whenever an antimagic anchor is launched in a thread of lightning. A quarter of thin, mustard wings hinge to its shoulders and fold tight when the construct is land bound. Its internal workings are obscured, unlike other chrysididae, but it still moves with silent ease. The last difference between it and other Vespidae miscreations, is that the yellowjacket bears two asymmetrical-crystal eyes; blue and green. Step 6 - New Solutions. “It turns out that the greater slaad are beyond my means to control. Oh, I can tend them in my charnel garden, but I have had to cull each and everyone. Their chaotic nature and superior intelligence makes them too dangerous to all life on the mate

Session Thirty Four: Fairy Tale Love An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary Battered and bleeding from two encounters with waning fey soldiers, the heroes took a few minutes to bind their wounds with bandages and spells. While the party wanted to take a longer rest, the daylight faded fast this deep into autumn. The last thing they wanted to do was face whatever otherworldly horrors awaited them at the top of the Pond Peaks. Once they felt confident to carry on, the champions trudged up to the bodies of water that gave the mountains their name. It took little time to find the pool where the Ebon Court fey Lady Lichenclaw lived. It was the largest pond, ringed with boulders chiseled with sylvan runes, and had a carpet of toxic-orange algae growing on the top. It was also surrounded by patrols of Armillaria Dryads and Lesser Deadwoods . At the four cardinal directions,

Slightly larger than the average dwarf, this construct is an exquisite imitation of a wasp crafted from shimmering-green plates. The emerald wasp doesn’t make any sound as it moves, despite armored plates sliding off of one another with gears churning beneath. When in flight, its stained-glass wings of a verdant color musically buzz and almost sound like the faux-insect is chanting incantations. The bottom of the emerald wasp is sheathed in the same green glass. Beneath that artificial lightning illuminates the pilfered muscles and sinew which holds its chassis together. Electricity gathers at the bottom of its thorax and fills its stinger instead of poison. Whenever the emerald wasp casts a spell, its wings buzz out the words while arcs of lightning form the proper arcane symbols. An asymmetrical, emerald eye dominates its forehead between twitching antennas. Step 5 - Punishment. “Imagine my delight when the first green slaad hatched from a captured magi of the Planar Guild. Oh

The sapphire wasp is a construct as long as a goliath is tall. The artificial insectoid is covered in armored plates with a fair imitation of glittering chitin stained a rich azure as its name suggests. Every segment of its chassis slides seamlessly and soundlessly as it moves. Save of course, wings of enchanted glass, also a brilliant blue, that buzz with musical precision while the sapphire wasp is in flight. Its undercarriage is framed by similar glass where a calvanic engine crackles with long bolts of captured electricity which cascade down to its singer. Hints of sculpted flesh and bone are fused to its internal components. Unlike an actual bug, it only has one eye, an asymmetrically-faceted ruby set between two twitching antennas. Step 4 - No Escape. “I have found the slaad husbandry, for lack of a better term, to my liking and remarkably easy. Perhaps, despite all your best efforts my darling, I feel a kinship with these otherworldly abominations. I am no longer a woman. I