“Captain” (Petrichor 365)

Where there are people, people will have pets, even on Petrichor.  But in Port Imperial, sometimes pets are abandoned, often not intentionally, but things happen.

Among those pets who have been abandoned, due to no fault of his owner, who died in a shipboard accident, is a terrier named “Captain“.  “Captain” is a feature on the dock, coming down every morning and patrolling the docks, looking for his master, checking every ship that comes in, hoping that he will return.

Gravel Elemental for D&D 5E

A vaguely, sometimes vaguer than others, person-shaped amalgam of pebbles, small stones, gravel, and grit.  Usually found as servants or perhaps children of larger stone elementals, they can learn to use tools and can build their own societies given time.  Though they tend to be unhurried and slow to make decisions or take action when there is not a threat prompting them.

Gravel Elemental (“Rocky“)
small elemental, unaligned

New Monster – War Band of the Undying Lament (for D&D 5E)

War Band of the Undying Lament

Emerging from the mist as they climb up the rise are a set of once people, their skin white and bloodless contrasting with the blue glow of the tattoos that wreath their bodies. Their hair is spiked and their eyes share the same blue glow as their tattoos. They carry rectangular shields and spears or swords, a few have javelins as well. They start to spread out in a loose line, the lament never wavering in their dead voices.

A thrown axe takes one square in the forehead, it starts to topple and the tattoo snakes up to cast out the axe and reknit the dead flesh, which is now tattooed as well.  Its head snaps down and it continues to advance.

War Band of the Undying Lament
Medium unliving (undead), usually evil

Armor Class 12 (14 with shield)

New Monster – Grinning Ghost (for D&D 5E)

Grinning Ghost

The old mill was said to be haunted but those who ventured there only reported odd things happening, if they talked about it at all, but no one ever seemed harmed directly by the spirits.  Perhaps by their reaction to them if they ran away in a panic and crashed into, or through, something.  They seemed more to enjoy scaring people and watching the comedy that was created by terrified people at least, that was my analysis of the situation.

Grinning Ghost
Medium unbound (undead), usually chaotic

Armor Class 13

New Monster: Hellsnake (For D&D 5E)

Seeming to appear out of nowhere, the black and red scaled snake struck lightning fast.  The warrior grunted at the fangs pierced through his boots and into his flesh, he tried to counter-attack but the snake had already darted away.  “Damn, that hurts,” he managed through gritted teeth.  “Come on let’s get it.”

Hellsnake
medium monstrosity, unaligned (evil)

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12)

Speed walk 40 ft

STR       DEX     CON     INT     WIS      CHA
12 (+1) 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 3 (-4) 14 (+2) 10 (+0)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +6

Damage Resistances acid, fire, poison

Senses darkvision, passive Perception 14

Languages –

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Alight with Hellish Flames as a reaction, the hellsnake can wreath itself in hellish flames, anyone attacking it with melee weapons takes 3 (1d6) fire damage, this doubles if a creature is grappling the hellsnake.

Shadowy Stealth: the hellsnake can hide using Dexterity (Stealth) when in shadows as a bonus action when not alight.

Actions
Bite. Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) acid damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

The hellsnakes are primarily black with other colors in stripes, often red but others have been seen, they can grow up to ten feet (3m) long with powerful jaws and fangs that inject acid-laced poison.  They can blend into shadows, becoming nearly invisible, or wrap themselves in flames.  They are hostile to most other forms of life and will coordinate attacks against larger and more dangerous creatures.

Notes: The Hellsnake seems like a natural choice to get a full monster writeup as I can see them being used in a variety of situations by foolish cults and ambitious wizards.

Image from Karen Arnold found on PublicDomainPictures.net and is in the Public Domain.

 

Zodiac Leopard (A to Z, Z)

The birds flew out in clouds from the top of the tree as the great cat leapt from branch to branch.  The spots on its pelt flashed with stellar light as it moved in and out of the shadows.  When it saw me, it paused, its eyes glowing silver as if it was judging me.  Apparently, it found me . . . not a threat and pounded on its way.

The zodiac leopards were once the beloved pets of the goddess of astronomy, before she was slain, she freed them and passed on an inkling of her divine power to them in the hopes it would keep them safe . . . and so it has.

The patterns of the zodiac leopards’s spots matches those of various astrological signs, between three and six are on each leopard.  The patterns are empowered by magic allowing the leopard to call upon the aspects of the star signs so depicted.  They do this on an instictual level calling on the powers as needed to protect themselves and the other leopards as needed.  When the magic of the star sign is drawn upon, they glow with a stellar luminescence.

The zodiac leopards average around one hundred and thirty pounds (60kg) though they occasionally grow larger, to around two hundred pounds (91kg), and it is rumored that there is one zodiac leopard who is much larger who has been alive since before the Gods War and who was specifically tasked by the goddess with protecting the other leopards.  Sighting of the great creature are rare even amongst those who venture in the lands were the zodiac leopards roam and its existence has yet to be confirmed.

The reason that the zodiac leopards might need a protector is that their belts are highly prized, they are valuable foci for astrologically aspected magic and some people have become obsessed with seeking out and acquiring a zodiac leopard pelt that matches their zodiac sign.  Unfortunately for such hunters, the leopards have an innate sense of when they are being hunted and cooperate to actively hunt their hunters.

Those who have interacted with the zodiac leopards have found them to be quite intelligent for animals, a fact their hunters often lament,

Notes:  Z is another, and thankfully final, tricky letter.  Thank you for joining me on a romp though the unusual animals of the Sea of Stars.

Image found on the Graphic Fairy site and is in the Public Domain.

Yodelling Goats of the Baltaic Mountains (A to Z, Y)

The valley echoed with something resembling song, it would fade in and out, sometimes almost seeming like words, other times drifting into melodic noise.  It was not until we had made our way deeper into the valley that we found the source of the yodelling, it was goats, many, many goats.

It is thought that the yodelling goats were around in the Gods Era, there are some reference to them in ancient tomes and documents where they were occasionally captured and brought to various courts or displayed in traveling shows.  Though the location of their home valley was lost in the aftermath of the Sundering and not rediscovered for several centuries as it is on the edges of the Sea of Stars.

Having been rediscovered, they have once again become a object of wonder sought out for menagerie and traveling shows.  Fortunately for the goats, if not for those seeking them, the Baltaic Mountains are distant and inaccessable from most points in the Sea of Stars.   The Baltaic Mountains are rocky and jagged with with lush valleys.  There are ruins of small settlements in the valleys, the fate of the inhabitants who once lived there is unknown.

The yodelling goats are exceptionally good at climbing and moving from rock to rock, capably of jumping six feet (1.8m) up and twelve feet (3.5m) across with ease.  They are willing to use their horns to defend themselves and their mates and they are exceptionally good about using the terrain again those pursuing them, luring pursuing people or predators onto loose rock or knocking them off ledges with a sudden charge.

The yodelling goats, like most goats, can be used for meat, their fur can be made into yarn, their hides can be tanned and the nanny goats can be milked.  There is a rumor that is gaining currency that drinking the milk of the yodelling goats improves the voice of the drinker making it much in demand among singers, espeically opera singers, and has lead to a market in “mock” yodelling goat milk as the real stuff is expensive and hard to come by.

The yodelling goats are stock with solid limbs ending in broad hooves.  The fur of the yodelling goat is usually cream white to mid-brown with occasional stipes of black or grey with older goats fur turning silver.  Both sexes of goats have horns, but the nanny goats horns only grow to three to four inches (8-11cm) in length while the horns of the male goats curve and can be over forty inches (102cm) in length.  They can get to be quite sizable with the largest weighing up to one hundred and eighty pounds (82kg) and being seventy inches (178cm) long.

Their yodelling can be heard for a considerable distance and it is thought to contain considerable information to other goats.

Notes:  Y is also tricky but how could I resist yodelling?  Also, had sheep at the beginning, only fair to have goats at the end.

Photo edited from Sindh ibex in Kirthar National Parkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_goat#/media/File:Blackbuck1-Kirthar_National_Park.jpg, by Nomi887 used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

Xenodochial Hound (A to Z, X)

The hounds wrapped around the tired and wet travelers welcoming them into the warm house.  Their friendly barks and nudges directed the guests to a place by the fire whereupon they curled up at their feet and leaned in.

The xenodochial hounds may have existed before the Sundering, records are unclear, but if so, their number were small.   After about half a millenia, they have started to spread throughout the Sea of Stars, the Visse seem especially found of them and they have become popular among many people.

The xenodochial hounds tend to range in height at the shoulder from twenty-four to twenty-nine inches (61–74cm) and usually weigh in at forty-four to sixty pounds (20–27kg), though some end up rather plump under the tender ministrations of the Visse.  Their long fur coat can be just about any natural color and a few of them have veered into what would usually be thought of as unnatural colors, those owned by draconics houses can be quite striking such as the sky blue hounds of House Hazolai.

The xenodochial hounds are naturally friendly and gregarious, they will be friendly with any being that is willing to be friendly back or at least tolerate them.  They are quite clever and perceptive of people’s moods and able to act to try to improve and help people, comforting and cheering up people to the best of their ability.  If their friends are attacked they will fight to defend them, just because they are friendly, it does not mean that they are not true and loyal companions.

Notes: X is always tough.  Xenodochy is defined as reception of strangers or hospitality, a fun and unusual world for an unusual animal.

By photo of Afgan Hound found on WIkiMedia Commons by I, Lilly M, used under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Whispering Bees (A to Z, W)

The air was filled with bees moving to and fro, visiting flowers and performing their tasks.  But listening closely, there was more than a buzz in the air, there were words formed by the harmony of the bees’ wings.  “The weather will change soon, we must hurry,” was all he could make out before he was dragged away by his companion.  “Best not to listen in on the language of the bees, sometimes, they wish to keep their secrets.”

The whispering bees seem to spontaneously manifest among certain hives for reasons as yet unknown, though once awakened, only exterminating the entire hive will stop the whispering.  Once a hive has awakened into whispering bees, the new bees are slightly larger but much more capably, stronger, faster, and more efficient in their tasks.  For whatever reason, a whispering hive communicates, whisper-wise, in whatever is the dominant local language which they also understand,

Listening to the whispers of the bees reveals much about their tasks and what problems are interfering with such.  This whispered communication allows the hive to react rapidly to changing circumstances and threats.

One hive is relatively intelligent but when there are multiple hives of whispering bees in an area, they integrate into a network, with three or more hives being as small as an average person.  Adding more hives does not really make them smarter but does give them more information to work with.  Additionally, the more hives, the more esoteric the discussions become.  On occasion, they are sought out by philosophers and others seeking information.

People can come to agreements with whispering bees and there are various specialists who work with the whispering bees and retrieve their honey and wax in exchange for what the bees need which is often very mundane but rarely very esoteric indeed.

Notes: I thought I needed some more insects for this project.  And, I suspect, partly inspired by Gavotte, an intelligent swarm of bees from the delightful webcomic Skin Horse.

ImagePhoto by Jon Sullivan on Pixnio used under Creative Commons 0 license.

Vapor Mouse (A to Z, V)

Their feet were wrapped in rags to muffle their footsteps but for all that they moved with exaggerated care to avoid making even the slightest sound.  Their prey had not noticed them, they each readied a small weighted dart in their primary hand, and three more in their off-hand.  They looked to one another nodded and began throwing darts as quickly as they could.  The first struck and the second and third were already in flight.  The first targets died but not soundlessly, only two more mice were impaled before the rest turned to mist and melted away.  “Could have been better,” said the first hunter as he was retriving his darts and dropping the bodies into a bag.  “Or worse, four is not bad.  And we still have the far end to check.”

The vapor mice are a plague wherever their appear and many techniques have been developed to try and eliminate them but they remain a potential threat.  They are just mice, you might say, what harm could they do, but they are mot just mice, they are mice that can turn to vapor and then reform.  Only airtight seals can keep them out and they eat voraciously, thankfully, they only reproduce as quickly as other mice, which is quite quickly enough.

While the origin of the vapor mice is unknown, they do not seem to predate the Sundering, their first recorded appearance is almost three centuries after that event when they overran the graineries of Watt and nearly caused a famine in that region.

Beyond giving them the ability to get in almost anywhere, their ability to turn to vapor is an excellent defense and it is their initial reaction when startled is to turn into vapor.  This protect them from most predators, though cats and owls occasionally get the jump on them, and from most mechanical traps.  Poison is the most effective way to kill them but must be applied subtly or the mice will avoid it.  Magic is another option but still requires catching the mice unaware.

The vapor mouse coloration is usually a cloudy brown or grey.

Notes: Pests deserve their place too, these mice are a much greater threat than the jumping snails, capable of wiping out food stores before they are noticed.

Image field mouse by Jean Beaufort found on PublicDomainPictures.net and is in the Public Domain.