New Monster – Goblin (Stellar) for D&D 5E (A to Z)

Goblins in the Sea of Stars, as one would expect, are different.

Goblin (Stellar)

Mirror, mirror polished bright
Mirror, mirror warding light
Mirror, mirror night and day
Goblin, goblin keep away
-Traditional Visse Cleaning Rhyme

You turn to see something duck behind a rock, a moment later it is leering at you from around a tree.  Glittering yellow eyes slit like a cat’s under a wild green and orange hair peer out from a face like a squashed child.  It laughs evilly as you realize your shoes have sunk into the ankles in a pile of dung that was concealed by loose grass and straw.  You look back and the creature has vanished.

Tuesday Magic Item – Twinned Hearts Amulets

“It seems a long journey just to deliver a letter, a portrait and some jewellery,” said Voddick quietly while watching said items being presented to the local rulers.

“Such is the way of arranged marriages among the nobility,” replied Gollaon equally quietly.  “At least they are making an effort to make this a happy and pleasant experience for their children.”

“Yes?” asked Voddick curiously.

“The amulet is one of a pair, if both accept them willingly, it will help their love to blossom.”

“Hmm, I thought that magic could not compel love,” said Voddick.

“It is tricky but not impossible.”

Twinned Hearts Amulets

These amulets are always made in pairs, either matching or complementary and often bearing the coat of arms (or similar heraldic markings) of the families it was first made for.  They are usually made of valuable material, gold and gems, showing the   Due to their nature, of agreements and debits, fae enchanters are often tasked with the creation of such items.

Tuesday Magic Item – Sling Snake

“Not that I have anything against anyone keeping snakes for pets,” said Gollaon quietly.

“But many snakes for pets is a bit disturbing,” agreed Voddick, sipping at his beer and watching the people.

Gollaon shooed one away with their boot.  “I . . . am not a person who likes snakes as a general rule.”

“Well, we must at least pretend while we are here, it would not do to insult our hosts.”

“Indeed not and they seem to have done well by them.”

Sling Snake

These snakes are specially bred and fed a diet of magical treated food buy the Fae, they gain the ability to flatten themselves and they become docile in the hands of a bonded owner.

Tuesday Magic Item – Mirror of Three Kingdoms

“That noble did not seem that charming yesterday,” said Voddick in a whisper.

“Nor as clumsy,” mentioned Gollaon, equally quietly, as they almost tripped on the edge of a carpet.

“But that speech, its quite good.”

“Surprisingly so.”

“Something is up, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I am not sure what,” said Gollaon studying the noble carefully.

Mirror of Three Kingdoms

These mirrors are always beautiful in unusual and unexpected ways, something about the design is just slightly off.  Which would be because the mirror was made in the fae lands.  The mirror will sometimes decide it is needed by someone else and will move of its own accord which has been known to cause all sort of problems.

Tuesday Magic Item – Goblin’s Glass Knife

“There is that noise again,” said Voddick, looking around.

“I heard it this time,” replied Gollaon, knife in hand.  “It almost sounds like metal on stone . . .”

“Glass!  It is glass on stone, scrapping,” Voddick said and paused.  “Not scrapping, sharpening.”

“You do not think . . .”

“Goblins!  We had best warn the others.”

Goblin’s Glass Knife

These weapons are a strange mix of crudity and otherworldly, made from lovingly crafted glass shards shaped and sharpened into vicious blades.  The handles are wrapped in found materials, often cloth, cord and leather, in absurdly complex twists and knots.

The Third Fey March in the Sea of Stars – RPG Blog Carnival

This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is the Third Fey March hosted by Pitfalls & Pixies.

The fae exist in the Sea of Stars but their realm has been, not sealed away, but at least walled off from the main world.  The Empress does not appreciate the machinations of the Fae Courts and sees no reason to make their ability to interfere easy.  But that does not stop them from crossing over or dragging people into their realm on occasion but they are even more circumspect about such actions than they used to be; for even the fae must fear the anger of the dragons.

The Courts of the Seasons play their games, the factions maneuver, but each century they become more frantic, more desperate.  The fae need to mortal realm, need to harvest the dreams and feed on the imaginings of mortals, without the continued infusion of mortal thoughts and fears and loves, the faerie are becoming increasingly unbalanced and unstable.  Goblin outbreaks are becoming more common.  Something will have to give . . . and it will be bad for those nearby where the dam between the worlds breaks and the fae come pouring through hungry for dreams and sensations.

Notes: I had not really given the fae too much thought before except in passing, but they could be made into a major threat for the Sea of Stars.  Much to ponder.

Image from “Phantastes: a faerie romance … A new edition, etc”, “Single Works” by George MacDonald (1894) from the British Library flicker feed and is in the Public Domain.

 

Tuesday Magic Item – Passage Chalk

“Will this really work?” asked Voddick, risking a nervous glance around the corner.  “They will be here any moment.”

“I have seen it done and the chalk seems magical,” replied Gollaon as he used the chalk to draw on the wall.

“That is not inspired confidence,” muttered Voddick.

“Well it works.”

“Then let us go.  Now.”

Passage Chalk

These pieces of chalk are seem like any other piece of chalk, except they are a very pale shade of one of the colors of the spectrum . . . a different one each time you look at it.

New Monster – Pyroead

This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is Cold Iron and Pixie Dust: Step Into The Faerie Realm hosted by Pitfall and Pixies.  My contribution is something a bit different:

The dancing flames resolved into the form of a beautiful woman wreathed in orange smoke .  “Welcome, but watch your step, it is dangerous for burnable beings such as you,” she says in an amused voice.

Pyroead    CR 5
XP 1,600
CG Medium fey (fire)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +11
Aura heat (15 ft., see below)

Fae in the Sea of Stars (A to Z Challenge, F)

The fae otherworld was once tightly woven into the structure of the world with portals crossing between the two realms and the Courts of the Seasons playing its political games here and there.  But then came the Sundering, tearing the world apart and away, the majority of the portals between the two were torn apart, some changed into new and different paths, and only a few maintained their previous link.

The Courts of the Seasons were still reeling from this disaster when the new draconic lords started destroying or warding the most obvious of the surviving passageways.  Spurred into action, the Courts, fully cooperating with each other for the first time in the long memories of the fae, began to conceal the existing pathways and restore those of the damaged one they could before they were sealed off from the mortal world.  Their efforts were successful but at a cost, not only were many of the best portals destroyed but no small number of skilled fae perished either in magical accidents or at the hands of the dragons.

The first century of dragon rule would be a difficult one for the fae, cut off from most of the mortal realm and its resources they learned how dependent they had become on materials and magic harvested from the mortal realm and they had to find substitutes or do without, not an easy thing for the fae.  But they managed, though a handful kinlines vanished unable to survive the changed world, and planned to rebuild their pathways to the mortal realm.

It was a slow and cautious process, taking several centuries, but aided by the goblins, the warped fae who had been trapped in the mortal realm, secret pathways were reestablished and the fae again gained limited -but reliable- access to the mortal world.  The fae remain exceedingly cautious and try to avoid being spotted by the dragons or their agents, conveniently most of the people the fae interact with feel the same way.

The fae presence in the Sea of Stars is there, but always around corners or over the next hill.  Finding the fae is the first challenge, dealing with them is the second for they are suspicious at best when dealing with outsiders.  That being said, the fae do have unusual items and magics that can be found in no other place.

Recently, some of the fae -especially those from the Court of Winter- have been reaching out to the Sen’tek as both share a common foe, what will become of such remains to be seen.

Notes: A little more on the other realms of the Sea of Stars setting.

Photo by Ruth Hartnup and used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

New Fey – Leap Day William (for Pathfinder)

He is charming and nattily dressed, in blue and yellow, but there is something odd about him . . . perhaps it is those gills?

LEAP DAY WILLIAM    CR 12
XP 19,200
NE Medium Unique fey (aquatic, water)
Init +6; Senses low-light vision, see in darkness; Perception +25

DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 17, flat-footed 21 (+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural, +5 bracers of armor)
hp 161 (19d6+95)
Fort +11, Ref +17, Will +14; DR 10/cold iron; SR 23 (33 against the magic of Aboleths)

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., Fly 60 ft (only over water), swim 60 ft.
Melee +15 Bite (1d6+5/19–20 + 1d4 bleed) and +15/+15 claw (1d6+5 + emotion)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 19th; concentration +26)
Constant— misdirection, see invisibility
At will— dimension door, disguise self, faerie fire, touch of idiocy, whispering wind
3/day— baleful polymorph (DC 21), confusion (DC 21), crushing despair (DC 21)
1/day— shadow walk, word of recall