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It is true that often big things arrive in small packages. For example, the lineage song of a Windling is an immense ballad that rivals the heroic sagas of my own people. A terrible Horror, the crystal entity, capable of wreaking immense havoc, is in physical dimension no larger than a packing case. I have only this morning heard something truly immense emerge from something quite small. The natives are still communicating with me in signs, as my ears have not stopped ringing.
Evanten Farseeker has interrupted his cataloging of trees to send a report of an animal that I truly do not know how to classify. Should I file this under Threats to Life and Limb; Hazards, Minor; Curiosities or what? -- Kylara B'Tenn, Senior Clerk, Fauna Room, Hall of Records
File it under Pests, Amazing and be done with it. -- Merrox, Master, Hall of Records
The bird, I am told, is known as leavy'g'deeva, "Large Song of the Morning". I have taken to calling it the diva bird, after the term applied to large, loud singers in the music halls. Perhaps the name is not fitting physically, but what the diva bird lacks in physical size, it more than makes up for with enthusiasm.
Growing to only two-thirds of an elven handspan in length, the diva bird is plumed in a medium brown, with brilliant red feathers on its head, leaf green on its wings and a deep brown tail. When motionless, it can easily blend into the vegetation about it, appearing to be a flower and a cluster of leaves on a short branch. Its bright red bill is long and sharply hooked at the end, telling the true story: this is a meat eater. The diva bird hunts for its meals, but will eat carrion while fresh. It has a unique method of providing itelf with fresh kills made by other animals on which to feed.
In the early morning, the diva bird looks for grazing animals that have wandered off by themselves on awakening. The bird notes the presence and location of any nearby predators, and perches on the far side of the herbivore from the predator. It then makes a noise that I can only compare to a troop of sky raiders pounding their shields and screaming in preparation for battle while the stone galley they are in tumbles down a mountain, breaking all the glass aboard and enraging the brithan in the cargo hold. The sheer volume of the sound normally stuns the intended victim, and every predator in the Servos seems to recognize the call of the diva bird as an announcement of easy prey. Even if the herbivore is not stunned, and flees the sound, it runs straight into the waiting claws of the predator. Thus, for a few minutes' work spying out the terrain, and a single cry, the diva bird may eat its fill from the kill of another animal.
Fortunately, these birds lay only three eggs in a clutch at the most,
and frequently only one or two. As well, many of the larger birds in the
jungle find the diva to be a tasty snack. Otherwise, every living thing
in the Servos would soon go deaf. I am told that the effect is transitory,
under normal conditions, and that I should have my hearing back come this
evening. I sincerely hope so, and am thankful that I was not directly in
front of the bird when it opened its beak.
| DEX: 12 STR: 2 TOU: 3
PER: 6 WIL: 4 CHA: 5 |
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| Initiative: 16 | Physical Defense: 9 |
| Number of Attacks: 1 | Spell Defense: 8 |
| Attack: 8 (beak) | Social Defense: 6 |
| Damage: 4 | Armor: 0 |
| Number of Spells: 1 | Mystic Armor: 2 |
| Spellcasting: 15 | Knockdown: 5 |
| Effect: 14 (stun) | Recovery Tests: 2 |
| Death Rating: 15 | Combat Movement: 40 (flying) |
| Wound Threshold: 4 | Full Movement: 80 (flying) |
| Unconsciousness Rating: 9 | Legend Points: 160 |
| Equipment: None | |
| Loot: None | |
| Notes: Name-Givers being attacked by the diva bird's call at close (combat) range must roll their Toughness against the bird's Spellcasting result. An Extraordinary success leaves the character unaffected. An Excellent success leaves the character deafened for half the bird's Effect roll in rounds, but not stunned. A Good success extends the deafness to the full Effect roll in rounds, and again the Name-Giver takes no stun. An Average success extends the deafness to minutes, as well as the Name-Giver in question taking the stun damage, a Poor to hours, and a total failure results in permanent deafness. Increases in distance from the bird reduce the difficulty of the save by 2 for Short (5-15 yards), 5 for Medium (16-40) and 10 for Long (41-80). | |
I had thought of myself as having seen the worst that the post-Scourge world could offer, and having developed some measure of equanimity in dealing with Horror constructs and mutated creatures. Yet, I find myself still shaken and uncertain, unwilling to go back to my hut, fearful of what may lie in wait, of what may come creeping out of the darkness while I am asleep. This day, I have lost one of my best acquaintances in this village, a young man Named Tiji'keiypa. He had attached himself to me soon after my arrival in this village, appointing himself my guide and assistant, bringing me my meals and carrying my less fragile gear when I allowed it. I admit that I had grown somewhat fond of the boy. His industriousness and earnest curiosity about my studies had a sort of endearing charm. And now he is gone.
I really wish Evanten would move on. His descriptions of the -- things -- that live in the Servos are beginning to give me nightmares. I dreamed last night of meeting this nasty in one of the lower galleries. Got up, had a pot of tea, and spent the rest of the night in my study. Going back to sleep was simply out of the question. -- Kylara B'Tenn, Senior Clerk, Fauna Room, Hall of Records
Tiji and I had set out in the early morning, intending to tavel about a half day's walk to the north to study the differences in the foothills that lie in that region. A small change in elevation can make remarkable changes in plant and animal life, and I expected to find a quite diverse environment from what I had previously seen.
We had nearly reached the area where I intended to make camp, and spend the rest of the day and the next morning making observations and sketching. The ground had taken a sharp angle, and we were climbing with some difficulty, myself more than Tiji -- to be expected given our difference in age. He had gone well ahead to scout the trail, and I had lost sight of him among the trees when I heard him cry out.
I rushed to the spot to find him apparently trapped in the midst of a web spun between two large trees, its edges nearly invisible but its center a deep crimson. His jaw hung slack and his eyes were wide and staring. I looked quickly about for the spider that had spun such a web, and realized with shock that the web was the creature, that what I had taken for strands of webbing were tentacles, many of which had pierced Tiji's skin. The deep crimson color was the young man's blood being drawn from his body.
I circled around swiftly and discovered a small, bulbous body at the convergence of the tentacles. Drawing my blowgun, I made use of a toxin given me by a Windling friend and put a dart into the creature. It convulsed and died within seconds, crumpling into a wad no larger than my arms could encircle, and freeing Tiji, but he had lost too much blood already. I have had few times in my life when I regretted the Passion that I follow, but I would have traded all my years of research then and there to have been chosen by Garlen instead of Jaspree.
I fashioned a litter and took Tiji and the creature both back to the village, the one for a proper funeral by his own people and the other for dissection. A full examination of the creatue will have to wait until morning, but I made some basic observations while the body of Tiji was prepared for the rites. I have time, now, as we sit vigil for his soul, to record what I have learned thus far.
The creature is known as qural'lotectica, the self-spinning web. The elders tell me that they have not seen one in many years, but that during the Scourge, they were quite prevalent. From what they tell me, the qural was made by a Horror to roam the tunnels of the underground shelters the tribespeople fashioned, to strike out of the darkness and then vanish, bringing uncertainty and fear into their lives. The creature is nearly transparent, making it exceedingly hard to see - unless it has fed recently. It dines on the blood of anything warm, but prefers the blood of Name-Givers. The blood that it consumes dyes it crimson for several hours, until its meal is digested.
The tentacles are hollow, and serve to carry blood from the creature's prey to its stomach, which comprises most of the body. At the end of each tentacle is a sharp claw, round in cross section, and hollow. Glands at the base of the claw secrete a paralyzing toxin, so that once the qural has laid a tentacle into its prey, more tentacles can be easily attached, and the creature will not take damage from the struggles of its meal.
The natives tell me that the qural is vulnerable to fire, and that they would frequently march through their tunnels in large groups, pushing lit torches into every nook and cranny that could possibly hold one of these abominations. The tentacles are also not terribly strong, and can be broken or severed with the application of sufficient strength or a sharp blade. The toxin, however, and the creature's near invisibility more than compensate for these weaknesses.
I have heard no reports of anything like this being used by Horrors
outside of the jungle. We can perhaps count ourseles fortunate that Horrors,
unlike Name-Givers, are not given to sharing their knowledge each with
the other. I share this knowledge in the hopes that no one else will meet
with Tiji's fate.
| DEX: 14 STR: 9 TOU: 12
PER: 8 WIL: 9 CHA: 3 |
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| Initiative: 14 | Physical Defense: 13 |
| Number of Attacks: 4 | Spell Defense: 16 |
| Attack: 12 | Social Defense: 8 |
| Damage: 15 | Armor: 2 |
| Number of Spells: 1 | Mystic Armor: 4 |
| Spellcasting: 18 | Knockdown: 14 |
| Effect: 20 (paralysis) | Recovery Tests: 3 |
| Death Rating: 60 | Combat Movement: 40 |
| Wound Threshold: 12 | Full Movement: 80 |
| Unconsciousness Rating: 48 | Legend Points: 1,400 |
| Equipment: None | |
| Loot: None | |
| Notes: The qural has normal vulnerability to toxins delivered either by ingestion or injection. It takes double damage from fire and fire-based attacks, such as flame flash. Noticing a stalking qural requires a PER test against a 15 in normal forest lighting conditions, a 20 in subterranean areas. No roll is required to notice a qural that has fed within the past three hours due to the coloration provided by the blood it has ingested. | |
Scattered throughout the jungle, but thankfully rare, is a variety the natives call shi'raksen, the thunder tree. It is easily recognized by bark and foliage. The bark of the trunk is a dark grey in hue, smooth and ringed horizontally with ridges approximately the width of an elf's finger, spaced a bit less than two elven handspans apart. The leaves are pinnate and serrate, growing in clusters of six and groupings of five clusters, and reaching a maximum length about half again that of an elf's middle finger. Blooming occurs year-round, as is customary, with the flowers sprouting from the center of the leaf groupings. The blooms themselves have five outer petals and four inner, of deep rose and pale blue respectively, with a deep calyx of a golden hue. The stamens have golden stems and are tipped with bright blue. Once fertilized, the flower closes and begins to harden into a seed pod.
It is the fruit of this tree that makes it worth noting, as a travel hazard and a biological curiosity. The pod grows to about the size of an elf's fist, and has a shiny, very dense skin of a deep blue color. Inside, the seeds are embedded in pulp of surpassing sweetness. Some of the natives use the unripe fruits to brew wine of amazing potency. When the seeds ripen, however, the pod's connection to the branch shrivels. The pulp inside quickly decays and ferments, producing a large quantity of gas. The skin being so dense, most of the gas is trapped inside the pod. Eventually, the process of decay begins to attack the skin itself from the inside, making it thinner and thinner. Some of the pods will burst simply from the pressure contained inside, as it passes the ability of the skin to contain it. This normally happens with the pods near the top of the tree. Warmed by sunlight, the pressure builds rapidly during the day, and in the late afternoon, the pods begin to explode with reports like small firecannon.
The pods in the lower branches, however, do not receive enough sunlight to warm them to bursting. The usual circumstance is that they fall from the tree, as the stem withers, and upon striking the ground explode, scattering their seeds. These falling pods pose some hazard to Name-Givers, for the escaping gas flings the seeds with such force that they can do injury to those nearby. If close enough, an exploding pod can drive its seeds through leather armor, possibly even through metal if a seed were to find a seam or other weak point.
The natives have been known to use these pods as weapos, harvesting them before fully ripe and carrying them with extreme caution. Hurling or dropping a pod near an enemy is sufficient to cause great injury, considering that the natives have little concept of armor.
Travellers in the Servos are warned to avoid passing near to these trees, especially if they are riding large animals, as the vibrations in the ground from their passing can shake down a pod or two, certainly sufficient to spook the riding beasts and possibly cause grievous injury. As well, one should be cautious about engaging the natives in combat. If it becomes unavoidable, watch for a native attempting to throw an object at the party. The hurled object could be merely a stone, a throwing axe, or one of the thunder tree's explosive pods.
Game Mechanics:
An exploding pod does 5+d8 steps damage, and attacks with either the
skill/talent of the wielder or with a step 8 if falling from a tree. Harvesting
a ripe pod requires a DEX test against a 15 to avoid a premature explosion.
Harvesting unripe pods is a simple action requiring no DEX test, but an
INT test or Botany Skill test must be made (against a 12 or 8 respectively)
to distinguish ripe pods from unripe. Carrying ripe pods into combat requires
a DEX save against a 12 each action to avoid jostling the pod and setting
it off by accident. A similar test must be made against an 8 when throwing
a pod, to avoid squeezing it too hard while throwing. Natives of the jungle
do not make DEX tests to throw the pods, and make all other tests at half
the stated difficulties due to familiarity with the pods.
Thus it is with a beast the natives of the Servos refer to as lektas'tigathna, literally the "surprising ankle biter". The tigathna reaches a maximum size of three elven handspans in diameter, and appears for all the Passions to be a harmless ball of fur. However, hidden underneath the fur are six quite powerful, if short, legs, and a mouth nearly half the length of the creature, filled with teeth sharper than a well-forged blade.
Preferring to dig a burrow alongside a game run, the tigathna will lie at the top of its burrow and hold itself motionless, its green-tinged brown fur giving it the appearance of a moss-covered stone. When a game animal passes by, the tigathna pops up out of its burrow and clamps its teeth on its victim's leg, usually severing the tendons on the first bite. Thus crippled, the victim has little defense against further slashing attacks, which usually go for the throat next. Frequently, tigathna will work together in packs of three or four to bring down a large animal, and divide the spoils among themselves.
Even animals which are normally predators are vulnerable to the pop-up attack. Tigathna rarely check to see what is passing, only noting whether or not it is within striking distance. I have seen a large hunting cat brought down within heartbeats by a group of five tigathna, one determined individual of which kept its grip on the cat's throat with both teeth and legs despite being rent by multiple strokes of the cat's foreclaws.
Tigathna are mammalian, and have litters of two to five kits once per year. They mate only for the season. Males are highly conscious of status within a pack, and frequently quarrel to establish their place. Females do not normally take part in pack status, but there are rare exceptions. Packs tend to be loose in structure, coming together as needed and separating again after a successful hunt. Thus, before a group hunt can be undertaken, the status order of the newly brought-together pack must be established. Listening for the snarling of a tigathna pack can give warning of a group hunt.
The natives distrust the game trails, preferring to travel through the
upper branches of the trees. When walking on the ground, they poke at anything
suspicious with the butts of their spears, constantly looking for unpleasant
surprises. I, too, have taken to prodding anything that I am uncertain
of with my staff. Alas, I fear I shall have to replace my staff in the
near future, as it has collected far too many bite marks, and the bottom
is beginning to splinter.
| DEX: 9 STR: 4 TOU: 5
PER: 3 WIL: 6 CHA: 3 |
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| Initiative: 9 | Physical Defense: 11 |
| Number of Attacks: 1 | Spell Defense: 8 |
| Attack: 13 | Social Defense: 6 |
| Damage: 9 | Armor: 2 |
| Number of Spells: None | Mystic Armor: 1 |
| Spellcasting: None | Knockdown: 12 |
| Effect: None | Recovery Tests: 3 |
| Death Rating: 35 | Combat Movement: 35 |
| Wound Threshold: 9 | Full Movement: 70 |
| Unconsciousness Rating: 27 | Legend Points: 130 |
| Equipment: None | |
| Loot: None | |
| Notes: Once a tigathna has latched onto an opponent, it must make a WIL save against its remaining Death Rating to let go before the opponent falls. If the victim falls down, or the tigathna is attacked by someone else, the tigathna may change its attack strategy however it sees fit. Thus, if a tigathna bites into your ankle, if you fall down intentionally, it will probably let go. However, its next move is normally to go for the throat. | |
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