April 11, 2011

Mythic Monsters-Ieles

This is part of the A-Z Blog Challenge. Herein I will be presenting a new monster that hopefully has not been seen before in any RPG game. These will be drawn from stories and mythologies found in a variety of real-world cultures.

Ieles

The song was a thing of beauty. How it came to be out here in the middle of no where was unknown, but it held a haunting call; half a promise and half a plea. The caravan guard called a halt in the road as he tried to determine where it was coming from. The song filled his mind as he moved away from the road bringing a dullness. His mind came instantly awake as the cat-man leaped at him and sank its teeth into his flesh, but by then it was too late.

Part of the Eastern Europe set of mythos, the Ieles is a large, bipedal cat creature that preys on travelers. They tend to stalk crossroads in particular. Crossroads seem to be a focusing point for their power. The closer they are to a crossroad the stronger they are, but if they actually enter the crossroad the focusing point drains them of all power. Thus they entice their potential prey away with alluring songs of a mystical quality.

They are similar to vampires in that they drain blood from their victims. This is how they feed. They are hunted by nearly all other life forms as they are a societal pariah so they prefer to stalk near old abandoned crossroads.

Abilities
-Blood Drain: They are able to latch onto their victims and are hard to shake off. In addition, they drain for damage but this also heals them as well.
-Crossroads: Depending on how close they are to the crossroad center they gain bonuses to hit and damage.
-Song: Their song is mesmerizing and its attack forces their target to move toward them. If the song is continued the victim also loses defenses.
-Pounce: Their initial attack can cover a large amount of distance.

Adventures
-A pack of Ieles have been plaguing the area. It is known how to defeat them; by forcing them into the center of the crossroads they set upon. The party has been tasked to accomplish this feat.

-A party member has managed found a young kitten and it has latched onto the character as well. As it starts to grow up it is revealed to be an Ieles. Conflicts will start to arise when other people realize this. There are claims they can not be domesticated and are dangerous for everyone. The cat begins to show signs it is regressing to its natural state. What is the character to do, and how will the rest of the party react?

-A group of mercenaries is out hunting a pack of Ieles that have been plaguing the area. In reality, it is the mercenaries that have been doing to attacking and making it look like it was the Ieles, though there are really none in the region. Thus far the mercenaries have not been able to stop the Ieles attacks, so the party is hired to try and stop the Ieles themselves. Things will get ugly soon.

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