Archive for Creatures

They gather frankincense by burning that storax which Phoinikes carry to Hellas; they burn this and so get the frankincense; for the spice-bearing trees are guarded by small Winged Snakes of varied color, many around each tree; these are the snakes that attack Aigyptos Nothing except the smoke of storax will drive them away from the trees . . .

Herodotus, Histories III

In the Roman province of Arabia there lives a most unusual, and dangerous, serpent that is found nowhere else on earth. They are small (about a foot long), aggressive, colorful and armed with deadly venom. What marks them as unique is that they possess a pair of leathery bat-like winged. They fly with a nimble grace and if need be swoop down to attack with deadly accuracy. Their colors seem to constantly shift in the light, and their moods, sometimes rippling across their bodies in pulsing patterns when agitated.

A union of Hali-Spawn and human host, the gestalt organism is able to engage in physical combat while simultaneously casting spells. Bullets inflict negligible damage, and they are only partially susceptible to slashing weapons. Moreover, the ichor of the Huhuotl regenerates even traumatic physical damage until its hit points are reduced to -6 or lower; seemingly dead, the Huhuotli may resume activity when hit points have regenerated back above 0. The Red Gaze of a Huhuotl plunges its victim into a killing rage, in which he may attack friends as well as his enemy. If faced with a particularly worthy opponent, the Huhuotl may draw its victim into extremely close quarters, then attempt to attach one of its sucker-mouthed tentacles to his/her throat, simultaneously draining 1D4 hit points of blood per round and injecting a small amount of its own ichor into the bloodstream. Without a complete blood transfusion within 4 hours, the victim’s blood becomes commingled with the Huhuotli ichor, and will not allow itself to be removed without killing the host.

The octopoid inhabitants of the Lake of Hali spend millennia in a larval stage that initially is not much larger than the human head. Shortly after hatching, many are transported across light years of space to colonize distant worlds; whether this is done to spread the progeny of Hastur throughout the universe, or as a defense against the cannibalistic attentions of their sires is unknown. Physically defenseless for all their formidable alien magic, the infant Spawn must pursue a parasitic relationship with other species to fulfill its bloodthirsty nature. The Spawn foment constant warfare among host races wherever they go, selecting the fittest as host bodies, and driving all other inhabitants to extinction. Countless worlds have been overrun and turned into nightmarish outposts of Carcosa by the Spawn of Hali in this manner. In addition to their Amazonian colony, the Spawn of Hali may have infested other remote regions of the earth such as Australia, where they may lie at the root of the myth of the giant- headed, weather-controlling Wandjina.

Small, goblin-like creatures that feed off the filth and excrement of human habitation. They possess a long and sticky tongue, used for feeding. Akaname are associated with the unclean places of human habitation: bath houses, out houses, etcetera. They are especially attracted to areas with large, hard to clean spaces, such as prisons, flop houses, and sewers. They are not picky and, just as cockroaches do not discriminate, Akaname are found in the spaces occupied by the both the rich and the poor. They have
an uncanny ability to remain unseen by humans, although dogs and cats can sense their presence; when the family dog is staring at a spot on a wall, or scratching at a corner of a tatami mat; when the house cat stands with arched back and fur on end, they are more likely than not chasing a mouse or other common commensurate pest, but sometimes they sense that they are in the presence of an Akaname. Even the mildest mannered pet will attack an Akaname once their presence is detected, and many a beloved family friend has met their end by attacking the disease-ridden yokai.

He was tall and slender, with pale yellow skin, all-black eyes rimmed in red, and a long, silver-grey pony tail. His ink-stained fingers were unusually long, and cold to the touch. His clothes were old fashioned, from decades ago, and formal–black tails and a top hat. They were slightly worn, but in good repair.
His voice was like gravel, yet deep, warm, and strangely soothing. His forehead was mostly occupied by a strange, yellow tattoo. Just seeing it made me cry, and I was terrified. Still, I knew I needed him. He would make it all better.

–Dr. William Larson, neurosurgeon, convicted axe murderer, and cannibal.

The Katachi no Shouyu is an experiment gone wrong. One of the functions that the shouyokai fulfill is that of an organic battery used to power ongoing spells such as gates. Vast numbers of shouyokai are linked together using technology absorbed from the knowledge of countless civilizations that have fallen to the mold. One such array was disrupted in Edo Period Nippon during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu resulting in the creation of a formless mass of viscous black protoplasm reeking of soy sauce. The faces of the individual shouyu occasionally bubble up and are visible along the surface of the Katachi, and there is a constant screaming sound coming from it as its once-human components writhe in pain, constantly being consumed.

Shouyokai are revenants reanimated through the agent of the Shouyu mold. Shouyu is an alien parasitical mold that has enslaved planetary populations. Every part of the Shouyo is connected to its collective consciousness, and therefore, part of the whole. There is no central intelligence or body: each colony of mold IS the collective consciousness, and that trait is extended to the beings that it infects. The only goal of Shouyu is to expand.

These creatures are shape changing humanoid predators. Their natural form is a large, powerfully built creature with long claws on both hands and feet. Their powerful jaws can open quite wide and are filled with sharp teeth and bone crushing shearing plates. Their eyes are red and they possess night vision equal to that of a tiger. However, they are usually found in their camouflage form, appearing as a normal average human being. Shifting into their natural form can be done in about 2 minute, but assuming their human form takes half an hour. Their camouflaged form is typically 35-45 SIZ points smaller than their natural once in appearance, but their weight remains constant.

This is a “Lovecraftian” monster for use in a traditional fantasy roleplaying games. Slithering Rats use rules and stats from MAZES (a new RPG in 9 th Level Games’ new POLYMORPH system line of RPGs).

A Note to Our Readers: The Mazes RPG uses a modern rules system focused on dungeon adventures – Mazes FEELS like games from the 1970s but runs like RPGs from today. An integral part of the Mazes design philosophy is the idea of “keeping it weird” – specifically players throwing players off their game by always presenting them with strange things that they’ve never seen before – which used to be a key part of the 1970s RPG experience that we’ve largely forgotten today.

“Though I had mayde the pact with the Lorde of the Great Abyss and knew this being would visit, I could not have been prep’red for its majesty. Its skin all over midnyght black, it tower’d over me, wielding the great trident.
In my mind was spoken a demand for the reason I had summoned it.”

–Written on a scroll, circa late 18th