Archive for Creatures

Moss Skeletons

I want your skull, I need your skull

— The Misfits

Typically native to marshlands and lowland wooded areas the Bonescraw are in fact a single, semi-sentient bryophyte which fell to Earth on an ancient meteorite. Once it has contaminated an area it will spread as a deep, dense network of carnivorous, acidic moss and lichen that blights the land. Any creature unfortunate enough to enter the moss falls prey to the sedative pollen that it releases and is slowly dissolved and digested, leaving only their bones behind.

Imagination can be a funny thing, taken down one road it can be a limitless resource to draw upon when one feels the need for entertainment, support, and even salvation. On the other hand, it can destroy trust, relationships, and even the very fabric of what we believe to be real when we investigate the dark corners of the world. The odd thing is that given its name, imagination, we all agree on what exactly an imagination is when it is working and when it is a fault, how very unimaginative. Imagination is nothing more than rational thought stretched to its very limit, that the things we imagine as just the shadows at the edge of our vision we dare not stare at. We imagine the things that we could never see or comprehend, we imagine that everyone can make believe or invent whatever they wish but then why do we find… 

Professor Desmond Fairbroke on the imagination of the collective, at a café in Amsterdam.

These strange flying creatures are found in the dark void of space, deep in the earth, and in the nightmare realms of the Dreamlands. They are often found guarding sorceress lairs, blasphemous temples to ancient gods, or roosting in long forgotten ruins. Abyssal Bats can lie dormant for years on end, rousing from their lairs to feed when disturbed. Roosts can contain anywhere between a handful to well over a thousand individuals. Some sorcerers have developed spells to control large flocks to do general tasks (such as guard a location from intruders) or individual Abyssal Bats to do specific behaviors (such as retrieving items or delivering messages).

Jack of the Lanterns, Samuel Haynes the Varsity Athlete, the Scarecrow Wanderer, the Lord of Bonfires

“Oh, you’ve walked with him, when the skies turn tombstone gray and the crows cry vain laments for summer’s passing?  I’ve walked with him, too. I too know the old ways.”

The Autumn King, Jack of the Lanterns, the Scarecrow Wanderer, the Lord of Bonfires This strange being may be a particularly piquant mask of Nyarlathotep, its own independent being, or perhaps some strange, tulpa-like thoughtform given life from humanity’s collective remembrance of uncounted leafy bonfires, long shadows across front lawns, grinning gourds with candlelit smiles, and distant train whistles. Whoever or whatever the Autumn King is, those who encounter this blazing, wistful spirit are forever changed. The Autumn King has many appearances, from humble to horrifying. Here are but two: 

These tiny creatures are not of this, or any world. Rather, they dwell in spaces in-between worlds and are attracted to weak points where two dimensions overlap, especially gates created by mythos magic. Here they nibble at the edges of trans-dimensional passages, weakening them, making them less reliable, having them fail or transport the traveler to a random location on a critically failed luck roll. If left unchecked trans-dimensional can destroy a gate by having it collapse in upon itself, a process that takes about a decade of unchecked infestation.  

Trans-dimensional mites appear as an large Common Woodlouse, about the size of a tarantula, with a pair of long thin pincers at the front of their bodies, similar to those of a Deathstalker scorpion. Beneath their bodies are a pair of long, spring jointed legs allowing the creatures to jump up to 12 feet with a good degree of accuracy (50%). A small gate can support an infestation of perhaps a dozen individuals, while larger ones could support up to a hundred. 

British – A Northern English version of the supernatural Hellhounds, that fly across the heavens looking for the souls of unbaptized children. Some legends link them to the Hounds of Tindalos of blasphemous lore. The sound of their diabolical yelping can indicate a pending death. They are said to travel in pairs, and described as having the body of a dog with the head of an infant. – Owen, Rev Elias, Welsh Folklore, pp 179. 1887.

“For overhead are sweeping Gabriel’s hounds

Doomed with their impious lord the flying hart

To chase for ever on aërial ground.”

– Wordsworth, William, The Miscellaneous Poems of William Wordsworth, Volume 3, pp. 156. 1820

“Monstrous human-headed dogs, who traverse the air, and are often heard although seldom seen.” – Henderson, William, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England of 1879, pp 202. 1880

These unfortunate creatures were once men, who through betrayal or misfortunate ended up wandering the labyrinth of the Great Old One Eihort. They either never encountered Eihort or refused its bargain to become a host for its brood in exchange for being released from the Labyrinth. They then either escaped the Great Old One’s wrath or were spared to wander endlessly in the endless passages of the labyrinth. Lost, desperate, and likely dying of thirst or hunger these people then drank from one of the maze’s pools fed by dripping water or ate some of the strange glowing fungus found growing throughout the labyrinth. Once this alien material entered their bodies they were doomed, spiraling into a vortex of madness and mutation.  

These pigs are extremely rare, the result of selective breeding by blasphemous cultists, sorcerers, and covens with skills in animal husbandry. Despite a keepers’ best efforts, the special traits of this pig do not often breed true. It is estimated that few as 1 in 250 piglets sired or born of an Echo Swine inherit the special genes which makes them unique. 

At a glance an Echo Swine appears identical to regular domestic pigs. Those making a hard Natural History roll, or whom are familiar with raising pigs, may notice these creatures have a three dewclaws on each trotter, whereas normal pigs only have two. In behavior they are also similar to normal pigs, but seem to always be hungry no matter how much they eat. They maintain good muscle mass no matter how much they ingest or how little physical activity they have. They also do not like to be around other pigs, unless they are in season for breeding.  Otherwise they are usually kept in solitary pens to prevent them from killing and eating their passel mates.

“Ghouls are usually described as doglike or canine in appearance, a description that has as much to do with their pack behavior and habit of digging as it does their specific skull shape.

…

To change up ghoul imagery, try other graveyard scavengers. Ghouls in your campaign might also resemble or at least evoke:

…

Flies (bristles on arms, segmented eyes, green-blue sheen on flesh)”

— Kenneth Hite et al., “Hideous Creatures – A Bestiary of the Cthulhu Mythos”

I decided to take Mr. Hite’s advice to heart, and write a retheme for one of my favorite monsters in Delta Green. The book lists several other aesthetic options, but I had the most ideas for flies and they were the most different from your ‘stereotypical ghoul.’ I also took the opportunity to elaborate on and rewrite some existing mechanics I felt were too vague or just didn’t like.

Ghouls are ageless creatures that dwell underground and emerge to feed on the dead. Any corpse will do, but for some reason, they have a taste for humanity. Despite their scavenger-like behavior, ghouls are as dangerous as any predator. They are big and tough, four arms bristling with hairs and tipped with claws, nearly every inch of their skin hardened into a green-blue shell. Their mouths appear human at first glance, but open to reveal gummy jaws with a few prehensile fangs and a long rasping tongue.

Dedicated Re-animators

“How dare you judge my work”

– Herbert West

No doctor is complete without their helpers. Attending Physicians, and especially nurses. Skill and genius carry us all forward but without those smaller, meaner helping hands, no progress can ever be made. A certain Dr. West was a man of exceeding hubris but even he knew the above to be true.

After breaking the laws of the sane by reanimating the dead. West capriciously toyed with the mechanical parts and produced many abominations. Some were toys to satisfy his curiosity others were meant to aid his mighty work. Aid he needed but without those pesky protests that so often belch from the mouths of lesser minds.

West’s Nurses. Genderless fusions of legs and hands gathered from the aftermaths of West’s more vigorous creations. Infused with a will to aid in the work of defeating death. Even after the Good doctor’s disappearance, they still lurk in long forgotten haunts.