Insane rage-filled priestesses of Antheus
The Maenads are women who have drank tainted wine brewed from special grapes grown from Antheus, the Blooming God. Upon drinking the tainted wine, the women are wracked with visions of the full glory of Antheus, introduced into the god’s world of madness, pleasure and the lust of conquest.
The Maenads look like disheveled women, singing and babbling which seems to be largely nonsense but is sometimes mixed with praises or songs to the glory of the Blooming God. A sticky, viscous wine-like nectar seeps from their mouths and even replaces their tears or blood with time. The nails and teeth of a Maenad become rather sharp, capable of ripping and tearing into a man’s flesh. In time the teeth of the Maenad look like that of a shark. The infection prolongs the life of the Maenads though meaning they can live for centuries unless killed in some manner.
The Maenads travel in packs, descending on anyone who stands in their way and tearing them apart with their nails, teeth or whatever weapons can be found. Victims are devoured, torn apart and sometimes used to fashion either armor or shrines to the glory of Antheus. While not a true hive mind, the Maenads seem to be coordinated by a unified intelligence, likely Antheus itself though it is possible there is a central Maenad or high priestess who is the main contact with Antheus and uses to channel the god’s will to the other Maenads. While the Maenads are insane and little more than feral, rage filled monsters, rarely one of their number might be heightened by Antheus into a more powerful position and giving various magical abilities to serve their god.
STR 18 CON 16 DEX 15 INT 9 POW 10
HP 17 WP 10
Size category: Medium
Movement: Maenads can move 11 meters/yards in a combat round.
Armor: None but some Maenads might fashion for themselves armor from the flesh of their enemies or from the bark of a tree. Either provides 1 point of armor when used but most Maenads rely on their Frenzied Dancing ability to avoid danger.
Attacks:
Claws/Teeth 60%, damage 1D4.
Frenzied Dancing 40%, damage 2D4 plus see ability below.
Skills: Alertness 70%, Athletics 50%.
Frenzied Dancing: The Maenads often move in a whirling and frenzied dance, lashing out at anyone who gets in their way while nimbly avoiding any danger. If successfully using their Frenzied Dancing attack, the Maenad is able to automatically parry or dodge the next successful attack against them as long as it takes place in the same round that the Frenzied Dancing attack was used. This can be used to dodge melee and ranged weapons but not lethal or radius attacks.
Unnatural Rituals: Those elevated Maenads may know a few rituals usually dealing with nature, the dance, wine or gates.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D4
