Lake Blut, nestled in the northern foothills of the World's Edge Mountains, is a dangerous body of water. The northern barbarians that dwell on its shore warn their children to steer clear of the water, lest they be snatched and eaten by Der Blutschink, an unclean spirit of the lake that thrives on blood. Even adults are wary whenever they must venture across the fog-shrouded waters to fish or attend to the shrine on the other side. The Land of Darkness is home to many terrible things, and in this corner of it, that means this bloody demon of the water.
Der Blutschink
Number Encountered: 1
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 2 claw (1d6) + 1 bite (1d8)
Armor: as leather + shield
Morale: 9
Bloodsucking: The Blutschink thrives on the blood of lively humans. If a claw attack and bite attack successfully hit the same target, he grabs hold of them and latches his sharp teeth onto their body to suck their blood. He continues to hold onto them, draining 1d6 HP per round, until the victim is pulled out of his grasp. While sucking the victim's blood, the Blutschink can only make 1 claw attack to any other target. The Blutschink will never suck the blood of anyone that is currently ill or the victim of a curse, or any Froglings or Elves. He loves sucking the blood of children.
Collection: The Blutschink collects together the bones and baubles of his victims in a pile hidden in the vicinity of his lake. He often constructs elaborate towers out of the bones.
Resistances: The Blutschink is immune to damage from mundane weapons. He is only harmed by magical weapons and weapons made from gold.
Swallow: If the Blutschink brings an opponent down to 1 HP by sucking their blood, the next attack (if it successfully hits) instead results in the Blutschink crushing them into a condensed shape and swallowing them whole.
Trap-Setting: The Blutschink sets traps made from vines and roots around the edge of his lake to ensnare any victims who venture too close to the shore.
Der Blutschink appears as a dark-furred bear with snaggly mismatched fangs, long arms that hang at his sides, and human legs constantly dripping with blood. His snout, buried deep in the guts of his victims, is always caked with blood, dripping down onto his chest and arms. Der Blutschink's presence is always apparent from the slowly spreading swirls of blood that seep through the water of Lake Blut as he wades through. He can speak, but he is a child-eating water demon of few words, mostly growling, grunting, and pitifully mewling. And, ultimately, he cannot be pacified or placated; at certain points in the history of Bairglyana, town on the shores of Lake Blut, frenzied prophets have begun programs of regular child-sacrifice to stave off the beast, but, like, well, a bear getting used to human food and venturing further into civilization, this only made him hunger more (and so, such schemes were abandoned). For as long as anyone can remember, Der Blutschink has haunted the lake and devoured the occasional child or fisherman that ventured just far enough away from the lights of the village.
That is, until now.
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| Vodyanoy in three of his forms |
In recent days, another water demon has taken residence in Lake Blut, and seems poised to evict the lake's longtime residence entirely. Vodyanoy, "He from the Water," the many-bodied but of one mind amphibious shapeshifter whose presence is steadily expanding across the many lakes, rivers, and streams of the Land of Darkness, has arrived. In his base form, Vodyanoy appears as a fleshy frog-like humanoid with long drooping facial hair, usually wearing a wide-brimmed hat made from sedges and clothing made of algae and water lilies. When he arrives in a new body of water, the deepest hole in the bottom of the lake becomes a doorway to his half-sunken home, where him and his wife Vodyanitsa collect the souls of drowning victims in clay jars. A wannabe lesser god, Vodyanoy (who is himself subject to Tir, also known as the star Sirius, the god of rain) sets up shop in a new lake or river and makes a nuisance of himself, dragging sheep and cows and children beneath the waves and blocking up waterwheels to pressure the locals to make offerings of butter and honeycomb (his two favorite foods). He upholds his end of the bargain, though; as the owner of all the freshwater fishes, he provides for bounteous catches, and even exerts some influence on the beehives to keep the flow of honey going. And it would seem that Vodyanoy, that selfish godling, and his wife Vodyanitsa have set their sights on Bairglyana to expand their sphere of influence. And Der Blutschink is in the way; can't have two water demons haunting the same lake, now can you?
Vodyanoy
Number Encountered: 1
Hit Dice: 6+1
Attacks: 2 attacks of varying type (see below) (1d6)
Armor: as leather
Morale: 9
Catfish Mount: The Vodyanoy often rides upon an oversized
wels catfish (2 HD, 1 bite attack (1d6), armor as leather, can't move on land).
Drowning: Vodyanoy will attempt to drown targets if they get too close to the water. A target must make a save vs. paralysis or be dragged under the water and drown within 1d8 combat rounds.
Many Instances: There is only one Vodyanoy, but he appears in many instances across many lakes and rivers in the Land of Darkness. The only way to kill Vodyanoy would be to eliminate all of his instances, but there are too many to count. At best, he can only be dispelled from a given body of water.
Offerings: Vodyanoy is placated by offerings of melted butter, cooking oil, honey and honeycombs, and live sheep or cattle.
Owner of Fish: All fish and other freshwater animals in the Land of Darkness are understood to be "owned" by Vodyanoy. He has uncanny influence over them, and can call forth up to 20 HD of freshwater animals per day. He especially favors eels, catfish, and frogs.
Resistances and Weaknesses: Vodyanoy is immune to damage from mundane weapons. He is only harmed by magical weapons and weapons made from gold. He is afraid of fire; all fire effects deal +1 damage. He is also dissuaded by the sign of Par (the god Truth as misunderstood by the northern forest-dwelling barbarians).
Shapeshifting: The Vodyanoy can take on a variety of forms. These include: his base, frog-like humanoid form; a soaking wet fat peasant man; a large freshwater fish; a floating log; or a floating tree trunk with wings that allows him to fly short distances. The mode of his attack changes with his form (so in his peasant form he attacks with farm tools, slams against his target in his log form, etc.).
Vodyanitsa, Vodyanoy's wife, is a rusalka, the lingering presence of a young woman who drowned herself because of an unhappy marriage (or, in some cases, was drowned by her conniving husband-widower). Rusalki look like pallid young women with long, wild, unbraided hair flowing down from their heads, wide eyes and lips the color of drowning. Their heads are oft adorned with sedges and wilted roses. They linger on lakeshores and clamber up in the trees, becoming undying spirits of the waters of the forests. Not all rusalki are murderers, but many are; and, as spirits of the gentle waters, they kill mostly indirectly, with exhaustion and suffocation. The most vengeful rusalki call men (mostly men) out into the waters to drown them. A rusalka will dissipate if her hateful husband is killed (or, if he is already dead, if his grave is at least desecrated), but most take too much delight in their new un-lives to want that resolution. And there is, of course, always the risk that with the rusalka of a given river dispelled, the river itself will trickle away to nothing. The kindest rusalki often watch over the rivers that feed cities of thousands; and it would be a truly evil design to get justice for these souls.
Vodyanitsa is much happier with her new husband than she ever was while she was alive. Unlike Vodyanoy, there is only one Vodyanitsa (in mind and in body), and whenever she leaves their subaquatic home for a specific lake or river her husband inhabits, that Vodyanitsa is the real one.
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| I just really wanted to find a place for this illustration of a nix, more or less the German equivalent of a rusalka. One of my favorite pictures ever!! |
Rusalka
Number Encountered: 1d12
Hit Dice: 3+1
Attacks: 1 forced dance OR 1 tickle OR 1 drown (see below)
Armor: none
Morale: 8
Drowning: When in water, a rusalka will attempt to draw her victim out and then drag them below, tying up their legs in her long hair. A target must make a save vs. paralysis or be dragged under the water and drown within 1d8 combat rounds.
Forced Dancing: When outside of water, a rusalka can point at a target and force them to begin dancing on a failed save. They will keep dancing until either they collapse from exhaustion or a spell frees them from her grasp.
Tickling: A rusalka can tickle someone to death. The target must save or succumb to laughter and be unable to act that turn; three failed saves and the victim's heart gives out and they die. A target who has collapsed from exhaustion (see above) dies immediately if a rusalka tickles them.
Turning: As undead, rusalki can be turned by priests of Truth. However, during the festival of roses (a week in
the month of Thaigrasihr), they are immune to turning. During that time, they are especially bold.
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| Der Blutschink's island |
While Der Blutschink does not sleep, he does have a lair, a little island where he collects together the refuse from his devouring and where he goes to just mope. Recently, especially with Vodyanoy's arrival (which Der Blutschink is well aware of), he has been very morose and hopeless. He still hunts for children to suck the blood of and eat, but he just doesn't feel with it anymore. It seems to him that the writing is on the wall, and the era of Der Blutschink may genuinely be at an end. When he is encountered, a reaction roll, rather than providing a range of results from hostile to friendly, is instead from whether he is angry and lashing out to moping and despondent. During the day, there is a 4-in-6 chance that Der Blutschink is in his island lair; at night, a 2-in-6 chance. His lair is covered with elaborate towers made from human bones and pieces of clothing, including some treasure. There is a 2-in-6 chance of a tower having a bauble or piece of jewelry worth 1d6x20 drachmae on it (these aren't an especially rich people). If Der Blutschink is angry while in his lair, he will lash out and knock over these towers, scattering their contents everywhere. Der Blutschink, despite his communication difficulties and thirst for blood, would greatly appreciate any attempt to remove Vodyanoy from Lake Blut. He has never been offered help before.
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| Vodyanoy and Vodyanitsa's apartment. 1: Entrance chamber, 2: Main room, 3: Collection of souls in clay jars, 4: Pantry. |
Vodyanoy and Vodyanitsa's underwater apartment can be found at the bottom of a whirlpool on the eastern side of the lake. There is a 2-in-6 chance at any time that Vodyanoy is in the apartment, and a 4-in-6 chance that Vodyanitsa is. Entering the lair is simple: allow yourself to get sucked down the whirlpool. However, if one or both of the pair of water demons are in the apartment when you enter, they will immediately know. The safest bet would be waiting until you know that both of them are lurking on the lake; Vodyanoy is the harder to spot of the two, but Vodyanitsa sings a plaintive song.
Their apartment is comparatively small, with walls directly carved out of rock and dirt, water dripping and roots hanging from the ceiling. The main room has a large rug in Shahanistani style (now long watterlogged) on the floor, and several sitting/sleeping cushions stuffed with leaves along with a low-lying table or workbench. The walls are festooned with racks of kitchen utensils and household tools, as well as a shelf of twine and pieces of forest plants. A side room has walls lined with shelves holding clay jars with the souls of drowning victims (a few are actually the souls of drowned animals!). These jars are labeled with a name and their date of death. If the jar is opened or broken apart, the soul will release itself and its ghostly presence will, for one time only, assist the one who freed it. A large pantry next to the soul-room holds jars of honey and butter and crusts of bread.
Vodyanoy and Vodyanitsa would be greatly appreciative of any assistance in ousting Der Blutschink from the lake. They are rather self-important, but they understand when a deal must be struck; unlike Der Blutschink, they have experience in doing deals with mortals. Vodyanoy will promise gifts of items imbued with his power to those who promise to help him. These will primarily take the form of simple things woven from sedges that have control over freshwater animals. He can also provide gold coins, but these will reveal themselves to be river rocks when back in civilization.
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| Lake Blut and environs. The star is the town of Bairglyana, the triangle is a shrine to a local hunter-god, the tower is Der Blutschink's island lair, and the spiral is the whirlpool that leads to Vodyanoy's apartment. |
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The Blutschink was featured in the classic D&D hobbyist publication All the Worlds' Monsters, put out by Chaosium. The first volume even came out before the Monster Manual, making AtWM the first dedicated D&D monster book if you don't count Vol. 2: Monsters & Treasure! However, the version of the Blutschink in AtWM left something to be desired:
Just tacking on a bloodsucking mechanic onto the preexisting bear hug rules makes a lot of sense, but that's basically all this has going on, and its appearance is just "Looks exactly like a bear." I tried to do some more research into the folkloric background of the Blutschink, which was honestly kinda difficult because it doesn't seem that there's been any academic or even popular writing on it in English! But the name does imply the most interesting aspect of its appearance, which AtWM misses: the human legs (Blutschink means "blood ham," comparing human thighs to a ham hock). And, well, the rest of this post just flowed from me wanting to put this weird piece of Tyrolean folklore somewhere in King of Kings! The Vodyanoy is another monster from real world folklore that I've loved for quite some time, so it seemed like a no-brainer to use this as an opportunity to write up a very folkloric-style Vodyanoy for King of Kings and other old school games. Anyway, hope any of y'all can get any use out of this scenario/location or the monsters inhabiting it! Thanks for reading!
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| Also here's this side profile sketch of Der Blutschink from when I was first sketching him out. I liked how he looks in profile :) |
