Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: D is for Dread

[Mangrum]

Here we are, the letter "D." This letter has the longest list of monsters by a fair margin, mainly thanks to three words: Demon, Devil, and Dire. If a monster is marked with an asterisk, there's some special Ravenloft context listed below.

Darkenbeast [Monsters of Faerûn]
Done! Darkling [Champions of Darkness]
Death dog* [Fiend Folio]
Death engine* [Die Vecna Die]
Deathbringer* [Monster Manual II]
Deathlock* [Libris Mortis]
Done! Death’s head tree [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Deathshrieker [Monster Manual III]
Deep hound [Races of Stone]
Demodand, shator* [Fiend Folio]
Done! Demon, alkilith* [Fiend Folio]
Done! Demon, babau* [Monster Manual]
Done! Demon, dretch [Monster Manual]
Demon, mane [Monster Manual]
Done! Demon, marilith* [Monster Manual]
Done! Demon, nalfeshnee* [Monster Manual]
Demon, quasit [Monster Manual]
Done! Demon, shadow demon [Denizens of Darkness]
Done! Demon, succubus* [Monster Manual]
Done! Demonwracked creature, apeman [Circle of Darkness]
Done! Demonwracked creature, bloated [Circle of Darkness]
Done! Demonwracked creature, impling [Circle of Darkness]
Done! Demonwracked creature, rejected [Circle of Darkness]
Done! Demonwracked creature, shapeless [Circle of Darkness]
Devil, bearded (barbazu)* [Monster Manual]
Done! Devil, chain (kyton) [Monster Manual]
Devil, Styx (amnizu)* [Monster Manual II]
Devil, horned (cornugon)* [Monster Manual]
Done! Devil, imp, imp [Monster Manual]
Devil, imp, assassin imp [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Devil, imp, bloodbag imp [Fiend Folio]
Done! Devil, imp, euphoric imp [Fiend Folio]
Done! Devil, imp, filth imp [Fiend Folio]
Done! Devil, lemure [Monster Manual]
Done! Dhampir (half-vampire) [Denizens of Dread]
Dharculus* [Planar Handbook]
Done! Dire ape* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire badger* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire barracuda* [Stormwrack]
Done! Dire bat* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire bear* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire boar* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire eagle* [Races of Stone]
Done! Dire eel* [Stormwrack]
Done! Dire elephant* [Monster Manual II]
Done! Dire elk* [Monster Manual II]
Done! Dire hawk* [Monster Manual II, Races of the Wild]
Dire hippopotamus* [Sandstorm]
Done! Dire horse* [Monster Manual II]
Done! Dire jackal* [Sandstorm]
Done! Dire lion* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire maggot* [Libris Mortis]
Done! Dire polar bear* [Frostburn]
Dire puma* [Sandstorm]
Done! Dire rat* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire raven* [Ravenloft Gazetteer I]
Dire rhinoceros* [Fiend Folio]
Done! Dire shark* [Monster Manual]
Dire snake* [Monster Manual II]
Dire tiger* [Monster Manual]
Dire toad* [Monster Manual II]
Dire tortoise* [Sandstorm]
Done! Dire vulture* [Sandstorm]
Done! Dire weasel* [Monster Manual]
Done! Dire wolf* [Monster Manual]
Dire wolverine* [Monster Manual]
Dire animal, smilodon (saber-toothed tiger)* [Frostburn]
Dokufu (mountain spider) [Oriental Adventures]
Doom guard* [Fiend Folio]
Doppelganger, dread [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Doppelganger, greater [Monsters of Faerûn]
Doppelganger plant, podling [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Dragon, shadow* [Monsters of Faerûn]
Dread warrior [Monsters of Faerûn]
Done! Dream spawn, ennui [Denizens of Dread]
Dream spawn, gray morph [Denizens of Dread]
Dream spawn, pale morph [new]
Dream spawn, shadow morph [Denizens of Dread]
Dream vestige* [Libris Mortis]
Dreamweaver [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Drowned [Monster Manual III]
Drownling [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Dryad [Monster Manual]
Dustblight [Sandstorm]
Dustform creature [Sandstorm]
Done! Dwarf [Monster Manual]

Ravenloft Context
Fiends in General: Most of the fiends listed here are represented in Ravenloft by a single known individual. Feel free to incorporate these villains.

Death Dog: “In the domain of Har’Akir, scores of death dog packs prowl the Valley of Kings, home to many ancient tombs, including that of Pharaoh Anhktepot. They seldom stray far, taking shelter in the innumerable cracks and hollows lining the valley walls and rushing forward in waves to attack anything that intrudes on their territory. No one knows what sustains these beasts in such barren terrain. On the Night of Thoth, an irregular, astrologically determined event when Anhktepot’s tomb mystically opens, the death dogs retreat to their lairs. So long as the pharaoh’s tomb stands open, the death dogs remain in their dens, peering down at explorers with flinty eyes and attacking only if approached.”

Death Engine: One of Vecna's most horrific necromantic war engines. PCs encounter a partially destroyed version of one in Vecna Reborn.

Deathbringer: “Vecna is known to have created several of these horrors to serve as officers in the armies of Cavitius, and a few may have survived the destruction of the Burning Peaks.”

Deathlock: “In Ravenloft, some occult scholars theorize that deathlocks may represent the aftereffects of failed attempts to attain lichdom.”

Demodand. Shator: Drigor, author of the Madrigorian.

Demon, Alkilith: Marasmos from Children of the Night: Demons.

Demon, Babau: The Whistling Fiend, who wiped out Creeana.

Demon, Marilith: Baltoi, trapped under the Sleeping Beast.

Demon, Nalfeshnee: Malistroi, leader of the Army of Darkness and creator of demonwracked creatures.

Demon, Succubus: Elsepeth, the soul collector.

Demonwracked Creature: “In the Abyss, nalfeshnees are the lords of woe. They judge the spirits brought before them and feed on the hatred and despair. Through arcane rituals and the power of the Abyss, they transform the husks of the damned into lesser fiends to fuel the Blood Wars.

“In the Demiplane of Dread, nalfeshnees’ ties to the Abyss are severed; they cannot summon demonic aid to their side, nor can they complete the proper rituals to transform the damned. However, should a nalfeshnee come into possession of a talisman of great power and evil, such as a cursed major artifact, it can tap into that power to warp the flesh of its victims, partially transforming them into demonlike wretches. These demonwracked creatures do not possess all of the powers of true fiends, but they are able to replicate most of their models’ extraordinary abilities.

“Combat: To create a demonwracked creature, a nalfeshnee must seize a living humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or giant, requiring a successful grapple check. Once the victim is in its clutches, the nalfeshnee expends one of its summon attempts for the day to pour wrenching, evil energies through the mortal’s flesh. The victim must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or be transformed in both body and soul. The save DC is Charisma-based. If the subject has a lawful alignment, she gains a +1 circumstance bonus on her saving throw; if she is good, she gains a +2 circumstance bonus. If the subject is chaotic, she suffers a –1 circumstance penalty, and a –2 penalty if she is evil. If the subject is Innocent, she gains an additional +2 sacred bonus to her save. These modifiers all stack with each other (thus, a lawful good Innocent gains a total +5 bonus to resist the transformation).

“Once transformed, the subject’s type permanently changes to monstrous humanoid. To be transformed into a given type of demonwracked creature, a victim must have at least as many Hit Dice as the type of demon it is modeled after. Demonwracked creatures retain none of their former abilities and only dim fragments of their former identities. Only a wish or miracle can restore the victim. Demonwracked creatures fearfully serve the demon that created them until destroyed.

“Although no records exist of it yet occurring, other types of fiends (such as powerful devils or yugoloths) may also be able to create equivalent (devilwracked) creatures using the same techniques.

“Demonwracked Traits: Most demonwracked creatures possess the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

* Damage reduction 5/cold iron or good.
* Immune to poison.
* Resistance to acid 5, cold 5, electricity 10, and fire 5.

Although demonwracked creatures seldom speak, they still understand the languages they knew before their transformation.”

Just haul out a copy of Circle of Darkness for more.

Devil, Bearded: One entered Ravenloft with the styx devil during the Grand Conjunction and posed as a mortal in Chateaufaux.

Devil, Horned: The Black Duke, cult leader of the Brothers of the Whip.

Devil, Styx: One entered Ravenloft during the Grand Conjunction and posed as Henri Milano, the mayor of Chateuxfaux.

Devil, Imp, Assassin: These guys don’t have any special ties to the Dark Powers any more; they’re just another type of “specialized” imp like bloodbag, euphoric, and filth imps.

Dharculus: “It is not unknown for these ethereal predators to inadvertently enter the Demiplane of Dread, where they share the Near Ethereal with spirits of the restless dead.”

Dire Animals: So many are included because they’re not just useful as standalone creatures; they’re also handy as base animals for lycanthropes and numerous other templates, not mention as minions for more fearsome monsters. In Ravenloft, dire animals are just massive, feral versions of their normal kin; although they may look “prehistoric,” they usually don’t have the obvious random armor plating and horns D&D sticks on. Also, a dire animal isn’t necessarily a separate species from its normal cousins. Deep in untamed wildernesses, where humanoids have no power, the creatures of nature may simply grow large and fierce, unbound by the limits of civilization.

Doom Guard: This is listed as “Dread Guard” in the Fiend Folio, but the Ravenloft concept [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium I] is intact. “Azalin Rex is said to have been the original inventor of doom guards, though most of the secrets of their creation have spread during the subsequent centuries. […] To this day, doom guards patrol the walls of Castle Avernus with such regularity that their feet have worn ruts into the stone.

Dragon, Shadow: More or less synonymous with Ebb.

Dream Vestige: Has the Dream subtype. Has ties to the Nightmare Lands, for the obvious reasons.

And here are our leftovers from B and C:

B
Done! Blackskate [Stormwrack]
Done! Blaspheme [Libris Mortis]
Done! Blood hawk [Fiend Folio]
Done! Bog imp [Heroes of Horror]
Bogeyman, Alligator Lenny [Dark Tales & Disturbing Legends]
Bogeyman, the Bad Thing [Dark Tales & Disturbing Legends]
Done! Bony hands [Van Richten’s Guide to the Walking Dead]
Breathdrinker [Monster Manual II]


C
Done! Charnel hound [Monster Manual III]
Done! Cinder swarm [Monster Manual III]
Cloaker, dread, outlander [Monster Manual]
Done! Composite walking dead [Van Richten’s Guide to the Walking Dead]
Crimson death [Monster Manual II]
Crypt chanter [Libris Mortis]
Done! Crypt warden, dread [Book of Exalted Deeds]

[Matthew L. Martin]

Not on the list, but I've had this blurb rattling around my head for a week or two:

Devil, erinyes

"Forsaking all others in heaven and earth, I pledge myself to you, Queen and Angel of the Night. There is no good other than what pleases you, no truth other than the words of your sweet lips, no beauty other than your face and form. I surrender my soul to the voluptuous darkness of your embrace."
"I accept your pledge, my servant, and will keep you forever under my dominion. I will free you from the tyranny of virtue, and reveal to you the glories and delights of Hell."

--Vows from a legendary 'dark wedding' between an erinyes and a fallen paladin, found in a fragmentary manuscript in the ruined cathedral in Mordentshire.

[cure]

DEATH'S HEAD TREE

“So my pretty little Elf thing yea would look upon the face of your long lost father, kiss his cheek once more, let him whisper little nonsenses in your ear? T'is a far sweeter thing than to have yea for tea. We be off then to the Willow’s Grove.”

-The Three Hags of Tepest

[Lord Cyclohexane]

Demon, succubus

"With her flesh Zhanna tempted me, but being sworn to Ezra, I was unmoved. With riches she tempted me, but Ezra provides all I need, so I swayed not. With the successes of others she tempted me, but as only Ezra may decide a man's station in life, I did not quaver. With mockery she derided my silent stillness as indolence, but busy in prayer I faltered not. With invective she sought to raise my ire, but as Ezra is my center of calm, I did not lash out in reply. And, desperate to reach me in some way, she lauded my virtue and praised me as the greatest of all of Ezra's faithful, but in Ezra's service I had shed my prideful ways and remained still in my circle of protection.

"The life seemed then to flee her as she dropped her seeming and fell to her knees. Her wings, hidden since our first encounter, drooped even as her shoulders did, and she threw up a pitieous cry to the heavens. Weeping freely, she recanted her very existence, swearing to undo all of her momentous evil if Ezra would but take her into Her arms. As her breast heaved in sobbing and she made to tear her clothes, I felt such great pity for so lowly a creature. I stepped forward and caught her hands, offering Ezra's forgiveness and succor. As she smiled, sweet but sad, and drew me into her embrace, I chanced to look back at the circle, only then realizing I'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book."

--- From The Nature of Evil: Demonic Entities in Our Land Today

-------------

(This is quite loosely based on the scene from Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles" where Jack Frost encounters the King Of All Tears, which starts on page 159 of the trade paperback "Entropy In The UK", with temptations of the seven deadly sins in the place of KOAT's illusions. Originally done to fit Drigor, but modified as John Mangrum rightfully pointed out that it didn't quite fit; I didn't realize that 3rd Ed shator were different from 2nd Ed shator. I chose not to use Elsepeth as the succubi as I didn't want to get into how the writer would be able to escape one of Elspeth's dolls...)

[Editted to improve clarity]

[Mangrum]

It's nice, but I'm not sure it actually fits shators specifically. (I'm not sure I'd want to clap my hands on a 10 ft. tall, 700 lb. creature covered in paralytic slime.)

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Dragon, Shadow:

We had snuck into the chamber of her hoard. Gold and jewels piled around us called out to be taken. Ebb had left her lair unguarded, a foolish move.

It was then the rolling darkness took over us. Black winged death descended from the surface of the cavern, landing behind us. I turned, watching the stalwart priest Thaddeus fell to the ground screaming in terror. Ebon scales covered a lizard like body. No light reflected from the black pits. A long, thin neck topped with a hideous head leered at us.

"Your second mistake was coming here," the thing hissed in a hoarse voice.

"Ebb..." I whispered, terror turning my bowels to liquid.

I swear, the thing grinned, "That was your first mistake. My name is Gloom, and I am your destruction."

-recounted by Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese Adventurer

[Lord Cyclohexane]

It's nice, but I'm not sure it actually fits shators specifically. (I'm not sure I'd want to clap my hands on a 10 ft. tall, 700 lb. creature covered in paralytic slime.)

And that's what I get for going from memory instead of taking the time to look these things up... If you can use the above for another entry, feel free and I'll edit the name field on it. If not, feel free to ignore it. I'd just been reminded of the King Of All Tears when thinking of Drigor's personality and hadn't thought further. I should have waited to get home to check the Fiend Folio first.

------

Edit: I've now changed it from using a shator to using a succubi and changed the flow a bit. If it sucks, just tell me to delete it or unname it or whatever.

[Lord Cyclohexane]

Bony hands [Van Richten’s Guide to the Walking Dead]

May 14, 752. Eyes acting up, must see doctor. Weather nice. Brats unruly. Lashed Viggo again, locked Inge in closet. Inge getting worse; loss of brother? Must see doctor, saw Andor again, third time today. Guilt? Not withholding much, but daughter wants horse. Not my fault, they suffer or I suffer. Inge won't look me in eyes. Ungrateful brats, all of them. Fed better than on street, but complain more. Maybe right; Andor not first to die this month: Gunnar, Lucia, Sofie. See them too, outside windows, in corner of kitchen. See Andor even now, in corner of office, see Lucia by door; look at Andor, see Lucia; look at Lucia, see Andor. Look straight, see nothing. Look at door, see Lucia next to it. Can't make out face, but their eyes. Hungry eyes, even dead. Gunnar joining, all staring, hungry eyes. Must see doctor. Why me? Better life than on streets. Look at Andor, see Lucia. Look at Lucia, see Gunnar. Not my fault. Stalking me. Hungry eyes. Staring. Stalking. Look at Gunnar, see Lucia. Look at Lucia, see Sofie. Why me? Did my best. Must see doctor. Not my fault. They keep staring. Hungry eyes. Moving toward me. Not my fault, not my fault, not m

--- Last entry from logbook of Konraad Weigand, Iron Caress Orphanage, Headmaster 748-752. Case closed in June 752, officially listed as due to a pack of rabid dogs; real cause unknown.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Demon, Babau:

There's things in this world beyond our ken, son. I was near Creena when the thing came. All black skin and bones, covered in red stuff. A big horn stuck out back of its head and it carried a wicked pike.

Things where bad enough, sure as eggs is eggs. Then it started whistling.

Not afeared to say that that day, I turned and ran as fast as I could.

- Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese Adventurer

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Dire Badger:

I was in Sithicus at the time, before the Night of the Screaming Shadows. Gods, that was a rough time. Stopped at a tavern for a pint, then headed off to the Valachani border.

Saw the damnedest thing, huge, great hairy beastie, chewing on this man's corpse. Being the hardened adventurer I am, I tried to chase it off, but it raised it's head and, blow me! If t'weren't a great badger of some kind!

Now, I know badgers can be vicious if roused, so I took my leave and walked away. Heck, I even ignored the tooth-covered cart that the poor man must've been driving.

Damnedest thing I ever saw.

- Tharod Ironflint, Darkonese Adventurer.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Dire hawk* [Monster Manual II, Races of the Wild]

It killed two of us falconers and blinded another, but that hardly meant anything to the Kingfuhrer. It was only when it broke from its jesses and killed twenty or more raptors--gyrfalcons, eagles, even bloodhawks going down before it like so many chickens before a hawk--that he could be persuaded to have it removed from the mews. Even then he simply had it released. Ezra send it has not learned a taste for human flesh.

Master falconer Tobin Schwartzkopf

Dire polar bear* [Frostburn]

Winter is a great bear, a great white bear; icicles are his teeth, snow his pelt, the zilinya neshka his breath. Sometimes a wanderer may see him in the storm; if he does, that man will never return to his home again.

Traditional Voros

Dire shark* [Monster Manual II]

At first we took it for a sail, but soon that happy illusion was dispelled. It took its time in approaching our little skiff, circling near and then distancing itself again. The dorsal fin stood at the height of a tall man above the water, making a sound like the tearing of silk as it ripped through the waves around us.

After an hour or so of this, that menacing form sank into the ocean and was gone; just at this moment we saw the island well to windward. Without warning Simpson launched himself over the side and struck out strongly; he had swum perhaps fifty paces when a mouth like a mausoleum door opened before him, and he was gone.

Deposition of Captain Horatio Withers in the death of Jonas Simpson, Mordent, 733

Dire wolf* [Monster Manual]

Our outlander visitor laughed aloud at the mention of Grandfather Wolf and said, in his barbaric pidgen, "You have not here such great wolves, nyet? In the woods of Vorostokov we such have as you cannot imagine. Big, big! He come into a house, he break the door; a stag he carry away in his teeth. Here they are little dogs like for a woman's pet."

Harkon smiled and leaned back. "Oh, I'm sure the wolves you have seen here have been puny, contemptible things, Master Alexei. But be of good cheer; you may yet see bigger."

From the journals of Matthew Swiftsinger of Skald

[Nathan of the FoS]

Devil, chain (kyton) [Monster Manual]

All things are most evident when placed in immediate contrast with their opposites. The foolish think that pain is ugly, that it disfigures the soul; but the wise know the reverse is true. It is agony that refines, that makes beauty pure and sweet. The foolish think that chains imprison a man; the wise know it is not so. Chains make a man free.

Reflections, the Marquis de Penible

Dire barracuda* [Stormwrack]

6.13.738 Hve bn fishing to + stores of food. Cont. difficulties w/finding line for task. Perford brought line w/whch claims t.hve caught sharks, but when put out w/bait (lst of beef, too gone w/wrms fr eating), line cut thr. as if w/knife. Whtevr is done there has teeth.

Ship's log of the Stormrake, Captain Elias Blackburn, recovered from Saragoss in 749

[Nathan of the FoS]

Demon, alkilith* [Fiend Folio]

Warden Defors: ...the trail led through the village which has been mentioned previously...
Inquisitor Despain: Aix-la-Forte.
WD: Yes. On entering the village we saw that the plague-fiend had been there before us. Every person, Ezra being witness to it, bore the mark of the beast, and I gave the order that it be cleansed before we moved on.
ID: You say, cleansed. You mean you burned every man, woman and child to death, is that not correct, Warden?
WD: Yes, that is correct, Inquisitor.
ID: No other solution was possible? Not with twelve men strong in the Faith at your back?
WD: I think that the sequel to these events--I refer to what happened in Neufectenburg--showed my actions to be necessary and proper, Inquisitor.

Court transcript of the trial of Warden Esmond Defors before the Ezran Inquisition


Devil, lemure [Monster Manual]

I saw also the most wretched of creatures, like men degenerated into jellies, mired in the most horrible fear of their masters and loathing of themselves; they covered the floor of Hell like maggots on a rotting corpse for many leagues in all directions. In them I saw the ignominy, the weakness, the stupidity of all evil actions clearly drawn.

from Five Visions of Hell, attributed to Yakov Dilisnya

[Nathan of the FoS]

Darkling [Champions of Darkness]

'Sandro, 'Sandro,
What hast thou done?
'Sandro, 'Sandro,
Where hast thou gone?

Opened a grave,
A life for to save,
Walked into darkness
To find a new sun.

'Sandro, o 'Sandro,
You'll never find pardon,
'Sandro, o Sandro,
You must leave the vardos.

Then I'll be a darkling,
A man of the night;
I'll love death and dark
And flee from the light.

Traditional Vistani children's rhyme

[Nathan of the FoS]

Devil, horned (cornugon)* [Monster Manual]

The credo "Might makes right" may be abominated by lesser religions, such as the milksop Ezrans or the witches of Hala, but we who worship that highest god, whose very name it is death to speak, know that this is merely a cover for their weakness. The Divinity creates right; could he possibly allow his servants to falter when they serve him well?

Commentaries on "The Book of Stone", "Reinhold Schwartzgraf"

Dhampir (half-vampire) [Denizens of Dread]

The man awaiting me was tall, with regular, aristocratic features and a commanding air. He was pale, with dark hair worn longer than is the custom in our country and piercing gray eyes; his hand enclosed mine in a grip of iron.

"Arthur Sedgwick, at your service," I introduced myself.

"Tamarlane Gundar," he said, revealing long white teeth in what I belatedly realized was a friendly smile.

"Gundar!" I said, trying to cover my confusion with humor. "That is a name to conjure with, surely."

"I assure you, Master Sedgwick, it is mine by right," he said, frowning.

The Mark of Blood, from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick