Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: G is for Ghastly

[Mangrum]

There's still a fair number of critters to go under D, E, and F, but I'm starting to think that a new batch of monsters may kick off some inspiration. Lots of Ravenloft classics in this one. Like the letters D (demons, devils, dire animals) and L (lycanthropes), the letter G also comes with a huge lump of a given type of creature: golems. (Kudos in particular to Nathan for nailing down the lion's share of the dire animals last time -- finding a way to add RL flavor to what's essentially just a bunch of big wildlife).

I'm going to leave the BDEF leftovers in the "Catching Up" thread for the time being.

G
Gaki, jiki-ketsu-gaki [Oriental Adventures]
Gaki, jiki-tuku-gaki [Oriental Adventures]
Done! Gaki, shikki-gaki [Oriental Adventures]
Gaki, shinen-gaki [Oriental Adventures]
Done! Gargoyle [Monster Manual]
Done! Geist [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Genie, efreeti [Monster Manual]
Done! Ghost [Monster Manual, Denizens of Dread]
Done! Ghost brute [Libris Mortis]
Done! Ghoul [Monster Manual]
Done! Ghoul, ghast [Monster Manual]
Done! Ghoul, gravetouched [Libris Mortis]
Done! Ghoul lord [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Gibbering mouther [Lords of Madness]
Glaistig [Monster Manual III]
Done! Gnome [Monster Manual]
Done! Goatsucker (goblin vampire) [new]
Done! Goblin, dread, bakhna rakhna* (ghost person) [Denizens of Dread]
Goblin, dread, forestkith goblin* [Monster Manual III]
Done! Goblin, dread, goblin* [Monster Manual]
Done! Goblin, dread, hobgoblin* [Monster Manual]
Done! Goblin beast, goblin hunting spider [Ravenloft Gazetteer V]
Done! Goblin beast, goblin wolf (worg) [Monster Manual, Ravenloft Gazetteer V]
Done! Goblyn [Denizens of Dread]
Golem, alchemical [Monster Manual III]
Done! Golem, bone [Denizens of Dread]
Golem, brass [Monster Manual II]
Golem, cadaver [Heroes of Horror]
Golem, chain [Monster Manual II]
Done! Golem, clay [Monster Manual]
Done! Golem, doll [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, flesh [Monster Manual]
Done! Golem, gargoyle [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, glass [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, grave dirt [Libris Mortis]
Done! Golem, hangman [Monster Manual III]
Golem, ice [Frostburn]
Done! Golem, iron [Monster Manual]
Done! Golem, mechanical [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, mist [Denizens of Dread]
Golem, mud [Monster Manual III]
Done! Golem, sand [Sandstorm]
Done! Golem, snow [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, stone [Monster Manual]
Done! Golem, tombstone [Libris Mortis]
Done! Golem, wax [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Golem, web [Monster Manual III]
Done! Golem, zombie [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Gorgon [Monster Manual]
Done! Gray jester [Heroes of Horror]
Greenvise [Monster Manual II]
Gremishka[/color] [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Grim [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Grim reaper [Denizens of Dread]
Grimweird [Monster Manual III]
Grisgol [Monster Manual III]

Ravenloft Context:

Goatsucker (Goblin Vampire): This is a new racial vampire subtype, with no real connection to the unique goblin vampire that appeared in Servants of Darkness. In short, it's a pathetic, wretched creature, as befits a goblin, somewhat akin to vrykolakas (but without the emphasis on plague). I'm still pencilling in the details, so just be creative. The name is basically Tepestani folklore/slang and isn't necessarily to be taken literally.

Goblins (all): As discussed in RL Gaz V, all goblin subtypes in RL are different breeds of the same degenerate race.

For a quick recap, goblins, bakhna rakhna, forestkith are actual ("natural") breeds. Hobgoblins are the goblin equivalent of calibans, and bugbears (blurb already written) are produced when hobgoblins breed with each other.

And here's an added physical detail that got left out of RL Gaz V:

Inbreeding, birth defects, and childhood scarring are endemic. Most goblinoids are marked by torn ears, milky eyes, harelips, club feet, skin left pockmarked by disase or fire, twisted limbs, birthmarks, and so on, though these deformities rarely hinder them.

Golems (all): Note that these golems aren't necessarily golems of obsession (the template hasn't been applied). Your blurbs can depict them either way.

Gorgon: "Gorgons are extremely rare in Ravenloft. They are seen as dire omens, a sign that local inhabitants (usually agricultural folk) have been abusing their natural surroundings and must now pay a dire penalty."

Grim: Along with restoring some of its 2nd edition traits, I added this:

Binding a Grim
The true nature of these strange, spiritual entities is far from certain, but the method of binding a grim to a site is not so mysterious. First, the territory the grim is to guard must somehow be bounded by a physical border, such as a low stone wall or similar markers. Temples and other structures are automatically bounded. Next, a divine spellcaster must sanctify the site with a hallow spell. A spellcaster must now cast magic circle against evil within the hallowed area. Lastly, a spellcaster must cast summon monster V at night, while inside the magic circle, with the specific intention of summoning a grim. If these steps are followed correctly, a grim appears and guards the site for as long as it lives, perhaps long after the site itself has been forgotten and gone to seed.

In lands where the dead are feared or revered, such as Darkon and Mordent, some folk offer a different account of the grim’s origin. They claim that when a new graveyard or other burial site is consecrated (again, using a hallow spell), the spirit of the first creature to be laid to rest there automatically rises up and becomes a grim rather than moving on to its deserved afterlife. Where this belief holds sway, one or more animals — traditionally a dog, cat, and owl sacrificed and buried together — are often the first to be put to ground, sparing any deceased humans from assuming the role. If grims do form from the spirits of the dead, they retain only dim memories of their lives, which surface only when the possibility of their final rest presents itself. Once created, a grim can reach the afterlife only by being destroyed or by having another creature willingly volunteer to take its place shortly before dying and being interred within the grim’s territory. Grims are patient creatures, however, and do not actively seek their own destruction.

Only one grim can be bound to any given site at a time. Attempts to bind additional grims produce no results.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Ghost [Monster Manual, Denizens of Dread]

As we rode from your home at Heather House to Barrow Cross, where we would turn south for the road to Valachan, we passed five or six people on the road; as is my habit I saluted each by raising my hat and greeting them with a few words, and all but one surly old fellow replied in kind. George likewise greeted some, but ignored others.

At length George asked me what in the Mists I was up to, raising my hat and speaking at random. When I told him I was simply being polite to his neighbors and urged him to do likewise, he paled and was quiet for some time, then told me he had only seen two of them. It was thus I learned that my recent illness had given me a strange gift indeed; I saw the restless dead just as I did the living.

In Mordent especially this proved very useful, but sometimes extremely confusing!

Recounted by Mattias Mikkelson to Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove

Golem, iron [Monster Manual]

We heard the tolling of the great bell again as we crossed the entryway toward the exit leading to the upper network of passages, sounding far off in the cavernous expanse of the lich's barrow; as we reached the door, we were brought to a halt. Someone or something had barred the door from the other side! Geddar took his axe and began a frontal assault, and Shauten endeavored to find a spell which would address our needs; I stood back to watch and listen for anything attracted by the noise of our attempted exit.

Soon I realized the bell was growing louder; I dismissed the thought as unimportant, but it grew louder still, and could now be heard clearly over Geddar's axe-work.

What on earth? I wondered. Understanding came almost too late. "Geddar! Shauten!" I yelled, hurrying to them. "Get away from there! It's coming!" Not ten seconds later the great iron golem smashed through the door, its great brutal bulk, man-shape but three times the height of a tall man, filling the passageway.

working notes from Van Richten's Guide to the Lich

Golem, snow [Denizens of Dread]

The language barrier was here, again, unexpectedly troublesome; when Kelvar came running up to us yelling about "snow-men", it took him several seconds of precious time to explain to us that he did not mean the innocuous forms piled up by Lamordian children at Darkest Night, but rather large and extremely dangerous ambulatory statues, or golems, made of snow.

Account of the Voyage of the Endurance, Marko Tellwith

[Joël of the FoS]

Just a few questions on the "G" batch, John:

Note for all: Gibbering mouther [Lords of Madness] (do not use the stats in the MM, LoM says it holds the definitive version, with errata) - but I guess this can be used for inspiring the blurb

I do not find these in MM2:
Golem, chain [Monster Manual II]
Greenvise [Monster Manual II]

No Grave Ooze [Denizens of Dread] ? (or will it be under "ooze")

[Joël of the FoS]

OK, found them.

Greenvise was overlooked, and chain golem was under chain, not golem...

[Mangrum]

Just a few questions on the "G" batch, John:

Note for all: Gibbering mouther [Lords of Madness] (do not use the stats in the MM, LoM says it holds the definitive version, with errata) - but I guess this can be used for inspiring the blurb

Yes, the MM version is fine. It's the same creature; they just found a better way to express its mechanics.

No Grave Ooze [Denizens of Dread] ? (or will it be under "ooze")

Yep. All the oozes are collected under two categories: "Ooze, Common" and "Ooze, Exotic." Wasn't always that way, but I eventually came round to finding them easier to find when collected together. Although I'm somewhat on the fence about it, the impersonator is still listed individually.

"Common" oozes are basically the MM varieties (black pudding, gelatinous cube, gray ooze, ochre jelly, white pudding). "Exotic" oozes are ones that have special or extraplanar properties (bone ooze, ethereal ooze, flesh jelly, grave ooze, shadow jelly, void ooze).

Unlike some of the new monsters Denizens of Darkness added to the setting, I actually do like the grave ooze quite a bit, so I'm not just ignoring it (unlike the scavyt, say -- sorry to whoever was tingling with anticipation to write a blurb for that critter).

[cure]

GOBLYN

"The goblyn, Bestia epulum, is native to the forest of Forlorn. This bipedel of roughly human stature and form spends much of its time, curiously enough, putting to ruin this very forest. Make no mistake, this is not random violence on the part of an unthinking brute. The action is perfectly deliberate, although to what end science cannot yet say. The distinguishing feature of the goblyn is its enormous jaw set with teeth that recall nothing so much as those of the shark. Remarkably, the humanoid is sleepless and can sustain itself on any sort of biomass whatsoever. Goblyns, in a parody of the people who formerly inhabited the domain, are creatures of the clan. War, sport, and play are their favoured activities. Torture, combining elements of each, passes among them for art and is held in high esteem. More curious is their fondness, presumably acquired, for playing noughts and crosses. And of course as my face attests, no discussion of goblyns is complete without noting their propensity to feast on the living flesh of those who meet them in battle."

-Doctor Abelhous Nicholis, Professor of Biology at the University of Il Aluk in Exile at Karg, lecturing on the flora and fauna of the great southern forests

[cure]

GOLEM, WAX

The fever robbed him of his daughter, his wife, and his hunger for life. But he eventually found his appetite and threw himself as never before into his work. Yet for all his toil, nothing was forthcoming. The figures of Baron Bahkolis, Lady Aderre and her son Malocchio were so overdue that I at last stole into his studio to speak to him. He was slumped unconscious before two uncommissioned works. The first, although unfinished, bore the unmistakable figure and features of his spouse. The second, perfect in its every detail, captured the radiant life of his child. What was strange, however, and that would presage the terrors to come, was the pose that he had lent it, for its hand rested, as though lovingly, upon him as he slept.

-Claudette Petra, proprietor of Madame Petra’s Wax Museum, interviewed by the Martira Bay constabulary

PS Perhaps I am looking right by it, but I do not see the listing for this monster in DoD.

[cure]

GHOUL LORD

Menu in Celebration of New Year's Eve 750 BC
-Gnome liver terraine soaked in Kartakan port
-Elf tongue stuff with thigh bone marrow
-Leg of Halfling preserved in its own juices
-Blackend Dwarf ribs
-Jellied Lamordian Brains

L'École d’Haute Cuisine, Il Aluk

PS If inappropriate please disregard.

[Mangrum]

GOLEM, WAX

PS Perhaps I am looking right by it, but I do not see the listing for this monster in DoD.

It's in Denizens of Dread, but not Denizens of Darkness.

When in doubt, go with Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III.

At any rate, what you've provided is quite nice.

As for the ghoul lord -- it's interesting, but somewhat tangential to the creature. I think I'd like something a little more direct.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Ghoul [Monster Manual]

Ghoul or ghul, the name most commonly given to these cannibal horrors, is actually Pharazian in origin; I am at a loss to explain how it might have become current throughout the Core at the present time, unless the creature (which propagates, as so many creatures of the night do, by defiling human beings who then fall under the same curse) actually originated there. Grave robbing and cannibalized corpses are the key signs of the presence of these monstrosities...

working notes to Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead

Ghoul, ghast [Monster Manual]

By the Sword and Shield, what a stench! It was lucky for us we grimetrekkers get just as bad, day by day, because the topsiders went down quick when they got a whiff. It was like the Main Line below the tannery on a hot day. De V. and I were able to keep our feet, and we went after the dead-eaters hammer and tongs. They were tougher than the ordinary sort, though they looked just the same, and I've been laid up with a fever the last two days from a scratch I took from one of them; a fine green color the wound has today, but the sawbones says I'll probably keep the arm.

Entry 24.3.752 from the journal of Nathanael Dent, grimetrekker


Gnome [Monster Manual]

The people of that country calle themselves Gnomes, which means earth-men or those instructed in the secret; they are very industrious in all artifice & very clever in the making of all potions, draughts & concoctions of all useful sorts; they are a people dimunitive and not handsome, very given to the making of jests, and very practiced in the fey arts and magicks which they claim to be their birthright.

Catalogue of the World Entire

Goatsucker (goblin vampire) [new]

A more wretched creature can hardly be imagined; to all the crookedness of the goblin it once had been it added the deformities of undeath, its needle teeth thrusting through the skin of its cheeks, its fingers distorted into claws, its body warped out of true like wood left to dry uncured.

I pitied it, and pity was almost the end of me. Without warning it leapt at us with frightening speed, slashing with its clawed hands and ripping with its inch-long teeth.

Sixty Nights in Tepest, Bertram Mac Laren

[Nathan of the FoS]

Golem, gargoyle [Denizens of Dread]

I asked Toret Severin about the stories of hauntings at the Great Cathedral, and the rumors that Ezra herself has raised guardians from the stones to protect Her home. He chuckled slightly and led me outside; the moonlight washed the cathedral in light almost as bright as day. "Whether Ezra has done a miracle or not, I couldn't say," he said. "But count the gargoyles up there on this side, where the wall meets the roof."

The Cathedral must be at least one hundred fifty feet or more in height, and the moonlight, though clear, cast odd shadows; but I counted six, and told him so.

"That is my count, as well," he said, looking upward, "and yet on no fewer than six occasions I have counted seven."

Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove to Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove, private correspondence

Golem, glass [Denizens of Dread]

"He would not pay," the artisan gabbled. "Ten years we spent, ten years! I put every copper I had into those windows; children hungry, wife in rags, but it had to be perfect, perfect. And then he pretended that my work was late, though the delays were his, and tore up the contract; and the judges backed him, of course, a warden of the Church. But Justice was with me; Justice helped me."

"Yes," Alanik replied, looking up at the window, which showed Justice with her scales in one hand and sword in the other, "I am sure she did. It was very artistic of you to show her with a bloodstained sword--old blood, too, not fresh!"

The glazier stared up at the window with us, as if only now seeing the unmistakable rust-brown stains on the glass sword of the effigy.

The Accounts of Justice, from The Life of Alanik Ray, Arthur Sedgwick

Gorgon [Monster Manual]

They still tell stories here of the Iron Bull, who appears from the deep plains when the land is befouled by blood or filth or fire to wreak a horrible vengeance on those who pollute the land. They say that he is stronger than the strongest horse, and that a sword or a spear employed against him will turn again and strike its owner down; they say also that his breath turns wheat or wood to chalk and flesh to stone. I was shown what might, with some imagination, be thought a human figure carved in stone and told in all seriousness that it had once been a particularly wicked quarryman, who fouled the river with tailings from his pit; the Iron Bull came and turned him into one of his own stones, and the quarry he worked lies overgrown and unused to this day.

Folk-tales of the Eastern Core, Magnus Wolfsbane

[Nathan of the FoS]

Genie, efreeti [Monster Manual]

Rashaad rang the bell once, and the air trembled; he rang it twice, and the fountain broke and poured out its water on the earth; he rang it thrice, and the earth shook as if it would twist itself asunder. Then there was a murmur, like a fire in a great furnace, and the air shook like a mirage on a summer's day, and the afriti stood before him, a great spirit like a man, with thews of molten brass and hair like flames rising from his head.

"Master," it greeted him. "To he who rings the bell I grant three wishes; speak, for thy servant heareth thee."

Rashaad and the Afriti, from The One Thousand Nights, Ahman ibn Akkad

Goblin, dread, goblin* [Monster Manual]

We heard the drums first, throbbing in the night air with their wicked rhythm; their beat was a promise of bloodshed, a glove thrown down to all civilization, all peace, all tranquility. As we came closer we heard the high shrill ululations of the goblins themselves, piercing the night like the cries of monstrous bats; soon we could see the fires, and the grotesquely twisted shapes of the forest-people dancing around them, casting themselves into the air, twisting, spinning and leaping in a parody of combat, brandishing their crude daggers and spears at one another.

Sixty Nights in Tepest, Bertram Mac Laren

Goblin, dread, hobgoblin* [Monster Manual]

There are among the goblins of Tepest certain sports or freaks, much larger than the common run of such creatures and even more misshapen, which must be considered analagous to the human caliban. And yet, how differently are such aberrations received! Among humans, the "mark of the beast" is occasion for shame, for loathing, at best for pity; among the goblins, such a creature is talismanic or even heroic, superior in strength and therefore in worth. Is this because the warfaring culture of the goblins puts a premium on strength above all else? Because so many goblins are deformed that any useful deformity is welcome?

Autochthons of Tepest, Erik van Rijn

[Nathan of the FoS]

Gargoyle [Monster Manual]

Eventually we decided to just bash any statue we saw a couple of times with a mace, 'cause it was hardly worth wonderin' which ones were gonna jump us when we turned our backs. I told that to a Dementlieuse muckety-muck one time and he just about jumped out of his skin; said somethin' about "destroying artistic treasures". Artistic treasures my beard, I told him; they were a menace, and any dungeon-delver with a sense of self-preservation would've done the same.

Geddar Ironheart

[Jakob]

Feelin' inspired, Nathan?

We could just sit back and let you work.

PS: Honest, as soon as I finish my translations, I'll be back here full time.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Feelin' inspired, Nathan?

We could just sit back and let you work.

Oh, I've got the creative juices flowing now ...prepare yourselves for:

Golem, mechanical [Denizens of Dread]

circuits 3, 6, 10 operating below normal tolerances
mechanical defect in sirvomotor 3, lateral movement compromised
some difficulty with optical detection unit (see fig 6A detail)
continued problems with insulation but offers interesting options in combat—feature not bug!
get bigger knife

Page from a notebook of Easan the Mad


Goblin, dread, bakhna rakhna* (ghost person) [Denizens of Dread]

The little old woman was tired of this nonsense; she wanted to cook her leg of mutton and eat it herself, and leave her pie to cool on the windowsill while she went to market without coming back to find it eaten and the dish thrown in a corner when the ghost-goblins had finished their meal. She sat in her rocking-chair and thought and thought about it; and finally she had an idea.

That evening she came home from market with a good quantity of rat poison and a pound of sugar, and she made a most delicious sugar-cake which she placed with care in the center of her table. “Oh, how I hope the ghost-goblins do not eat my beautiful cake!” she exclaimed aloud.

The Old Woman’s Cake, traditional Mordentish