Category:Halfling Vampire
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Halfling vampires can be encountered in Darkon[1].
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This section contains Homebrew non-canon info, created by fans |
Ray whispered through unmoving lips: “We are surrounded by a dozen halflings who do not smoke. Do you realise how unlikely that is? Ask for some tobacco when the serving wench returns.” This I did and was told that smoking was unhealthy and thus was forbidden on the premises. Ray smiled and said to the young halfling: “Sadly, my friend here is incorrigible, it would be good if whoever has talked sense into your heads might have a word with him too.” She offered enthusiastically, “That would be Dr. Stubbins.” Ray inquired: “A no nonsense military man who cut his teeth tending to the victims of Drakov’s two, or was it three, invasions? Perhaps you are better at history than I am.” She replied: “No, a young halfling from out east. Comes in most evenings, though probably not tonight unless the weather clears. And it was four invasions, I witnessed each of the horrors with my very eyes.” After she left us Ray breathed just above the threshold of my hearing: “She is not the only person who looks two decades younger than nature should allow. The same is true of the scarred veterans. The same is true, I would venture, of every halfling in the place.”
-“The Wrethfetin’s Blood” from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Dr. Arthur Sedgewick
Descriptive text contributed by cure to John W. Mangrum's Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror project (posted on the Fraternity of Shadows message board).
Details
A halfling vampire is a halfling who has returned from death via the halfling vampire strain of vampirism.
- (All humanoids and monsterous humanoids are susceptible to different strains of vampirism, which include that of the basic Monster Manual vampire, that of the Nosferatu, that of the Vrykrolaka, and that of the Chiang-shi. There are also additional race-specific strains of vampirism that each target - and cannot be spread outside of - a specific race.)
In the case of halflings, this race-specific vampirism is officially known as a halfling vampire, and the strain itself is known as the halfling vampire strain. Hence, the term halfling vampire refers not to all halflings who are vampires, but only those vampire halflings who specifically have the halfling vampire strain of vampirism.
To avoid this confusion, creatures affected by this strain are also called
wrethfetin[2] or alternatively
dayerg due. [3]
In Sithicus, these creatures are known as bitterkinder. Though the 3.5 edition Gazetteer IV refrained from using the w:Dragonlance term "kender," it's likely that bitterkinder are actually Kender Vampires, as the Sithican vampires were in 2nd edition products.
Wrethfetin Lore
John W. Mangrum's Wrethfetin Lore[4]
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This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources |
Denizens of Dread (as Vampire, Halfling)
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Religion) can learn more about a creature’s wrethfetin nature. Characters need to make a separate Knowledge check to learn about the base creature. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
DC Result 17 This ashen halfling with blood-stained lips is a wrethfetin, a sinister undead creature that feeds on the blood of the living. Wrethfetins are victims of a strain of vampirism unique to halflings. This result reveals all undead traits. Wrethfetins speak the languages they knew in life.
22 Wrethfetins drain blood from victims they get in their clutches, and their physical attacks sap the physical vitality of the living, Victims whose blood they drain rise from the grave as new wrethfetins several days after burial. Wrethfetin habitually collect small “trophies” from the corpses of their victims. As a former victim themselves, wrethfetins are often missing a small body part, such as an ear or a finger. A wrethfetin is spiritually bound to the grave in which it was first buried, and must return to that coffin to replenish its unholy powers. A wrethfetin can purify or despoil food and drink by touch.
27 A wrethfetin can effortlessly move in total silence and its mere presence fatigues nearby living creatures. It can create food and drink three times a day as a spell-like quality. Wrethfetins are destroyed by exposure to sunlight or immersion in running water, and rainfall burns them like acid. They quickly recover from most wounds, but magic and silver weapons can pierce their supernatural defenses. Wrethfetins cannot stand the presence of tobacco smoke, and they cannot approach a holy symbol presented with forceful conviction. To destroy a wrethfetin, one must hammer a stake through its heart, but this is nearly impossible in direct combat. In addition, the stake must have just been drawn from a hearth fire, so that its tip is still burning. Not all halflings slain by a wrethfetin rise as new vampires; most rise as wrethfetin spawn, a lesser horror that exists solely to serve its masters as a pathetic slave.
32 A wrethfetin cannot enter any room that has a fire burning in its hearth, nor can it cross running water under its own power or pass through any door or window adorned with a lucky horseshoe. A wrethfetin is resistant to cold and electricity, and can transform into a cloud of aromatic tobacco smoke at will. If slain, a wrethfetin automatically assumes gaseous form and must return to its grave to recover. A wrethfetin can also assume the form of a boar, dog, or owl, and can command packs of dogs. Staking a wrethfetin does not permanently destroy it — it merely renders the wrethfetin helpless. To permanently destroy a wrethfetin, one must sever its head and hands, then burn them in a hearth fire for at least three hours. Unlike other vampires, a wrethfetin can never move the earth from its grave, forever binding it to a single burial spot.
37 Many different strains of vampirism exist — this is simply the most notorious among halflings. Destroying a master wrethfetin usually has no direct effect on its spawn, other than to free them from their master’s control. In some cases, however, slaying the master instantly destroys all of its spawn.
Texts
- “The Wrethfetin’s Blood” from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Dr. Arthur Sedgewick
References
- ↑ Gazetteer II p.18
- ↑ The Kargatane's "dream" version of the Ravenloft Core Books, shared by John Mangrum
- ↑ Jester's 4e Ravenloft Manual of Monsters, by Jester of the Fratenity of Shadows, p46.
- ↑ Mangrum's Monster Lore
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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Monsterous Compendium I & II - pp60-61 |
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Monsterous Compendium I & II - pp60 | |
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Monsterous Compendium I & II - pp60-61 | |
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Monsterous Compendium I & II - pp60-61 | |
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Vampire, Halfling |
