Blood Pixies
by James MishlerAs with most of my previous posts, I will include the description of the blood pixie race as well as a description of a powerful member of that race; Sangreto, Lord of the Forest of Phantoms.
Blood Pixies [Sangreto]
Clim/Terr : Any forest
Freq. : Rare [Unique]
Organize : Tribal
Activity : Night
Diet : Special
Intelligence: Low to Average (5-10) [High (15)]
Treasure : D [F]
Alignment : Neutral Evil
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No. App : 5-20
AC : 3 [1]
MV : 6, Fl 12 (C) [12, Fl 18(B)]
Hit Dice : 1-1 [4+1; 25 HP's]
THAC0 : 20 [17]
# Attks : 3 [3]
D/A : 1-3/1-3/1-4 [3-6/3-6/4-7]
S/A : See Below
S/D : See Below
MR : 25% [See Below]
Size : T (1 1/2' tall) [S (2 1/2' tall)]
XPV : 420 [9,000]
Blood pixies are cursed versions of their cousins, the sylvan sprites and pixies. Like their cousins, blood pixies have distinctly elven features, however, in their case, these features are grotesquely twisted and exaggerated. Also like their cousins, blood pixies are naturally invisible; this magical ability, plus their wings, is the only thing that remains to them of their original nature. Blood pixie wings are similar to those of a beetle, and like a beetle they may be folded in back for protection. Unlike their good natured cousins, blood pixies consort with evil creatures, and prefer to prey on those who are good and kind. Blood pixies are found throughout the forested areas of the Savage Coast, primarily in the less inhabited deep forests and jungles.
Combat: Blood pixies disdain the use of weaponry, as their natural attacks are much more deadly that any other weapon they might use. Blood pixies attack with a claw/claw/bite routine; the claws each inflict 1-3 points of damage, with the bite inflicting 1-4 points on the initial strike. On the round following a successful bite attack, the blood pixie will begin to draw blood from the victim at the rate of 1 point of strength per round (STR: Stamina); they will continue their claw attacks only if the victim struggles against the blood pixies efforts. The blood pixie will have an effective strength of 16 for any attempts to pull it off the victim; if this is successful, the victim will take an additional 1-4 points of damage from the violent removal. If a blood pixie attatched to a victim is attacked and missed, a roll to hit the victim must be made as well. Unless the blood pixie is torn away or killed, it will continue to drain blood until it has drained a number of strength points equal to it's hit points; if at any time the victim falls to 0 strength (or STR:Stamina), he or she dies. Strength will return to a surviving victim at the rate of 1 point per day of complete rest; no strength will return if the character exerts himself or herself in any way. Healing spells will return 1 strength point per level of the spell, but they will not heal hit points at the same time.
If the victim of a blood pixie drain has one or more legacies, then the blood drain will have other deletorious effects. For every 2 points of strength drained by a blood pixie, the victim will lose one daily use of one of his or her legacies (chosen at random, if the victim is an Inheritor). This effect is cumulative; if 4 points are drained, a total of 2 daily uses are lost; if 6 points are drained, a person with but one legacy will be unable to use the power at all. The uses of the legacies are not returned until the character has returned to FULL strength.
As with other pixies, the blood pixies are naturally invisible; they may appear visible at will, and they MUST appear visible once they have begun to drain blood (they will remain visible for a number of turns equal to the number of strength points drained). They attack while invisible with no penalty; those who attack them are -4 to hit...
Any individual blood pixie has a 10% chance of having a legacy appropriate to it's area of origin. Blood pixies do not understand the significance of cinnabryl, except that those who carry a lot of it tend to have an interesting taste...
Habitat/Society: Blood pixies are quite brutish by faerie standards; they have none of the fun loving characteristics of their cousins. Blood pixies dwell in savage clans where the strongest rule. They have no arts or crafts, nor do they have any appreciation of such except to the extent that they decorate their lair with the items carried by their victims. They celebrate no festivals recognized by other faeries, rather, they celebrate only those days that their goblinoid allies might hold dear, holding a horrid, screeching revel on the darkest nights of the year. Blood pixies do not acknowledge any Immortal patron; they abhor all such dealings (note that any priest who affects spirits instead of undead can "turn" blood pixies; holy water of such faiths may also damage blood pixies in a like manner).
Ecology: While blood pixies prefer the blood of sentient creatures, they are able to subsist off the blood of animals, and in lean times, even the blood of each other (with the weakest going "into the stewpot" as it were). The blood pixies find the increased Inheritor activity as a boon to their larders, as they find the blood of those with legacies to be the sweetest of all.
The faerie courts of Robrenn and Eusdria actively hunt down the blood pixies with a hatred rarely seen in their kind; they feel the blood pixies to be an abhorrent blight on otherwise fair forests and meadows. The blood pixies, for their part, return the faeries hatred tenfold.
Sangreto: Vampire Lord of the Blood Pixies
Sangreto is the most powerful blood pixie lord; he rules several clans in the heart of the Bosque de las Sambras (though he does not control all the clans of the forest... yet). In appearance, he resembles a cross between a large blood pixie and a vampire bat; exaggerated fangs, leathery wings, long claws. Sangreto is ancient by blood pixie standards, and it is well known by his clans that he is one of the undead. He became a vampire over 500 years ago when, one night, he chose the wrong victim. The vampire he attacked was intrigued by the vicious nature and obvious intelligence of the little creature; he chose to "experiment" with Sangreto by attempting to give it the "gift" of unlife. The experiment was successful, and Sangreto became the vampires willing assistant and accomplice. Sangreto and his master travelled throughout the known world for over 400 years, from the Arm of the Immortals in the west to Alphatia in the east.
Sangreto's master was destroyed in Thyatis in 898AC; after taking suitable vengance on the murderer, Sangreto decided to return to his native land, as he had heard that there was a great migration from the Thyatian regions to his homeland. From 905 to 965 he travelled the length and breadth of the Savage Coast, taking advantage of the chaos the invading Ispans brought. He returned to his natal forest shortly after the Yazi invasions and began to build a power base with the descendants of his old clan. He has had some success in the region; the peoples of Saragon believe the whole forest to be haunted by the ghosts of those who died in the Yazi invasions. Once Sangreto has solidified his grip on the forest, he plans on searching for a likely "companion" of human or elven nature, in order to spread his influence to the surrounding lands...
Combat: Like other vampires, Sangreto has great strength (18/01); this allows him to have extremely powerful claw and bite attacks. His claw attacks only cause the normal hit point damage; it is his bite that will drain life levels. The bite only causes normal hit point damage on the initial attack; however, like other blood pixies, Sangreto will hold on and on the round following the bite, he will begin draining life energy at the rate of 2 levels per round. For every 2 levels drained this way, the victim will lose one daily use of a legacy *PERMANANTLY*. If Sangreto drains a character of 6 or more life levels (and of course, assuming the character lives, and in the case of a character with more than one legacy, only one of the legacies has been drained) then the character *LOSES* that legacy, *FOREVER*. Unfortunately, this does not affect the status of a detriment; protection bust still be sought else it shall take effect as normal. Note that even when a character regains levels, whether through restoration or regular experience progression, that character will never regain the lost usage or lost legacy. Even if a character imbibes a potion of crimson essence, if the legacy granted is the same as that lost, the potion will have no effect, even for a temporary duration.
Sangreto's charm person gaze is not as effective on humans and demi-humans as a normal vampires; all such characters get a +2 to save. Sangreto may attempt to use his gaze charm monster once per day. He is unaffected by weapons of less than +1 enchantment. He regenerates 3 hit points per round, beginning the round after he is damaged. If reduced to 0 hit points he is forced into a crimson colored gaseous form; once in this state, he will flee. Sangreto does not sleep in a coffin; he may use any dead tree stump with a suitable hollow or any dark cavern in order to regenerate; he will regain his corporeal form after 8 hours of rest. As with other vampires, if he is unable to reach a place suitable resting place within 12 turns, his essence will dissipate, and he will be destroyed.
In addition to the normal 25% magic resistance of blood pixies, Sangreto is unaffected by sleep, charm and hold spells; he is also immune to all poisons and paralysis. Cold and electricity do only half damage. He is able to assume gaseous form at will, however he is unable to shapechange or spiderclimb; he may summon 2-8 blood pixies once per day, but only if he is in a region where they are found naturally. He still maintains the blood pixie ability to fly (note that his wings are those of a bat, rather than the beetle wings of other blood pixies); he also has the standard blood pixie invisibility; he becomes visible while feeding, as others do.
Sangreto is not affected by garlic in any way, nor by mirrors, though holy symbols and water will affect him normally. Unlike normal vampires, Sangreto does not need an invitation to enter a private dwelling. He is turned as a wraith, or 6HD creature. He can be destroyed by sunlight or running water; a wooden stake through the heart has no effect on him, though a stake made of cinnabryl (wholly undepleted!) will have the effect a wooden stake would have on a normal vampire. To destroy him, one must immobilize him with a cinnabryl stake, cut off his head and stuff his mouth with 4 or more ounces of undepleted cinnabryl that has been blessed by a priest.
Any human or reasonably humanoid creature drained of life energy by Sangreto will become a vampire if they are bried; thus far, he has had all his victims burned or similarly destroyed. He does not know what effect his "gift" of unlife would have on the legacies of such a victim.
Habitat/Society: As noted above, Sangreto is the leader of several blood pixie clans in the Bosque de las Sombras. Thus far this group is the only moderately organized group of blood pixies. His greatest enemy is the faerie court of Robrenn; they are aware of his nature, and unfortunately for them, their druidic forces has no power against him. As yet, the non-faerie peoples are not aware of his existence, though there are whispered rumors of a horrible bat-like creature that lives deep in the forest.
Sangreto is a doubly foul creature, being both a blood pixie and one of the undead. As such, he has no natural place in the ecology, and no place in the scheme of nature.