Inktober Monstrosities: T for Thoqqua

The thoqqua, or rockworm, is a worm-like creature from the elemental plane of earth and/or fire, and it is suspected to be the larva stage of some terrible elemental creature, though no-one knows exactly which. They are said to burrow into this realm of existence from the elemental planes, or the center of the earth itself, melting and devouring rock as it goes.

Inktober Monstrosities: S for Spriggan

The Spriggan is a nasty creature from Cornish mythology. They were depicted as grotesquely ugly, wizened old men with childlike heads. They were known for being unpleasant and mischievous, frightening travelers, destroying crops and stealing children. Normally they were small in size, but it was sometimes thought that they were the ghosts of giants, and so able to swell massively in size.

Inktober Monstrosities: R for Rock Reptile

You'd think finding a good monster for the letter R would be easy, it being the fourth most frequently used consonant in the alphabet, but as it turns out there were actually few good candidates on R. The final choice actually fell on this critter, the Rock Reptile.

They are described as horse sized lizards, living underground, with lumpy, warty hide, with chameleon like powers.

Inktober Monstrosities: Q for Quasielemental (Lightning)

Q was an especially difficult letter to find a monster for, so the solution became the Lightning Quasielemental, and even that by stretching it a bit. Quasielementals are composite or near elementals that don't fit snugly into the classical distinction of the four base elements.

For those interested, the whole family of quasielementals are divided into positive and negative , and include the ash, dust, salt, vacuum, lightning, mineral, radiance and steam elementals.

Inktober Monstrosities: P for Penanggalan

This lovely lady is a penanggalan, a type of female vampire from Malaysian mythology. At night these women (on they can only be women apparently) can detach their head and innards from their body, and fly around in search of prey, preferably other young women. After a night of hunting they return to their headless body, but their entrails are so engorged that they have to be soak them in vinegar for about an hour before they can fit within the cavity of the body.

Inktober Monstrosities: O for Osquip

The osquip is described as a large, hairless, dog sized rodent, that looks something like a massive hairless mole rat with six legs and teeth the size of shovel blades. Most specimens have six feet, but they have been known to have as many as eight or even ten feet in some cases.

Inktober Monstrosities: N for Norker

Another old obscurity, the norker is a small goblinoid, said to be a distant cousin of the hobgoblin. They have thick hide, though its form and nature varies a bit depending on which source you look at. Regardless, this thick hide means the norker will eschew armor.

Inktober Monstrosities: M for Moon Dog

In real life, a moon dog is a rare bright spot on the halo of the moon, caused by the refraction of moonlight by ice crystals in clouds.

In D&D they are strange, benevolent dog, with dark shaggy fur, opposable thumbs on their forepaws, and the ability to travel on either two or four. Kind and intelligent, these dogs are truly any good man's best friend.

Inktober Monstrosities: L for Locathah

The Locathah is a real classic of D&D beast, dating all the way back to 1975.

Described as a race of  aquatic humanoids, that live in nomadic, civilized societies, roaming shallow warm waters, hunting and gathering food.

The Locathah is the D&D creature that most closely resembles the iconic Gill Man, best known as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and given a new renaissance in Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water.

Game stats here.

Inktober Monstrosities: K for Kappa

The Kappa is a strange being from Japanese folklore. A type of spirit, demon, or imp they inhabit lakes and rivers. They are about the size of a child, roughly human in appearance, with scaly  greenish skin, webbed and clawed hands and feet and a turtle shell on its back. They are said to be fond of cucumbers and sumo wrestling, as well as looking up women's kimonos.

The most peculiar trait of the Kappa is the indentation at the top of their skull. This is filled with water from the body of water where the Kappa resides, and should it ever be emptied or dried out, the kappa will loose its power, and might even die.

Click for game stats.

Inktober Monstrosities: J for Jermaline

These diminutive tricksters first appeared in the original Fiend Folio, and have made frequent reappearances throughout the history of the game since, despite their innate ability for subterfuge.

Game stats, here.

Inktober Monstrosities: I for Ibrandlin

You'll be forgiven if you've never heard about the Ibrandlin, but as it turned out, finding a good monster for the letter i turned out to be quite a challenge (especially once it turned out that my original choice, the ixitxachiitl, actually had been covered in the Rage of Demons adventure).

The ibrandlin originally appeared in the first Ruins of the Undermountain boxed set in 1991, and then again for 3rd edition in the Monsters of Faerun book. In appearance they are said to look like fire lizards with long, thick tails, or wingless red dragons. Apparently they are bred as temple guardians by the priests of Ibrandul, a Forgotten Realms god of caverns, dragons and the Underdark.

Game stats here, as always.

Inktober Monstrosities: H for Hippocamp

The Hippocamp, or Hippocampus (not to be confused with the latin name for the common sea horse, or the part of the brain integral to navigation and memory) is a classic, both in real world mythology and in the world of D&D.

Half horse with webbed hooves, half fish, the hippocamp is obviously the result of someone taking the description of a common sea horse a tad too litteraly. They are part of both Etruscan, Phoenician and Greek mythology, among other things described as the horses of Poseidon, god of the sea. They are a common motif on fountains and heraldic designs throughout the world.

Game stats here.

Inktober Monstrosities: G for Greenvise

The Greenvise doesn't really have much history in D&D, only appearing in Monster Manual II for edition 3.5. Still, it's so reminiscent of the Piranha Plants from the Mario games, and Audrey II from the 1986 Frank Oz version of Little Shop of Horrors, that it still feels like an old familiar face.

Game stats, for those interested, can be found here.

Inktober Monstrosities: F for Flaming Skeleton

This one is a bit of a cheat, as there isn't really a Flaming Skeleton in any of the previous books, though I think there are enough versions of burning skeletons throughout, to warrant this creature's existence.

Game stats here, as always.

Inktober Monstrosities: E for Eye of the Deep

The Eye of the Deep is the aquatic cousin of one of the most iconic D&D monsters, the Beholder. It first appeared in the Greyhawk supplement of the OD&D, and then in the first edition Monster Manual, and again in second edition Monstrous Manual. By the time third edition came around, it was only covered in one of the more obscure splash books (Lords of Madness), until it sank into more or less complete obscurity, overshadowed by other beholder-kin like the Spectator and the Gazer.

Somewhat like a mix between a lobster, a beholder and a deep sea angler fish, this creature should be enough give the most hardened adventurer nightmares. 

Game stats here.

Inktober Monstrosities: D for Dragonne

The Dragonne is a strange hybrid between a lion and a Brass Dragon, appearing like a huge lion with metallic wings and brassy scales. It makes its home in deserts, largely living off goats and other herd animals.

The Dragonne was featured in the main monster books in the first three (and a half) editions of the game, then suddenly sank into obscurity. Quite why is not certain, but it does occupy a rather overcrowded monster niche, of winged lion-inspired monsters, encompassing sphinxes, manticores, griffons, shedu and chimeras, so it might simply have gotten lost in the crowd.

Game stats here.

Inktober Monstrosities: C for Caryatid Column

A Caryatid column is in fact a real architectural phenomena, columns made in the shape of beautiful women. Originally from Greek architecture, the most famous example are probably the columns at the Oracle of Delphi. The name simply means "Maidens of Caryatis", which either refers to a town in Greece, the goddess Carya, or to an aspect of the goddess Artemis, Artemis Caryatis (or a composite of all three).

In D&D they first appeared in the Fiend Folio. They are described as stone pillars about seven feet tall, indistinguishable from normal architecture. They are used as guardians, placed to guard an entrance or some treasure. They activate once anyone violate the conditions of its task, ans attacks if necessary. Once activated, their appearance become "fleshy", and their swords turn to real steel. If defeated, or their task has been completed, they (and their sword) revert to stone.

Game stats here.

Inktober Monstrosities: B for Bunyip

The Bunyip is something as rare as a creature from Australian aboriginal mythology, that lurks in swamps, lakes and rivers. It is described as " dog-like face, a crocodile-like head, dark fur, a horse-like tail, flippers, and walrus-like tusks or horns, or a duck-like bill."

It appeared first in the Fiend Folio, and later in second edition, but has since largely disappeared into obscurity.

And...if you want the game stats, you'll find them here.

Inktober Monstrosities: A for Achaierai

October is inktober month, and I've decidet to try my hand at inktober monstrosities.

These are weird and obscure monsters largely from the forgotten pages of Dungeons and Dragons. The black and white ink rendering is a nice homage to the original monster books (such as the Monster Manual from 1977 and the Fiend Folio from 1981).

First out, starting alphabetically, is the Achaierai - first appearing in the Fiend Folio, and making it into the 3rd edition Monster Manual before falling out of grace. Described as a spherical head-body, with a powerful beak and a feathery crest, atop four long legs ending in strong claws.

For those interested, I've also had a go at adapting the monsters for the the newest D&D rule set (5th edition), and you can see these at the other blog.