Grovebane
Challenge Rating 6
Description:
The Grovebane is a creature with an aelven body as a base, bathed in shadows that warp its appearance. The only parts of its body that aren't black are its glowing red eyes. It is seemingly melded to darkness, able to travel from shadow to shadow in the blink of an eye. It is an oddity whose motivations are not well understood. Sometimes it seems content on eerily watching passersby and other times it seems to be filled with a lust for blood. There are only a handful of them in existence and the methods by which they came into being are shrouded in mystery. They possess the bodies of aelves that mysteriously disappeared but do not hold any aggression towards aelves. If anything, they have been known to go out of their way to help aleves by clearing away a scouting party's path when they're being chased or even killing a creature that would have taken an aelve's life.
Cultural Significance:
There's only one public record of one being bested. Legends say it was a Boggle who hunted one down and took its form. They were never again seen in another form, having chosen to assume the form of the grovebane. Rumor has it that the psyche of the creature was so beyond understanding that the Boggle went insane. Others think that the Boggle acts as one of the aelve's most secret weapons. Few even think the legends are made up and that all grovebanes were somehow manufactured to be spies for the founders.
To aelves, seeing one tends to bring unease as their presence is associated with close calls with death or extreme urgency. Still, it's common knowledge that these creatures do not harm aelves. To most other races, seeing one is akin to a death sentence.
Habitat:
AElheim
Size:
5-7 feet tall
Biome Role:
Unknown
Life Cycle:
Unknown
Resources:
Shadow's Eyes
An expert matrician or devorari could implant these eyes into someone, granting them the relevant benefits from Eyes of Foresight detailed below.
Shadow's Corpse
There is enough usable material from the body to make one piece of equipment (weapon or armor) with double the hardness of steel. It takes a grandmaster smith or relevant craft to work this material. Things with this material receive the relevant benefits from Meld detailed below.
Shadow's Blood
A master alchemist or devorari would be able to process the grovebane's black blood into a single vial of potent black venom. When mixed with someone's bloodstream, the venom works to blacken their blood supply. Death is all but guaranteed without master resistance, and even masters will find themselves unable to heal until the venom is removed. Scarily enough, this venom is reusable if the user goes through the effort of reprocessing the blood.
Notable Features:
- Meld
The body of the creature seems to meld in the shadows or even trees, leaving only the reds of its eyes visible. Parts of them that stand in shadow are practically invisible, even to something like an aelf's lifesight. - Shapable appendages
The body of the creature seems to be made out of tangible shadows. Its limbs can be shaped into weaponry and even extended to twice their normal length at will. Oddly enough, they can even launch these limbs from their bodies, acting as projectiles only to reform the limb a few seconds later. One's skill in a crafting or art skill determines the quality of the shaped appendages, though they are always 2x steel in hardness. - Eyes of Foresight
It's thought that the eyes of the grovebane allow it to see into the future as it seems to always know what's about to happen. This is not exactly true, however. Their eyes are able to pick up on even the slightest movements even at far distances. It's because of their enhanced eyesight that they can do things such as spot brush moving an instant before a creature pounces, or see a muscle tense instinctively the moment before an archer draws an arrow. The eyesight of a grovebane is one of the strongest of all.
Beast Magic:
One With The ShadowsMinor Merit
Yes
100 XP – Shadow-port
This grants a general sense of what is happening in shadows around them in a 25 foot radius. They are able to instantly move to shadows in this range at will, even if there is no clear path to the shadows. This could allow them to travel past non-magical barriers such as walls.
250 XP – Puppet Master
The user jumps to the shadow of a creature, melding with it over the course of ten seconds. Once the process is complete, the user is able to puppet the victim. They are able to force the target to take any action while in this state.
This can be fought against with master fitness, meditation, or resistance. Alternatively, shining a bright light (luxium or sunlight) on the shadow can break the connection and force the user out of their melded state.
