Wednesday Werk: Nerglid

S. P. at How to Succeed at RPGs or Die Trying has done a write-up of the Nerglid and their fungal riding beasts the Pseudoblepas.

Here are a few more notes on these creatures...

Not Like Chicken

The Pseudoblepas are fairly docile and have to be 'trained' to be of any use in combat, a process that can take a lot of work. The creatures can be eaten safely, if steamed or poached. The meat resembles crab after a fashion and is slightly salty. The Nerglids are very unlikely to sell one of their mounts, but then if the fortunes of war shift against them and they are in dire need of cash...it could happen. Especially in Winter.

Ooh Shiny

Never hire Nerglid mercenaries. It's a bad, bad idea. They make reasonable cavalry units, but are terrible when it comes to following orders. They will break off from an engagement to indulge in looting and wanton mayhem at the first good opportunity. And they consider nearly anything to be a good opportunity; they have extremely poor impulse control.

Suckitudinous
Some Nerglid have learned how to drain fluids from mammalian victims and use this to restore their hit points in a semi-vampiric form of regeneration. So far this is a rare talent, and those who've picked-up the ability are not in a hurry to teach anyone else. At least not until things start to go against the Nerglid, such as in the aftermath of a vicious loss on the battlefield, or after a hard day getting driven out of what should have been a fairly easy and eminently lootable farm enclave, but wasn't. In desperation, those Nerglid who've acquired this skill will try to teach it to those who'll meet their price, and as their situation worsens, a lot of the others will cough-up what loot they are carrying in the hopes of living long enough to ride along on another raid.

A Rare Opportunity

A few entrepreneurial-minded Nerglid have set themselves up as quack healers who do the whole bleeding thing like the barbers, only the Nerglid claim better rates of success. The weird thing is, some of them do get rather startling results, but it's more the result of cross-contamination and the slightly rejuvenative properties of the Nerglid's bodily fluids passing across into their victims.

If someone, say a PC working for the barbers, were to figure this out, it could get difficult for the Nerglid to remain at large, as the barbers will surely seek to round them up as fast as they can in order to corner the new market on Nerglid-derived tonics...