No. Enc.: 1d4 (3d4)
Alignment: Chaotic (40%, Neutral 40%, Lawful 10%)
Movement: 90'
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4 (tail-strike), by spell/wand
Save: MU 5
Morale: 8
Extraplanar pseudo-reptilian sorcerers, the Drynak prowl the forgotten and buried ruins of ancient civilizations in search of magical wands, rods, scepters or staves. Consummate masters of the arts and sciences involved in the creation and manufacture of such items, the Drynak seek out obscure examples of other people's artifice and skill. They are connoisseurs of linear, axially-extended magical artifacts of all sorts and they have been known to go to elaborate measures to secure especially rare or controversial examples of the wand-maker's art.
All Drynak carry one or more magical wands as a primary weapon. They can examine and ascertain the use/application of any wand they find, similar to how a Thief can read some scrolls. (They have a % chance to discover the function of any wand/rod/scepter/staff equal to the Read Scroll ability of a Thief of level equal to their HD.) This is a non-magical ability gained from long years of devoted study and practice.
Drynak lack thumbs, though they do have a slight cartilaginous structure along the edge of each hand that they can raise selectively and use to help them grip things. Because of the peculiar structure of their hands, Drynak cannot use bows, cross-bows nor most fire-arms, unless they are first re-tooled and re-configured for their use. Despite the lack of a real thumb, they are exceptionally dexterous and incredibly gifted at wood-carving, horn-working, ivory-crafting and similar arts and crafts. They employ charmed or otherwise controlled slaves to do all their metal-working, or hire it out to other beings such as the Ilgideeri or others of that ilk.
The green blood of the Drynak is poisonous to most mammals. When properly mixed with certain aromatic oils and herbal compounds, Drynak blood forms a paste that somehow disrupts most forms of undead. Various anti-undead cultists hunt the Drynak for this reason, and it has led some Drynak enclaves into the sordid practice of auctioning their life-blood off to the highest bidders...
Nice creature! I can see all sorts of strange uses for this critter including breeding colonies, slave auctions, & miracle undeath cures..
ReplyDeleteVery cool narrative with a neat, textured image.
ReplyDeleteI love the details about their blood.
ReplyDelete@Needles: Thanks! The Drynak are fun critters. Very intelligent, and very talented craftsfolk. They typically have the spell-casting ability of a magic-user of a level equal to their HD, but they tend to focus on tradecraft spells used in producing their wands. When encountered out in the wild, or in some back alley, a Drynak could be carrying just about any kind of wand, and they have no compunction about using all the charges up in a single fight--they can re-charge their wands. Also, once the local elders learn about charlatans and frauds trying to peddle spurious concoctions using the blood of their people, they will get involved and they just might know/discover how to make some very effective unguents, salves and ointments that can be used for destroying undead, curing vampirism, and who knows what all else.
ReplyDelete@John Till: Thank you as well. We're testing out a few new techniques and getting things prepped for Adventures and such-like.
@Trey: Yeah--blood-peddling is a lucrative side-trade for these creatures. So much so that it has become a terrible scourge and their populations are declining as the lowered resistance to disease brought on by excessive bleeding-for-pay has allowed some nasty infections to spread through the Drynak like wildfire.