"...And on this day was von Hausman hanged from a gibbet in the public square after being convicted on a proven charge of vampirism. and on this same day there did occur the departure of the bats, thousands of horrible creatures which have plagued the city for weeks. And on the night of this same day, February 13 in the year of our lord 1643 was a stake driven through von Hausman's heart and his head cut off with a grave-digger's shovel."
The Town Archives of Kleinschloss
Kleinschlosser Bats
No. Enc.: 5d20 (10d20)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 15' (5')
Fly: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 8 [11]
Hit Dice:
Attacks: 1
Damage: Confuse and Bite (Blood Drain, 1d4 per turn)
Save: F2
Morale: 10 [-4 if confronted by open flame]
Special: for every 5 Kleinschlosser Bats in a swarm, victims suffer a cumulative penalty of -1 on their Save versus Confusion. those affected by this confusion suffer a -2 penalty on all rolls to hit, cannot cast spells above first-level, and have their movement reduced by half.
No. Enc.: 5d20 (10d20)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 15' (5')
Fly: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 8 [11]
Hit Dice:
Attacks: 1
Damage: Confuse and Bite (Blood Drain, 1d4 per turn)
Save: F2
Morale: 10 [-4 if confronted by open flame]
Special: for every 5 Kleinschlosser Bats in a swarm, victims suffer a cumulative penalty of -1 on their Save versus Confusion. those affected by this confusion suffer a -2 penalty on all rolls to hit, cannot cast spells above first-level, and have their movement reduced by half.
"I have lifted the veil. I have created life, wrested the secret of life from life. ... From the lives of those who have gone before, I have created life."
Neimann-Werdegast
When the last of the vampires were exterminated they did not go quietly. They conspired with a duplicitous defrocked surgeon and his coterie of scientist-acolytes and a few demented Gleiben followers to fashion a weapon of vengeance that would persist long after their demise.
Doktor Neimann-Werdegast is suspected of using three taxidermied specimens of Ahools stolen from the Medical College in Wermspittle, and working in collaboration with a small sect of Lesser Nosferatus that had escaped detection, and thus destruction, by joining a travelling carnival, as well as copious amounts of his so-called 'Neufleisch,' in the unhallowed manufacture of these horrid, hybrid bat-things.
Vile, unclean beasts that gorge on human blood, the swirling swarms of Kleinschlosser Bats are rarely seen these days. Once they terrorized the countryside, slipping past defenses or window-wards and preying upon the weak, the old, the infirm and anyone else who was vulnerable...and in the winter there are always many who are weakened due to starvation, plague or worse.
Thankfully, the Kleinschlosser Bats are almost all gone now. They proved susceptible to a blight that decimated their numbers and bands of outraged villagers and farm children bricked-up any cave, boarded-over every cellar-window, and burned-down any abandoned property where they believed the bats had established a lair. For a brief season or two it became something of an obsession or a pastime in the Low Lands to go looking for the bats and to spoil their lairs. If the things had been good to eat, it would have only taken one season, probably less, but these bats are vile tasting and completely inedible.
Every now and then a small swarm of the things is discovered in some out of the way spot, and there are rumors that a few survivors of the vampiric purges might be raising swarms of these bats in hidden caverns beneath Urgoldt, Runoz or even Wermspittle...but those are only rumors...
Excerpt from A Child's Book of Things Good to Burn or Bash;
...sample of yellow-speckled mold and spread it along the top and sides of a window, doorway or entrance to a cave where you've spotted the bats. Make sure you slather it on good and thick, like the best jam across a biscuit. Give it a couple of coats if possible. Leave the stick or brush there. Do Not Take The Mold Back With You. That would be bad. Your entire family could be made sick, or even die if you fail to heed this warning. You wouldn't want that, now would you?
Secondly, gather-up some of your play-mates and friends and invite them help you nail sturdy boards over the window or to block-up the doorway or cave-mouth with heavy rocks, rubble, or bricks. If you can get some concrete to trowel into the cracks, that would be best, but in a pinch a small amount of quiescent Grout will do nicely--as long as you do precisely as we explained in the previous chapter. Gobbling Grout can be dangerous, even lethal, if mis-handled. If you are still unsure what to do, ask an adult for some help...
...sample of yellow-speckled mold and spread it along the top and sides of a window, doorway or entrance to a cave where you've spotted the bats. Make sure you slather it on good and thick, like the best jam across a biscuit. Give it a couple of coats if possible. Leave the stick or brush there. Do Not Take The Mold Back With You. That would be bad. Your entire family could be made sick, or even die if you fail to heed this warning. You wouldn't want that, now would you?
Secondly, gather-up some of your play-mates and friends and invite them help you nail sturdy boards over the window or to block-up the doorway or cave-mouth with heavy rocks, rubble, or bricks. If you can get some concrete to trowel into the cracks, that would be best, but in a pinch a small amount of quiescent Grout will do nicely--as long as you do precisely as we explained in the previous chapter. Gobbling Grout can be dangerous, even lethal, if mis-handled. If you are still unsure what to do, ask an adult for some help...
Source of Inspiration: The Vampire Bat (1933) which can be seen at Youtube or at the Internet Archives...and a host of vintage Children's Books that just get weirder and creepier over time...
This is so fully realised, and rooted in our reality and its fictions, and still so mysterious. What a world.
ReplyDeleteThanks. this post sat for nearly two years in draft, but since I dusted-off and posted the gleiben a while back, this one deserved to go up as well. I will be drawing a few new bats in-between other stuff, including the Varn-Bats from New Chillon for the bestiary. but right now, I'm working on getting a few smaller-scale things done and out...
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