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thecreaturecodex · 3 years

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Psurlon

Image by Tony DiTerlizzi, © TSR Inc.

[It’s amazing what an image can do. I never cared much for the psurlons in 3e--it always seemed to me like they were wannabe illithids, and mind flayers were much more interesting. It didn’t help that 3e stripped off their origin story, making them just another underground aberration (but in deserts this time, as if a cargo cult reminder of Dark Sun). The 3.5 version in Lords of Madness was decidedly stronger mechanically, and its image was an improvement over the truly sad Monster Manual II rendition, but they still never jumped out at me. But this image! This takes a mere monster and makes it into an alien sage! Those weird pincer hands, straight from the Cambrian! Putting clothes on these guys totally changes their look and feel, and I like this much better.

Incidentally, 4e did alright mechanically by the psurlons, although it kept their 3.5 look. In the 4e version of Dark Sun, psurlons were completely unbodied by their attempt to psychically master their physiology, and possessed astral worms in order to take their current form. Reminiscent of the Great Race of Yith, and a neat idea, but I prefer to think that they were always hideous worm beasts.

Although I have simplified the “psurlon adept” to a variant instead of a separate monster, I’ve included the statblock below anyway for convenience’s sake.]

Psurlon CR 8 LE Aberration This creature resembles a humanoid worm, slightly shorter than a man. Irregularly placed eyes surround a sucker-like mouth, and it has radially symmetrical, four-clawed hands and feet on rubbery, jointless limbs. Despite its monstrous appearance, it carries itself with dignity and wears the robes of a scholar.

The psurlons are an ancient, learned and evil species. They are the survivors of a cataclysm they brought upon themselves. Psurlons were interested in using psychic magic to shape their own bodies and those of other creatures, and over the millennia used their minds to conquer hunger, breath and temperature, as well as to resist weapons and spells alike. Pushing those limits, they created the giant psurlons, and attempting to go to even greater heights shattered their own planet in a wave of psychic energy. Both they and the shattered remains of their world were cast into the Astral Plane. The survivors dedicated themselves to recreating the experiment, and they seek improved ways to elevate their minds over their bodies even today.

Psurlons are haughty creatures, but they recognize that they do not know everything and are constantly on the search for knowledge. They bargain for it if they can and steal it if they cannot. Psurlons do not value the lives of creatures other than themselves, and will gladly torture creatures for information, whether revealed intentionally or obtained through the process of vivisection. They are especially interested in creatures with shapeshifting abilities or unusual mental powers, and push them to the limits with cruel experiments before destroying and devouring them.

In combat, a psurlon prefers to use its mental powers if at all possible. They are physically slow, however, and the tide of melee can easily come to them. Psurlons have surprisingly deadly physical attacks, and their lamprey-like bite can drain the health of enemies and add it to their own. Psurlons value their long lives, and thus attempt to escape from combat at the first sign that they are losing.

The psurlon language is a series of grunts, rumbles and squeals, disturbing to the human ear. Psurlons almost always communicate telepathically, both with each other and with other species. The written form of their language is a series of raised runes read by touch. Although psurlons live in the Astral Plane and can psychically suppress their hunger on their sojourns to other realms, they enjoy eating the flesh of sapient creatures as a symbol of dominion.

Psurlon Adepts Especially wise and powerful members of the psurlons are known as adepts. They are marked from birth with psychic impressions only the psurlons can sense, and are groomed to positions of leadership from an early age. A psurlon adept is a psurlon with the advanced simple template and the spellcasting of a 9th level psychic. A psurlon adept does not gain any other benefits of the psychic class, such as a phrenic pool, unless it takes levels in psychic. A psurlon adept is a CR 10 creature.

Psurlon CR 8 XP 4,800 LE Medium aberration (extraplanar) Init +6; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +15 Defense AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +6 natural) hp 94 (9d8+54) Fort +8; Ref +7, Will +10 DR 10/magic and slashing; Immune charms, compulsions, sleep; SR 19 Defensive Abilities mind over body Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee bite +9 (2d8+3 plus drain life), 2 claws +9 (3d4+3) Psychic Magic CL 9th, concentration +13 (+17 casting defensively) 25 PE—bull’s strength (2 PE), dimensional anchor (4 PE), dimension door (4 PE), hold monster (5 PE, DC 19), mage armor (1 PE), mind probe (4 PE, DC 18), mind thrust III (3 PE, DC 17), plane shift (5 PE, DC 19), suggestion (3 PE, DC 17) Statistics Str 16, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 13 Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 21 Feats Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Logical Spell, Toughness Skills Escape Artist +17, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (history, planes) +12, Perception +15, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +15, Stealth +13, Use Magic Device +13; Racial Modifiers +4 Escape Artist, +4 Use Magic Device Languages Psurlon, telepathy 120 ft. Ecology Environment any land or underground (Astral Plane) Organization solitary, school (2-4) or college (2-12 plus 1-2 psurlon adepts) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Drain Life (Su) Whenever a psurlon deals damage with its bite attack, it heals the same amount of damage. Healing gained in excess of its maximum hit points is lost. Mind over Body (Su) As long as a psurlon has 1 PE remaining, it does not need to eat, drink or breathe. It can survive in extreme heat and extreme cold without suffering penalties, as per an endure elements spell.

Psurlon Adept CR 10 XP 9,600 LE Medium aberration (extraplanar) Init +4; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +17 Defense AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +8 natural) hp 112 (9d8+72) Fort +10; Ref +9, Will +12 DR 10/magic and slashing; Immune charms, compulsions, sleep; SR 19 Defensive Abilities mind over body Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee bite +11 (2d8+5 plus drain life), 2 claws +11 (3d4+5) Psychic Magic CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 25 PE—bull’s strength (2 PE), dimensional anchor (4 PE), dimension door (4 PE), hold monster (5 PE, DC 21), mage armor (1 PE), mind probe (4 PE, DC 20), mind thrust III (3 PE, DC 19), plane shift (5 PE, DC 21), suggestion (3 PE, DC 19) Spells CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 4th (5/day)—charm monster (DC 20), telekinesis (DC 20) 3rd (7/day)—clairaudience/clairvoyance, fly, synaptic pulse (DC 19) 2nd (8/day)—alter self, fox’s cunning, inflict pain (DC 18), mirror image 1st (8/day)—comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, long arm, magic missile, psychic reading 0th—detect magic, light, mage hand, mending, read magic, resistance, telekinetic projectile, stabilize Statistics Str 20, Dex 19, Con 24, Int 22, Wis 23, Cha 17 Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 25 Feats Combat Casting, Empower Spell, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Logical Spell, Toughness Skills Bluff +12, Escape Artist +19, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (history, planes) +14, Perception +17, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +14, Use Magic Device +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Escape Artist, +4 Use Magic Device Languages Psurlon, telepathy 120 ft. Ecology Environment any land or underground (Astral Plane) Organization solitary or college (1-2 plus 2-12 psurlons) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Drain Life (Su) Whenever a psurlon deals damage with its bite attack, it heals the same amount of damage. Healing gained in excess of its maximum hit points is lost. Mind over Body (Su) As long as a psurlon has 1 PE remaining, it does not need to eat, drink or breathe. It can survive in extreme heat and extreme cold without suffering penalties, as per an endure elements spell.

#psurlon #dark sun #tony diterlizzi #D&D #pathfinder 1e

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sanjuno · 3 years

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So a thing happened

Hey, so who remembers me saying that “Wildfire Hearts” was a one shot and I wasn’t gonna create an entire crew of OCs for a one shot?

... I’m weak and think too much so here have a crew list.

SHIP: Days of Reckoning

CREW: The Anarchy Pirates

Captain: Portgas D Riot | “Wildfire” Riot

Technically South Blue by way of his mother and birthplace, East Blue by way of his father and part of his childhood

Has eaten the Legendary Logia - Mera Mera no Mi, Model: Ghostfire (because “Hotarubi” reminds me of bog lights.)

Will never admit to anyone what happened in the canon timeline

Wants to bang Marco the Phoenix like a screen door in a hurricane

Completely out of fucks to give

Has died once already and fears nothing

First Mate: Ranger Dustin

Literally a cowboy

From East Blue

If Jesse McCree was a pirate this is the pirate he’d be

Has a Seahorse, likes to rope Seakings when he’s bored

Has roped and tied his crewmates and Captain to stop them from doing a Dumb more than once

Main weapons are his lassos and his ability to suplex a rowdy Seaking, but he’s also got a decent quickdraw – he shoots from the hip!

Hat-tip to Dusty – we loved you before you had a real name, white cowboy hat pirate man

Quartermaster: Occhio D Vittoria

Clairvoyant Clearfin Lionfish Mermaid

A “first generation” D – the D means “Drowned”

Technically an Author-SI but shh that’s a secret so she says she’s from Fishman Island

She’s basically a waterbender but only with seawater

Old enough to have legs and that’s all you need to know

Probably a witch actually

Spends a significant amount of time yelling at the Sea – please don’t freak out when the Sea starts arguing back if it happens just roll with it

Navigator: Kele of Shandora

Shandorian from a tribe that migrated away from the main Sky Island to an arpeggio to get some distance from the fighting

Has eyes tattooed on his eyelids for the lols

Black hair and black eyes, swarthy skin, many tattoos

He swol but built rangy like an alley cat

Has a magic compass

Fell off the Shandora arpeggio when trying to catch a seaturtle as a birthday present for his mother

Has pearl beads in his hair

HC that people from the Sky Islands have hollow bones, so Kele looks scary but is actually comparatively fragile.

Pirate married to Hilda and Tern

Cannoneer: Svan Hilda

Former North Blue noble

Platinum blonde with red eyes, very pale skin

Jacked like whoa – this woman can bench-press both her husbands and the main cannon at the same time

Also very tol

Really likes it when her “little surprises” make a bigger boom than the other guy’s

Frequently kidnapped by other pirate crews; proceeds to take them over through brute force and broken arms before absconding with their loot before they regain consciousness

Pirate Married to Kele and Tern

Bladesmith: Heel Tern

Why are there so many knives?

East Blue native and exactly as stubborn as you think that means

Light brown hair and dark brown eyes, tanned

Basically immune to fire because of Armament before Riot drags him out of East Blue because he started playing with burning coals before he was old enough to know better

Pirate married to Kele and Hilda

Doctor: Angelo Merci

Always smiling. Always.

Lost her medical license when she “accidently” slipped with her scalpel during surgery on a World Noble who was “fond of children”

Originally from West Blue

Technically was supposed to get killed for that but shanked the Marine escort and bolted before the order was given

Pink curly hair and green eyes, dark brown skin

Swordsman: Iago Montoya

Is basically what happens when a flamenco dancer and a swashbuckler have a baby

Very Dramatic Person

From South Blue

Dark purple hair and bright purple eyes, dark tan skin

Is BFFs forever with the Badu Brothers

Likes to accuse his opponents of killing his father to “set the proper mood!” even though Mr. Iago Sr. is running a popular theatre back in his hometown

Shipwrights: Ghal Friday and Mahn Gull

They are both from Water 7 but moved to East Blue as children

Friday looks like a dairy maid pin-up and has a grip that can crush cinderblocks barehanded

Has orange hair and blue eyes, tanned with freckles

Gull is really fond of secret passages and trapdoors

Has dark grey hair and overly large orange eyes, pasty from spending as much time as possible inside the ship

Friday and Gull are either married or co-dependant. We dunno for sure and we’re too scared to ask

They will finish each other’s sentences… and sandwiches.

They share only one braincell and it’s usually occupied with ship maintenance

Bard | Chronicler: Tarone Deff

A Lobster Fishman

From Fishman Island, obvs

His swimmerets have pseudo-hands that he uses to play instruments that need digits

Mostly a singer and percussion player tho

Has perfect pitch and can imitate voices really well

Musician: Dandy Leon

Has a massive embarrassing crush on Badur Mofu

Fails hard at flirting when he likes someone but gets like six different denden codes when he’s schmoozing for clothing discounts

Believes that every fight should have a musical score

Plays instruments beautifully, sounds like a dying cat when he tries to sing

Tucks his shirt into his pants but then leaves it unbuttoned so he can show off his “assets”

Fights with a giant fucking axe wtf you twee little bastard where were you keeping that?

Sniper: Mark Tagger

Has a telescope that is the same size as his rifle, and carries them both on his back in a harness, and that has caused some interesting incidents when he mixes them up by grabbing the wrong one

Best artist of the crew, so he helps Kele make the maps

Rainbow dreadlocks and black skin

Never seen without his visor on

Wears massively oversized shirts – I have no idea if he’s got pants on your guess is as good as mine

Cooks: Badur Mofu and Badur Asif

Twins – have recent Artic Wolf Mink Ancestry that makes them look feral, but far enough removed from it that they’re mostly human

White hair, gold eyes, claws, fangs, and slightly off proportions

Badur Asif talks, Badur Mofu doesn’t talk

Enhanced senses mean they are super strict about seasonings

Lookout | Spymaster: Long Conner

Extremely farsighted – can see an approaching ship 3 days away, cannot see own shoelaces

Learned hypnosis and grifting from his granny

Has a very trustworthy face

He is a lying liar who lies

Apprentice Captains:

Portgas D Ace

Born Gol, took mother’s family name instead

Ate the Mera Mera no Mi because he was shipwrecked and forgot to pay attention to what he was eating

Portgas D Sabo

A “First Generation” D

Formerly Outlook, forgot this due to brain trauma

Joined the crew at 13 when the Anarchy Pirates stole him from the Revolutionary Army

Ate the Yami Yami no Mi because Luffy did a Dumb Thing

Portgas D Luffy

Formerly Monkey

Ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi because he thought it was a desert

Gonna be the next King of Pirates

#wildfire hearts #wildfire riot #portgas d riot #a crew of OCs #Sanjuno's ficwork #all of their names are PUNS #puns glorious puns #the ship is also named because PUNS #i'm definitely not avoiding my nano project #lol wut

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infobeanie · 7 years

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CROW CILLERS S04E01: THE THIN BLUE JOSLYN

Season 4 opens with some pixelated flames. I don’t know what that’s about.

Season 3 opened with the introduction of Final Bloodmaster Alpha, who set the tone for the hypersaturated media overload that tied the various threads of that season together, while simultaneously threatening to uproot them entirely. But Final Bloodmaster Alpha got cancelled, and Lord Marrow, who took control after she got cancelled, got eaten by Lisa Simpson. So there is no overriding voice left, by this point, to give this season any proper sort of introduction. Just some pixelated flames.

The presentation here follows in the vein of the In-a-Dress gang’s commentary on “Fanfic of Horror II”, one of the last pieces created for s3. In the absence of authority, every voice is equal, and begins to speak with a sinister authority of its own. The voices, which started to become dislodged from their characters in the commentary for s3, are now the voice of the comic itself. We need no FBA-style commentator to guide us as we fall again into the screen, like the camera falling into the bed at the start of Mulholland Drive.

In this year’s credit sequence, we get glimpses of characters in their zones. In each zone - by which I mean an area of domestic energy, a space of one’s own - there is something both comforting and sinister: the unseen potentials of a boxed-up warehouse; a private moment in an empty mall’s food court; a self-imposed artistic exile; an absurdly lavish summer home; a room with some things in it. Everyone was looking ahead in last year’s credits, anticipating the next big thing; the momentum of upheaval generated during that season pushed each group of characters to a very different place. Hopefully with this season, we will have a chance to catch our breath, to take a step back and look inward, to see what these changes have brought.

The interstitial credits are pixelated. I don’t know what that’s about.

We’ve been here before. It seemed a lot more ominous last time.

There was also a lot more talking last time. Now, those voices have gone into hiding underground, except for the one that got eaten by the thing that is now hanging out at the mall with That Other Kid, whom we find is called Paisley. The situation is largely the same - girls taking advantage of an untapped subconscious wellspring of psychic energy in order to sneak into the mall after-hours - but everything is chill this time. There are no enemies to fight, no threats to respond to. There is time now to explore those shuttered storefronts. (For a direct ancestor to this scene in vibe and content, cf. “97″ of Wurtz’s ‘90s’ series, which I believe is in one of the Assorted Garbages.)

Meanwhile...

Suddenly we get the feeling we’re being surrounded by horses. Joslyn, still riding a high after her breakout performance as the Oracle, turns out to be a horse lord. In focusing on her backstory, a new narrative force begins to emerge, a balanced and accordant force to the unceasing voice of the media that agitated season 3 to a frenzy: the silent, creeping hand of the market. Not Adam Smith’s invisible hand, per se - something less humanistic, perhaps less human. Really it’s just another manifestation of what we saw at play last season, like a new Ynce Iche puppet formed out of the same raw psy-energy. The media is supposed to tell us what we want to hear. The market is supposed to sell us what we want to buy. That’s what they’re there for; that’s what we made them for. We’re supposed to be able to control it. But if there has been one consistent message in Crow Cillers throughout its entire run, it’s that control is a complex thing. The silent hand has a mind of its own. As do other, less silent hands.

More comparisons: Sour Gummy is the Psy Squad of this season. Psy Squad came out of left field at the beginning of s3 as a campy teen superhero show, and the season followed suit by adapting a pulp format for its overarching plot. The result was the most “comics”-style comic Cate Wurtz had ever written, a good-guy/bad-guy (or rather good-girl/bad-girl) conflict replete with origin stories and a dramatic final battle. The stylistic shift pushed Crow Cillers to its limits, but it was what was needed to properly process the new ideas that were going into it. Without the presence of Psy Squad to familiarize the reader with the language of fantasy/sci-fi tropes, it’s hard to imagine the Matrix episode (which marks the true, heartbreakingly hopeful conclusion of season 3) having the impact that it does. The question, then, is what influence Sour Gummy will have on Crow Cillers.

The Sour Gummy girls feel nothing like anything else in this series; they live in a world on a different axle. Their struggle is not against the Crow, or against a supervillain ex-friend, but against their own icky insides, formed by the incoherent, grasping hands of nuclear family values and the deep web. This world is both less restrictive and much darker than the one inhabited by the Crow Cillers; they are able to roam freely, and make jokes about fucking Brecken, because the rules are different when you carry your enemy around with you in your head, or in your hand. The Order of the Crow dwindles in significance when you’re already invested in destroying yourself, or your lover, or there’s something inside you that wants to destroy the rest of you, or your lover, or you want to destroy that thing inside you, or have your lover destroy it, but it’s secretly the real you, or you’re worried that it is, or you’re in love with someone who’s into that sort of shit, but secretly you’re into it too, or some part of you is.

(Wait a minute - lesbians who eat each other? Used as a metaphor for partially internalized social darwinism?)

(???!)

(!!!!!!!!!!)

Actually, what Sour Gummy reminds me of most is COSM, intersecting as it does the realms of horror and pornography. And while the fact that COSM is an unfinished comic concerning a group of characters’ inevitable descent into utter devastation is somewhat disconcerting in what it implies about Wurtz’s approach to the subject material, I remain cautiously optimistic about CC’s ability to assimilate COSM’s vibe without being totally consumed by it. The Crow Cillers have been through a lot; by this point, they should be able to fearlessly face the burden of lowkey (or highkey) terror and shame that comes with intimacy. Right?

Because they are doing ok, is the thing. In a very real sense, the Crow Cillers are back, and they’re better than ever. We get a full page of purely gratuitous happiness, as ThreeFourOne have their first real reunion since Pistachio fled the Crow in the pilot episode. Their network is large enough to be genuinely self-sustaining now, unlike the tenuous support they were getting from Jill’s brother’s boyfriend’s ex-boyfriend at the start of s3. Emma’s even got a spiffy new outfit! After the tumult of the past year, there is finally time to change one’s clothes, to chill out, and explore all those secret rooms and passages.

Ok, so maybe the situation is not so perfect. The kids are having fun exploring, but I have to wonder whether it would be worse if they found something dangerous, or if they found nothing at all - if they were truly alone in that labyrinth that could be their home; if the only voices left were their own, echoing off cold metal. They are there together, yes, but the place feels big enough to fill you with its emptiness. Wandering there feels like wandering inside yourself. There are doors that let you in and out, but never open. And there are trapdoors that you can’t come back from.

But if existential terror is beginning to set in, it’s doing so against a backdrop of action which has continued unimpeded since s3. The helpless hell-dress creature that followed Gretchen and Doris back from Ynce Iche is still there, and, enjoying it or not, they’re rearing it as one of their own. Vein has made significant progress on his developments, building on what must be very unstable soil. Marcus is going to get involved again, as is Elaine Jr. X, and presumably Vince, Elayne, and whatever squad they’ve mustered together. Surely Mr. Nail will be asking about that pool he was supposed to get at some point. All those plot threads from s3 are still there, now woven into a larger emotional tapestry. If the new thread that emerged with the Sour Gummy aesthetic can be controlled, if it can be reconciled with the Crow Cillers universe and used to make it stronger, than season 5 will truly be a force to contend with. We just have to survive this season first.

QUESTIONS:

- I hope I’m not alone in feeling that the Harlyn/Psy Squad battle didn’t seem to signify a full-scale resolution of the PS arc. What is it that Harlyn saw in the Pit? How did it lead to her ascending? Why did she want to return there? What will happen to Jamie and Emma if they find any of this out for themselves?

- Is Elaine Jr. X more a part of Elaine Sr. or of Ynce Iche itself now? How does she feel about the colonization of YI? Where did she get her horn-accommodating hoodie?

- Where is Elaine Sr.?

- Is Brecken friends with Gaige?

#crow cillers #cate wurtz #lamezone #drop out comic

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