Brazen Head
(Artificial)—This is an automated brass head, a sort of sentient computer, that may speak, hear, and answer questions. They usually are full of clockworks and regularly need wound. They are very time-consuming and expensive to build, so they are rare. Some brazen heads only speak at inopportune times, some won’t stop talking, some only answer yes/no questions, and some are all-knowing and can see the future. While these look like human heads, its features can vary widely.
Brownie
(Faerie)—This is a small, brown domestic fairy, attached to a house, family or place, who discretely helps with household chores. Brownies hate selfishness and will punish this trait in humans. They are moral and expect the same behavior of their mortals—or else! These creatures are grotesque, hairy, and ragged, and they have nostrils but no noses. Brownies are nocturnal and utterly vanish during the day. Good children may see them, and brownies make excellent storytellers if so inclined. These beings have telekinetic powers, and they can become invisible. If a brownie turns bad, its nose grows long and pointy, and it becomes a bogart. They also are called hobgoblins, hobs, lobs, cellar ghosts, silkies and church grims, among other colorful names.
Cacodaemon
(Demon)—As demons go, this type is especially horrific. Every time a cacodaemon collects a human soul or larva, the victim’s face rises on the demon’s skin. These visages manifest on the demon’s chest, stomach, crotch and anus. These faces are functional (and sentient!) and able to scream, swear, plead, and curse. The cacodaemon has spindly arms and legs that all end in bird-like talons. It has an ape-like head with fangs and a pair of short, straight horns. They have long, forked tongues and goat-like eyes and ears. These infernal beasts have charred, gray skin that appears to continually sluff off burned tissue. Also, the cacodaemon has oddly conformed, non-batlike wings that are still functional. They do not have tails.
Cambion
(Demon)—This is a human/demon hybrid, usually (but not limited to) being fathered by an incubus. Because of their mixed heritage, they often have one or more minor deformities. They are also likely to have one (or more) of the following traits: light green pallor to skin; goat-like pupils; vestigial tails; fangs; or talons. They are cold to the touch, and are more resistant to fire, radiant heat, or cold-based damage. Unlike other demons, cambions can choose to become good or evil. They make powerful wizards.
Changeling
(Faerie)—A changeling begins life as a sentient, artificial being. Faeries often steal mortal babies to raise them as elves but, to do so, they must create and insert a changeling into the stolen mortal child’s crib. The changeling is a twisted, prematurely aged looking baby, ugly and demanding, with a foul temper and insatiable wants, especially for its new mother’s milk. This being’s nature will fool no one, especially the poor mortal parents who receive it. But, if the changeling can be tricked into speaking (which they can do from creation forward), then it will be consumed, for the spell that created it has run its course. (This often involves capturing the changeling with red hot iron tongs.) The original, kidnapped baby will then appear in the changeling’s place. If the changeling is not tricked into speaking until such an age as a baby would talk normally, and the mortal parents do not kill it, the changeling grows from its ugly beginnings into a normal looking human, not the shriveled, twisted form that might be expected. Its true nature is unchanged, for it has no soul of its own, and it will always be a child of chaos and bad fortune, with a violent, demanding, tempestuous character. Its substitute parents will have no joy from it, and the changeling’s dark humor will only be tickled at sad, malignant, or sorrowful turns. The changeling looks like the mortal child it replaced as it grows in adulthood, albeit perhaps leaner and more dangerously beautiful. Their eyes flash with feral cunning and turn red with anger. Their incisors, while not full fangs, are slightly pronounced and sharp. He may have a wolfish or alien caste to his features. As an adult, it will pursue a profession that is steeped in danger and action, often settling of assassin or necromancer. While outwardly human, the changeling may betray their true nature, which is wild, intractable, rebellious, and dangerously mercurial. Some changelings are preceded by an icy wind. Changelings possess of a roguish, “bad boy” charm, and they are rash, inconsiderate, and thoughtless of the effects of their words and actions. In battle, they fight with a ferocious abandon that makes them both frightening but puts them at greater risk. They age and die, as do standard humans. Thes beings are resistant to mind control attacks, and any attempt to control their minds or read their thoughts will rebound onto the attacking mage, resulting in violent headaches, bleeding ears, tunnel vision, and, on repeated tries, potential death. Their ferocious speed gives them a slight edge in combat, and they have access to the glamour school. Changelings hate all 0thers, faeries and elves, and blame them for the changeling’s wretched lives. Changelings are shunned and mistrusted, and they make humans uneasy. Because of their fates, they rarely ever get an even break or the benefit of the doubt. Animals, such as dogs and horses, are uncomfortable around changelings, making it hard for them to find a mount, forcing him to choose the most stubborn, irritating horses. Changelings are incapable of permanent attachments, healthy relationships, or of ever being happy or content. They are always hungry for more, never satisfied with what they have, and always envious. Not that the changeling cannot be good or heroic occasionally. It makes them inveterate loners and victims of perpetual wanderlust, unruly anarchists, and predisposed to madness. If a changeling and a human have a child, it will be a standard human, not a half-changeling. Changelings and elves cannot breed. By the time they reach adulthood, most changelings opt for carnivorous, meat-only diets. The changeling will try to trick parties it encounters into fighting for him in some fruitless and violent endeavor.
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