Har-How

Harrow Knight

(Unknown)—These terrifying creatures serve the Wizard of the Northern Lights, and his armies include thousands of them. Nothing is known of the Harrow Knights’ nature, but they have been compared to elfs, demons, revenants, Nephilim, ghosts and air elementals. They are likely all or none of these things, and just as enigmatic as their master and creator, the Wizard. The Knights are each about six feet tall, with corpse white skin, and extra-digitation on their hands and feet. They have writhing, white manes of hair; pale gray skin; and long, rubbery faces well-suited for angry screaming and twisted fury. When shreiking, their jaws appear to unhinge and their mouths open impossibly wide. Their eyes are chaos swirls of hellish red lights. They are often accompanied by bitter burst of freezing air, deadly blasts that can flash freeze enemies. These beings wear antiquated armor and wield two-handed flamberge swords. Their equipment is as gray and colorless as the Harrow Knights themselves. Nothing is known of the Harrow Knights’ culture, or even if they may speak. They are aggressive and violent. Their howls, however, inspire terror in all who hear. The Harrow Knights fight on foot and do not appear to have horses or mounts. They are immune to cold or light-based attacks.

Hell Hound

(Demon)—This covers a wide class of demonic black hounds, and they go by names such as Black Schuck, Sky Yelpers, Black Dogs and others. They haunt lonely moors at night and prey on lone travelers. They are as large as bears, and their gaze can freeze its victim into a state of paralyzed terror. Their baying presages doom for whoever hears it. Sometimes they gather into packs for the Wild Hunt, but this is uncommon, and these canines will not associate with each other if they can avoid it.

Heraldic Dragon

(Dragon)—The rarest of all dragons, these almost are unknown in Aorlis these days. They have swan-like necks, serpentine bodies, four legs, bat wings and barbed tails. These ferocious beasts are usually green, with horned heads that look like a cross between a crocodile and a horse. When walking, their splayed legs cause their bellies drag the ground. They breathe fire and pestilence, their tails and claws are venomous, and their blood is acidic. Heraldic dragons possess high human intelligence, speak many languages, and have their own social hierarchy and religion. They are also wizards and shape-changers, and some have moved among humanity disguised as one of them. Most heraldic dragons are around 30’ long, tail tip to snout, but there are elder dragons of 60’ and longer. They are functionally immortal, growing larger as they age for their entire lives, and they only die by illness, starvation or violence. As flyers go, heraldic dragons are slow and cumbersome but capable of large payloads.

Homunculus

(Artificial)—This is a tiny artificial human sealed up in a fluid-filled glass bottle. They usually have full, human intelligence, and often access to outside knowledge. They may look like human fetuses with overlarge heads, or well-proportioned miniature humans. In either case, they cannot survive outside their glass, fluid-filled womb.

Honeypot Spirits

(Demon)—Similar to succubus, this is an unclean spirit (and thus related to demons) that appears as an alluring maiden to seduce pious men into sexual depravity. Known in Karlionne primarily, they gather in groups of three to eight, establish small castles or ruins as their homes, and from there, they try to entice innocent, holy, or good-hearted men. These beings will use sex, drugs and glamour to bend the men to their lusty needs, perverting their victims into degraded and base versions of themselves. Once they achieve their mission, they turn out the victim and then start looking for their next target. Sometimes, the morally corrupted men will bring new and untainted victims to the honeypot spirits in return for more carnal attention. [Note: The idea of women as sexual transgressors and men as innocent victims was popular in Arthurian literature. This creature’s description is not an endorsement of these harmful and antiquated tropes, and should only be used in an Arthurian context and with sensitivity.]

Horned Owl Mage

(Faerie, Animal)—Found primarily in Blackvale, these are sentient owls who may speak human languages and possess powerful spells. They are traditional horned owls in form, but much larger, growing to three feet or more. They might be earth spirits, or maybe Others, but they guard their secrets closely. These owls have been seen at noble courts, or advising human wizards, nobles or heroes. They are not amused if called Otis Hootfeather, after the character from fables, because they each have their own names. They live in small houses high in the forest canopy, and they use magik to create them rather than manual labor. There is a convincing paranoia here that Blackvale owls purposely keep surveillance on travelers, judging them.

Howling Orb

(Faerie)—These entities live in the Howling Pyrell Forest, from which they derive their name. These dangerous, plasma energy orbs and will-o’-the-wisp style beings are trickster spirits. They sometimes display distorted faces, and their terrifying, keening howl will plunge mortal victims into their deepest, animal-level fears. The howling orbs shoot through mortals to draw out their energy, and usually one to three passes is enough to kill a human. These fairies delight in leading humans to their doom, and the energy drain feature serves to replenish them.