Nothic (Noth-ick)

A nothic is a monstrous aberration with terrible talons and a single great eye. When driven to violence, it uses its horrific gaze to rot the flesh from its enemies’ bones. They are known to be extremely malevolent and erratic.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Nothics resemble hunched, misshapen humanoids with an awkward gait. Their most distinctive feature is the large, single eye that dominates their face. On their hunched backs are many dark spikes and on their hands are three fingers and a thumb, each capped with a sharp claw. They have pink undersides (stomach, underarm, etc.) with the rest of the body being dark muddy brown.

Ecology and Habitats

Nothics are known to live in underground ruins and caverns as solitary predators, or to serve more powerful creatures that find their erratic behavior amusing. Such behavior generally makes them seem more like a pet than the torturer-jester they were normally "employed" as, but their lack of sanity meant they can perform functions that other creatures refused to consider.
Nothics are also known to be drawn to places of magical learning, infiltrating and lurking inside such places. Their insanity gives them a strange understanding of forbidden lore and secrets, and they covet magic items. It is said they are drawn to such places out of a half-understood obsession with reversing their condition- and that some understand the obsession as a false hope and a lesson for their folly.

Behaviour

Nothics are utterly insane and almost as evil, capering and gibbering in and out of combat for no apparent reason. When in combat, they could attack with their claws, but are not particularly adept at doing so, preferring to rely on their strange magical abilities to disable opponents before killing them.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Nothic eyes are used in various magic items such as the potion of true seeing.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

A nothic's large singular eye transcends normal sight, being able to see invisible creatures and into the ethereal plane. They can also immediately tell that illusions are fake and see through both regular and magical darkness. All of this is possible due to their accursed eye.
Among the other things possible with its eye is the ability to rot flesh or learn a creature's deepest secrets with but a glance. Needless to say, a nothic's eye is awash in aberrant magic and is extremly valuable on the black market.

Civilization and Culture

History

Nothics are said to have once been wizards who lost themselves completely in their research of the Far Realms, the infinite number of secrets the universe holds driving them completely mad.