Description
The tudástolvaj, the dream eaters, the knowledge chasers. Those are the many names of these former humans who paid the price for trying to deceive their own divinity. Long ago, this group of
tenvári men claimed to have knowledge that no one else knew about, but they refused to share it. They wanted
Tenvíz to overrule the city council and put them into positions of power within the city in exchange for their knowledge. But
a Trickery divinity is not so easily tricked. When the men went to sleep, Tenvíz crafted a refined illusion in which the men were granted everything they dreamed of. But it was an actual dream, and none of it was real. So when they gave up their 'hidden knowledge' to the divinity, and it turned out that it was pitiful at best, Tenvíz struck them down. But not before cursing them. He cursed them to wander the world eternally, as restless shades seeking true knowledge. Now they stalk the land as specters seeking to feast on the memories and knowledge of others. In particular they take knowledge from people when they are sleeping, because that is when our mental guard is down. It is said that they are the reason we so rarely remember our dreams.
They appear as bluish specters with no distinctive facial features. They cannot talk normally, but they can communicate telepathically and seem to understand any known language. People often think of them as ghosts, but this is not entirely true. They are cursed creatures and undead, but they still have substance. You can feel their touch (which is painfully chilly) and try to grasp them even, but they can mold their form so easily that they can slip through any crack no matter how small. This is how they enter the houses of sleeping people, through a tiny crack in the wall, or a simple keyhole.
Intelligence and Behavior
Their cursed existence has not done anything to their intelligence, and in fact, multiple lifetimes worth of gathering knowledge have left them only smarter. But it is intelligence with only a single purpose, to gather more knowledge. So in that sense they can be considered extremely simple creatures as well. They do not aim to kill, nor do they seek revenge or retaliation. As long as they get a new piece of knowledge they are satisfied, whether they have to take it forcefully or are simply offered it for free does not matter to them. The easiest way to get rid of a tudástolvaj is to simply offer it a new piece of knowledge. Of course the challenge is that you need to know something that these ancient creatures don't.
Statistics
[5th Edition D&D]
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