Crooked Man

A Crooked Man is a type of fiendish humanoid creature that can occasionally be found in the wilderness. The appearance of a crooked man is that of a normal human with the exception that they have unnaturally twisted or bent limbs as if they were broken and left to heal without being properly set, this characteristic is where the name of these creatures originates. Another distinct feature of a crooked man is that they all posses soot covered fingers.
While they are rare creatures, they are not particularly difficult to find once you know where to look due to their proclivity to live near abandon charcoal kilns. It it is unclear what attachment these creatures have to the kilns but they are exclusively found in proximity to them. This has given rise to the theory that they are related to some types fey that have a similar relationship to other structures or formations such as dryads and naiads. However those who have actually meet a crooked man dismiss this theory claiming that the creature is fundamentally different from any sort of fey being. When a crooked man is asked this question it is usually met with a short burst of laughter then dismissed out of hand as if such a comparison was so absurd as to be found amusing. The same question asked of fey with similar attachments to specific locations is regarded with confusion or disgust. This has lead to a new theory that these creatures are not native to Pond and have no attachment to nature at all. All theories thus far fail to explain the connection of crooked men to abandon charcoal kilns.
The lure of these fiendish creatures is that they have the innate ability to determine the location of a person or creature by burning an item that belongs to the creature in question. This ability requires certain conditions to be met for it to work. First the creature to be located must have touched the object within the last 3 weeks. Second the object must be able to burn. Finally the creature must have been in contact with the item for a prolonged period of time. If all of these conditions are met the Crooked Man's ability will work and the approximate location of the creature will become known to it. If the conditions are not met nothing will happen and the item will simply be consumed.
Crooked men have no moral compunction about why someone might seek their services and could care less whether it is to find a missing loved one, a bandit that has escaped justice, or someone being targeted by assassins. They will provide their services to anyone who can pay their price provided that person does not cross them. Their locating service does not come cheap and Crooked Men place no value on coin, gems, or precious metals. While their services can be purchased using other means such as tools, specific raw materials ect. they are particularly fond of exotic or particularly fragrant wood, incense, and objects that cause flames to change color when burned.

Lifespan

Unknown