Korred

Menhirs.  Gowk stones.  Henges.  The standing stones of the wild heaths and forests belong sometimes to the druids…sometimes to the astrologers…and sometimes to the oldest folk of all, the korreds.  They love to dance, and many of them take levels in bard and regularly befriend satyrs.  The rest are fierce warriors, and their stunning laughs, animated hair, and skill with clubs and rocks make them bad fey to offend.  Since offending them usually involves nothing more than stumbling upon them by accident, fights can be hard to avoid.

The barber Fergin of Doon Whythe has been abducted from his bed six nights in a row.  A gang of korreds has become charmed with his skill with the sheers and they have demanded he trim them each night.  At first he was honored, but he has since grown exhausted.  Plus, last night he overheard the korreds discussing taking him with them to live “under the hill.”  He is now terrified of being trapped in another world—or petrified outright.

Korreds attack most humanoids who stumble upon their revelries.  But some gangs honor ancient compacts with neighboring peoples who give them proper respect and space.  In the highlands a war college of fighter/illusionists helps deter travelers away from the korreds’ standing stones, in return for the ancient secrets the stones whisper to the fey.

Korreds don’t only exist in the North.  In far-off Bopal, korreds are known to guard ruined temples, speaking to the stones as if they were old friends.  Only slightly less violent than their northern cousins, they can cast rope trick (instead of shatter) to vanish if a fight turns against them.  Many fakirs strive to emulate their ways.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 2 173

My first encounter with korreds was in the (I know I’ve said this before) near-perfect Dragon Magazine 155, followed by a great Forgotten Realms adventure with some magical bagpipes in Dungeon.  Ed Greenwood also has a “The Ecology of…” article in Dragon Magazine 119 that is worth searching out, with some really nice details (such as korreds always shearing their captives for more hair to make rope).

I owe the idea of Scottish-esque (Scottishish?) fighter/illusionists to the Scarred Lands’ Ghelspad campaign setting.

Apparently Paizo is putting out a Fey Revisited next year.  The only way I could be more excited would be if I were helping write it.