While epic duels against fire, water, and void yai may be
the battles players dream of, they’re far more likely to face the oni known as
kuwa. Evil spirits who take human
form, they are the slothful guildmasters, greedy bürgermeisters, corrupt deputies,
and lascivious pimps who skim off the top and wallow in their greedy, vile
appetites…until the PCs find them out.
(Of course, with abilities like darkness,
deep slumber, fly, and invisibility at
their disposal, unmasking a kuwa and catching one are quite different chores.)
A famous bathhouse
built on the corner of a graveyard begins facing nightly assaults from
undead. The owner, an influential
citizen (and rumored pimp) hires mercenaries to drive off the undead. Investigation reveals the bathhouse
owner is in fact the direct cause of the attacks—he is a kuwa oni, and the dead
are rising in protest at sharing their sacred ground with the unclean spirit.
At the instigation of
the baron’s tax collector, a corrupt sheriff institutes an “ear bounty,” paying
good platinum for the pointed left ears of any elf, halfling, or gnome in the
baron’s domain. The reason for the
bounty is a pragmatic one: the tax collector is a kuwa, and he fears the more
sensitive and sharp-eyed demihumans will ferret out his real identity.
Investigating the
disappearance of prominent citizens, a party of adventurers chases several
red herrings, including an attic whisperer (who, while loathsome, only targets
children, not adults), sewer crocodiles, and the Beggar Queen of the Fetchling
Quarter (a matronly albino woman who blesses
or curses them based on how they’ve
treated her “subjects”). But the
real culprit is a kuwa who has turned the missing people into soulbound doll
sentries and slaves.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 3
208
Thought I forgot, didn’t ya? ;-) Sorry for
the late entry; I had to make a pilgrimage to the Dirt Church. While I may not be one of those who
traffics in “sport” (I know, indie rock DJ who runs a Pathfinder blog; you’re
shocked, right?), even I recognize the importance of certain Big Games™.
Speaking of which, I have had dealings with the Enemy,
albeit distantly. The Dark One,
their Sauron, who built them up—he supposedly went to my college, back in the
day. He kindly donated a PSA to
our radio station. It was
amusing. I dutifully played it.
One of their warriors—nay, their generals—too, I met
with. We worked briefly on a
project together, back when he lent his sword to another team, one of the
Southron battalions. And while he
would not know me from Treebeard, his number is still in my phone, and though I
have never dialed it again I refuse to delete it.
That said, Yankees suck (especially tonight).
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