In myth—or at least in Wikipedia, which is practically the
same thing—the Monaciello is a faerie
from Southern Italy that frequents monasteries, abbeys, and villas. As is usual for faeries, he’s a trickster fond
of pulling pranks (made especially easy by Naples’s many underground passages),
but with a habit of revealing treasure to those in need.
In Pathfinder…well, we’ve got plenty of benevolent fey
already, so the monaciello has been upgraded to a full-blown chaotic evil
gremlin with a habit of tormenting the clergy.
That said, they're not as destructive as many of their kin (though I’m
sure weeks, months, or even years of harassment take their own toll on a
monaciello’s victims) and if you can wrest the gremlin’s magic bag from it, you’ve
got a decent chance at a hefty payout in gold coins. All in all, that makes the monaciello a
worthy first foe for a novice band of adventurers, and a flavorful side
encounter even for more experienced low-level parties.
The abbey’s
prizewinning ale has been tainted!
The abbot fears that the new brewmaster, a young man only recently
appointed to the job after the death of Maester Bryan, may have inadvertently
offended the abbey’s resident clurichaun (a variant leprechaun). In truth, the clurichaun was easily slain
weeks ago (his sorrow over Maester Bryan’s death having left him even deeper in
his cups than usual) by a dastardly monaciello.
The gremlin has been masquerading as the clurichaun ever since, adding
mold to the barley, soiling the hops, and making the new brewmaster’s life
miserable. The otherwise talented but
inexperienced lad does not even know the “clurichaun” is an imposter, but the
steam mephits who occasionally use the brewery as a sauna do.
Adventurers are
sneaking invisibly into a
monastery when they are caught by the monastery’s resident mischief-maker
himself: a monaciello. Hearing a noise
where there should be none, the monaciello casts glitterdust over the party and then flees, raising the alarm. For good measure, he dumps out dozens of
stolen coins and other goods from his magic bag to make the adventurers look
like thieves as well as trespassers.
One monaciello is
bad. An infestation is much, much
worse. And the infestation that
currently dwells in the aqueduct system of Bartolo is well dug in, crafty, and
protected by rats and venomous snakes.
In a fair fight, adventurers could easily exterminate the fey. But in the crowded cramped tunnels of the
aqueduct, the environment favors the gremlins.
Besides, extermination is not the goal.
Getting back as many pages as possible of the gold-leafed, illuminated Proverbs of the Seven Martyrs is—and
bloodshed will only make the fey more likely to hurl the priceless book into
the sewer and flee.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 4
144
Comments! Anon weighs in on mi-go and Lovecraft stories. Reader ohgodhesloose references gargantua, another classic “basic” D&D family of monsters. OGHL also suspected my third mockingfey
adventure seed had something to do with current events in Russia. Total coincidence. Actually, I was thinking more about the
various traditions prohibiting idolatry (in certain Christian faiths and
Judaism), the prohibition against depicting Mohammed in most Islamic traditions,
and aniconism in general. Since I wasn’t
trying to make any kind of religious statement, a tsar/tsarina seemed like the
right kind of monarch to be able to pull off a similar kind of countrywide
prohibition in a fantasy context. Whether
the royal family is simply responding to the nation’s religious fervor, wholeheartedly
supports it, or is simply manipulating it to their own political ends is up to
you.
With the Monday holiday throwing me off my game, not only
did I forget to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race (gasp!), but I also forgot to
tell you that:
It is also my LAST Saturday radio show for a good while.
(I’m moving to Tuesday nights this summer.) Which makes it…a COLLECTOR’S
ITEM!
(Link good till Friday, 6/29, at midnight. If the feed
skips, Save As an mp3.)
All joking aside, this is kind of a big deal for me.
To the best of my memory, I’ve had that time slot since December of 2007.
Setting aside the few months between when I stopped DJing professionally and
restarted DJing for fun, I’ve been DJing Saturday mornings since 2004.
(And I think in 2003 I was on Sunday mornings—my memory is fuzzy on when I made
the switch.)
In fact, excepting grad school, if you count my college job
rocking the reference desk and Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra in my teens,
I’ve had something scheduled on Saturdays since my sophomore year.
Of high school. That’s 17 of the past 21 YEARS.
That’s a lot of hikes to miss out on and BBQs to be late
for. That’s a lot of spontaneous road trips that didn’t happen.
(It’s also a lot of sleeping in and cartoons missed, but let’s fantasize that I
am a well-rounded human being, huh?) Point is, I love DJing and hope to
keep doing it for a long time…but I am pretty excited to find out what Saturday
mornings look like from the other end of the radio.
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