Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Faun

Separating fauns from satyrs seems a bit of an odd move on the Bestiary 3’s part.  (Even odder is how they’re bred—that a willing copulation leads to a weaker, less magical species is problematic for all kinds of reasons.)  Nevertheless, it sets up some interesting contrasts: bucolic Arcadia vs. the trackless wilderness, pastoralia vs. Pan, high spirits vs. base desires.

The fauns of Pyrrim hold the secrets of beekeeping, which they share with no humanoid race.  If provoked, they use ghost sound to summon a wasp swarm to their aid.

The birth of a horned fey to the queen of Arbordale has caused a crisis of succession.  Her prince consort wants her sent to a nunnery for cuckolding him; meanwhile he sits on a throne that he has no claim to.  The queen says the child is a satyr forced upon her, and that she stayed silent to hide her shame.  But if the dale’s archdruid names it a faun, her story must necessarily be a lie.

In Thracia, fauns and satyrs are not separate species.  Rather, they are fey expressions of the two sides of hedonism.  In times of plenty, fauns frolic on the hillsides and give aid to their human neighbors.  But in lean times, under the influence of spoiled wine, or when driven to madness under the full moon, a band of fauns may morph into wild satyrs, kidnapping and raping as they please.

Pathfinder Bestiary 3 114

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