Fossegrim

Note: You know how I’m often mentioning I’ve been hanging out in the ER or spending time in the hospital?  And every time you all very worriedly ask me how I am, I’m always like, “No, it was for someone else; I’m fine.”  Yeah, well this weekend it was for me.  I had a pretty big health scare and am currently home from work.  I’m staying positive and keeping my spirits up, but I’m taking it very easy.  So blog posts will be short and sweet, and I’ll be taking a break from major intros and juggling reader comments for a while. 

Fossegrims are tempting water fey in the vein of the Lorelei (the folkloric one, not the game monster).  Unlike most water sprites who are content to just punish those who trespass into their territory, fossegrims actively lure mortals to their deaths with enchanting music and by appearing as glittering piles of treasure.

The Vale of Glittering Waters is famous for its abundant waterfalls and notorious for the number of fossegrims it hosts—fully a dozen or more spread out under the valley’s many cascades.  Nor are the glittering treasure forms of the fossegrims the only temptation.  Several of the waterfalls hide tunnels that go deep into the hills.  Here more treasures await, mined by creatures called knockers that seem to resemble evil or perhaps even undead pechs.

An undine desires to meet her real father against her elven mother’s explicit wishes.  She recruits adventurers to help her search.  Her true father turns out not to be a triton, marid, or other elemental creature, but a lustful fossegrim who dallied with her mother before attempting to drown her.  The fossegrim will not also attempt to drown his water-blooded daughter (seducing her might be another matter), but those traveling with her are afforded no such protection.

Vidgur the Proud was true to his name when he challenged a linnorm far beyond his ability.  One contemptuous bite from the dragon’s jaws severed Vidgur’s hand and poisoned his blood.  Rather than the usual venom, the poison cursed Vidgur to hunt ceaselessly for the linnorm’s gold in the waters where he was maimed.  Eventually Vidgur simply became one with the water, becoming a fossegrim who still sings of lost treasures to tempt similarly greedy men.  (He plays a lap harp specially tuned to accommodate his missing hand.)  The linnorm is long gone, but the descendants of Vidgur’s talking magpie companion still chatter in these woods, and one of them may set adventurers on the path that will—eventually—lead to the linnorm’s real treasure.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 4 114

Sticklers will notice I fudged creature types/abilities slightly in the above seeds.  Ideas always win over crunch in my book.

3.5 fans will remember the fossergrim, which (in addition to having one extra letter) was a more benevolent fey figure bound to its waterfall in a manner similar to a dryad.  Pathfinder GMs will also find it has one tactic worth stealing: It prefers to fight from behind its waterfall, taking advantage of the one-half concealment.

This radio show started well, with some nice new music and a belated 20th anniversary salute to Bush’s Sixteen Stone.  But about 40 minutes in I had a health issue and had to go to the ER.  So yeah…that was a thing.  (Obviously, I’m better(ish) now.)  Enjoy what’s there, though.

If you’re a new listener or just need a musical fix, I’ve saved last week’s show over on MediaFire.