by Vance Huxley
Fairies: Possibly extinct. Prefer wilderness, living on magic leached from plants especially flowers. Many are bright coloured which makes them vulnerable to hunters such as fae.
Pictsies: Like to live with humans and their pets where they use their extravagant fangs to hunt lice, flies, insects and spiders.
Pixies: Live with humans. Absorb the magic leaking from the residents of ′their′ house or left on clothes, removing dandruff and loose hair to store a surplus.
Piskies: Live in gardens, in stock pens, or in the wild, preying on the pests infesting animals. Are useful for dealing with ticks. Like jokes, unpleasant ones if trapped in a house.
Brownies: Good ones are fanatically tidy. Live with humans if possible and tidy up dust, cobwebs and pet hair, but will leave if humans are either too tidy so there is no food, or too scruffy. If not able to find a small private place, some will actually create mess in most of the house while keeping their personal space clean.
Slimies: These have a variety of names, none complimentary because they look like dull greenish slugs with brown scaly patches. Very slow, so tend to settle on stains or other food sources unlikely to move. Were useful when stains were difficult to remove, less so with the advent of washing powder and bleach.
Beinsnork: Old Norse for Bonesnake – metre-long yellow snake with tiny legs, covered in short, sharp triangular blades of bone.
Satan-Steed: A white lizard two metres long with red horns, and jaws like a coachman beetle.
Ganshbaal: Glittering black nightmare scorpion rats - the survivors of the rats that bore the Indian Elephant-God Ganesh in his final battle before he faded from the world.
Wealth Toad: Also known as a Luck Toad. A fist-sized furred three-legged toadish thing with three straight, sharp horns. Not usually belligerent. Will sometimes use a simple seeming to live in homes as a small statuette. Name originally comes from an affinity to gold.
Ruttlyte: Like a ratlin, but grey and veined with virulent blue and purple. Originally a failed attempt at killing and binding Ratlins. Secretive, and like Ratlins they prefer flight to fight.
Catspaw: Hand-sized non-belligerent beetle with cat′s paws and claws and a single sharp spine down its back.
A profusion of other small creatures exist, grazing or hunting the magic in anything from moss and grass through fleas up to rabbits or small dogs. Those targeting spoiled food are actually after the microscopic amounts of magic in either fungi or germs, with any insects a bonus. Creatures also hunt each other. Cats and dogs can see them but not clearly, just enough to avoid them or fight back. Some are beneficial, but if aware humans prefer to stop most from fluttering, crawling, hopping or slithering into their homes.
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Allegedly extinct creatures
Kalkatrie: The Cockatrice legends are probably based on glimpses of Kalkatrie, a creature created as a tracker by the Greek Gods. The short flat pointed beak with teeth, large eyes and ruff of tiny feathers make the head look like a cockerel, emphasised by the two small chicken-like legs with clawed feet. Stubby feathered wings need magical assistance to lift the creature. The scaled body is long and slim, a fat snake with a long tail tipped by a sting that causes sleep. The Kalkatrie usually slithers but can fly or run short distances. Live in tunnels like snakes.
Dragon - Many types, now all hunted and killed.
Ogres - All known ogres are dead, Bound Shades
Aryadne′s Hound - Man/spider hybrid created by Goddess Aryadne to serve her. Live in caves, eat carrion, four spider legs at the rear and four spider-like arms on humanoid torso - well over two metres tall. Allegedly died out when Aryadne faded but one was killed recently near Brinsford.
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Created entities
Bound Shade: A creature with its spirit captured at the moment of dying and used to keep a semblance of life. Usually controlled by burying a glyph deep inside it, or imprisoning the spirit within a tattoo on the Shade′s master or mistress. The Shade will then obey direct orders from the glyph-maker or if sent on mission or left as a sentry follow imprinted instructions, guarding an area for instance. While torpid, a Bound Shade needs only a little sustenance, but once roused it must feed on the living to absorb their magic.
Stone Guardian: Very hard to kill without magic as the creature is animated by a glyph carved in the heart of the stone and charged with magic. Stone Guardians usually protect strategic locations, hard to detect because they look like stone statues until they are roused.
Pungh Hmmshtfun – (Very old type of Hebrew)
spiritus qui furabatur (Latin)
Koška Smerti (Russian)
Braeth Huntian (Olde Englishe)
Ferryl Shayde - name currently used by a faded sorceress
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The Tavern - proposed new board game with D&D roots - becomes
Bonny′s Tavern
because there are lots of places called The Tavern.
The world of Bonny′s Tavern is semi-medieval, in a world where cruel tyrants, monsters, grasping nobles and corrupt churchmen abound. An ancient pact between magic, church and nobility has failed, leaving most of the population, those lacking magic or armies, defenceless. The sorcerers, noble, church and a variety of magical monsters fight to maintain their power bases, often crushing the populace between them. The best a peasant or small businessman can hope for is to scrape together enough to pay their tithes and taxes and be ignored. The quests include clearing monster infestations, finding lost treasures and mythical weapons, freeing heroes or maidens, hunting fugitives, fighting small wars or rebellions, robbing corrupt bishops or helping the local populace when famine or war wreck their lives.
Bonny′s Tavern survives because of an unholy alliance. Her half-sister is a mercenary, Robin D′Ritche, which frightens off any low-level ruffians who might risk fighting Champ, the ex-pugilist bouncer. The smith, Fe Hamma, insists on carrying out business there because he likes the ale. Anyone upsetting him won′t be able to buy his enhanced armour or weapons. Cackle the Crone wants a place to sell her charms and hexes. Bullseye the Bowman has to buy new enchanted shafts somewhere. Nikk the Warlock thief needs a place to sell his plunder.
Stronger potential raiders, magical or otherwise, understand the message and the magic in the Tavern sign. A variety of humans and creatures, all dangerous in their own right, find having a safe house convenient. Even the nobles and church stay clear because potential enemies as varied as a Paladin, a Barbarian hero, a Wild Hunter and several sorceresses including a feline with her bodyguard have agreed to enforce the truce. They enjoy a peaceful pint of ale or a good meal and a bed without fleas.
Characters:
Players can choose another name and sex when adopting a character. The standard types are not all human, and advanced players may choose different racial characteristics for their chosen character to enhance their skills.
Not all characters can be adopted by players. Bonny the Barmaid or Champ supervise the game, much as a DM (Dungeon Master) guides a game of Dungeons and Dragons. There are a wide variety of monsters, entities and ephemeral beings as well as magical traps and dangerous terrain, but the following characters will usually be found at Bonny′s Tavern itself, the start of the game.
Some such as Ffod or Fe Hamma can be recruited, or persuaded to help. They will react according to their characteristics. Others such as Creepio may join you voluntarily, or obstruct a quest.
Bonny the Barmaid - Part-owner, half-sister to Robyn. Her Tavern has magical protection gifted by a mysterious customer, possibly another part-owner.
Robyn D′Ritche - Female mercenary, scruffy inebriate, Bonny’s half-sister and part-owner of the Tavern. Buys or steals magical protection. She supports and protects Bonny′s Tavern, her base, where she recruits for fighting contracts.
Champ - Tavern Bouncer - ex-pugilist
Saint Georgeous (pronounced Jorjeous as in Saint George) - Paladin, severe, androgynous, beautiful and dressed in
white. Heavily armoured with innate magical defences. Weapons are inscribed with mysterious and powerful magical symbols. Rides a white unicorn which can run down the fleetest foe despite wearing heavy armour.
Roughly Hewn - Barbarian adventurer dressed in ragged leather or furs who uses clubs or heavy swords, sometimes enchanted. Brute force fighter, all muscle and rage. His body is naturally immune to minor spells, heals quickly and can tolerate serious injury in the heat of battle. He (or she) buys medallions inscribed with spell symbols to provide protection.
Ferryl Shayde - Half-cat sorceress. Powerful and skilled user of spells, knows many intricate symbols well enough to throw them from memory. Her origin is shrouded in mystery but her mere name can terrify lesser creatures.
Shayde Warrior - Fighter-mage trained in both magic and weapons, a difficult skillset to master. Ferryl′s bodyguard and apprentice.
K′liss Windcatcher - Tall, slim sorceress wearing a pale blue robe unlike the usual sorceress black and red. She is an absolute mistress of all air symbols, and an adept at mixing them with other spells to enhance the effect.
Spenz F′Lorinze - Foppish Rake, smitten by Bonny but often unfaithful. Disgraced, disowned fourth son of a noble. Has an allowance on condition he never comes home. Tries to join quests to show how tough he is, to impress the ladies. Broad-brimmed hat with big feather, frilled shirt, striped tights, high boots and a rapier. He really can use the rapier, one of the few lessons he paid attention to. Buys magical protection, and might have persuaded Fe Hamma to enhance his rapier.
Wind Chaser - Sprite trapper. Small, skinny, may have dwarf blood but is sensitive about it. Catches and tames Sprites as guards or hunters, which takes considerable magical skill and knowledge. Will sell them, transferring control of their magical tether, but is always guarded by at least one. Loner, but invaluable as a scout or magical fighter if he/she can be recruited.
Nikk Smartish - Warlock turned to crime. Uses magic to circumvent magical and mundane defences, either to steal or for hire. Has mostly defensive hexes but carries enchanted knives, poison darts and a miniature crossbow with charmed bolts. Good ally on quests needing guile.
Creepio Mysterio - Church investigator and possibly assassin. Sneaky, dangerous, magically powerful. Do not cheat or threaten him, your body may never be found. Take care if Creepio offers to join your band. He can call on terrifying allies, but they may consider your safety irrelevant. Creepio might betray you for what he sees as a higher cause.
Cackle the Crone - Very old, experienced witch using bound shades to animate a pack of small dead creatures such as rats, crows and foxes. Allegedly preys on children but more likely to pick on rich merchants. May join quests, but watch out for pilfering of magical artefacts. She knows many small but obscure spells if you want to improve love life, remove warts, or cause a septic ear. She sells those, and hexes for warding houses, to local villagers or fighters such as Roughly Hewn and Bullseye.
Bullseye - Superb non-magical bowman, using arrows etched with symbols that can pierce most armour and even defeat some magical shields. Like a medieval longbowman he is armed and armoured, a fierce but agile melee fighter who prefers enchanted mail to heavy plate.
Fe Hamma (element joke - Fe = iron) - Allegedly Troll/Dwarf hybrid - weaponsmith - muscular and gnarled, skilled in making weapons embedded with spells and gems to store magic and enhance their power.
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