Nereid

Many a male has thrown his life away for the fleeting embrace of thc “honeyed ones”, the beautiful nereids from the elemental plane of Water. Playful and flighty, and as unpredictable as their watery homes, the nereids tempt and trick sailors to their dooms.

In the water nereids are transparent, 95% undetectable except as golden angel seaweed, but these creatures assume human form on contact with air. Gorgeous and voluptuous, these forms are almost always females, young and slim with long, golden hair, pearly white skin. and sparkling green eyes. Their voices are heavenly and their songs are engaging to humans and demihumans. While they always carry a white shawl, either in their hands or draped over their head and shoulders, they are otherwise lightly clad in white and gold.

If confronted by only female humans or elves, the nereid appears in a male guise, but its powers are not as effective on women and there is a 65% chance that the women distrust the beguiling nereid. All males that look at a nereid find themselves incapable of harming the creature (no saving throw), and it seems to be a shy and flirtatious girl playing by the shore.

Nereid are capricious, but whether they are good, neutral, or evil depends on the individual, with the majority (50%) being chaotic neutral in their actions.

Combat: As creatures of the element water, nereids have few physical attacks should their roles as sirens fall. Nereids can spit a venom up to 20 feet that blinds a target for 2d6 rounds if it hits, and it can be washed away with water. A blinded victim suffer a -4 penalty to his attack roll, and both saving throws and Armor Class are worsened by 4 until the effects wear off.

Nereids can control the watery of their lair out to a distance of 30 feet, and they often do this to form pleasant watery shapes to amuse and entertain themselves. This power can also be used to defend against invaders by causing the waters to heave in great waves that slow movement to ¼ normal or by making the water boil and froth, increasing the chance of drowning by 10%. Nereids can cause the waves to crash with a enormous roar so great that characters within 60 feet may be deafened for 3d4 rounds if precautions are not taken. They can also form the water into the shape of a serpent or fist, and cause it to strike as a 4-Hit Die monster and inflict 1d4 points of damage. Only one of these attacks may be done per round.

Nereids are 85% likely to have a pet that tries to protect its master. To find out the type of pet, roll 1d8 and consult the following table:

If a nereid is caught by an amorous man, it rolls a saving throw vs. poison, and if successful, it flows away like water. The nereid also gets a saving throw vs. poison to avoid damage from a weapon. Most men or demihumans try to catch a nereid to gain a kiss. While it is loath to give these, in its kisses lie its final defense – once their lips touch, the character must roll a successful saving throw vs. breath weapon, with a -2 penalty, or drown instantly. If he doesn’t drown, he finds total ecstasy.

The nereid protects its shawl at all costs, since it contains the nereid’s essence and if it is destroyed the nereid will dissolve into formless water. Possession of a nereid’s shawl gives a character control over the fearful creature, and it can be commanded to do one’s bidding. A nereid will lie and attempt anything short of hostile actions to regain its soul-shawl.

Habitat/Society: Nereids can be found in the sea, rivers, wells, mountain and cavern springs, and on the elemental plane of Water. If they are on the Prime Material plane, then they have discovered a means to escape from their plane of existence, or have been deposited in this world as punishment. Usually one nereid is located in a certain body of water, but sometimes a group of 1d4 creatures lives in an area, especially along an ocean front or in shoals around a rocky and deserted island. A group of nereid join together because of like alignment, and control of the group is always held by the eldest.

Fresh, clean waters sustain them, while polluted waters drain their vigor and often cause them to move to a new place. Even good nereids have been known to attack those who wantonly pollute their lairs. While they don’t need food, they hunt or fish for their pets, and evil nereids lure men and demihumans close so that their pets may feed. They don’t value metals and discard gold and silver, but any magical treasure they gain from a fallen sailor or amorous fool is saved in their watery lair. True to its nature, the nereid has no goals or ambitions, choosing instead to splash and cavort in the waters, to the delight of males everywhere.

Ecology: These creatures take little from the environment and give little in return. Powerful sea captains might wear nereid shawls as scarves, to show their command over the creatures of the sea; the forlorn nereids can be glimpsed following in the wake of their ships, sobbing and begging for the return of their essences. These shawls command handsome sums from those who need the services of a water creature, but they are seldom sold and are very scarce. It is rumored that wizards who hold a shawl use their enslaved nereid as a guide on journeys to the elemental plane of Water.

Water Weird

These unusual creatures are natives of the elemental plane of Water, but they are being encountered more and more on the Prime Material plane. When they are found in this realm, they are violent and hostile, attacking all living things instantly. In some manner that has never been fully divined, they are able to feed on the life essences of those they slay.

Combat: When first encountered, these creatures seem to be nothing more than a common body of water in a well, fountain, or similar basin. The use of a detect invisible spell, however, reveals to the caster that something is amiss, although the specific nature of the threat is not obvious.

Once the water weird senses a living creature, it begins to change the water into a serpentine form. This transformation takes two rounds to occur. Once in this shape, it lashes out and strikes as a 6-Hit Die monster. Anyone who is hit by the weird must roll a saving throw vs. paralyzation. Failure indicates that the victim has been pulled into the water and faces the prospect of drowning. Each round that the victim spends inside the water requires an additional saving throw, with failure indicating death by drowning.

Many forms of attack cause little or no harm to the water weird because of its fluid body. Piercing and slashing weapons, such as swords and axes, inflict only 1 point of damage each time they strike, although blunt weapons, like hammers and maces, inflict their normal damage. Cold-based attacks affect a water weird as a slow spell. Fire-based attacks cause half damage if the weird fails its saving throw, no damage if it succeeds.

A water weird that is reduced to 0 hit points by any of these attacks is not slain, but is disrupted. After two rounds, it re-forms its serpentine body and resumes its attack. Most other types of attack cannot harm the creature in any way.

A purify water spell instantly slays a water weird. By breaking down its life essence, this invocation annihilates the creature. Each casting of this spell is effective against only a single entity, however, so that an attack by three water weirds must be met with three purify water spells to wholly eliminate the menace.

A water weird that comes into physical contact with a water elemental may attempt to usurp control of it. In order to accomplish this feat, the creature must roll an 11 or better on 1d20. Failure prevents subsequent attempts during that encounter.

Habitat/Society: For the most part, these unusual beings are loners who do not interact with others of their kind. On those occasions when two or three water weirds are found together, it is simply because they have found a location were prey is easy to come by.

Those water weirds found on the Prime Material plane are frequently the victims of magical bonds that hold them in this realm. As such, they are often watching for some way to break their links with this world and return to their home. Because of their keen intelligence, they can be persuaded to refrain from combat if a means of communication can be found and a common ground agreed upon. Of course, their chaotic nature makes any bargain reached with a water weird an uncertain proposition at best.

Ecology: The manner in which water weirds sustain themselves has never been fully determined. As creatures of the elemental plane of Water, they are difficult to study and even harder to understand. It seems clear, however, that they feed on the energies released by those who drown within their serpentine bodies. It may be that this is similar in some way to the like energy that is consumed by will-o-wisps.

For the most part, water weirds found on the Prime Material plane are here by the hand of a wizard who has called the creatures from their home dimension to serve him in some manner.