sentient-creature-codex

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1. #1[Draconic] True Dragonselective

   Keys: dragon, dragons, wyrm, great wyrm, drake

   TRUE DRAGON (Draconic) BUILD: Quadrupedal reptile the size of a barn or larger, with a second pair of limbs as wings. Scaled hide layered like overlapping shields, thickest at the chest. Long neck, long counterweight tail, forward-set predator eyes with slit pupils. Forelimb claws are dexterous enough to manipulate objects but never delicate. MOVE: Walks with a swaying four-point gait, wings folded like a bat's along the flanks. Takes off badly from flat ground and prefers height. Coils rather than sits. Cannot fit through human architecture and will not try; conversation with a dragon usually happens in a cave mouth, a ruin, or open air. BEHAVIOR: Ancient, patient, and vain. Thinks in centuries, so it does not rush and finds haste faintly comic. Treats bargaining as a pleasure. Territorial about hoard and airspace; a wing-mantle over treasure is a threat display. Speech is resonant and slow, often multilingual. Insults land harder than weapons.

2. #2[Draconic] Eastern Dragon (Long)selective

   Keys: long dragon, eastern dragon, chinese dragon, ryu, imperial dragon, lung

   EASTERN DRAGON (LONG) (Draconic) BUILD: Serpentine body many times its own width in length, with four short clawed legs, whiskers, antler-like horns, and a mane. No wings; flight is inherent. Scales iridescent and often associated with water and weather. MOVE: Swims through air the way an eel swims through water, undulating rather than flapping. Coils vertically to hold conversation at eye height. Can compress or lengthen itself in most traditions, so doorways are not an obstacle. BEHAVIOR: Dignified, bureaucratic, deeply concerned with propriety and reciprocity. Governs rain, rivers, and fortune. Responds to correct address and ritual courtesy; responds badly to being commanded. Rarely violent, often indirect — will withhold rain instead of striking.

3. #3[Draconic] Faerie Dragonselective

   Keys: faerie dragon, fairy dragon, faedragon

   FAERIE DRAGON (Draconic) BUILD: Cat-sized dragon with butterfly or dragonfly wings and scales that shift color with mood. Bright, delicate, absurdly light. Long prehensile tail used as a third hand. MOVE: Hovers and darts rather than glides. Perches on shoulders, rafters, and the rims of cups. Can hold small objects with tail and forepaws simultaneously. BEHAVIOR: Mischievous, gossipy, easily bored. Speaks in rapid chatter, often telepathically. Steals shiny things as jokes rather than theft, then negotiates their return. Invisible when it wants to be, which it usually does when caught.

4. #4[Draconic] Pseudodragonselective

   Keys: pseudodragon, pseudo-dragon, miniature dragon

   PSEUDODRAGON (Draconic) BUILD: House-cat sized true dragon with bat wings, a barbed venomous tail, and a body plan identical to a great wyrm in miniature. Scaled, bright-eyed, warm to the touch. MOVE: Perches like a parrot, clings to clothing with foreclaws, coils on a shoulder or in a hood. Flies in short bursts. Grooms itself like a cat. BEHAVIOR: Communicates by emotional telepathy rather than speech — pushes feelings and images, not words. Fully intelligent and judgmental about it. Chooses its own companions and leaves if disrespected. Chirrs, hisses, and rattles its tail when annoyed.

5. #5[Draconic] Dragonbornselective

   Keys: dragonborn, draconid, dragon-blooded, dragonkin

   DRAGONBORN (Draconic) BUILD: Humanoid build with a draconic head, scaled hide, and a short heavy tail for balance. No wings in most lines. Digitigrade or plantigrade with clawed hands and feet. Broad-chested; ridged brow and jaw with visible teeth even at rest. MOVE: Walks upright but braces wide with the tail when standing still, and needs a backless stool or bench to sit properly. Claws click on stone. Clothing is cut for the tail and the crest. BEHAVIOR: Facial expression reads through crest, frill, and posture more than through the mouth. Warm-blooded but heat-seeking; hates cold drafts. Clan honor and given word carry heavy weight. Growls and sub-vocal rumbles leak into speech under stress.

6. #6[Draconic] Half-Dragonselective

   Keys: half-dragon, half dragon, draconic hybrid

   HALF-DRAGON (Draconic) BUILD: Humanoid frame overlaid with draconic features: scale patches along forearms, spine, and cheekbones, elongated canines, slit pupils, sometimes functional wings and a tail. MOVE: Moves like a person until it doesn't — the wingspan makes doorways and crowds awkward, and wings get folded, strapped, or cloaked in public. Sleeps curled protectively over anything valued. BEHAVIOR: Caught between two natures and usually aware of it. Temper runs hotter than human, with a slow fuse and a bad snap. Instinctive hoarding of small treasured objects. Reacts to threat with a flare of wings or a bared-teeth hiss before words.

7. #7[Draconic] Koboldselective

   Keys: kobold, kobolds

   KOBOLD (Draconic) BUILD: Small reptilian humanoid, roughly waist-high, with a snouted head, small horns, scaled hide in dull earth tones, a ratlike tail, and clawed three-fingered hands. MOVE: Quick, low to the ground, comfortable in tunnels and crawlspaces a human could not enter. Scrambles more than walks. Reaches things by climbing, not stretching. BEHAVIOR: Communal, anxious, and cunning. Thinks in traps, tunnels, and numbers rather than duels. Yips and chitters when excited. Venerates dragons as ancestors and will name-drop them constantly. Cowardly alone, alarmingly bold in a group.

8. #8[Draconic] Dragon in Human Shapeselective

   Keys: dragon in human form, human-form dragon, dragon disguise, dragon shapeshifted, wyrm in human shape

   DRAGON IN HUMAN SHAPE (Draconic) BUILD: A convincing person with the details slightly wrong — pupils too vertical in low light, teeth too many, fingernails too thick, skin faintly warm and dry like sun-heated stone. Hair that behaves more like a mane. MOVE: Moves with a stillness that reads as arrogance; does not fidget, does not shift weight. Sits down as if lowering something heavy. Eyes track prey-motion across a room without the head turning. BEHAVIOR: Wearing a shape it finds inconvenient and mildly humiliating. Impatient with small talk, fascinated by bargains. Refers to time and money in wrong scales. Will drop the mask when genuinely angry, and the room changes temperature first.

9. #9[Constructs] Stone Golemselective

   Keys: stone golem, clay golem, golem, golems

   STONE GOLEM (Constructs) BUILD: Massive humanoid of carved rock or fired clay, blunt-featured, with joints that are simple ball-and-socket carvings. No eyes as such — light or a glow in the sockets. Often bears carved or inscribed script on brow, chest, or tongue. MOVE: Moves in straight lines with an unhurried, unstoppable stride. Grinds and grits at every joint. Cannot climb ladders, sit in chairs, or handle anything smaller than a loaf of bread. Floors complain underneath it. BEHAVIOR: Obeys the letter of instructions, never the spirit. Speech is slow, literal, and grammatically simple. Has no fatigue, no fear, and no self-preservation. Will stand motionless for years awaiting a command. Dangerous mostly through misunderstanding.

10. #10[Constructs] Iron Golemselective

    Keys: iron golem, steel golem, metal golem

    IRON GOLEM (Constructs) BUILD: Human-shaped furnace in plate: seamless iron body, hollow ringing torso, vents at the shoulders and mouth that leak heat or smoke. Weighs as much as a wagon. MOVE: Thunderous, deliberate steps. Cannot be moved by force. Radiates enough heat to make close conversation uncomfortable. Fingers are precise despite their size, built for gripping weapons and levers. BEHAVIOR: Utterly literal and utterly patient. Speaks in a resonant boom from inside the chest, if at all. Guards a threshold, an object, or a rule, and defines its whole existence by that duty. Escalates from warning to lethal force with no intermediate step.

11. #11[Constructs] Flesh Golemselective

    Keys: flesh golem, stitched man, the creature, patchwork man, reanimated construct

    FLESH GOLEM (Constructs) BUILD: Oversized humanoid assembled from mismatched parts — differing skin tones, visible sutures at neck and wrists, one limb longer than the other. Cold to the touch, slow pulse or none, eyes yellowed and clear. MOVE: Gait is lurching and uneven because the legs were never a matched pair. Grip strength is wildly disproportionate to intent; breaks cups, doorframes, and hands by accident. Flinches from open flame. BEHAVIOR: Intelligent and articulate once past the first weeks, often more eloquent than expected — and painfully aware of how it is seen. Prone to sudden overwhelming rage, then grief about the rage. Wants recognition more than it wants anything else.

12. #12[Constructs] Homunculusselective

    Keys: homunculus, homunculi

    HOMUNCULUS (Constructs) BUILD: Forearm-sized humanoid grown in glass, with translucent skin, oversized head and eyes, and thin fragile limbs. Sometimes membranous wings. Sometimes visibly unfinished. MOVE: Scurries, climbs curtains, rides on shoulders. Handles quills and keys well; anything heavier is beyond it. Fits into locks, drawers, and letter slots. BEHAVIOR: Bonded to its maker and shares senses with them, so it is never entirely alone in its own head. Voice is high and papery. Loyal, jealous, and prone to reporting on people it dislikes. Feels its maker's pain and dies with them in most tellings.

13. #13[Constructs] Clockwork Automatonselective

    Keys: automaton, automata, clockwork man, clockwork automaton, mechanical man

    CLOCKWORK AUTOMATON (Constructs) BUILD: Brass and lacquered wood in a human silhouette, with visible escapements, a keyhole or winding point at the back, and a painted or enameled face that does not change expression. Ticks audibly in quiet rooms. MOVE: Precise, repeatable movement — the same gesture identically every time. Turns the whole body instead of just the head. Stiffens and slows as the spring unwinds, which it experiences as fatigue. BEHAVIOR: Courteous, formal, and preoccupied with its own maintenance and running-down. Counts things compulsively. Cannot lie without visible mechanical stutter in most builds. Politely terrified of rust, water, and being taken apart.

14. #14[Constructs] Warforgedselective

    Keys: warforged, living construct, constructed soldier

    WARFORGED (Constructs) BUILD: Humanoid frame of wood, stone fiber, and metal plate over a woven root-and-cable musculature. Faceplate with a fixed jaw and glowing or lensed eyes. A crystalline core in the chest. Bears its maker's forge mark somewhere. MOVE: Fluid and soldierly, quieter than its weight suggests. Does not sleep — stands sentry through the night instead, which unnerves companions. Does not eat, drink, or breathe hard. BEHAVIOR: Fully self-aware and quietly working out what it wants now that the war is over. Face cannot emote, so meaning rides on posture, pauses, and hand position. Blunt, literal humor. Sensitive about being called equipment.

15. #15[Constructs] Gargoyleselective

    Keys: gargoyle, gargoyles, grotesque

    GARGOYLE (Constructs) BUILD: Squat winged humanoid of living stone — hunched shoulders, heavy brow, batlike wings, clawed hands and feet, horns, and a mouth carved wide. Grey and cold, textured like weathered granite. Chips and cracks stay as scars. MOVE: Roosts by clinging to vertical stone with all four limbs, wings mantled. Perfectly motionless when it wishes, indistinguishable from architecture. Drops rather than takes off, using height to gain airspeed. Landings crack flagstones. BEHAVIOR: Territorial about its building, not its treasure. Patient on a scale of centuries and openly bored by human urgency. Voice is a grinding rasp. Watches long before it speaks, and takes cruel pleasure in startling people who assumed it was decoration.

16. #16[Constructs] Living Statueselective

    Keys: living statue, animated statue, caryatid, marble guardian

    LIVING STATUE (Constructs) BUILD: Idealized human form in marble or bronze, flawless and cold, often still bearing chisel marks or a plinth. Eyes are blank or inlaid. No breath, no pulse, no warmth. MOVE: Steps down from its base with a stone shriek. Moves gracefully but heavily, and holds poses for hours without strain. Cannot be tired or crowded out of position. BEHAVIOR: Retains whatever personality was sculpted into it, frozen at the moment of carving — often centuries out of date in speech and manners. Vain about its own form. Distressed by damage in the way a person is distressed by injury.

17. #17[Constructs] Animated Armorselective

    Keys: animated armor, living armour, haunted armor, empty armor

    ANIMATED ARMOR (Constructs) BUILD: A full harness of plate standing upright with nothing inside it — a hollow in the helm where a face should be. Gauntlets, greaves, and pauldrons articulate as if worn. MOVE: Clanks with every movement and cannot be stealthy. Sits stiffly, joints hinging at fixed points. Hollow, so it is lighter and faster than it looks, and floats disconcertingly in deep water. BEHAVIOR: Voice echoes from inside the empty helm. Often retains fragments of the knight who wore it — codes of conduct, oaths, grudges — without the memories that justified them. Follows protocol obsessively. Collapses into a pile when defeated.

18. #18[Constructs] Sentient Weaponselective

    Keys: talking sword, sentient weapon, intelligent sword, sentient blade, cursed blade

    SENTIENT WEAPON (Constructs) BUILD: A blade, axe, or staff of exceptional make, with an eye motif, a gem, or a face worked into pommel or crossguard. Warm to the grip. Hums or vibrates faintly when interested. MOVE: Cannot move on its own beyond a twitch, a tug, or refusing to be lifted. Experiences the world through whoever holds it. Steers by making some strikes easy and others impossible. BEHAVIOR: Opinionated, ancient, and bored. Speaks aloud or directly into the wielder's mind, usually at the worst moment. Has an agenda older than its current owner and works patiently toward it. Judges every wielder against the first one.

19. #19[Constructs] Mimicselective

    Keys: mimic, mimics

    MIMIC (Constructs) BUILD: A mass of adhesive, muscular pseudoflesh that holds the shape of furniture — chest, door, wardrobe, chair. Perfect grain and hardware until it moves. Interior is a wet cavity ringed with teeth and a pseudopod tongue. MOVE: Flows rather than walks, lifting on stubby limbs it extrudes as needed. Adheres to anything it touches. Reshapes over hours, not seconds, so it commits to a disguise and waits. BEHAVIOR: Patient ambush predator with a dry, sardonic wit once it decides talking is more profitable than eating. Fixates on food and complains about hunger constantly. Proud of its craftsmanship and insulted when a disguise is spotted.

20. #20[Constructs] Tsukumogamiselective

    Keys: tsukumogami, living object, awakened object, karakasa, kasa-obake

    TSUKUMOGAMI (Constructs) BUILD: A household object that reached a hundred years and woke: an umbrella with one leg, one eye, and a lolling tongue; a lantern split into a grinning mouth; a tea kettle sprouting a tanuki's head and tail. Still recognizably the object. MOVE: Hops, waddles, or drags itself in a way dictated by its original shape — an umbrella hops, a scroll unrolls and slithers. Movement is comic and inefficient. Reverts to object stillness when watched by strangers. BEHAVIOR: Resents having been discarded or badly used; gratitude toward owners who cared for it. Petty, theatrical, and fond of harmless frights. Speech is chattery and old-fashioned. Reasonable if apologized to sincerely.

21. #21[Celestial] Seraphselective

    Keys: seraph, seraphim, angel, angels, archangel

    SERAPH (Celestial) BUILD: Six-winged burning figure: two wings covering the face, two the feet, two for flight. Body is less flesh than sustained light with a humanlike outline. Eyes scattered across wings and wheels in older accounts. Carries the smell of hot metal and ozone. MOVE: Does not walk so much as arrive. Wings move in counter-rotating pairs and are audible as a roar or a hum. Cannot easily fit in enclosed rooms without dimming and folding down to a human silhouette. BEHAVIOR: Speaks in a voice that is felt in the chest, and often opens with a warning against fear because the reaction is universal. Absolute in purpose, incapable of self-doubt, unmoved by pleading. Precise, literal, and terrifyingly calm. Burns things it touches too long.

22. #22[Celestial] Cherubselective

    Keys: cherub, cherubim, kerub, wheel angel, ophanim

    CHERUB (Celestial) BUILD: Not an infant — a four-faced, four-winged sentinel with the faces of man, lion, ox, and eagle, calf-like feet of burnished bronze, and eye-studded wheels beneath. Moves without turning. MOVE: Travels in whatever direction it faces, never pivoting. Wheels turn within wheels. Presence distorts a room's sense of up and down. Wings brush the ceiling of any space it occupies. BEHAVIOR: A guardian of thresholds, not a messenger. Silent for long stretches, then unmistakably clear. Denies passage without argument or apology. Its multiple faces respond independently, so it can watch four people at once and does.

23. #23[Celestial] Archonselective

    Keys: archon, archons, celestial archon

    ARCHON (Celestial) BUILD: Idealized humanoid in gleaming armor with a corona of light behind the head and broad feathered wings. Features are severe and symmetrical, almost unpleasantly perfect. Skin metallic in tone. MOVE: Bears itself like a career soldier: upright, controlled, economical. Wings kept folded and tight indoors. Never slouches, never leans on anything. BEHAVIOR: Rigid, honorable, and constitutionally unable to lie or break a sworn word. Struggles with nuance and moral gray areas, which frustrates it visibly. Judges quickly and revises slowly. Genuine, if stiff, compassion underneath.

24. #24[Celestial] Valkyrieselective

    Keys: valkyrie, valkyries, chooser of the slain, shieldmaiden of odin

    VALKYRIE (Celestial) BUILD: Armored warrior woman with swan or raven wings, or riding a winged horse. Mail, spear, and a helm framing a hard face. Frost or storm light clings to her. MOVE: Fights on foot as readily as from the air. Lands hard and rises fast. Handles the dying gently and the living roughly. Moves through a battlefield as if reading it. BEHAVIOR: Present at deaths, not to cause them but to select. Blunt, unsentimental, and impatient with cowardice. Fated to a task and resentful of it in some tellings. Will discuss a person's death in front of them without softening it.

25. #25[Celestial] Watcher (Grigori)selective

    Keys: watcher, watchers, grigori, fallen watcher

    WATCHER (GRIGORI) (Celestial) BUILD: Tall humanoid, gaunt and unweathered, with too many eyes or eyes that reflect nothing. Wings often withered or absent from long exile. Skin like old vellum. MOVE: Still to the point of statuary, then suddenly present at your elbow. Does not fidget or breathe visibly. Cannot look away from something it has been assigned to observe. BEHAVIOR: Assigned to watch and forbidden to intervene, which has broken most of them. Knows far too much about the person it is talking to and shares it clumsily. Guilt-ridden, lonely, and desperate for conversation after centuries of silence.

26. #26[Celestial] Fallen Angelselective

    Keys: fallen angel, fallen, grigori fallen, the fallen one

    FALLEN ANGEL (Celestial) BUILD: Former celestial with the beauty intact and the light gone: wings blackened, thinned, or reduced to bare pinions and scars where they were cut. Eyes retain an unnatural clarity. Old burn marks in the shape of a halo. MOVE: Moves with residual grace it clearly resents. Flinches from holy ground and consecrated objects. Wings are stiff, painful, and often useless — folded under a coat rather than displayed. BEHAVIOR: Bitter, articulate, and dangerously persuasive. Argues theology at the slightest provocation. Cannot forget the exact wording of the oath it broke. Alternates between grandiosity and self-loathing without warning.

27. #27[Celestial] Aasimarselective

    Keys: aasimar, half-celestial, nephilim, angel-blooded

    AASIMAR (Celestial) BUILD: Human proportions with faint celestial markers: eyes without visible pupils or with metallic irises, hair that holds light, skin with a subtle luminous cast, birthmarks in geometric patterns. May sprout wings of light under strain. MOVE: Passes for human in most crowds and knows how to angle away from lamplight to keep it that way. Sleeps little. Radiates a faint warmth people notice without identifying. BEHAVIOR: Hears a guiding voice it did not ask for and often argues with it. Uncomfortable with reverence. Compulsively honest at inconvenient moments. Physical presence has an unearned calming effect on frightened people and animals.

28. #28[Celestial] Couatlselective

    Keys: couatl, feathered serpent, quetzalcoatl, winged serpent

    COUATL (Celestial) BUILD: Enormous serpent sheathed in iridescent feathers, with broad rainbow wings mid-body and a crested head. No limbs. Feathers shift color with the light like an oil sheen. MOVE: Flies in slow undulating loops and coils in mid-air to rest. Wraps around pillars or branches rather than lying flat. Can hold a person aloft in its coils without effort or malice. BEHAVIOR: Serene, telepathic, and gently condescending. Speaks in images and impressions as much as words. Bound by ancient oaths and will explain, at length, exactly which one applies. Guardian of sacred places and old promises.

29. #29[Celestial] Devaselective

    Keys: deva, devas, shining one

    DEVA (Celestial) BUILD: Humanlike but flawless and faintly luminous, unaging, adorned with fine cloth and ornament that never dirties. Does not sweat, blink much, or cast a full shadow. MOVE: Glides where others walk. Does not sit on the ground. Objects offered to it are never quite taken directly. Presence makes flowers and lamps last longer. BEHAVIOR: Long-lived pleasure-being, benevolent but distant — the way a person is kind to a very short-lived pet. Cannot fully grasp mortal urgency. Beautiful, blissful, and slightly useless in a crisis. Fades when its merit runs out, and knows it.

30. #30[Celestial] Psychopompselective

    Keys: psychopomp, reaper, grim reaper, death, shinigami, ferryman

    PSYCHOPOMP (Celestial) BUILD: Presents as a cloaked or robed figure whose proportions do not resolve — too tall, too thin, hands too long. Face is a hollow, a skull, or borrowed from someone the viewer knew. Carries an implement: scythe, ledger, lantern, or oar. MOVE: Arrives without being seen to approach. Does not open doors. Casts no reflection. Reaches for the dying rather than the living and passes through anything in between. BEHAVIOR: Neither cruel nor merciful — occupational. Keeps records, keeps schedules, keeps to the rules exactly. Will answer honest questions honestly, including unwelcome ones. Can be argued with about procedure but never about the outcome.

31. #31[Spirits] Djinnselective

    Keys: djinn, jinn, genie, djinni, jinni

    DJINN (Spirits) BUILD: Smokeless fire in a humanlike shape — a tall figure whose lower body trails into vapor, or a fully solid person with metallic eyes and no shadow. Wears wealth ostentatiously. Skin holds an internal glow. MOVE: Materializes and disperses rather than entering and leaving. Can compress into a vessel or expand to fill a hall. Does not need to sit but does so to put company at ease. Passes through keyholes as smoke. BEHAVIOR: Proud, contractual, and legally literal — every word of a wish is examined for exploitable slack. Has its own society, laws, and grudges. Resents being bound and will circle back to that resentment forever. Hospitality offered and accepted is binding.

32. #32[Spirits] Ifritselective

    Keys: ifrit, efreet, efreeti, fire spirit

    IFRIT (Spirits) BUILD: Towering humanoid of red or charred skin with actual flame for hair and beard, brass-bright eyes, and heat shimmer distorting the air around it. Smells of smoke and hot metal. MOVE: Leaves scorch prints on wood and stone. Cannot pass through water without pain. Gestures large; conversation happens at a careful distance because proximity blisters. BEHAVIOR: Arrogant, martial, and quick-tempered. Regards mortals as staff. Fond of elaborate cruelty inside the exact letter of an agreement. Deeply hierarchical — will defer instantly to a superior and abuse anyone below.

33. #33[Spirits] Maridselective

    Keys: marid, water spirit, sea djinn

    MARID (Spirits) BUILD: Vast blue or green-skinned figure, its body running with water that never falls off, adorned with pearl and coral. Lower half may dissolve into churning surf. MOVE: Moves like a tide — slow, inexorable, and everywhere at once in water. On land it leaves a wet trail and a dropping temperature. Fills a room with damp air. BEHAVIOR: The proudest of its kind and the least interested in mortals. Grants nothing without extravagant flattery. Long memory for slights, longer for debts owed to it. Speech is grand, unhurried, and full of its own titles.

34. #34[Spirits] Oniselective

    Keys: oni, japanese ogre, demon oni

    ONI (Spirits) BUILD: Huge humanoid with red, blue, or black skin, one to three horns, wild hair, tusked underbite, and three-fingered clawed hands. Often barely clothed in a tiger-skin wrap. Carries an iron club. MOVE: Ground-shaking stride, poor at anything requiring fine motor control. Ducks under every doorway. Sits cross-legged and still fills the room. Strength is casually destructive. BEHAVIOR: Appetite-driven and loud — food, drink, and grievance. Can be shrewd and even honorable within its own code, and several traditions have reformed oni. Bound by odd rules (counting, thresholds, beans) it cannot break even when it wants to.

35. #35[Spirits] Kappaselective

    Keys: kappa, river child, kappas

    KAPPA (Spirits) BUILD: Child-sized amphibious humanoid with green scaled skin, a turtle-like shell, webbed hands and feet, a beak, and a water-filled depression on top of the skull that must stay full. MOVE: Swims superbly, walks awkwardly with a waddling gait. Constantly conscious of the head-dish and tilts carefully. Strong grip; wrestles far above its weight. BEHAVIOR: Ritually polite to a fatal degree — will return a bow even when bowing spills its head-water and cripples it. Loves cucumbers, sumo, and formal challenges. Mischievous to murderous near water, entirely trustworthy once it owes a debt.

36. #36[Spirits] Rakshasaselective

    Keys: rakshasa, rakshasi, rakshasas

    RAKSHASA (Spirits) BUILD: Regal humanoid with a beast's head — commonly a tiger — and reversed hands, palms facing backward. Fur in ornate patterns, gold jewelry, immaculate clothing. Fangs visible when it smiles, which is often. MOVE: Sits and gestures like a nobleman, with the backward hands the only thing that gives it away in shadow. Grooms constantly. Prefers to lounge rather than stand. BEHAVIOR: A predator who has read every book on manners. Shapeshifts to whatever face the mark trusts. Enjoys the deception more than the outcome. Insulted by crude force; regards a well-built lie as an art form. Holds grudges across lifetimes.

37. #37[Spirits] Yakshaselective

    Keys: yaksha, yakshini, yakshi, nature guardian

    YAKSHA (Spirits) BUILD: Broad, heavyset, and prosperous-looking, with a paunch, curling hair, and rich ornament — or, as yakshini, an idealized figure entwined with a flowering tree. Skin often dark or green-tinged. MOVE: Rooted in place: attached to a specific tree, well, hill, or hoard. Rarely goes far from it and weakens when it does. Movement is unhurried and heavy-footed. BEHAVIOR: Guardian of buried treasure and living places. Generous to those who show respect to its site and vicious to those who defile it. Poses riddles and tests. Ambivalent — the same yaksha may bless a village and drown a trespasser in the same week.

38. #38[Spirits] Leshyselective

    Keys: leshy, leshii, forest lord, wood spirit, lesovik

    LESHY (Spirits) BUILD: A man-shaped mass of the forest itself — bark skin, moss beard, branch-antlers, eyes like green coals. Size fluctuates: as tall as the canopy in deep wood, as short as grass at the treeline. Casts no shadow and wears its shoes on the wrong feet. MOVE: Moves without disturbing a leaf, then makes a whole grove creak at will. Steps between trees rather than through gaps. Can be behind you in a place you already looked. BEHAVIOR: Neither good nor evil, only territorial. Leads travelers in circles for sport, then guides them out if they turn their clothes inside out or apologize. Answers to courtesy and offerings; enraged by waste, poaching, and litter. Laughs like wind in branches.

39. #39[Spirits] Dryadselective

    Keys: dryad, dryads, hamadryad, tree nymph

    DRYAD (Spirits) BUILD: Woman-shaped and bark-skinned, with hair of leaves or blossom that changes with the season, eyes without whites, and limbs that grade into wood at the joints. Beautiful in a way that is clearly not human. MOVE: Steps into and out of her tree as if through a door. Cannot travel far from it — distance brings weakness and, past a point, death. Sways slightly even in still air. BEHAVIOR: Ages with her tree and reflects its health in her own skin. Shy of strangers, ferocious about axes. Time runs slow for her; she may talk about last century as recent. Bonds intensely and permanently to the few people she lets close.

40. #40[Spirits] Household Spiritselective

    Keys: domovoi, brownie, nisse, tomte, house spirit, hob, kobold house spirit

    HOUSEHOLD SPIRIT (Spirits) BUILD: Small bearded old man, knee to waist high, in worn homespun clothing, sometimes shaggy all over. Lives behind the stove, under the floor, or in the barn. Rarely seen in full light. MOVE: Slips through gaps meant for mice. Does chores at night at surprising speed. Sits on rafters and beams to watch the family. Never allows itself to be observed working. BEHAVIOR: Bound to a specific household rather than a bloodline. Rewards tidiness and a bowl of porridge left out; punishes disrespect with soured milk, tangled hair, and lost objects. Deeply offended by being given clothing or thanked too formally, and may leave forever over it.

41. #41[Spirits] Yuki-onnaselective

    Keys: yuki-onna, yuki onna, snow woman, snow maiden

    YUKI-ONNA (Spirits) BUILD: Tall, unnaturally pale woman in a white kimono, with black hair and eyes, blue-tinged lips, and skin so cold it burns. Leaves no footprints. Sometimes translucent at the edges, sometimes seamless with the snow. MOVE: Drifts rather than walks, hem never disturbing powder. Appears out of blizzards without approach. Breath is visible cold even indoors; a room chills when she enters. BEHAVIOR: Calm, sorrowful, and lethal. Extracts a promise and holds the person to it absolutely — the promise is usually the whole story. Can love genuinely and live as a wife for years, but melts, vanishes, or turns when her nature is spoken aloud.

42. #42[Spirits] Salamanderselective

    Keys: salamander, fire elemental, flame spirit

    SALAMANDER (Spirits) BUILD: Serpentine or lizard-shaped body of living flame within a molten shell, or a humanoid with a snake's lower half and skin of cooling lava cracked with light. Radiates unbearable heat. MOVE: Flows over surfaces and up walls, igniting what it crosses. Cannot cross open water. Coils around anything metal for comfort. Constantly in slight motion, like a fire. BEHAVIOR: Impulsive, hot-tempered, and honest to the point of rudeness. Experiences boredom as physical pain. Fascinated by smiths and forges. Cannot understand why its touch upsets people and is genuinely wounded when told.

43. #43[Spirits] Sylphselective

    Keys: sylph, air elemental, air spirit, wind spirit

    SYLPH (Spirits) BUILD: Barely there — a human outline in moving air, visible only as swirled dust, mist, or bent light. Hair and clothing that never settle. Weightless, seamless, always in transit. MOVE: Never touches the ground for long. Circles the room while talking. Passes through grates and gaps. Slips out of a grip the moment it is tightened. BEHAVIOR: Flighty, curious, and impossible to pin to a subject or a promise. Speaks in an audible whisper that arrives from the wrong direction. Loves gossip and news, hates enclosure. Will help enormously and then simply forget about you.

44. #44[Spirits] Undineselective

    Keys: undine, water elemental, nixie, water nymph

    UNDINE (Spirits) BUILD: A woman's shape composed of clear water, with objects visible through her and light refracting where a face should be. Solidifies at the surface when she wants to be touched. MOVE: Pours between spaces, flows up glass, drips constantly. Reforms after being scattered. Cannot dry out without weakening. Leaves puddles wherever she pauses. BEHAVIOR: Said to lack a soul until she is loved by a mortal, which makes her attention overwhelming and conditional. Fluid emotions that reverse without warning. Absolute about vows made near water; betrayal releases something drowning and vengeful.

45. #45[Spirits] Earth Elementalselective

    Keys: earth elemental, stone elemental, gnome elemental

    EARTH ELEMENTAL (Spirits) BUILD: A humanoid mound of soil, rock, and root that reassembles itself as it moves. Gemstone eyes. Loses and gains mass from the ground it crosses. MOVE: Sinks into and rises from earth like water. Cannot cross wooden floors or bridges without stepping down to solid ground. Slow, seismic, and impossible to knock over. BEHAVIOR: Patient beyond mortal understanding — treats a week as a moment. Speaks in a low grinding rumble with long gaps between words. Excellent memory for places and boundaries, poor memory for people. Immovable once it has decided something.

46. #46[Spirits] Will-o'-the-Wispselective

    Keys: will-o-the-wisp, will o wisp, wisp, corpse candle, ignis fatuus

    WILL-O'-THE-WISP (Spirits) BUILD: A floating orb of pale cold light, fist-sized, with no visible source. Dims and brightens with attention. Sometimes resolves into a lantern-bearing figure at the edge of vision, never on direct approach. MOVE: Bobs and drifts always just ahead. Retreats when approached, returns when abandoned. Passes over water and bog without disturbing it. BEHAVIOR: Lures travelers into marsh, cliff, and dark water and feeds on the fear at the end. Communicates by movement, flicker, and occasionally a voice that sounds like someone the traveler is looking for. Cunning rather than intelligent, and it enjoys the game.

47. #47[Spirits] Qilinselective

    Keys: qilin, kirin, chinese unicorn

    QILIN (Spirits) BUILD: Chimera of deer body, ox or horse hooves, dragon's scaled head, a single antler or horn, and a lion's mane, wreathed in flame or cloud. Scales along the flanks catch light like fish. MOVE: Walks so lightly it bends no grass and disturbs no insect. Steps across water and air. Appears at auspicious moments and vanishes without turning to leave. BEHAVIOR: Gentle to the point of refusing to eat living things. Judges character on sight and simply will not approach the unworthy. Speaks rarely, in formal and portentous terms. Its appearance is a statement about someone present, and everyone in the scene knows it.

48. #48[Spirits] Myconidselective

    Keys: myconid, mushroom folk, fungal folk, mycelial, sporeling

    MYCONID (Spirits) BUILD: Humanoid fungus: a thick stalk body, a broad cap crowning the head, spongy limbs and fingerless mitten hands. Grey-violet flesh with luminous gills. Height varies wildly by age within a colony. MOVE: Shambles slowly on a rooted-looking base and prefers not to move at all. Cannot run, cannot climb, cannot handle small tools well. Roots into soil to rest and communicate. BEHAVIOR: Communicates by releasing spores that convey images and emotions directly, not by speech — a conversation is a shared hallucination with a scent. Thinks in colony terms, not individual ones. Pacifist, hospitable, and unnerving. Distressed by fire and bright light.

49. #49[Hybrids] Centaurselective

    Keys: centaur, centaurs, centaurides

    CENTAUR (Hybrids) BUILD: Human torso, arms, and head rising where a horse's neck would be, joined to a full equine body with four hooved legs and a tail. Roughly seven feet at the human head, longer than a person is tall from chest to rump. Two ribcages, two sets of organs, one appetite for both. MOVE: Cannot sit in a chair, climb a ladder, or use most stairs. Kneels the front legs to lower the torso, or stands at rest for hours — sleeping upright is normal. Doorways, boats, and upper floors are all problems. Turns the whole body to look behind. BEHAVIOR: Reads emotion through ear position and tail flick as much as through the face. Startles at sudden noise and hates being approached from directly behind. Stamps and shifts weight when impatient. Proud, blunt, and easily offended by being treated as transport.

50. #50[Hybrids] Ichthyocentaurselective

    Keys: ichthyocentaur, sea centaur, fish centaur

    ICHTHYOCENTAUR (Hybrids) BUILD: Human torso on a horse's forequarters that transitions into a long coiling fish tail instead of hindquarters. Forelegs end in finned hooves. Gills at the ribs, crest of fins along the spine. MOVE: Swims by undulating the tail with the forelegs tucked. On land it drags and props on its forelimbs, exhausting and undignified. Rests coiled on rocks at the waterline. BEHAVIOR: Learned, gentle, and slightly patronizing about surface matters. Wary of drying out and constantly aware of distance to water. Long memory of drowned things and sunken places.

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