Awnsheglien and creature type

[Ariadne]

Hi there,
I have an important question. What kind of creature is an awnsheglien? Somewhere I read, an awnsheglien is more something else than a humanoid creature. What is he then? Outsider, aberation, magical beast or what?

[Birthright-L]

> Ariadne wrote:
> What kind of creature is an awnsheglien?

An awnsheghlien is a magical beast. That is, they are all nonhistorical (as
in they never historically existed on earth), vertebrate creatures with a
reasonably normal anatomy and possessing supernatural or extraordinary
abilities.

They are not aberrations as they do not all possess a bizarre anatomy or an
alien mindset.

They are also not monstrous humanoids. Think of the Lamia, the Chimera, and
the Seadrake.

Nor are they outsiders as they are not non-elemental creatures from another
dimension or reality from Aebrynis.

Cheers,

John

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[Lord Eldred]

From the rulebook page 89 "The awnsheghlien are the monstrous inheritors of evil bloodlines, in the same manner that player characters and some of their neighbors are heroic scions of good bloodlines. Some of the awnsheghlien were present at the battle of Mount Deismaar, more than 1,500 years ago. Others received their powers much later. Regardless of their origins, the awnsheghlien continue to be the greatest danger facing cerilia.

Many awnsheghlien were once human, but the dark power running in their veins has warped and transformed them. Their powers seem to create outward shapes or forms that match an awnshegh's blighted spirit. The Gorgon and the Raven are excellent examples. The Gorgon, with a heart of stone, has become increasingly stonelike over the years; his skin is cold and hard in appearance and touch. The dark power is as much a curse as it is a reward; most awnsheghlien are tortured creatures, despising themselves as much as they do others.

Some of the awnsheghlien were monsters who served in Azrai's armies. The Kraken, the Spider, and the Serpent are examples of these. In the years since, they have become even more monstrous. Others such as the Hydra and the Minotaur came into their dark powers through misfortune or accident. And from time to time, new awnsheghlien are created when bloodlines tainted by Azrai's derivation happen to breed true. The Boar of Thuringode is one of these monstrosities."

So I agree with John when he says they are non-historical in the sense that they did not exist in their current form prior to becoming awnsheghlien prior to the battle of Mount Deismaar.

I disagree with John when he says they are not aberrations. Since they are a departure or a deviation of type. For example the Gorgon was once a normal human but he has grown horns and hooves. If this is not a bizarre anatomy for a human, I am not sure what an aberration is!

I also disagree when he says they are not monstrous humanoids. Again the Gorgon is "a stony-skinned humanoid with horns, hooves, and giantlike strength." (Rulebook page 89)

I would agree when John says they are not outsiders from another dimension.

Are they magical beasts as John states? Well, they were once a human or a monstor that through the taint of Azrai's blood were transformed into something much different. If you want to call it magical beasts go right ahead!

[Azrai]

I think one could not find a general characterisation of the awnsheglien. Each has a different history and different abilities - some are humanoids (raven) some are not.

[Mark_Aurel]

They have different types depending on their composition.

Many are monstrous humanoids (the gorgon, rhuobhe, raven)

Many are magical beasts (the chimera, sphinx)

Some are undead (the magian, vampire)

Some could be shapechangers (serpent)

Some could even be constructs (binman)

The bottom line is, the awnsheghlien share no common type. What they do share is their heritage of Azrai and the taint of evil. Each awnshegh remains an individual creature of evil. They're not supposed to be cute toys manufactured at the Aberration Factory.

For that matter, aberration is basically the type for monsters that fit the bill of "if it worked for Lovecraft, it works for us." Being slimy and having some tentacles helps a lot to identify something as an aberration.

[Ariadne]

Orginally posted by Mark_Aurel

Some could even be constructs (binman)


Who is the binman?



Being slimy and having some tentacles helps a lot to identify something as an aberration.

I understand. So the Kraaken is an aberration? ;)

[Mark_Aurel]

The binman is an awnshegh from the Blood Enemies book. As I recall, it was created by the Chimera before she became an awnshegh; the experiment somehow turned bad and they both became of the blood of darkness. Check out the minor awnsheghlien section in that book in any case. Basically, I think this creature was a pretty blatant plug of Frankenstein's Monster (i.e. a flesh golem awnshegh in D&D terms).

As for the Kraken - my reference was mostly in jest. However, depending on how you treat it, it can be either a magical beast or an outsider. It could also be an aberration if its anatomy is somewhat like the aboleth, for instance. As the books never provided an illustration nor an accurate background story, it's hard to tell. If it was summoned from another plane by Azrai, as alluded to in the Blood Enemies text, it is an outsider. If it is just a huge octopus with a bloodline, it's more like a magical beast (check the MM kraken for a comparison).

[A_dark]

I assume you say magical, because of the bloodline no? Otherwise if you say it is an octopus, you can list it as a Beast or even as an animal.

How would you like the Hydra? (she is a crocodile)
And the Wolf?

Just for dicussion's sake :)

I agree with you though that each Awnie has to be listed separately and not all of them fall in one category.

[Birthright-L]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2002 brnetboard@TUARHIEVEL.ORG wrote:
> A_dark wrote:
> I agree with you though that each Awnie has to be listed separately
> and not all of them fall in one category.

That`s possible. You could also say that if a monk at 20th level is
otherworldly enough (despite having perhaps never left his home plane) to
be considered an outsider, then all awnsheghlien and quite a few
other-derivation scions are outsiders. They`re divine.
--
Communication is possible only between equals.
Daniel McSorley- mcsorley@cis.ohio-state.edu

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[Lord Eldred]

Orginally posted by A_dark

I assume you say magical, because of the bloodline no? Otherwise if you say it is an octopus, you can list it as a Beast or even as an animal.

How would you like the Hydra? (she is a crocodile)
And the Wolf?

Just for dicussion's sake :)

I agree with you though that each Awnie has to be listed separately and not all of them fall in one category.

Just for arguments sake, they do all fit into one category called awnsheghlien. However, I do agree that beyond that they fit into many different subcategories of creature types of awnshegh.

[Mark_Aurel]

Awnshegh would be more of a subtype than an actual type. I.e. magical beast (awnshegh), or monstrous humanoid (awnshegh) - this is how to stay the closest to core D&D rules, I believe.

I think I'd throw the Hydra and the Wolf in as magical beasts. The Wolf is, as I recall, fairly intelligent for its type (reminiscent of worgs, for instance, which are smart, and thus magical beasts). The Hydra has various heads with different abilities, no? Besides, both have bloodlines, which disqualify them from any "non-magical" type like animal or beast.

If you interpret the outsider type in a certain way (following the "native" outsider paradigm from the FR, for instance), you *could* interpret awnsheghlien all as outsiders. I don't think this is ideal in any way, however - with a couple of possible exceptions, none are outsiders in the traditional sense. The raven *might* be, the kraken *might* be. It would generally be more accurate to stat them in the best possible fit for a type, however, rather than try and jam all of them into the same type. If you make awnsheghs native outsiders, that would by logical extension also make blooded PCs native outsiders, which will give them even more power.

[Ariadne]

And what's with the Hag? I would put her in the category "monstrous humanoid" (to your interpretation), but on the picture of "blood enemies" she has some kind of tentakles as feet. To me she is better placed as "alien-form" (outsider) or something....

May be the Manticore has the same problem...



@ Mark_Aurel:
May be you can put only scions with greater and true bloodlines, Ersheglien and Awnsheglien in the category (native) outsider, all others simply aren't powerfull enough...

[Mark_Aurel]

Hag and manticore - monstrous humanoids. Having alternate feet akin to a centaur can still put you as a monstrous humanoid. Being an outsider isn't a matter of appearance - it's a matter of origin. Of course, the designers themselves are convenient enough about it to not apply it consistently.

[Ariadne]

Hmmmm...., the bloodlines have the origin of gods. Gods are (if I'm right) outsiders. May be you can argument this way...