Sorry for being late this week – guess it makes up for being early on the last segment ;)
Primeval Revenant
Something is stalking the edges of the distant, sparsely populated farmlands. Farmers have reported missing or injured livestock, family members, and damaged property. Late at night, citizens claim to hear loud noises as if something massive is prowling the area. Some even claim to hear bone chilling howls, growls, roars, and screeching in the night. Recently, after a particularly clamorous evening, an entire family has gone missing. Their remaining property looks as if a tornado ripped through it, shattered and strewn across the farm, and covered in blood, but no sign of any of the six family members, or sizable number of livestock.
Some people in the area claim that a monstrous beast is living in a nearby gorge, and has recently been disturbed by ongoing deforestation around the area, but no one has had a good look at the menace. Investigators at the scene of some of the attacks have been baffled – other than signs of damaged, knocked over, or shredded trees and buildings, no other trace of the attacker has been found – no footprints, even on soft or wet ground, no traces of the creature left behind, and the only physical evidence has been large, raking marks on some of the buildings and trees – marks that seem much too large for any known animal to have caused them. The ‘official’ explanation is that the damage had been done by localized storms or tornados, but this explanation does not sit well with the local populace. Something is definitely lurking nearby, and no one feels safe anymore.
Description
The Primeval Revenant is the ancient, tormented spirit of a prehistoric beast. Perhaps a dinosaur, or some other type of ancient creature. It is an undead ghost-like entity, semi-sentient, but crazed and twisted by uncountable eons of undeath. Typically, the Revenant dwells in a secluded, unpopulated area, but can be aggravated by human encroachment upon its domain. Its also strongest at night, preferring to retreat to its lair during the day.
The Primeval Revenant is very ethereal in appearance, and is translucent. Its head and upper-body is mostly solid in appearance, but its body begins to fade away towards its legs, and its feet are completely invisible. Although it has the ghostlike ability to float, fly, and move through objects, the Revenant typically never bothers with these abilities, preferring to travel about the same height off the ground as it would have been in life, and leaving a trail of destruction wherever it goes.
The visible portions of the Revenant look similar to how the creature looked in life, only larger, more feral and slightly warped towards demonic. It also has bright, red glowing lights in place of actual eyes.
Although it no longer has any real need for sustenance, the Revenant still preys and feeds on animals (or people) – particularly those that it feels are intruders in its land.
Usage
In a game, I would give the Revenant properties of other ghosts or phantoms in the game – weaknesses to holy, or ethereal properties, etc. Also, I would give it a great deal of Strength, and Speed, but not much Intelligence or Charisma. D&D Templates would work great for incorporating the Revenant into your campaign – start with a large base creature, such as a dinosaur, mammoth, or something similar (Dire Rhino?), and add a Ghost template.
The Primeval Revenant would work great in any sort of story or game where a dangerous, mysterious, and frightening creature can terrorize a group of nearby people. You can further ‘complicate’ matters by giving the assigning it a particular place to protect, which happens to also be the place the characters need to go for their MacGuffin.
Look for a new Monster every Monday! Past Monsters
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Twitter: MADSOFT
says:
How do you make up this stuff? This is genius!
Good job Tim =)
Twitter: SeiferTim
says:
@Andrew
I dunno… lol! Thanks :D