Creeping Featherbadger 5 (15)

Gunslinger Knights

This bizarre couch-sized creature has a low oblong body, multijointed legs with broad feet, no discernable head, and two thick feathery wings as long as its body. The entire thing is covered in multicolored wispy hair, like bread gone to mold. Despite the wings, it cannot fly, but is remarkably graceful, fast, and quiet despite its shape and size.


GM TIP
Depending on whether you want to alarm or soothe the player, you could tell them an attack inflicts 1 point of damage but "looks worse than it is," or not tell them the damage at all and only say it doesn't seem to be hurting. Either way, keep track of how many times a character has been hit, then reveal the actual damage after a delay.
Some victims of a featherbadger's attack have been known to suddenly keel over in the middle of some other action because they didn't realize how badly they were injured.

Sometimes a few featherbadgers fall behind the rest of a horde and hibernate, drying out and flattening until they look like a patch of vegetation. In this state, their feathered wings and body hairs are a passive defense against threats, like a spiny cactus or poison ivy.

Motive: Hungers for flesh, chaos

Environment: In, near, and after Fundament Storms; alone or in pairs, and/or as mounts for Veen Alix and Veen Morund (who ride without harm)

Health: 20

Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points) (see sidebar)

Armor: 1

Movement: Long

Modifications: Speed defense as level 3 due to size

Combat: A featherbadger slashes twice each round with its strange feathery wings, appearing to just leave groups of light scratches. However, these wounds are deeper and more dangerous than they seem because the "feathers" automatically apply a numbing substance, delaying the pain of the attack for a few rounds. sCreatures who are immune to poison feel the full sensation immediately.

The hairy growths on a featherbadger's body are as sharp and numbing as its wings; any creature striking it with a melee attack takes 1 point of damage but feels almost nothing from the contact. More extensive contact (such as climbing or resting on it) is as dangerous as a strike from its wing.

Interaction: A featherbadger is naturally aggressive except when hibernating. If a foe (other than a Veen) climbs onto its back as if to ride it, it plays "tame" for a few rounds before going berserk on its would-be master.

Use: The Veen riding the featherbadger plucks the beast's wing and uses it as a weapon in battle.

GM Intrusion: The backswing of the featherbadger's wing slashes the character's tire, causing it to blow and requiring the character to make a successful riding task to remain upright.
GM Intrusion: The featherbadger performs a bizarre yet graceful maneuver, slashing the character simultaneously with both wings. In addition to normal (numbed) damage, the character must attempt a Might defense roll against each attack and moves one step down the damage track for each failure—they have experienced a near-mortal wound.