The Strange Bestiary
The grotesque embodies mortal concepts of what demons and devils are supposed to look like. Grotesques have humanoid shapes with large batwings growing from their backs. Their faces are snarling beast-masks, with horns twisting out from the sides of their heads and great tusks jutting from their mouths. Brown, black, or rust-red scaly skin covers their bodies, which stink of brimstone. A long tail extends from the base of their spine and sometimes ends in a fork.
A grotesque can hold quite still and may be mistaken for a statue made from stone, metal, or ice. Because all sorts of macabre statuary litter the landscape of Hell Frozen Over, the recursion ruled by the demon lord Treachery, the grotesques blend in. They also cling to the roofs, tower tops, and walls of Treachery's fortress and deliver warnings to their master when they see intruders approach.
Motive: Defense
Environment (Hell Frozen Over | Magic): Anywhere, usually in groups of three
Health: 12
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points)
Armor: 3
Movement: Short when walking or flying
Modifications: All tasks related to impersonating a normal statue as level 7.
Combat: A grotesque mistaken for a statue can surprise characters. When it animates and its victim is surprised, it unfurls two great wings and claws at the ends of its fingers. It leaps into the air, flies up to a short distance toward the nearest foe, and attacks that creature.
Some grotesques carry tridents. The weapon inflicts a moderate wound (5 points), and the target must either move to a position within an immediate distance decided by the grotesque or take 2 additional points of damage from being impaled on its tines (a total of 7 points). Once impaled, a foe automatically takes 5 points of damage each round until she spends an action to pull herself free.
Interaction: Evil, cruel, and malevolent, grotesques are more than happy to talk to visitors, especially those already caught and being readied for torture. These fiends serve Treachery out of fear. If they find someone or something they fear more, they readily betray their master and become obsequious and cringing before their new one.
Use: A spate of violent murders grips a city in fear—a grotesque has scaped from Hell Frozen Over. It spends its days posing as a statue and its nights hunting anyone it spots from its perches atop the city's churches.
GM Intrusion: A grotesque anticipates the character's melee attack and brings its wing down "just so" on his weapon. If the PC fails a Speed defense roll, the weapon breaks. Either way, he fails to hit the grotesque.