The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not

Old Gods of Appalachia

The Beast. The Black Stag. The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not. The Lord of the Night and the Forest Day. The Betrayer. The Black Judas. The Maker of the Poisoned Promise. Old Horny. The Uncast Shadow. The Liar Saint. Whatever name he uses among lesser beings, he is a creature to be respected, feared, and avoided. He is a Thing of the Inner Dark; old, but not the oldest, though possibly the cruelest and most petty. He seems to delight in sowing distrust or destruction. He is powerful, but he is also beholden to even more powerful Things, ones that remain trapped, and he acts as their eyes and hands in the human world. To mortal creatures, he is nearly godlike in power, but compared to his masters he is but an insect. His task is to find humans with powers and turn them to the service of the Inner Dark. He can speak telepathically (in a monstrous, disorienting mental voice) with any creature and project a physical voice to any location he chooses.

The entity commonly known as Horned Head was greatly diminished after losing a battle with the Witch Queen, in which his antlered crown was broken. His stats here represent him in a weakened state (but not so weak as when he had to take a near-human form). At his full power, his level and all of his stat are 2 higher than what is shown here.

The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not has other dark magic at his disposal, such as making pacts with mortals in exchange for power, giving a creature immortality (at a price), granting a human dominion over a long area (easing their defenses by two steps when within it), creating monstrous creatures like the Gray Ladies, or similar horrible ideas the GM can use as story elements for the game campaign. Doing so usually requires a minute or more and therefore isn't something he tries during combat.

Artifacts made from the defeated creature's antlers include the jeweled comb and the bone ring.

Belongs To: The Inner Dark

Motive: Corrupting and turning mortals, advancing the goals of his patrons

Environment: Anywhere

Health: 80

Damage Inflicted: Major wound (10 points)

Armor: 4

Movement: Long; short when climbing

Combat: The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not can attack twice per round with his hooves or antlers. He prefers drawing upon his innate magic, using any one of the following abilities as an action, up to long range.

• Create a blast of fire, inflicting two major wounds (16 points) on a single target, or one major wound (8 points) if his target succeeds at a Speed defense roll.
• Create poisonous black smoke, inflicting 10 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) on a creature on a failed Might defense roll, and another 5 points every round until the creature succeeds at a Might defense roll.
• Create bitter cold, freezing a target in place and inflicting a major wound (10 points) on a failed Might defense roll. A frozen creature can't move away and their Speed defense tasks are hindered by two steps; they can attempt to break free each turn with a Might-based task.
• Attack the mind and soul of a creature, inflicting 8 points of Intellect damage (ignores Armor)
• on a failed Intellect defense roll and moving them one step down the damage track on a failed Might defense roll. If either of these effects kills the creature, it automatically revives the next round as a blank-eyed man under The Thing's control.
• Every few rounds, The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not can attack every creature in a short area with one of his magical abilities, but the attack is hindered by three steps.
• Create an illusion of one or more people (alive or dead), with the ability to talk and interact as if they were separate creatures (but without the original creature's memories or knowledge).

The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not recovers 5 health every round. He is immune to poison and disease. It might be impossible for any human (no matter how powerful) to kill him, and if so, then defeating him is more about containment and banishing than truly putting an end to him.

Interaction: The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not loves to talk, for it gives him opportunities to sway, convince, fool, and deceive mortals. Those speaking with him should be very careful about what they say and/or agree to, just in case they fall into a subtle pact with him that includes strings he'll play when the time is right. He is contemptuous and hateful, and wrathful when disobeyed, harmed, or thwarted.

Use: The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not is the most horrific, dangerous, and unknowable creature active in Appalachia. Unless a character has powerful magic on their side (including in-place wards where a confrontation with the creature is about o take place), battling him with wits or weapons is incredibly unwise. Most regular people flee or go mad as soon as they see him.

Loot: If The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not is defeated, parts of his body can be used as 1d6 + 4 cypher materials (especially for cyphers relating to corruption, harm, and transformation). Portions of him (particularly his antlers) can be used as materials for crafting artifacts.

Connection: The character or someone close to them has a pact with The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not. The character bears an item that they don't realize is a part of or a gift from The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not.

GM Intrusion: As part of another action, The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not destroys one or two of the character's cyphers if they fail an Intellect defense roll.
As part of another action, The Thing Whose Name Sounds Like Horned Head But Is Not creates an illusion of a dead person the character loved. The illusion confuses or distracts the character (hindering them by two steps) until they succeed at an Intellect defense roll.