Villainy: 8
Strength: 8
Influence: 0
Monstrous Qualities:
- Nocturnal
- Shapeshifting
- Tricks of the Light
Hubris: The Emperor: Hot-Headed
Master Pwca is a short, spirit, some would say a short elf of indeterminate gender and age who lives in an out of the way part of Avalon.
Master Pwca has always been there as far as the locals remember and they have bribed him every night for as long as they can remember. Fortunately, the price required to keep him happy is a bowl of fresh milk and a slice of bread.
Master Pwca was once the only creature to reside in the ancient wetlands and hills where it makes its home. Humans came and it sought to keep them away using its tricks but there are too many of them. So it struck a bargain with the locals that they would keep away from its favourite places and it would let them live their short lives in peace. The bread and milk is a daily symbol that this millennia old treaty remains in place (although the local humans have long since forgotten its meaning).
Its values and motivations are completely alien to humans. The closest anyone could come to understanding them is that this land is its domain and duty assigned to it by someone long ago.
Its personality is naturally playful and it loves playing tricks on others.
However, if its land were to be threatened by mining or drainage it would become violent.
Master Pwca knows hidden ways through his land. He can aid those he likes by showing them how to cross the land more quickly, rescuing them when lost or luring their enemies off the safe routes and in to danger.
Master Pwca knows many secrets or so it says. It never ever tells any of them to big people.
Schemes
Despite the treaty it still finds opportunities for a little fun particularly when it comes on a group of strangers who are not covered by the rules. It will guide them off the hills and in to the bogs or to a dangerous cliff but it won’t actually harm them.
It often slips in to the villages at night in the guise of a stranger to play little tricks on villagers. Those who take these in good humour often find a reward or some unasked for help – a farmer with a bad back once found their fields had been ploughed and sown while others find ancient gold coins in unexpected places.
Master Pwca loves a good yarn and will approach travellers camped by the road and in the local inns to learn new stories.
Notes
Tricks of the Light is a new monstrous quality that allows a monster to create small illusions at night, in darkness or in poor light. Illusions are simple visual distortions such as:
- a lantern moving in the distance
- disguising a road as a track or a track as a road.
- a cliff as a hillside
- a pit as level ground
- stepping stones across a river
No harm can come to the victims unless a danger point is spent and then they must have an opportunity to spot the danger before they suffer an injury. A victim may attempt to disbelieve Tricks of the Light with a Notice skill check.