General:
Alt Name: Kaimau
Race: Manticore
Age: 16
A brief description of your character: A gullible little manticore furre that flies about, hungering for human flesh but almost never getting any. Almost like that rabbit from the commercial. Except with human flesh. He is nine thousands cute.
Why/How is your character in Skuldhellir: It is his next target on his quest for world dominat - No. Wait. Wrong character. He heard there was this short variety of human there for him to sample. Nomnomnoming is imminent.
Description (because not everyone knows what a manticore is/there are several interpretations, appearance wise): Standing at just about five feet tall, this furre looks like some strange cross of many animals. His head is almost completely human, furred with curly, orange hair from which two round, lion's ears poke out. Two tiny, upward curling horns can be seen more towards the center. His body is that of a red lion, slender with almost a bit of a curve to it, and two dragon wings that each span five feet when fully expanded sprout from his back. The stem of his tail is black and segmented like an insect's, but seems as flexible as a cat's. At the end are twenty quills, each about a foot in length, that all face away from the tail they are connected to.
Strengths:
---Natural:
Retractable claws: His hands and feet are those of a red lion. Thus, he has the matching claws.
Flight: He has wings. They aren't for show. (Hint: They work by him flapping a lot.) (Hinthint: It involves the direction 'up.')
Charisma: He's adorable. He's so adorable, you are automatically charmed by the highest degree. There is no hope. Surrender the cookies and all shall be well. When he isn't being creepy, his naive comments are cute too... Cookies.
Friendly: Behind his cute, outer exterior of "I wanna eat chu" he's actually very sweet.
Poisonous Spikes: With a snap of its tail, Kaimau can loose a volley of six spikes (make an attack roll for each spike in situations where dice are called into play). This attack has a range of 180 feet with no range increment. All targets must be within twenty feet of each other. Kaimau can launch only twenty spikes in any twenty-four hour period. Each spike is roughly a foot in length. Creatures who are hit are afflicted with moderate poison. Other manticores are immune to the poison. The spikes can regenerate within the course of twenty-four hours.
---Learned:
Aerial Hunting: He can hunt much like a hawk does, except he uses his hands instead of the talons he clearly does not possess. Sometimes he may utilize his tail spikes to take down bigger creatures.
Songsmith: More of a tune-smith, really, seeing as hardly any of his "songs" actually have words. Basically, he 'writes' tunes. Not that he actually writes them down.
Riddles: He adores riddles, and has a tendency to collect them. As such, none of them are really unique, but he does have a nice collection of them.
---Supernatural:
Captivating Voice: Kaimau’s voice could be described as musical, sounding like a curious combination of a trumpet and a reed pipe to very soothing effect. To hear him speak is akin to listening to music. His lyrical voice acts like a weak charm spell, causing different effects to those in earshot depending on his tone. Whispering will make people sleepy, but only works on those very close to him. Regularly talking works like a normal charm spell, causing the victims to feel inclined towards liking him. Crying - or an otherwise meek voice - will instill a protective sense into those around him. An angry tone works like a rallying war tune. A cheerful tone fills others with glee. Unless the victims are of an extremely weak will, these work as light suggestions of emotion. If a victim becomes consciously aware of the effects, they can attempt to resist them, though awareness does not grant automatic resistance.
Captivating Song: When Kamau sings, all creatures (other than other manticores) within a 300-foot spread must succeed on a 1d20 will save or become captivated. This is a sonic mind-affecting charm effect. The resistance roll is willpower based. Someone of average willpower must roll over fifteen to resist. A person of exceptionally strong will - the strongest possible - has to get higher than an eight. Someone of the weakest possible willpower - the average shy child or a timid animal - must get nothing less than a twenty, though someone so lacking in willpower is rare.
A captivated victim walks toward Kaimau, taking the most direct route available. If the path leads into a dangerous area (through flame, off a cliff, or the like), that creature may roll again. Captivated creatures can take no actions other than to defend themselves. (Thus, a fighter cannot run away or attack but takes no defensive penalties.) A victim within five feet of Kaimau stands there and offers no resistance to Kaimau’s attacks. The effect continues for as long as he sings and for one round thereafter. A bard’s countersong ability allows the captivated creature to attempt a new roll.
Power of Suggestion: Expansion on Captivating Voice. Kaimau knows how to use this power manipulatively. It cannot be used to suggest something very out of character for a person or to make them harm themselves - unless of course harming themselves is something they usually do...
Master of Tone: Expansion on Captivating Song. Kaimau has learned to alter the tone of his songs for different effects, similar to a bard's motivational spells, without requiring the expense of magical energy. This alters mood and nothing else. Ex: an inspiring "song of courage" or a "song of fear." Not to mention that being able to sing a song that literally entrances or truly inspires your entire audience is a pretty nifty skill to have. Subject to the same weaknesses as his regular song.
Weaknesses:
Addicted to Humans: After trying those his parents caught for him, Kaimau has an insatiable desire to devour human flesh, but he's...
Murder Shy: Despite his urges, he's too faint of heart to actually kill a human. This usually results in him doing a great deal of staring, and occasionally trying to convince someone to let him have a taste. Maybe I can just eat your hand, or even just a nibble on the finger... What if I flew up into that tree and gathered you three whole buckets full of apples? Pleeaase! Of course, if Kamau ever did try to kill someone he's too damn...
Inexperienced: he's like a child trying to catch bees... Except the bees are really people and instead of dying once they hurt him they keep shooting arrows. Any combat he attempts would be boiled down to him flapping around and lashing out.
Graverobber: Kaimau will, without a doubt, try to dig up the grave of a freshly buried human to satisfy his hunger if he knows someone has died recently. Unfortunately, the idea of filling in the hole afterward seems to escape him. This makes him a bit of a
Public Nuisance: My, my, the day is looking down. A winged, flesh eating monster has entered the vicinity and it dug up thy fair maiden who passed away hardly a fortnight ago. Do call in a slayer or two. This is most unpleasant.
Easily Identified: Manticores - unlike certain barghest characters - are easy to recognize. Friendly interaction with the townsfolk may be a bit difficult.
Invulnerable Charming: Kaimau's voice charms those who hears it - whether he wants it to or not. It's most trying when all you want to do is whisper something to someone and they become too drowsy to concentrate on it. Not to mention when you start humming to yourself without realizing it and your companion is suddenly giving you this strange, absent stare...
Keeping in Tune: Attempting any action while singing - including something as simple as walking - that is not related to his singing invokes a 1d20 roll. Any roll above ten will cause him to momentarily fall out of key. As long as he gets back into tune quickly enough, he can maintain the effects of his song, but any affected creature gets a new willpower roll. More complex actions - such as attacking - require a roll of five or less.
Time Limit: Kaimau cannot sing for more than ten minutes straight - at his best - without his throat starting to feel sore, and once he stops singing he has a very short period of time in which to act before his victims snap out of his spell.
Temporary Immunity: Anything that makes a successful willpower roll against Kaimau's song gains immunity to it for the next twenty-four hours. If they hear it again while they are still immune, that immunity is extended to twenty-four hours after they last hear it while immune.
Tender Tail: The quills on his tail always face away from the tail they are attached to. They are not bendable. If they are forced to bend they will snap, and if one is yanked out/bent the wrong way it could cause bleeding that impedes the regeneration of that quill. Let's not think about what would happen is he accidentally embedded his quills in a struggling creature.
Naive: Kaimau is almost childlike in his innocence, and tricking him is almost like taking candy from a baby. He does have some sense, but if your story makes sense - and occasionally if it doesn't but sounds plausible via magic - and it doesn't contradict something established in his mind, you're almost guaranteed he'll believe you.
Master of Being Scammed: Not only because he's naive. Sometimes, even when he knows what's what, the matter stands that he wants what you have, and you want something he doesn't need. Never mind that that something may be a valuable artifact with world crushing powers. He has no use for such a thing, but he is very interested in the arm of that demented sorcerer. Tradesies? :D
Deal's A Deal: The exception to the ease of which he gets tricked is when someone makes a deal with him. He can be extremely unbending in such cases. He wants what you promised him, and he wants it now or you'll have a very annoyed manticore on your hands. This is one of the few things that will make him quite angry and due to his fear of not getting what he was promised he's not very keen on waiting. Inversely, he'll almost always do his best to uphold his end of a bargain.
Social Failure: It's not that he doesn't maintain eye contact or forgets to say please and thank you - he does those things - but he has little boundaries in regards to what is alright to ask and what is socially unacceptable. So, now that we're friends can I have your hand? I don't mind if it's the left one.
Illiterate: Self-explanatory. He can't read.
Easily Befriended: By just about anyone. His judgment in choosing his friends isn't very good, but when you're easily recognizable as a creature that eats human flesh it's understandable that most everyone willing to be friends with you would stray towards the darker side of the spectrum.
Unreliable: Don't expect him to stick around for a fight unless he has a very good reason. Also, if you're a human or part human, don't sleep with your flesh exposed. Failure to heed this warning may result in loss of significant body parts including hands, arms, feet, legs, hands, and hands. Also, fingers. Tasty, tasty fingers. <3
Fear of Storms: Kaimau is absolutely paralyzed by thunder and requires many hugs to recover.
Flight Fail: If he doesn't have an updraft to ride - as in, if he needs to continuously flap - he will get tired very quickly. What this means is that if he doesn't catch an updraft fast enough after launching he'll be forced to land.
Awkward Swimmer: Like many winged creatures, Kaimau is extremely awkward in the water, barely able to keep himself from sinking.
Out of Shape: Every muscle on Kaimau's body except those associated with his wings seem on the weak side - he's not going to best you in arm wrestling any time soon. Don't expect him to carry you long distances through the air either.
Frail: Kaimau is not exactly the strongest manticore out there. In fact, his physique is practically the opposite of what one would expect from a flesh-eating monster. Maybe he doesn't drink enough milk. Unless you're as weak as he is, you can probably snap him like a twig. If ever in a fight, it's absolutely crucial that he stay out of his opponent's reach - one good hit with a blunt weapon and he's out.
(Credit to D&D for some abilities.)
Home 
