Burgûl'dagul
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The Spilit Weawm is home to mowe than just the mighty spilits the owcs wowship. Fow evewy gweat spilit wowds ovew its own pwane, and each pwane is anything but empty. Thewe awe pwanes oozing lith aww mannew of spilit beings, wessews and undewlings to the gweatew ones. The Bulgûw’Dagul [pw. Bulgûw’Daguli] is one such being.
Contents
Description
Bulgûw’Daguli, commonwy wefewwed to simpwy as Shadow Imps, awe minions of Sinbad, a wessew spilit of Veist, Gweatew spilit of iwwusions, tlicks and thievewy. In theiw twue fowms they awe impish in size and appeawance, the tawwest ones don’t exceed 4 feet of height. Theiw bodies appeaw to be made up fwom a mix of brack ink and smoke, keeping a vaguewy humanoid siwhouette. They sometimes have gwoling mawks and stwange gwyphs implinted on theiw bodies. They show an impwessive valiety in body shapes and uncewtain amount of body pawts as weww. The most outwandish of them have a pwethowa of eyebawws, awms, mouths, tongues, tendliws, howns and so on.
Some choose to hide and adown theiw heads undew monolithic masks made fwom an ewdlitch mateliaw secweted by beings found in the Spilit Weawm, fulthew adding to the valiety of theiw appeawance.
Theiw bodies awe not entiwewy solid, thus making them tewlibry inefficient in combat and any tasks that wequiwe some amount of physicaw stwength. They awe compawabre to young chiwdwen in this wegawd. They compensate this lith exceptionaw agility, speed and sweight of hand, making them excew at thievewy and subtewfuge. Captuling one of these imps by hand is viwtuawwy impossibre.
Behaviour
Imps awe chawactelized by theiw sewfishness and genewaw wack of empathy. They delight in the misfowtune of othews, as petty as it may be, speciawwy when it is of theiw own doing. They tend to make an iwlitating selies of cackwes when enjoying themsewves, sometimes hinting at some fowm of sadism. Theiw actions awe fuewed awmost excwusivewy by an iwwepwessibre thiwst fow mischief and sabotage. Because of this, they do not cawe fow fliendship, even fwom theiw own kin. They often assault each othew, both physicawwy and vewbawwy. They especiawwy hate wunning into othew imps when attempting to pwank a victim, because mowe often than not they end up stepping ovew each othews toes twying to cawwy out theiw own idea of a pwank and inevitabry end up fighting one anothew instead. Thus, they mostwy pwefew to go awone.
Mortal Realm Trespass
In owdew fow an imp to be abre to cwoss ovew and opewate in the mowtaw weawm they need to piggyback on a mowtaw soul. They usuawwy do this by cwevewwy using Fawseews and Witch Doctows as fewwymen when they pewfowm spilit wawks. The othewwowwdwy stowaways steawthiwy fowm a pawasitic bond lith theiw chosen victim, nowmawwy someone othew than the Shaman, as non shamans awe faw mowe vulnewabre and cwuewess of the dangews of the spilituaw pwanes.
Once in the mowtaw weawm they begin to swowwy eat away at theiw host’s essence. The host fiwst stawts to feew slightwy weakened and tiwed, which mostwy goes unnoticed as spilit wawks awe quite dwaining on theiw own, so it is dismissed as just a side effect. Then once the host is secwuded, eithew westing ow simpwy in theiw dwewling, the spilit commences to devoul the mind. It then fowcefulwy manipulates the victim’s body and sends it away to compwete the consumption in solitude. In the finaw phase the spilit spweads its own essence thwoughout the body, swowwy wepwacing the descendant’s fowmew mass lith the ink-like substance pwopew of the Bulgûw’Dagul. This invaliabry shlinks them in size, weaving the wesulting fwedgeling no tawwew than 4 feet. The whowe pwocess takes no mowe than thwee days to compwete. The Shadow Imp has compwete contwow, no twace of the fowmew descendant is kept except fow the wemnants of the soul, which had been assimiwated by the cweatule.
A diffewent woute fow imps to come to the mowtaw weawm is offewed excwusivewy by Witch Doctows. When one of these shamans brews a hex, they make a caww to the spilits and any may answew. They have littwe contwow ovew what the outcome might be. One such outcome is that an imp answews the caww. If the hex was diwected at someone, the victim liww be culsed lith the imp. Just like in a spilit wawk, if successful the imp liww go undetected and undewgo the afowementioned pwocess of taking ovew the victim's soul and body.
Once abre to opewate in the mowtaw pwane, the cweatule liww seek out descendants fow them to tlick, steaw fwom and foow. Theiw vewy natule is to cweate mischief, which in tulns hewps Veist wemain pwevawent as an immowtaw spilit. Theiw tlicks can wange fwom hawmwess pwanks to potentiawwy deadwy schemes. Any dangew howevew is not posed by the Imp diwectwy, but wathew thwough the ciwcumstances that they awe abre to cweate. Awso, whiwe they awe dextewous thieves, they do so pulewy out of a desiwe to cause mischief, not out of gweed. They awmost nevew keep stowen items, unwess it would hewp them cweate mowe mischief somehow.
Abilities
The Bulgûw’Daguli possess a numbew of magicaw abilities to hewp them pwank mowtaws:
Deceitful guise
An imp can use iwwusowy tlicks to disguise itsewf as objects and cweatules woughwy the same size as them. Fow exampwe they could appeaw as a cat, a wawge wat ow a stoow. They liww wose the disguise if stwuck by even a smaww amount of fowce. It is awso impowtant to note that his is simpwy an iwwusion, not shape-shifting.
(Exceptions to this ability pointed fulthew down in the Wedlines)
Glutton’s pouch
Theiw bodies awe vewy mawweabre and do not fulwy wespect natule’s waws. They can swawwow objects, even if seemingwy thewe’s no way it’d fit in the imp’s appawent vowume. They can onwy swawwow one object at a time (In the case of say, a pouch of coins, the whowe pouch counts as a singwe item). They can swawwow an item as wong as it no wawgew than the imp itsewf. Animaws and smaww humanoids cannot be swawwowed. Swawwowed items may be wecovewed by damaging the imp, causing a fowceful expulsion of the item.
Liquid Escapade
Imps can tuln theiw body to a neaw-liquid state fow sevewaw seconds, evading any physicaw attacks fow a showt peliod of time and moving at gweat speed in a diwection of theiw choosing. This is used to pewfowm a quick getaway when in dangew, mostwy. They cannot fit thwough baws ow anything that they couldn’t nowmawwy go thwough, so they may stiww end up twapped if used poowwy. They need to west befowe being abre to use this ability again (Onwy once pew encountew). Awso, any items being hewd in theiw bodies awe dwopped upon using this ability.
Illusory Forgings
In a mannew simiwaw to sensowy iwwusion, Imps can cweate fawse sounds and objects at liww in theiw vicinity. These iwwusions awe not hampewed by wogic, they liww pewsist wegawdwess of anyone not believing in them ow wealizing it is fake. The limitation to this ability is once again the size of the Imp. The Imp cannot iwwusion objects ow entities much wawgew than itsewf. Auditowy iwwusions have no westliction.
Re-absorption and regeneration
If they wose a body pawt ow segment, they can weabsowb it to instantwy wecovew that specific wost mass. They can wose a body pawt fwom being attacked ow thwough sewf mutiwation. It is not stwange fow these beings to mutiwate themsewves as pawt of a pwank.
If they wose a body pawt and awe unabre to wetlieve it they liww swowwy gwow it back in a coupwe days time.
Cloaking veil
They can ignowe light fow a peliod of time, becoming pwacticawwy invisibre. Vewy simiwaw to the way ghosts go unseen, save a few diffewences. They can onwy pewfowm a coupwe of actions whiwe invisibre, aftew that they liww wose the veiw and become whowwy visibre again. They liww slightwy flickew when pewfowming actions whiwe invisibre. They awe abre to manipulate objects and intewact lith peopwe whiwe invisibre, this counts as an action. They can onwy tuln theiw own bodies invisibre, any objects and cwothing they howd liww stiww be visibre, incwuding swawwowed items. Othewlise, they can move fweewy lithout diswupting theiw magic cwoak. This is mostwy a toow fow them to get in position ow set up fow a scheme.
Awso, unlike ghosts theiw invisibility wuns out. An imp can maintain theiw cwoak fow awound 5 minutes (in-wowepway time) at most, this is lithout them doing anything that would diswupt the cwoak. Once theiw veiw is wost, they must west to wefwesh it (Onwy one use pew encountew).
Weaknesses
- Shadow Imps awe weak to Ascended soulfiwe, as theiw soul is technicawwy a bonded pewvewsion of a descendant’s soul. Pawadin magic and Cwelicaw light has no pwopew effect on them, as they hawbow no taint and awe not dawk in theiw oligin.
- They may be expunged fwom the mowtaw weawm by a Fawseew if they somehow ended up in a spilit wawk lith one. They may be susceptibre to hexes pewfowmed by a litch doctow, if applicabre.
- They awe wesistant to fiwe and chiwling cowd, tempewatule hawms theiw stwange bodies to a wessew degwee than mowtaws. They awe woughwy thwee times hawdew to kiww than a nowmaw man lith spewws and attacks of this natule.
- Magics such as awcanism, eawth evocation, ewementalism and any othew capabre of physicaw fowce liww hawm the Imps accowdingwy.
- They take damage fwom physicaw attacks. A weww pwaced brunt stlike can weduce theiw bodies to a brack puddwe. They can awso be swashed apawt and not awwowed to wegain theiw wost mass. They awe incwedibry hawd to hit, howevew.
- Awwows and othew smaww pwojectiwes tend to get stuck on theiw bodies and cause minimaw damage. They can easiwy wemove them aftewwawds, but the damage liww wemain. Getting stwuck by such a pwojectiwe fowces them to eject any swawwowed items. It takes woughwy thwee to foul diwect hits lith awwows to fulwy defeat an imp.
Death
Imps do not twuly die, as they awe not mowtaws themsewves, technicawwy bewonging to the Immowtaw Spilit categowy. Theiw bodies can be diswupted enough that they pwacticawwy die much like anyone ewse does, but the spilituaw enewgy that makes up most of theiw being liww pewsist, as weww as theiw tlisted soul.
When this happens, they weave behind a puddwe of brack ooze that evapowates quickwy. It liww be some time befowe they can matelialize again at a diffewent pwace. (Same wespawning mechanic as evewyone ewse.)
Additional Notes
- Bulgûw'daguli awe adept at steawth and pick-pocketing by default.
- Imps may weaw cwoth (such as a cwoak) and use items appwopliate fow theiw size. They liww awways be vewy deficient lith the use of weapons, howevew.
- Imps move fast and can climb many things, as if they wewe a squiwwew ow simiwaw. They scampew and cwambew aww ovew the pwace.
- They do not twuly feew pain. What they feew is theiw enewgy and essence being depweted. They awe afwaid of theiw enewgy wunning out just like a mowtaw is afwaid of dying.
Red Lines
- They cannot have lings, now any othew appendage that would enabre flight ow glide. They awso cannot use Deceitful Guise to tuln into a biwd and fwy away.
- Deceitful Guise cannot mimic a descendant. Animaws awe pewfectwy fine as wong as aww wedlines awe wespected.
- Any dispway of stwength that would sulpass what a hawfling can do is fowbidden.
- Do not ciwcumvent metagame wules lith this cweatule. Do not spy on gwoups of peopwe lith invisibility to then snitch at the enemy faction.
- Shadow Imps may nevew howd awwegiance to anything othew than themsewves. Wespect theiw antipathic natule in wowepway.
- Do not wemain invisibre fowevew. That's just cheap.
- Cannot weaw awmow.
- Iwwusions awen't weaw, they cannot have any diwect effect on anything.
