(Andrew Wright)

From out of the southern swamps, the Blood Fiend¹⁾ staggers; a hulking humanoid brute covered in armoured scutes, with razor-sharp claws and a toothsome crocodile-like head. Is it a highly-adapted archosaurian or merely an evolutionary dead-end cousin of the Dracomen? Scholarly conjecture is deeply divided on the issue. Regardless, lowering its snout to the ground to sniff for prey, the beast picks up a scent from a scarlet stain: fresh blood! The Blood Fiend shambles forth anew with great enthusiasm, ever-hungry and never satiated, always on the prowl for meat to tear asunder and flesh to rip to pieces. It knows no other way…

The Blood Fiend is a terror of the warmer, wetter equatorial lands; the swamps and jungles of Mungoda, the great delta of the River Isis, the mangroves that fringe both the Azure Coast, and the shores that line the Gulf of Marazid. During the summer months it has also been known to venture north into the Coradian Sea. Certainly, the Blood Fiend has been recorded from the ruined coastal city of Thalios, while the wandering warrior-sage Xaxamedes asserted some number of the creatures likewise infest the Tombs of Kala on the isle of Kaxos. Recent rumours claim the beasts have also made a permanent home in Ferromaine, preying on lone unfortunates by the quayside in summer and hibernating in dank flooded cellars during the winter!

As an eater of gore and carrion, the Blood Fiend is a capable tracker and ever alert to the telltale scents of both spilt blood and decaying flesh. The creature is thus capable of Tracking (see Dragon Warriors p. 63), with a +2 bonus to all PERCEPTION-related tracking rolls, owing to their superior sense of smell. In addition, if their prey is wounded and bleeding, the Blood Fiend may add an additional +2 bonus to the roll. Despite lacking a tail, Blood Fiends are capable swimmers using their powerful limbs and can even track bleeding prey through water, in much the same way as sharks do. When they come within range of their prey the Blood Fiend will lunge forward and attack in a frenzied rage; each round they have a 30% chance of snapping with their tooth-studded jaws rather than lashing out with clawed forelimbs.

Finally, a critical hit (i.e., a score of 1 on the d20 Hit Roll) counts as a hug attack, as the Blood Fiend grapples its victim and savagely mauls their flesh. The victim suffers 10 Health Points' damage, armour notwithstanding.

The lair of a Blood Fiend will typically be a muddy hole in the riverbank or a shallow fern-shaded cave, full of the old gnawed bones of those it has slaughtered, picked clean by the gluttonous creature. Much treasure can sometimes be found here, for the Blood Fiend has no use for trinkets, and lets anything inedible fall where it may.

This article first appeared in Casket of Fays Issue 5.