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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Sep 2020 : 05:39:43
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Once in a while I reminisce by reading old monster books from earlier editions and occasionally I come across one that strikes my interest which hasn’t been updated, sometimes in decades.
One that grabbed my attention recently is a mermaid shapechanger from Zakhara known as the pahari.
In case you don’t have access to the Al Qadim 2e MC, let me summarize some highlights of its description.
* It’s favored form is of a beautiful human female upper torso with a fish body (like a centaur fish) with glittering gemstone like scales.
*It can shapechange into a foot long fish or a human shape.
*They are good aligned, extremely curious about the surface world (to the point of naivety) and have even been known to marry humans. Essentially Ariel of the Disney cartoon Little Mermaid.
*They live in communities of 2-20 under the sea, are fey, live 300-400 years and get very depressed if they live a life on the surface wed to a human who dies of old age.
I know they are a Zakharan creature but I might want to see if one of my players would like to try one and I can homebrew them as a playable race.
Anyone ever encounter one in the game? One was in an adventure I remember, but forgot which adventure.
Could you see a reason why one would be in waters beyond Zakhara? Perhaps a pahari is disgruntled instead of depressed at the loss of a past love and ends up purchasing a ship which she captains? Ex husband was a pirate maybe?
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Edited by - Seethyr on 22 Sep 2020 05:41:03
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2020 : 05:44:39
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| Apparently, they had a write up in Dragon 250. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11830 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2020 : 17:02:08
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Never read about them until you mentioned it, but I looked them up. Yeah, they look very much like a mermaid from description, though the drawing has them having much wider "side" fins. As to reasons they might be somewhere else, take your pick, there's dozens. Portal. Captured and put to some nefarious purpose (breeding, slavery, forced to spy for pirates, etc..). Searching for a family member. Chasing an artifact stolen from her people.
There may be other reasons that they are found beyond Zakhara. For instance, they're essentially a creature who has 3 forms... an animal, a human, and a hybrid... so without going lyncanthrope... there is hengeyokai. According to the 3rd edition oriental adventures, hengeyokai have the 3 forms and the creature must be size small. Granted, this doesn't fall in the list associated to that, but if we look at the Malatra campaign they created "new hengeyokai" that they referred to as "Katanga". These might simply be another kind of hengeyokai but from the sea. It might also be that they are a rare result of merfolk birth (i.e. occasionally some merfolk are born with the natural ability to shapechange). Maybe once this occurs, it continues for a few generations before "fading away", thus there might be records of them in certain communities for a thousand years... and then it just stops. Maybe part of the reason many of them are drawn to the surface world is that experiencing love with a surface worlder "changes" them. Maybe only children born with a surface worlder become new pahari and THIS is why the power eventually disappears amongst them (grandma tells all her grandchildren not to leave the ocean seeking love). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36805 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2020 : 17:38:05
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Never read about them until you mentioned it, but I looked them up. Yeah, they look very much like a mermaid from description, though the drawing has them having much wider "side" fins.
There are a lot of variations among artwork for mermaids. Some of the older stuff, like woodcuts and such, has the fish half starting at the legs, not the waist -- so those mermaids would still be able to "entertain" those lonely sailors that had been without female companionship for a while. |
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cpthero2
Great Reader
USA
2286 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2020 : 09:24:53
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Senior Scribe Seethyr,
Wow, I had never even heard of it. That 2e Zakhara stuff was pretty obscure back then.
Best regards,
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Higher Atlar
Spirit Soaring |
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Creature Focus: Pahari
