Family: Abhuman*
Type: Birdman
Habitat: Wastelands, ruins, urban outskirts
Disposition: Paranoid, devious, lustful
Diet: Omnivorous; prefers live insects and grubs or fresh carrion (eyes are a delicacy)
Murden are among the oldest abhuman types. With their raven-like features they can easily be mistaken for harpies, but they're actually quite different. Murden have black down in place of hair (yes, all of their hair), heavily feathered arms, and gray skin, and they tend to be below average human height. Murden eyes are a bit larger than human eyes and are slightly luminous.
Because they have arms and true hands rather than wings murden can't fly, but unlike harpies they have manual dexterity equal to that of humans. They lack harpies' long distance vision. Murden don't have the hollow bones common to harpies, so they are just as strong and sturdy as most non-flying mamono. As carrion eaters murden are immune to food-borne illness and resistant to ingested poisons. Murden lack vocal cords and are therefore incapable of speech -- even during sex the only sounds they make are gasps and sighs.
Among themselves murden communicate by means of telepathy, but their minds operate on a frequency that is alien to those of humans and other mamono -- they use writing or sign language to communicate with non-murden. The presence of murden, either for extended periods or in large numbers, creates psychic static that causes lightheadedness in unshielded minds. Being caught within a murden static field makes spellcasting difficult for those who lack psychic shielding. The stronger a murden's will the greater the range of her static field. A skilled murden can focus on a single being to produce severe headaches, confusion, or debilitating levels of dizziness, while six or more acting in concert can blanket an area the size of a town square. Humans who regularly have sex with murden gradually become immune to this effect.
Murden don't have much in the way of society; their selfishness and paranoia prevent it. They don't have friends or allies so much as favor banks and people who will honor the letter of their deals. This mindset colors how they acquire mates; for murden marriage is a pact rather than a love match. A murden agrees to provide food, shelter, and protection to a man in exchange for "reproductive rights." Such contracts are rarely lifetime deals, and a murden might sell the contract to someone else if the man fails to impregnate her within a reasonable amount of time. Only if a murden comes to love the man who makes her a mother will she offer to contract with him for life, and she will honor the spirit as well as the letter of that agreement.
Name That Mamono: Jostane (joe-STAIN)
Jostane doesn't particularly like being called Jo, but she'll tolerate it from a man with whom she has a contract -- for some additional concessions, of course. She is a petite violet-eyed beauty who is considered clever and devious even by murden standards. She is well known as a mail carrier and traveling bookseller, but there are rumors that she is secretly an assassin. Jostane neither confirms nor denies these rumors, so customers treat her with respect and always honor their deals with her just in case.
Jostane has had two husbands. The first she terminated her contract with because he failed to give her children. The second died suddenly of an illness. She puts on a brave face when asked about either of them, but some who know her suspect that she is desperate for a child... and perhaps for a husband who won't leave her.
*Abhuman:
Abhumans are former humans whose ancestors chose to become mamono. How they did so is unknown -- perhaps some strange rite, the details of which have been lost to antiquity, or a pact with the Demon Lord.
It's possible for a human -- man or woman -- to monsterize into an abhuman, but it's extremely rare. It's not enough for the human to want the benefits of monsterization or to simply be tired of their human life; the subject must actively reject the very idea of being human. If that desire is present and strong enough... and if there's enough demonic energy present... and perhaps if the stars are right... there is a slight chance that the subject will become an abhuman instead of a garden-variety mamono. Less than 3% of abhumans were born this way; the rest were born to abhuman mothers.
There are no abhuman incubi; human males who become abhumans always become monstergirls (though they are more likely to be futanari). Abhumans are also immune to an incubus's charms, and they can't get pregnant from having sex with an incubus or with a futanari who isn't also an abhuman. For reproduction they are almost entirely dependent on human males.
WINDSBRUID
Family: Majin
Type: Majin
Habitat: Villages
Disposition: Passionate, impulsive, prone to addiction, lustful
Diet: Omnivorous; spirit energy
A windsbruid (plural: windsbruiden) is a type of storm witch that is closely related to the dark mage. Like the dark mage a windsbruid looks like an alluring human female, though it is not unheard of for a windsbruid to have elfin ears. The only obvious mamono feature that all windsbruiden have is that their hair always seems to be dancing as if it is being caressed by a strong breeze regardless of whether or not there is any actual wind. While windsbruiden typically live within civilized society they prefer living in villages over city life.
As their name already suggests windsbruiden are associated with the wind, but they are also connected to rain, storms, and tornadoes. This would put them somewhere between ryu and sylphs. Unlike sylphs windsbruiden can exert influence over rain too, but unlike ryu they cannot fully change the weather; they can only empower what is already there. For example they can turn a rain shower into a thunderstorm or a thunderstorm into a tornado, but they can’t make it rain when the skies are clear nor can they dampen a storm.
A windsbruid’s skin is highly sensitive to the wind, so she tends to wear revealing clothing to expose as much skin to the air as she can get away with. Her mana is constantly roiling inside her, which leaves her magic powerful but fickle. A gust of wind can empower her, while fully exposing herself to a storm brings her to such heights that it sexually arouses her. During a storm she will surrender herself to her mana and let her magic run wild, tearing off her clothes and empowering the storm outside as well. Those that retain enough clarity to divert storms from their villages or towns to prevent damage to buildings and crops are welcome neighbors, while one who cannot will quickly find herself cast out and living as a hermit.
While rarely malicious, like the wind, windsbruiden tend to have tempestuous personalities, and they are very prone to develop addictions, especially to spirit energy. Furthermore a windsbruid is a powerful spellcaster, but they tend to be too impulsive to fully control their magical abilities. This is why a windsbruid needs a grounding force in her life, namely a mamono with a strong connection to the earth. Gnomes, dwarves, doromes, and trolls are examples of such mamono. By intertwining their souls through marriage the worst of a windsbruid’s wilder excesses and her proneness to addiction can be curbed while the bond simultaneously helps her wife to loosen up a bit, thereby leaving both of them better off. In the rare cases where a windsbruid finds a husband before having found a grounded wife the opposite happens; her wilder aspects get exacerbated. This is why it is important for a young windsbruid to first look for a suitable wife before beginning the search for a husband.
Having grounded herself through marriage does not leave a windsbruid any less wanton for intimacy; windsbruiden tend to have high libidos and like their sex passionate. To support such active intercourse a windsbruid’s partners will always find themselves in no short supply of invigorating fresh air. Another kink that seems to be prevalent among windsbruiden is that they greatly enjoy sex in the outdoors.
Name That Mamono: Kanza
Kanza had the luxury of having been raised by both of her parents. After her father passed away Kanza decided to follow her dreams and move to Westholm to become a student despite not having much money. She had not only formed a deep connection with the wind and the rain, but she also had developed a scientific interest in weather phenomena. Since there were no specific courses pertaining to weather she decided to first learn valuable scientific skills by taking courses on other natural science subjects. It was during these lectures that she met Ellnela, a gnome geology professor in the employ of the university. The two quickly developed a very close friendship… perhaps a bit too close. Ellnela offered the financially struggling windsbruid a place to stay and a bed to sleep in -- her own bed. Kanza happily agreed and moved in with Ellnela. The gnome encouraged Kanza to begin scouring the library for books on meteorology. What Kanza found were myths, folklore, and a glaring lack of proper research on this subject. To do something about that Ellnela arranged for a scholarship that turned into a permanent position after Kanza published her first treatise.
tygertygerJul 25, 2022 8:36 AM
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