Arsibalith
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Beware, traveller. For what I am about to tell you about is someone that preys on us living beings and manipulates us with their bodies. Neither male nor female goes safe from these wretched creatures, and I too was close to get captured by them. If my trusted dog Coralsweeper hadn't been with me that fateful day, I would not have lived to tell you the tale about it.
It all started out as an ordinary day. I had just left the nearby human city of Strongbrigade after a rather embarrassing discussion with the leading scholars there. I had my dog with me and we were once again on our journey to examine and describe this world's monsters and beasts. Although this day would turn out to be both informative and life-threatening...
When we had walked on the path inside a flourishing forest for quite some time, I hear a sudden call from inside the trees. It sounded like a woman, and it was one of the most beautiful voices that ever had reached my ears. Blinded by its song, I walked in a straight line towards it with Coralsweeper next to me who was wagging his tail back and forth.
It didn't take long before I reached a small glade, in which I found stone rubble. But on it, I saw something that made my eyes glitter with joy. Because on this big pile of rocks sat three completely naked women, all three of them singing something completely unrecognisable for me but it was most beautiful music nonetheless. I stood and stared at them for a moment, until they noticed me and all of a sudden started to giggle. I took off my hat and bowed, introducing myself as Garidos Tanstil, bestiary scholar and explorer. But compared to me, Coralsweeper didn't seem to appreciate the three women. Instead, he growls quietly and shows his sharp teeth while his tail has stopped wagging. I turned to him quickly and silenced him with a snarl, before I turned back and excused myself for my dog. The three women didn't seem to mind, so I dared to take a few steps closer and examine their bodies carefully. Although they didn't expose them from the stomach down, I didn't mind at all during that moment. By the Gods, how beautiful they were...
Just as I was going to walk even closer, Coralsweeper does the unthinkable. With a bark, he throws himself at one of the women and buries his teeth in her arm. This is followed by a terrible shriek of both fury and pain, as all three of them moves down from the stone pile. And that is when the spell they had put on me broke, as I saw how twisted these women actually was. From their stomach down, their bodies had been replaced to the one of a snake, complete with patterns that usually exists on a snake's skin. Coralsweeper lets go of her arm and they all three glides away from the glade with amazing speed because of their snake features, into the depths of the forest. With his teeth dripping of green blood, my dog returns to my side, his tail once again wagging back and forth...
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Arsibaliths are a race that doesn't exist in many numbers but they are still a force to be reckoned with. They can look like either beautiful women, complete with long hair and different jewellery. Others can look like men that has trained their body to have big muscles and an impressive stomach while their hair stays short but nevertheless, just as beautiful as the other gender's.
Although from their stomachs down, here is where their human features disappears and gets replaced by a something that only a twisted madman could come up with. No legs and from what I could see, no sex organs either. Instead, these have been replaced with nothing else but snake coils. Depending on the pattern and texture of the skin, the man or woman is either one high in power or a mere peasant. It is said that those with the absolute power are as beautiful as the day, although no records states how one of these creatures can look like.
Arsibaliths live in warm environments where their snake bodies needs the heat from the sun to survive. They go into a sleeping stage during the nights, not awake but not fully asleep either in case possible intruders would wander into their glades. They are fearsome predators when it comes to hunting and those who has encountered an arsibalith usually dies before they can flee, entranced by their features and their hypnotising song. When they hunt, they lure the unfortunate traveller to their location with a song that is meant to hypnotise those that hears it. When the victim comes close to the creature, they either bring them to their city where they will be prepared for eating. Or, they can wrap up the traveller in their coils at the scene while the unfortunate victim can do nothing but stare at the arsibalith's body. Not long after that, the beast squeezes their victims harder and harder until the bones of the victim cracks and pierces the vital organs, killing them instantly. After that, they will be devoured under gruesome manners. In fact, they have the exact same hunting pattern as several other snakes. One thing that is positive for them is their strong muscles underneath their snake skin. Once you have been wrapped up in their coils, it will take the strength of many men in order to get you free again. And you will most likely be dead before that anyhow...
The society of the arsibaliths is quite a unique one. While their snake bodies allow them to cling to the trees, their human profiles allows them to build huts and even cities both on and above the ground. They are rather intelligent as well, much more than other mammals. They can handle both different tools and weapons, but they usually depend on their skills in order to defeat their victims. Only in wars with other races do they turn to the cold steel of swords, spears and axes.
They also wear armour at these times, but they cannot move fast at all because of its weight. Using a lighter material for their armours like Hêightum is quite impossible for them as well, since they can only create items or weapons out of wood, iron or steel. They make decorations out of either silver or gold, nothing else.
In my research about these creatures, I have learned that they do have a language that they speak with each other, and it is something similar to our own language as well. However, it is much more of a gibberish kind and most of the words are almost impossible to understand, here we can only guess what they are saying. But the language has been named simply "Arsi".
An arsibalith has few natural enemies and only predators like wolves are the ones that can come through the defence of the snake creatures, which is why they fear wolves to the fullest. Whenever they encounter one, they either crawl up into a tree or glides away with a speed matching the ones of the wolves themselves. Humans and other races are of none concern for them. All they consider these persons as, are food. And since almost everyone gets hypnotised of their song, it is fortunate that these creatures never ventures out from their forests.
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Tribe: Artheprododa
Home: Warm forests and swamps
Regularity: Rare
Basic stats (cannot go above 45):
Agility – 4
Speed – 7
Strength – 7
Defence – 4
Evasiveness – 5
Dexterity – 6
Intelligence – 6
Skill – 6
Average age: 34
Maximum age: 120
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Abilities and Aptitude:
Hypnotising voice
The arsibalith uses his/hers voice in order to lure its victims to its location. This drains the arsibalith's energy but it is almost impossible to break. Few people can resist its intriguing sound, and those who cannot are usually doomed if they are not having company. Because even if everyone can hear the song, only one becomes hypnotised of it if it's only one singing. The more arsibaliths, the more persons can they put into a trance.
Crush
The arsibalith lets its coils go around the helpless victim until it puts a strangling grip around his throat. Then, it slowly begins to squeeze the victim to death. A rumour even says that the arsibalith can give their victims a deep kiss right before the victim's bones breaks.
This has been an outtake from the book "Garidos Tanstil's Monster Manual"