Appearance: (A picture, if possible, but a description will suffice.) Book-worm is a thri-kreen of solid build. The carapace covers any muscular form of but by most standards they appear average. The sharp edges of the carapace seemed to have been polished down. The carapace appears like a smooth set of segmented armor, which in a sense it is. Their height is 5’6” standing roughly eye level with the common man. They appear similar to an ant with a smooth rounded head and sharp mandibles up roughly as sharp as their claws. Only two of their arms are ever in view as the third always tucked away at their side. Their carapace is a deep jet black that blends well with darkness. They have long lost the ability to change the color of their carapace at all to blend into their environment like other thri-kreen. Their antennas have been cut, only leaving stumps. It seems their fourth arm had been completely cut off. Their eyes, if ever seen are a bright red an extremely sensitive to light. They adorn a dark purple cloak filled with all kinds of tears, holes and more. An insignia of a white wolf while stained with mud still remains intact on the back of said cloak. The hood of the cloak is always up. There is a large band of cloth working as blindfold surrounding Book-worm’s eyes and blocking out light from them. A loin cloth or rather a shredded linen skirt is worn around his waistline with various small straps for holstering items. His third arm is chained to his side holding a rather odd-looking book. The book is a variety of colors typically deep purples and blues, filled with small dots seeming to resemble the stars seeming to mimic space itself and a vague outline of a wolf on the cover. Simply a glance at the book can drive the weak minded to get lost in it, the portrayal of space is ever shifting depending on what angle one observers the book. The book itself is also chained up, only appears to open according to Book-worm’s intention to do so. They can be seen wearing their large pack on their back meant for carrying all sorts of things.
Equipment: (Armor, Weapons, stuff like that. Also the materials that they carry with them.) Book-worm never really worn armor as they never enjoyed the weight of it on top of their already solid carapace, able to absorb a fair strike from a variety of weapons but not a strong or well placed one. Not to mention they would need it designed for their body type.
A majority of Book-worm’s equipment can be found inside their bag taken from a deceased dungeon explorer. It contains all kinds of nifty items such as hammers, tinderboxes ink bottles & pens, scrolls, a crowbar, rope, a pole rations and more. A few items of note would likely be the various books stuffed inside it, along with alchemist supplies, and an emergency potion tucked away inside their as well. The books cover anything from astrology in elvish, to alchemy in dwarvish, even to books on strange encounters with alien like beings in the common tongue.
Book-Worm’s special book is tucked away by his third arm at all times. It is rarely brought out unless they spot an interesting an intricate spell they wish to ritualize and practice later. The closest translation anyone has received from Book-Worm as to is title is ‘The Book of the Void’.
Their weapon of choice are Chatkcha which they have roughly six of. These are sharp weapons, and although small can slice a target as deep as a sword, especially when they’re spinning after being thrown. The weapons have three sharp edges.
Weaknesses: (Weak to Fire, Ice, or getting hit by rocks? Let us know!) Book-worm’s eyes are especially sensitive light and the like. He has to keep them covered even in dim light lest they burn and sizzle in pain. The rest of his body adopted a similar weakness when it turned jet black in his childhood. In the case of his carapace, while it may not actively hurt to be in light, radiant damage has a stronger painful affect them. Acid is another particular weakness. While Book-worm’s carapace can typically stand a typical or particular weak blow, it has trouble resisting acids in particular. They can eat away at the carapace and create vulnerable areas to hit, not to mention the agonizing burn from such attacks. The spots left vulnerable are especially sensitive to damage. The carapace needs rest or rather time to heal.
Phobias: Thalassophobia (ocean), Gerascophobia (fear of growing old)(especially since they Thr-kreen typically die around 30)
Skills: (What are you good at? How good are you at it?) In terms in physical ability Book-worm is a rather limber and dexterous fellow. They prefer not to get hit and stay a distance from their enemies because of such. They can just easily climb in the rafters and have a fair chance at sneaking up on an encampment with little patrolling. Their aim and skill is good with daggers, chatkcha, and similar simple weapons that can be used for range. They’re not particularly strong and match the average man in both that and in health. Given a handful of precisely aimed strikes or strong ones, Book-worm will drop like any other. Their appearance, being rather unsettling doesn’t attract them any favors. In fact most would likely be revulsed by their appearance and assume them for a monster. It can be rather hard to convince them not to attack even with the help of telepathy which was how they lost one of their arms.
Book-worm, lives up to their given name in understanding the arcane and its mysteries along with figuring out mental puzzles, and hidden information. They practice a degree of alchemy for medicinal use, though only really understand one type of potion for healing and struggle with making much else, especially without a book to guide them. It helps their studies that they do not require sleep to function, though rest is necessary Book-worm can remain aware during such periods.
Book-worm is a rather strong and skilled psychic entity thanks to practice and their bond with a higher being. They can create a variety of effects using their mental fortitude and achieve higher understanding though it as well. In the application of study, Book-worm is able to even adapt new spells to create mimics of them for their own use given enough time and resources to do so.
Their eyes maybe be sensitive to the light, and great at seeing in the dark but their mind is far more capable. They are able to see around whilst blindfolded, just as easily as if they weren’t. It takes time to adjust but when able to focus they can even see magic in the air around them through ritualized attempt.
They may not be able to speak or communicate vocally with most creatures, but the mind is far stronger to overcome this. They can telepathically speak with any creature that understands a language or even beasts of the wild, and their mind translates what they say back to a general understanding. They can understand any form of writing presented to them with ease. They can even identify objects of magical nature, understanding how they work and function given time to examine them and touch them through the mind and ritualized focus. They can even lift and move about objects with their mind, though they struggle to lift anything of significant weight they can move smaller objects like pouches of coins, keys and the like within a standard range of Book-worm.
Not all of these psionic abilities can be used on a ritualized basis and some are not simply for communication or understanding purposes. Book-worm can shoot out a beam of energy from his bond that briefly flashes the form of a wolf to attack a fairly distanced enemy. The beam of energy has a chance to hit and ram the target with the force of a heavy crossbow bolt. A cloud of parasites can be easily imagined into reality attacking a foe within standard range. The cloud spawns off of Book-worm’s carapace and moves to cover the foe in various little parasites that claw and bite into the skin with a strong desire to tear under. The parasites poisonous bites can feel as sharp as a single sword strike and the parasites disappear just as quickly and can cause an enemy to panic into a different direction. None the less, it is often a fair chance to damage an enemy that grows stronger if the enemy is unhealthy to begin with.
Not all psionic abilities can be formed and used just as easily without rest between uses or by simply taking time to induce them. Causing direct auditory hallucination to damage the mind, leaving suggestions in the mind for someone to follow, or even the miraculous ability of creating healing liquid strains Book-worm’s ability and they can only use a few among these per day.
Auditory hallucination, or rather particularly discordant sounds and whispers may be forced into a singular targets mind. The chances of inflicting it are strong especially if the target has already engaged with Book-worm’s telepathy over an expanded period of time. The distance somewhat beyond standard range of use. None the less the victim hears all sorts of terrifying sounds, some of which Book-worm can influence directly. The damage is done directly to the person’s mind. The pain of it can feel like three swords stabbed directly into the mind, though the damage can be halved if the target’s will to resist is particularly strong. If the target is deaf, the effects of the hallucination are practically none.
A simple suggestion can also be left inside a target’s mind to follow and can be held in a target’s mind for up to eight hours. Book-worm can only hold one suggestion in someone’s mind at a time. The strength of this ability increases the more one has engaged with Book-worm’s telepathy as well. Book-worm has to be within standard range to even implant a suggestion at all. Suggestions that relate to self-harm or something completely uncharacteristic are bound to fail on the spot. Typically, only those with weak focus or willpower or even affected, but it may cause someone to simply hesitate for a moment, though either way the targets do not notice its direct influence.
Yet one of the most curious of Book-worm’s unnatural abilities is their ability to replicate a healing potion. They imagine and create a vial within their hands and spew into the vial a liquid the color of honey. The potion is about as affective as a standard one and can patch up a fair amount of damage. The effect only lasts a day however, after which the both the vial and the liquid disappear.
Silver Moon,
Half Pint,
SmileyForTheCam,
op2024,
Eviledd1984,
Alisdragon911,
swordandpens,
Noctis,
Veilsight,
wintersoldier