Greater kappa

Greater kappa Level 7 Family Reptilian family creatures Body Type Biped Classification(s) Living Area(s) Found Coastal Cliffs BCS Yes HP 100 Speed

Attack Attributes Physical Attacks Handaxe 107 AS

Defense Attributes Armor None (natural) ASG 1N Defensive Strength (DS) Melee 27 - 35 Ranged Bolt 20 Unarmed Defense Factor UDF 69 - 140 Target Defense (TD) Bard Base 21 Cleric Base Empath Base Paladin Base 21 Ranger Base Sorcerer Base 21 Wizard Base Minor Elemental 21 Major Elemental 21 Minor Spiritual 21 Major Spiritual Minor Mental

Treasure Attributes Coins Yes Gems Yes Magic Items Yes Boxes Yes Skin a kappa fin Other None

The greater kappa moves slowly on land, its bulk more suited to shallow bays and underwater cities.  It stands on short, fleshy legs and observes the world through lidless, bulbous eyes.  Totally black from head to webbed foot, the greater kappa easily blends in with the dark sands of its hunting area and is nearly impossible to see once underwater. The flesh of the greater kappa is very oily and, though a good source of lamp fuel, is not good to eat.

Hunting strategies

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Other information

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Behind the Scenes

Kappas are water monsters from eastern folklore who try to lure their victims into the water and drown them. In mythology they often preyed on horses especially. These were replacements of "sea witches" from the I.C.E. Age, and may reflect a latter day allusion to the Bandur Etrevion story along the same symbolic lines as the leapers. The beach level of the Coastal Cliffs was at least partially based on the fall of Quellburn. The kappas likely correspond to the unknown beings with webbed feet from "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" who drained the blood of the quest seeker's zebra as he slept by a curious pillar on his way to the mountain of Ngranek. (The "underwater cities" is likely a reference to the city of the amphibious "Deep Ones" in "The Shadow over Innsmouth", or even R'lyeh itself, which is notable as Kadaena was called "the Shadow.") The Black Sands in turn would be explained by the warning against doing so by the "lava-gatherers", and the abandoned village with collapsed walls (reflected by the leapers area where the spectral fishermen were originally located) whose people sculpted out of the smooth lava of Ngranek. There is a Lovecraftian premise, with respect to the god of the Deep Ones, of volcanic upheaval causing long drowned horrors to rise to the surface.

References

• Kappa on Wikipedia

Near-level creatures

Level 5 bobcat coyote dark apparition mist wraith mongrel hobgoblin nasty little gremlin night golem water witch Level 6 cockatrice firephantom leaper lesser mummy lesser orc monkey snowy cockatrice spectral fisherman spotted lynx Level 7 blood eagle greater kappa hobgoblin acolyte hobgoblin shaman lesser burrow orc lesser red orc shelfae guard shelfae soldier Level 8 albino tomb spider bone golem crystal crab greater burrow orc greater orc greater spider mottled thrak thrak Level 9 brown spinner crocodile death dirge manticore snow spectre