Imp

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The imp is a demon archetype which originates from the Grik'tyr valence. It is not known to have any subtypes. It is classified as a minor demon, and as such, can be summoned through the use of Minor Summoning (725).

Physical Description

Imps are a small, thin, humanoid beings. They are shorter than halflings, and have no hair on their body, and wrinkles around its joints. Their skin color ranges from white to light grey. While the imp has a head, it has no face. That is, until another humanoid catches its attention, at which point its face will morph to mimic the humanoids face. Mimicking faces is not a particular ability of the imp, rather, it is one use of its ability to shapeshift at will. This shapeshifting is rather rare though, as it requires the imp to concentrate, and they are easily distracted. Imps rarely speak, but their voice sounds as if it were made up of thousands of other voices, and what they are actually trying to say will be the clearest and most pronounced of these voices. When an imp dies, its corpse remains for only a few minutes, until its body melts away into the ground. Imps share an odd similarity to the shien of Shien'tyr, in that their bodies are the same, and they both seem capable of transforming their body at will. It is possible that the two are related in some way, but the exact truth is unknown.

Society and Behavior

Imps are sentient beings, and are capable of interacting intelligently with other imps as well as other races and demons. But the imps do not seem to have an actual culture in their native valence because they are slaves of the grik, and most likely any culture or society which may have developed has been suppressed due to the enslavement. As such, the only culture that the imps have is that of a slave caste within the grik society. The imps are wholeheartedly subservient to the grik, doing everything and anything they are told, presumably to avoid punishment from the temperamental grik. Imps are highly inquisitive and distractable beings. When summoned, they constantly move around their surroundings, examining everything they see, but only for a moment or two before they move onto the next thing. They will often mimic the current object of interest, but as their attention spans are so short, this will be momentary at best. While not an overly fearful race, they can be easily frightened by sudden or loud noises. This is most likely a learned response from their enslavement by the grik, who they greatly fear. When under the command of a grik, an imp will do anything without hesitation. The only thing that seems able to disrupt an imp's devotion to its grik master are conflicting orders from another grik. The imps do not seem to have loyalty towards their master, and will listen to whichever grik seems the most threatening. It has even been found that a summoned imp in the presence of a summoned grik may begin to lose obedience towards its summoner, as it is compelled to listen to the grik.

Mechanical Benefits and Flaws

The imp is rather well rounded in its abilities. Almost all of its capabilities are average, with the exception of mana holding, in which it has a high base mana capacity, and a decent capacity growth rate.

Roleplaying Verbs

WAVE - You beckon to a lean marbled white imp. The marbled white imp hurries over to your side and waits for your command.

SLAP - Sensing your hostile intentions, the imp cowers away from you, and a sudden breeze stirs around it. As the breeze pulses outward toward you, you hear a multitude of agitated, unintelligible voices, and the voices rise to a painfully cacophonous pitch. As you reel from the sonic assault, the imp bounds away to cower at a safe distance from you. Roundtime: 5 seconds.

STARE - You catch and hold the imp's gaze with your own. As you stare into the imp's eyes, its features shift to match yours, providing you briefly with a mirror image before the marbled white imp's concentration is broken and it reverts to its normal appearance.

All of these verbs with with an Illusion's Imp, though the messaging is somewhat different.

Possible Adjectives

Imps summoned by Minor Summoning may have the following appearances. The description of each will follow this format: "a/an {descriptor} {color} imp," with the options possible displayed in the following table.

Descriptor Color
agitated alabaster white
cadaverous chalky white
emaciated cloudy white
featureless ghostly
fidgety greyish white
gaunt marbled white
inquisitive mottled white
lean speckled white
skinny white
spindly
spare

Illusion Possibilities

Illusions
a thin elderly gnoll
an old fork-bearded gnoll
a haggard grey-haired gnoll
a stooped and wizened gnoll
an ancient bespectacled gnoll

Sorcerers With This Uncommon Rune

  • Querthose
  • Krolnivar
  • Evyrsio
  • Rumpkin
  • Lylia