Memedi

Memedi are a broad family of lesser spirits behind much of the uncanny mischief that scares and baffles the living. Mostly incorporeal, they haunt a large southern island and its neighbors, and sometimes other parts of the eastern lands. Common kinds are the wedon, uwil, setan gundul, panaspati, djangkong and djim; the most notorious are the gendruwo. All speak terse, archaic local dialects except the mute setan gundul.

Seeing any memedi requires a save vs. wands; failure sends the viewer running at top speed for six rounds as if under a fear spell. Beyond that, common memedi have no attacks or powers and are essentially harmless.

These pranksters shift at will into dogs, peacocks, cattle or lizards, preferring to impersonate someone the target knows; their true form is a featureless shape of rainbow mist. They find human weapons distasteful and use one only when cornered.

Their real threat is abduction. A gendruwo can step into the Ethereal Plane whenever it likes, bringing one human along, but only after the person accepts a morsel from it, often meat or kastera sponge cake on a silver tray. Then there is no save and no escape: the victim is dropped in the border ethereal to find his own way back. Gendruwo have 35% magic resistance, except against spells made for spirits; hail of stone might fail, abjure will not.

They keep no lair, fleeing to the Ethereal when hurt, and usually work alone after dark in lonely places. Most tricks are minor, like false directions or sudden frights, and one whose joke turned harmful may return to help, but a gendruwo in a foul mood may wear a friend's face to tell cruel lies about a death. Villagers leave food outside town to keep them away, and they love eating paper and important documents.

Djim are ghosts of priests, old bald men in prayer robes who never meet a living eye and mutter prayers endlessly. They attend the funerals of nobles and the rich to guide the dead onward, but only if every rite is performed exactly. Attacked, they vanish from that place forever.

Djangkong, skeletons with translucent bones and black glass teeth, keep lonely good folk company in remote graves. They favor a solid box- or pyramid-shaped crypt under tall trees, approached by a row of carved local animals, with a tse' stone naming the dead at each corner, a granite or marble marker on the south side, and two stone armchairs backed against it for the djangkong and the deceased's spirit. Each April, within the first fortnight, the family must bring meat, vegetables, a bag of coins in silver and gold, incense, a broom and a hoe. While content, the spirit keeps the ground within the stones under a permanent protection from evil.

A panaspati is a grotesque figure walking on its hands, head between its legs, breathing harmless, heatless flame. Two adults must summon it together, with a 10% chance per day. If neither flees, it demands food and coins; refusing their gift, it vanishes and both lose all body hair (which regrows), while accepting, it torments a victim of their choosing for one day.

The setan gundul looks like a little shaven child with a topknot, holding a brass mirror. Only an unwed woman of 80 or older can call it, through a two-day trance. Anyone who withstands its fear and looks into the mirror glimpses an omen of his fate. It stays from sunset to dawn unless food and kindness persuade it to linger.

Uwil arise from dead sohei and are the wisest and most helpful memedi, often consulted by humans. Their weighty brains keep their heads forever bowed. They dwell in remote caves with 1-4 white bats that eat only stalactites, and will talk with respectful visitors, especially those bringing gem-studded stalactites for the bats.

Wedon, shrouded wholly in white silk, are the most dreaded memedi, omens of death whose coming is heralded by flocks of sparrows or loons. Sensible people move away, seek a priest or pray, but if the birds stay or follow, the wedon will arrive. Seeing one demands a save vs. wands to avoid running.