Moor Man

Moor men resemble short, completely hairless humans with oversized eyes. Males usually wear only a loincloth and cover their bare skin with designs painted in mud, small animals' blood or any other handy stain. Females wear leather shirts made from the hides of their victims.

Their extraordinary infravision spots warm bodies up to 300 yards away across the cold moors, but the price is agony in bright light. In sunlight, continual light or similar glare they are blinded until the light is removed and fight at -4 to attack and damage.

Half carry short swords looted from victims, a quarter use axes, and the rest clubs or daggers; one in ten also has a short bow.

Each night they paint on a tattoo of power, built from several designs placed across the body, so only one works at a time. None can be made lasting; each must be repainted after any fight or hard exertion. Roll for each moor man encountered:

1. Defense (shields and mystic signs): +1 to all saves, and enemies suffer -1 to attack and damage against the wearer. 2. Luck (flowers and lucky symbols): once per round the wearer may reroll one die, keeping the new result. 3. Veil of Darkness (black, with eyes and suns): no penalties from sunlight or bright light. 4. Invulnerability (a white skeleton painted over the wearer's own bones, the most distinctive design): the first successful hit each round is turned aside, whatever its nature. 5. Berserking (axes and swords): the wearer goes into a frenzy, doubling both attacks and hit points; he is actually dying once his original hit points are gone, but the tattoo keeps him from noticing. 6. Bedazzlement (spirals): anyone who looks at the wearer and fails a save vs. spell is captivated until either is slain, unable to attack and losing Dexterity bonuses to AC, though a new save is allowed every round.

These wild humanoids live in the gloomiest marshes of the misty dread realm. Hating sunlight, a clan spends the day half-hibernating in shallow pits hidden under grass, branches and brush. At sunset they emerge, paint their tattoos, and roam the moors looking for anyone foolish enough to cross their path, ambushing travelers and feasting on their steaming bodies.

Mostly they make do with fish and bog rats, but what they truly crave is humanoid flesh. Few people go out at night, so that hunger often overrides their fear of larger groups and even of light.