Water Kin [Elemental]

Countless men have thrown away their lives for a moment in the arms of the 'honeyed ones', the lovely nereids of the plane of water. Playful, fickle and as changeable as the waters they inhabit, nereids lure and trick sailors to their deaths.

In water a nereid is transparent and 95% undetectable, visible only as golden angel seaweed, but on touching air it takes human form. It is almost always a slender young woman of striking beauty, with long golden hair, pearl-white skin and bright green eyes, dressed lightly in gold and white and always carrying a white shawl in her hands or over her head and shoulders. Her voice is divine, and her songs captivate humans and demihumans. Faced only by human or elf women, she takes a male form instead, but her powers work less well on women, who have a 65% chance of distrusting her. Any male who looks at a nereid cannot bring himself to harm her, with no saving throw, and sees only a bashful, flirtatious girl playing at the water's edge.

Nereids are whimsical; each may be good, neutral or evil, though half act as chaotic neutral.

Should her siren act fail, a nereid has few physical weapons. Her spittle is a venom she can launch 20 feet; a hit blinds the target for 2d6 rounds unless washed off with water; while blind, the victim takes -4 on attack rolls and a 4-point penalty to saving throws and Armor Class.

She can command the water of her lair out to 30 feet, often sculpting pretty shapes for her own amusement. Against intruders she can raise heaving waves that cut movement to one-quarter, make the water boil and froth adding 10% to the odds of drowning, or send breakers crashing with a roar that may deafen unprepared characters within 60 feet for 3d4 rounds. She can also shape water into a fist or serpent that strikes with the attack ability of a 4-Hit Die monster, dealing 1d4 damage. She may use just one of these water attacks a round. There is an 85% chance she keeps a pet that will defend her.

If an amorous man catches her, she saves vs. poison to slip away like water, and she gets the same save to avoid weapon damage. Most men who chase a nereid want a kiss, which she gives reluctantly, for it is her last defense: when their lips meet the man must save vs. breath weapon at -2 or drown on the spot. If he survives, he knows complete bliss.

Her essence resides in the shawl; should it be destroyed she melts into shapeless water, so she guards it at any cost. Whoever holds it can command the frightened nereid, who will lie and try anything short of violence to win back her soul-shawl.

Nereids live in seas, rivers, wells, mountain and cave springs, and on the plane of water. Those on the material world either found a way out of their plane or were sent here as punishment. Usually just one inhabits a given body of water, but groups of 1d4 sometimes gather, especially along a coast or in the shoals around a lonely rocky island. Such groups form among nereids of like alignment, and the eldest always leads.

Clean, fresh water nourishes them, while pollution saps their strength and often drives them to move; even good nereids may attack those who foul their homes carelessly. Though they require no food, they fish and hunt to feed their pets, and the evil ones lure men within reach of those hungry companions. They care nothing for metal and throw away gold and silver, but keep any magic taken from drowned sailors and lovesick fools in their watery lairs. True to form, a nereid has no ambitions, preferring to splash and frolic, much to the delight of men everywhere.

They take little from the world and give little back. Mighty sea captains sometimes drape a nereid's shawl around their necks to display mastery of the sea, and the grieving nereids can be seen trailing their ships, weeping and pleading for their essences. Shawls fetch high prices from anyone needing a water creature's service but are rarely sold and very scarce. Wizards holding one are said to use the enslaved nereid as a guide to the plane of water.

Water weirds hail from the plane of water and turn hostile on the material world, usually because magic keeps them from returning home; if someone manages to talk with one, a deal is sometimes possible. A water weird looks like ordinary water. Detect invisibility shows that something is wrong but not what.

Sensing a living creature, it spends two rounds forming a serpent shape, then attacks as a 6 HD monster. Anyone hit must save vs. paralyzation or be dragged into the water, and must save again each round spent there or drown, releasing energy the weird feeds on. If it touches an ordinary water elemental, the weird has a 50% chance to take control of it.

Slashing and piercing weapons deal it just 1 hp of damage. Fire deals half damage, or none with a successful save, and intense cold slows it as the slow spell. At 0 hp or less it is disrupted and re-forms two rounds later. A purify water spell destroys one instantly.