Fflam the Puny
All of his life Fflam lived in the shadows of greater and more terrible demons than himself. One day he would show them all...
Special Equipment:
Wheedling Goad - The goad is a rod of limber wood with a strange semi-metallic color to it. Anyone jabbed with the goad is immediately set to their worst mood, and become taciturn and sour. It is useless against devils, demons, or other planar creatures.
Appearance:
Most think of great jutting tusks, blood dripping horns, and maws of serrated teeth when they think of demons. On the contrary Fflam is roughly the size of a halfling or a goblin, and is often mistaken for a goblin due to his size and pointed ears. He has cat-like eyes, tattered ears, and a nose that looks as if the end was hacked off with a dull knife. The fact that Fflam is a dusky green color does little to help his predicament.
Fflam has a strong and persistant body odor that smells of boiled eggs, pig manure, and congealed chicken fat. Six fingers adorn each hand tipped with the brittle claws of a rooster. Due to all of this, he is a laughing stock among demons, a whipping boy for the imps and lemures.
Background:
There are some demons so evil so malevolent that mortals will not even speak their names aloud. Entities so horrific that even the thought of their names causes fits and gestures of self purification, spontaneous prayer, and warding gestures. Fflam is completely unknown among these luminary demons. The ancient texts and scrolls of diabolism and demonology dont even have a footnote mention of this most diminutive demon.
Only the wizards and shaman of the goblin tribes know his name, and even they have rarely summoned him. This causes Fflam no shortage of misery. He would like nothing more than to be summoned, would appear eagerly to do his master's bidding. It has been a terribly long time since fresh blood adorned his stubby teeth, and far longer since mortals cowered at his scaly feet.
Once, 10,000 years ago Fflam was a terrible demon. He dwelt in a palace of skin and bleeding bones, served by multitudes of flayed slaves and lesser demons. What brought him low, he cannot recall, he can only remember his fallen greatness with bitterness. He was forever cast out of the unending bliss of the infernal realm, cast into the harsh world of water and sunlight. He was made into a terrestrial demon, the weakest and most pathetic of the demonic kindred.
As such a demon, he is as easy to summon as a wizard's familiar, and perhaps slightly less useful. He has been summon three times in the last ten centuries, and each time by a goblin, which has eroded his self-esteem greatly. Should a mortal summon him, the little demon would try everything to please his master, being a highly overactive, and very stinky little servant. Any who are inferior to the master are treated with absolute lack of dignity and respect. (think chimps at the zoo)
One day, he hopes to find a new master and corrupt him. He hopes that such an offering to the deep demons of the infernal realm would please them enough to raise him to the status of an imp, the least of the infernal demons.
Roleplaying Notes:
Plot Hooks
PLEASE MASTER! - Not quite requiring a summoning spell to appear, Fflam desperately tries to ingratiate himself to a PC wizard. Any attempt to banish or dispell the demon works, even half-hearted efforts. Fflam will abuse and mutilate himself in a desperate attempt to win the wizard over with pity. Frequently break out into Dobby-esque fits of self abuse over the least infraction.
Precious Master - Being a demon, Fflam knows things, spells and the locations of hidden treasures and how to read ancient languages. Fflam leaves clues for the PCs to find, written in Infernal, or some other draconian language, then offers his meager services to help the precious master find the treasure.
They Lies Master - Once ingratiated to the wizard, Fflam will begin to undermine the wizard's opinion of the other PCs, making them seem evil and underhanded. If questioned, he begins to vigorously beat himself for seeming to lie, all the time begging to master to allow him to stop punishing himself.
I...see...nothing - Fflam begins to harass the most sane and observant of the PCs, creating petty illusions and phantom sounds. He will keep them from sleeping until they slowly go mad, or until he tires of the game. He hates clerics and paladins and will go to great lengths to vandalise them and their possessions.
Get the Sparkly - Fflam leads the PCs to a treasure trove that holds a demonic weapon, a huge axe that coruscates with infernal flame. Fflam's name is etched in the circle of the blade, written in Infernal. He desires to regain the axe as a symbol of his fallen power. Success could mean the Wizard becoming the demon's pawn, to the demon screaming in angst as he is too puny to lift the handle of the hellish weapon.
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? Responses (12)
I guess some adventurer group brought him to his fall - what else :D
For a silly campaign, he's excellent, though likely to make the PCs show less respect and caution around the next demon they meet... an effect that might be actually desired by the GM.
Ahh - poor little demon - plenty of room for comic relief here - 4/5
Makes me think of Gollum, only a little though.
Yeah, makes me think of poor Gollum too. It was the 'They Lies Master' that did it for me.
Good Job
Fflam prostrates himself upon the cold floor of the citadel, pulling at his ears with the joy he feels at your kindness. Fflam doesnt deserve such kind praise, yes it pleases Fflam that Pariah is pleased with him.
(I forgot about this miserable little fellow. Made me laugh)
where can one purchase a Wheedling Goad ?!
LOL Poor little thing
I think Fflam would be wonderful in the hands of a DM with a good sense of humor. However, it would be too easy to make him either a Dobby or a Gollum clone, so a special dose of creativity and imagination are needed.
Always a pleasure to read your fine writing, Scras.
I see now that I commented on this but forgot to vote when you posted it Scras, for that I apologize. I can't remember if I didn't have any votes left when i saw it. But here it comes.
I have to agree with Dream that this, more than many other NPC's could easily be badly acted out by a less jaded GM and become our familiar but already stereotypical Gollum. But this should not (in my eyes) effect my vote since you so splendidly have provided a nice recipe for this NPC.
A neat little creature designed for some nice humour relief.
A role-model for pathetic underlings everywhere!
Reminds me of the house-elf in Harry Potter though.
Well, both Dobby and Gollum were referenced when I was writting Fflam, but the real idea is portraying the most pathetic of demons, an underling so low that he is generally only summoned by goblins and their ilk and thus is desperate for attention from a real wizard and a chance to regain power lost so long ago he can barely remember it.
What the rest of the gang said.
If I use Fflam, he will be somewhat modified:
- He will seem sniveling and pitiful, but it is partially an act. While his physical prowess is laughable, his mental faculties are not. The PCs would become more and more assured he was no threat, then he would lead them to their own demise (or so he hopes). Perhaps he would save the dying mage, if and only if the mage fawned at his feet. The desire for power is central to this character. While Dobby and Gollum references are fine, I'd mix in a little Robert Mugabe too. (The once great individual that pathetically clings to whatever power he can gain/retain).