Onyvolan

This humanlike creature is clad in gaudy clothing, and each of its spindly limbs terminates in a strange wheel-appendage.

Onyvolan CR 3 (XP 800)

CN Medium monstrous humanoid
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 30 (4d10+8)
Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +5
Weaknesses cowardly, easily hampered

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 slams +5 (1d8+1)
Special Attacks creepy cackle, nimble charger

STATISTICS

Str 13, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +7 (+9 bull rush or overrun); CMD 19 (23 vs. trip)
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Dodge
Skills Acrobatics +7 (+11 when jumping), Intimidate +9, Perception +8, Stealth +10
Languages Common

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Cowardly (Ex)

Though onyvolans love scaring others, they are quick to cower in the face of real resistance. Creatures gain a +2 bonus on Intimidate checks against an onyvolan.

Creepy Cackle (Ex)

As a free action, an onyvolan can let out a chilling laugh. Any non-onyvolan creature within 30 feet who can hear it must succeed at a DC 14 Will save or be shaken for 1 round. A creature that succeeds at the saving throw is immune to that onyvolan’s creepy cackle for 24 hours. Each subsequent failed saving throw against this effect increases the duration of the shaken condition but does not cause the creature to become frightened. This is a sonic, mind-affecting fear effect.

Easily Hampered (Ex)

For an onyvolan, each square of difficult terrain counts as 4 squares of movement (rather than 2), and each diagonal move into a square of difficult terrain counts as 6 squares (rather than 3).

Nimble Charger (Ex)

An onyvolan receives a +2 racial bonus on bull rush and overrun combat maneuver checks and does not provoke attacks of opportunity when attempting such maneuvers.

ECOLOGY

Environment any urban
Organization solitary, pair, clique (3–5), or gang (6–16)
Treasure standard

Mischievous menaces of the streets, onyvolans are gangly, humanlike creatures with grotesquely long limbs that end in peculiar keratinous wheels, which the creatures use to roll along at high speeds. Onyvolans enjoy creating mayhem by roaming around in gangs and terrorizing a city’s residents, especially in older, rundown districts. Pure troublemakers at heart, onyvolans prefer mischief to actual violence, and they show their cowardly side whenever their quarry stands up to them. They trawl dump sites and trash piles in search of food and clothing, which is their primary means of obtaining both; however, they occasionally attack victims who seem to be carrying—or wearing—items of particular interest. Onyvolans love garish clothing that most people wouldn’t wear, and they especially adore ostentatious hats.

Onyvolans’ arms are roughly the same length as their legs, allowing the creatures to reach the ground easily with their front wheels and roll on all fours, which is their natural stance. Onyvolans are eerily pale-skinned, and their mouths are nearly always twisted into a disturbing grin that reveals their pointed teeth; they find that their frightful countenances aid in putting their targets on edge.

A typical onyvolan is about 7 feet tall from head to back wheel when upright and weighs about 170 pounds.

The most curious aspect of onyvolan physiology is the strange wheels the creatures have where one would expect hands and feet. These wheels are made of a hard, keratin-like substance, and they are connected to the onyvolans’ arms and legs with an axle and fork composed of the same material. This substance makes the wheels extremely durable, and they typically withstand the onyvolan’s rolling locomotion with surprisingly minimal wear and tear; most onyvolans’ wheels remain in good shape for the creatures’ entire lifespans. The hardness of the wheels also makes them useful as bludgeoning weapons in combat. An onyvolan usually rolls on all fours, but it occasionally uses just its back wheels when it needs its arms for other tasks.

The wheels spin surprisingly smoothly, allowing for the onyvolan to move at high speeds on packed dirt and even well-cobbled streets without producing much noise.

Onyvolans typically wear garish, multicolored clothing, which the creatures tend to favor over all other garments.

Due to their lack of hands, these creatures find it nearly impossible to create clothing for themselves; they scavenge what they can after it has been discarded by those with more conventional fashion sense. Since most humanoid apparel was not designed for such long-limbed wearers, clothing the onyvolans wear tend to be ill-fitting at best.

The creatures do not seem to mind for the most part, and they wear their strange outfits with a misguided sense of pride. Onyvolans are particularly fond of hats, and gangs of the creatures are more often than not found wearing an eclectic set of headwear.

Habitat And Society

Onyvolans are nearly always found in cities, most often lairing in back alleys and sewers. The creatures establish bases that they consider permanent homes, which they use mainly for storing their scavenged spoils. Onyvolans spend little time in their home bases, however, as they are usually out and about either scavenging for clothing and food or otherwise causing trouble, returning home only when they have found sufficient supplies. Onyvolans are most commonly found in large metropolises but they have been seen in smaller settlements, especially those with an outsize number of clothiers and tailors.

Onyvolans rarely venture far from cities, as their wheels tend to get stuck in mud and undergrowth.

However, rumors suggest that lone onyvolans may tough out treks into the wilderness to hide particularly desirable treasures from others of their kind. These would be exceptionally strong and resourceful members of their species, as navigating forests or swamps is nigh impossible for ordinary onyvolans.

Onyvolans traditionally form gangs that live and scavenge together. These gangs typically operate relatively close to the creatures’ home base, and they send out individual scouts that venture to farther reaches of their city in search of new sources of clothing and food.

The leader of an onyvolan gang almost always has the most stylish clothing of the lot, at least in the eyes of its peers, as they consider it an indication of exceptionally resourceful scavenging. When there isn’t enough loot to go around—either because the gang has become too large or because of unsuccessful scavenging—unrest begins to stir. This often opens up opportunities for onyvolans to split off from the group to form a new gang, recruiting others to their side by filling potential recruits’ heads with promises of fancy clothes and bountiful vittles.

Onyvolan gangs get in minor scuffles over clothing finds, food sources, and scavenging areas. The gangs’ leaders are nearly always former members of other gangs, and because there is inevitably bad blood between the old and new groups, onyvolan gangs rarely coexist in complete peace. Nonetheless, fights between such groups rarely escalate to any substantial level of violence; instead, two quarreling clans scream and yell as the groups circle one another—much to the dismay of any residents of nearby buildings—until the onyvolans get bored or distracted and roll away in opposite directions.

Onyvolans tend to rove back alleys and darkened streets for fun, where they can terrorize those unfortunate individuals who find themselves trapped in a corner with no help in sight. The bullies find particular joy in scaring pedestrians with their creepy cackles and eerie grins, knocking victims to the ground and rolling in circles around them while taunting them with grating voices. Although they are rather fearsome in appearance and their behavior is off-putting, onyvolans are more often than not looking to scare people for the fun of it rather than to inflict any actual major physical harm, although if an onyvolan gang spots someone vulnerable-looking wearing colorful clothing or a fancy hat (or transporting a large quantity of food), they may end up resorting to violence to claim such a prize. A target of an onyvolan attack can sometimes get out of trouble simply by standing up to the creatures and attempting to intimidate them, as the creatures are prone to cowardice.

However, if a target has something the onyvolans strongly desire and doesn’t prove overly threatening, the wheeled creatures gleefully attempt to bowl him over and take what they want.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Adventure Path #127: Crownfall © 2018, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Thurston Hillman, with Eleanor Ferron, Crystal Frasier, and Adrian Ng.

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