Darklurker

Darklurkers are a Gremlin subspecies, the corrupted form of Lesser Lampads. Unlike many of their gremlin relations, a Darklurker's physical form is not very different from that of the Lampad it once was, except perhaps for a facial expression that does little to hide the contempt these beings have for anyone that enters their domain. Their corruption is primarily mental. They revel in the suffering of hapless adventurers who wander into their domains, and seek to cause that suffering by luring adventurers into pitfalls or mazelike regions underground, taunting quietly from the shadows as hope of escape abandons the victims.

Darklurkers physically resemble the Lampads they once were, though there are distinctions if one can actually get a glimpse of one. Their slender, humanoid form is reminiscent of an elf. Their delicate, fair features hide their surprising strength. Their midnight blue to black skin tones help to keep them hidden in the shadows of the already dark caverns where they live. Similar colors in the wispy, though often tattered clothing they wear make it difficult to distinguish them from the dancing shadows cast by a carried lantern.

Like the Lampad it once was, a Darklurker is bound to the cave in which it lives; it is unable to venture more than a few hundred feet beyond its entrance, and only then on at night when the white-shining Ponderous Eye is not in the sky. They cannot abide the light of the sun, nor of the White Moon. While not fatal, these lights cause the creature intense pain. The reddish glow of the Darting Eye does not have the same effect, and on nights when this is the only moon in the sky, a Darklurker can venture outside farther and longer than usual (though still not without some limits).

Name

Darklurker

Type

Fey, Gremlin

Original Nymph

Lampad (Lesser)

Size

Medium, 5ft (150cm)

Habitat

Uncommon: underground caves, caverns

The Darklurker has also retained the ability to create a glowing ball of light that acts as a beacon to explorers lost in the tunnels. But while the Lampad uses this light to guide lost adventurers to safety and escape from the terrors of the underground, the Darklurker uses it to trap victims. Often, they will "guide" a hapless party to a pit, labyrinth, or - more often - a patch of deadly fungi which the Darklurker carefully tends. Once trapped, the Darklurker will hide just out of sight, whispering reminders about dwindling food or water, reminding them they are hopelessly trapped and will never see the light of the sun again. It is uncertain whether the Darkwalker actually feeds off the despair of its victims, or merely derives pleasure from the suffering of others.