By Nagaina (nagaina@yahoo.com)
Source: Anime, manga, anime-typed video game from which the thing comes
Type: What type of Chimera it is -- from living creatures to crafted objects.
Rank: As per Companion, Treasure, or Chimera backgrounds.
Origin: What it sounds like.
Description: What it looks like.
Statistics: Game mechanics.
Source: Zeiram (live-action movie), Iria-Zeiram the Animation
Type: Nocnitsa -- a Nightmare Chimera at the very least.
Rank: Zeiram should not be accompanying any character. It should be attempting to kill and/or absorb anything that crosses its path.
Origin: No one truly remembers the origin of the killing machine known as Zeiram. Some say it is the result of some terrible biological weapons experiment from beyond the stars. Some say it is the result of one afternoon's activity by a bored Nocker on crack. Either case does not really matter, since the Zeiram biological weapons unit has only one track in its mind -- well, okay, three tracks: kill, absorb, and reproduce. If you should encounter a Zeiram (or Zeiram clone), you have perhaps three options: run, die, or hope you're as well-prepared and resourceful as the bounty hunter, Iria. If not, run and call the nearest horde of Redcaps and/or Trollish and Sidhe Knights who might be enough to chase it away for a time.
Description: The Zeiram unit resembles an (extremely) large humanoid figure, dark red to black in coloration, with extremely pronounced musculature and wearing what appears to be the scraps of clothing across its completely hideous form. Its fingers are tipped in sharp talons, and it has displayed an ability to asexually reproduce via cloning, dropping "eggs" from which emerge alternate, mutated forms of itself. Its most distinguishing characteristic, however, is its head: huge, shaped rather like a portabello mushroom with a small white humanoid face replete with glowing red eyes and very large, usable fangs. This head can extend itself on a rope of tendon and muscle and attack the unwary, biting in and draining unfortunate victims of both their lives and their Glamour.
Statistics
Physical: Strength 9, Dexterity 5, Stamina 7
Social: Charisma 0, Appearance 0, Manipulation 2
Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 5
Abilities: Alertness 4, Athletics 3, Brawl 5, Dodge 3, Intimidation 5, Kenning 5, Melee 3, Firearms 5, Stealth 4
Redes: Aggravated Damage, Wyrd, Armor, Fear, Bite (Its small head can bite for 1-2 health levels of damage on each attack. If not promptly detached, it can drain a victim of blood as per a vampire's bite attack.), Absorb (The Zeiram unit is capable of absorbing a Kithain victim's physical body into its own, thereby replenishing its own genetic resources, when using the Wyrd. Otherwise, the Kithain victim's spirit is absorbed, replenishing the creature's stores of Glamour.), Reproduce (Given sufficient Glamourous and biological resources to work with, the Zeiram unit can effectively reproduce itself via asexual cloning. Be afraid. Be very afraid.).
Note: Zeiram is the sort of creature one deeply wishes to avoid at all costs, though sadistic storytellers may which to throw this at experienced (or cocky) parties just for the enjoyment of watching them flee for their lives, looking for a girl named Iria. Think of the possibilities.
Type: Dreaming Protector, Nocnitsa for those who have faced these creatures in battle
Rank: (for those lucky schleps holding the rank of Duke or higher) Rank 5 Treasure (at the very least)
Origin: The Ancient Weapons were created eons ago by the Dreaming itself to protect the Land from threats that normal heroes could not hope to face and survive. They were created from the hardest and most durable gems and the purest dreamstuff and they have but one purpose in existence: to protect the Dream from those who would destroy it. Some highly ranked nobles know where these creatures might be lying in the Dreaming, but none knows how to wake them, or even if waking them would be a good idea. There is, after all, a truism: Let sleeping gods lie.
Descriptions: Sapphire Weapon resembles a large, as in, Titanic-sized, Siamese fighting fish, tinted (what else?) sapphire blue and violet. He has fins and a long tail and a fierce case of fiery Godzilla breath. His preferred environment is the shallower parts of the Dreaming Seas. Ruby Weapon is a roughly humanoid creature standing about the size of the average ten to fifteen story building. She is a vibrant, frightening red-and-gold, with a small head atop a stalklike neck, a heavily armored exoskeleton, and long fingers with which she does nasty things. Her preferred environments are the Dreaming Deserts, where she swims beneath the dunes. Emerald Weapon resembles nothing so much as a bright emerald green fireplug crossed with a stingray wearing a pair of hobnailed boots. This is much more frightening when he is looming over you in his enormous massiveness, for he is indeed rather huge. His preferred environment is the deepest parts of the Dreaming Seas, below the depths where even the sea serpents dwell. Diamond Weapon resembles a humanoid cross between a mushroom, a bear, and an albino crayfish -- his chitinous armor plates are the color of cloudy frosty diamonds, his eyes and chest blaze with the crimson of the earth's core, and his hands sport a terrible claw on each finger. His favored environment is the high frozen glaciers of the coldest parts of the Dreaming. Ultimate Weapon resembles a large winged insect, a cross between a wasp, a centipede, and a dragon. Her multisectioned body is colored a deep blue-purple-black and its armored above and below for optimal protection of her majestic, frightening, enormous form. The skies of the Dreaming are her natural home, though she also loves the highest mountain peaks.
Statistics
The Ancient Weapons are enormously old and enormously powerful. Use your imagination with regards to their attributes and abilities. All Weapons possess the following redes: Armor, Fear, Glamour Pact, Traverse Dreaming. Their unique redes are as follows.
Sapphire Weapon: Fiery Breath (Sapphire Weapon can breathe a stream of white hot fire capable of cutting through the strongest dream metals and vaporizing Kithain flesh in less time than it takes to tell.)
Ruby Weapon: Ruby Fire (Ruby Weapon can breathe a stream of fire as per a chimerical dragon.), Venom.
Emerald Weapon: Aire Tam Storm (Emerald Weapon can fire a blast of electricity that can paralyze and kill Kithain victims), Steal Glamour.
Diamond Weapon: Diamond Shower (Diamond Weapon can fire a blast of diamond-shaped wedges of energy capable of killing unprotected Kithain and severely injuring armored Kithain.)
Ultimate Weapon: Ultima Beam (Ultimate Weapon can fire a blast of blue energy capable of destroying everything within its path of fire), Shadow Flare (Ultimate Weapon can fire a burst of black energy at a single target, killing it instantly), Flight, Healing.
Source: The Final Fantasy Series
Type: Animal
Rank: Chimerical Companion Rank 3
Origin: No one quite knows when Chocobos began appearing in the plains, forests and mountains of the Dreaming. All that's really known about them is that they are exceedingly cute when little, make the sweetest sounds when you scratch them behind the ears, are virtually impossible to kill, and can run like hell when it counts. They also tend to breed rather useful mutations if you put enough time, effort, money, and creativity into it.
Description: Chocobos resemble a mutant cross between a chicken and an ostrich, standing about sixteen hands at the shoulder. They are bi-legged and possess wings, but are not capable of flight, though they are known to hop several feet in the air, flap their wings, and squawk when agitated -- and they are very easy to agitate. The average chocobo is a creamy white-yellow, rather like the color of margarine or butter, with large-three toed feet possessing an opposable dewclaw, and can cross open plains and marshland without difficulty. Standard chocobos can by dyed any color without causing the animal any harm. Mutant chocobos come in variant colors: blue chocobos can cross rivers and run across shallow bodies of water, green chocobos can climb mountains, black chocobos can cross rivers and mountains, and gold chocobos -- which are actually rather closer to orange -- can cross rivers, mountains, and large, deep bodies of water. The most recent chocobo mutations are the red "war chocobos" which some knights prefer to the standard combat destrier due to their speed and versatility.
Statistics
Stength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5 Charisma 3, Appearance 3, Manipulation 1 Perception 1, Intelligence 1, Wits 1
Redes: Traverse Dreaming, Peck (When sufficiently angered, a chocobo can use its large, blunt beak to peck a target for a small amount of damage).
Note: Chocobos are, by nature, flighty and high-strung in much the same manner as a thoroughbred horse. They are easily alarmed and agitated and, unless they are fed special vegetables capable of instilling intelligence and tameness, will often run off in the middle of a fight, taking their rider on a willy nilly ride across the Dreaming or, if they are less fortunate, leaving them without a ride as they go galloping off looking for safety.
Source: Final Fantasy VIII
Type: Animal
Rank: Chimerical Companion Rank 2
Origin: Touch Mes oozed into the Dreaming along with a fairly sizable number of other Chimera created by crazed role players and other such gaming fanatics. Of the lot, they are perhaps the most pernicious since they look so innocent.
Description: Touch Mes are frogs. Tiny frogs. Tiny purple and green frogs. Tiny purple and green frogs which are frequently found dancing froggy dances in the glens and forests of the Dreaming. Disturbing one of these intricate froggy dances is an invitation to being introduced to a world of hurt, for the Touch Mes will leap to their rear flippers in a combat stance and proceed to use you for a punching bag. Their attacks, despite their lack of physical strength, are nevertheless rather devastating.
Statistics
Strength 1, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3 Charisma 0, Appearance 0, Manipulation 0 Intelligence 1, Perception 1, Wits 5
Redes: Scuttle, Frog's Curse (The Touch Me may scuttle at tremendous speed toward one target and deliver a blow incapable of causing any physical damage at all. If the attack succeeds, the target is immediately turned into a frog. The only way to cure this wretched condition is, of course, a kiss from a maiden).
Source: Iria-Zeiram the Animation
Type: Transport
Rank: Chimerical Item Rank 4
Origin: Rumored to be the results of a Nocker otaku's fiddling with a random pile of available junk, the laws of physics, and some elementary spellweaving, the Tantubon is possibly the most useful thing ever to come out of the Chimera-creation factories of Detroit.
Description: A Tantubon resembles a cross between a huge sun umbrella, the remains of a two-seater bicycle, and a wheel chair. The huge umbrella-shaped canopy sits atop a central spire, onto which the frame, including guiding sticks, the pilot's chair and restraints, and the braking and accelerating gear are welded. It propels itself through the air through no visible means.
Statistics
Tantubon are, evidently, rather light and easily destroyed, though they can be modified to carry armor and weapons for a slight reduction in speed. They are very fast, and can move at a flight speed roughly similar to the average sports car, at minimum.
Redes: Flight, Traverse Dreaming.
Source: Slayers
Type: Item
Rank: Chimerical Item Rank 5, Treasure Rank 5
Origin: The Orihalcon Statues are an off-shoot of the same process by which a pyx is created -- except, the Orihalcon Statue rarely, if every, only holds one cantrip. They are far more likely to hold multiple cantrips of obscenely destructive power, imprisoned evil chimera, objects of incredible significance to the Dreaming, or, at the very least, huge stores of Glamour waiting to be broken down and used. Unfortunately, the (un)lucky possessors of the Orihalcon Statues rarely know which is which until after the statue is broken, which releases whatever is held within the figurine.
Description: The Orihalcon Statues resemble delicate figurines of a woman of incredible beauty, elegantly crafted and stunning enough to make most Kithain weep. They also radiate a noticeable aura of Glamour, though never enough to actually give a hint as to what is contained within the pale gray stone which comprises the statues. The Orihalcon Statues were originally crafted in such a stunningly beautiful form to discourage creatures that appreciated beauty for its own sake, such as the Kithain, from using them for evil ends. Alas, in this day and age, this is rarely the case.
Statistics
The Orihalcon grow more and more fragile with age as the powers contained within them tend to struggle to be free. Handling them roughly, or even with the slightest lack of gentleness, will sometimes cause them to shatter, releasing their contents all over everything in the immediate vicinity.
Redes: Enchantment, Wyrd
Source: Yuu Yuu Hakusho
Type: Inanimate, Dreamed
Rank: Chimerical Item Rank 4, Treasure Rank 4
Origin: The origin of this item is obscure, at best. Some Dreaming sages believe that it comes from the Lands Beyond the Sunrise, far beyond even the most adventurous Kithain explorers' travels. Others claim memories from Arcadia that speak of a pouch holding the key to the eventual renewal of the Dreaming following the blight of Winter. No one is certain, and whoever holds the pouch knows as much as anyone else.
Description: A simple, unadorned brown cloth pouch, complete with leaf-green ties and closures. Inside the pouch are seeds: an innumerable amount of tiny plant seeds, each one charged with some small amount of Glamour.
Statistics
The seeds within Kurama's pouch possess unique properties arising from their Glamourous nature. Planting them can result in anything from an ancient spreading oak tree capable of drawing Glamour back into a blighted Glade, flavorful herbs capable of seasoning stews and curing the fiercest poisons and illnesses of the Dreaming, or strangle-vines ending in man-eating pseudopods to defend your freehold. All the plants grow with unnatural rapidity, irregardless of season, and there's no way to know what they do until after the planting is completed.
Redes: Wyrd, Eternal Bounty (The pouch never empties, no matter how many seeds are removed from it, there is always at least one more.)
Source: Yuu Yuu Hakusho
Type: Animate, nonsentient?
Rank: Treasure Rank 5
Origin: Unlike Kurama's Pouch, all Dreaming sages agree that the Jagan has come West from the Lands Beyond the Sunrise -- specifically, they say, the Dreaming Realm known as the Makai, or, more ominously, the Demon Realm. Opinions vary as to the nature of the item, but all suspect it has a subtly fell nature, given that it is sometimes referred to as "the Evil Eye."
Description: The Jagan initially resembles an oval to almond-shaped stone, about the size of a human eye, and varying in color, though pale jade green is the most common. It radiates an aura of Glamour even in its quiescent state. When pressed to its bearer's forehead (or any other body part for that matter), it immediately fuses into its new owner's flesh and transforms into a flesh-and-blood Third Eye.
Statistics
The Jagan provides the following abilities to anyone lucky, or foolish, enough to actually attempt to wear it: the merits Eidetic Memory (whatever the Jagan sees it remembers), Acute Vision, Danger Sense, and immediate command of the Art of Chicanery. The Jagan also imposes the following bans: the flaws Curiosity (the Jagan wants to see new things), Mystical Prohibition (the bearer of the Jagan must never turn his eyes from an unpleasant or painful sight), and Slipped Seeming (the Jagan is physically visible in every form, whether the Eye is opened or closed). Additionally, the Jagan tends to be rather tricksome at times, and will occasionally act without its bearer's conscious prompting. The only way to control this effect is to wear a bandage of specially warded cloth over the Jagan, thereby discouraging it from such activity.
Redes: Wyrd
Source: Slayers
Type: Weapon
Rank: Chimerical Item Rank 3
Origin: The (generic) Cursed Knife has been around nearly as long as the Kithain themselves, which is to say, as long as sadistic Dreamers have been calling up weapons that look useful on the surface but which are something other than that once drawn. See "Stormbringer" for Ultimate Cursed Weapon of All Time.
Description: The (generic) Cursed Knife is just that -- a knife. It can be anything from a hunting knife to a basic utility knife to a small dagger -- anything. There's nothing unusual in its appearance, though it does tend to radiate a subtle Glamour that can convince the unwary to draw it.
Statistics
The (generic) Cursed Knife does normal damage for the sort of knife that it is. It's perfectly normal in this regard. It does, however, have one big drawback.... Redes: Wyrd, Aggravated Damage, Gwydion's Curse (The unlucky individual who draws the (generic) Cursed Knife is treated to a sudden burst of berserk fury which compels the bearer to attack anything in sight, friend or foe, until everything in sight is either dead or the knife is knocked from the wielder's hand).
Source: Fushigi Yuugi
Type: Weapon
Rank: Treasure Rank 4
Origin: The Tassen is yet another import from the Lands Beyond the Sunrise. Dreaming sages mutter under their breaths about the gradually increasing market share possessed by Eastern items of this variety.
Description: The Tassen is an faesteel war-fan comprised of leaf-thin blades of polished metal, edges sharpened, and tied together by a crimson silk cord at the bottom. In addition to a cutting weapon, the Tassen can also be used to bludgeon an enemy senseless, since it is very heavy.
Statistics
The Tassen does damage as per a chimerical dagger. It also possesses the Level 4 Pyretics cantrip Burn and Boil. To activate, the Tassen's owner points at a target and shouts the words "Lekka Shien!" at which point the bunk is satisfied and the Tassen disgorges a burst of flame capable of reducing a target to charcoal in mere moments.
Redes: Wyrd, Aggravated Damage
Source: Ranma 1/2, Fushigi Yuugi, Mortal Kombat 3, etc. Type: Weapon
Rank: Chimerical Item Rank 4
Origin: The origin of the Extradimensional Hammer is a hotly disputed topic in certain circles of Kithain sorcerous academia. Some claim that the Extradimensional Hammer comes from the Lands Beyond the Sunrise. Others claim that such displays of extradimensional weapons hiding were common long before the Easterners got their hands on it -- siting the production of heretofore unseen weapons in the midst of battles dating back as far as the Time of Legends. The battle rages on.
Description: The Extradimensional Hammer, its name notwithstanding, does not actually have to be a hammer. It simply has to be an object which can be used as a hammer, an object capable of delivering incredible amounts of blunt head and body trauma, as well as punting its target into low earth orbit or at least through a few walls. This, of course, includes tables, chairs, lamps, sake bottles, sapling trees, boulders, and the occasional actual mace or warhammer. From whence this object is drawn remains a mystery to all those who do not understand the physical functions of Hammerspace.
Statistics
Extradimensional Hammers do damage as per a heavy mace or warhammer, with the added bonus of knocking whoever you hit with one for amusing distances and usually through a few painfully thick objects.
Redes: Hammerspace (Hammerspace is an extradimensional tesseract space within the Dreaming, in which objects such as Extradimensional Hammers are stored until their use is required. Anyone possessing an object stored in Hammerspace needs only to reach for it and it will appear from the tesseract pocket, neatly returning there once its usefulness is finished.)
Source: Fushigi Yuugi
Type: Weapon
Rank: Treasures Rank 5
Origin: The staff and cloak of the sorcerer-monk Chichiri are among the most sacred relics of the Kithain denizens of the Realm Kounan. Legend has it that, ages ago, Chichiri was among those who aided the Miko of the phoenix-god Suzaku in saving Kounan from the depredations of the wicked dragon-god Seiryuu and his minions. Until recently, the cloak and staff were kept in the shrine to Suzaku within the Imperial Palace of Kounan, along with the war-fan, the bracers, and the sword, other sacred objects belonging to the saviors of Kounan. All of these treasures were, however, recently stolen from the shrine despite the watchfulness of Suzaku's current Miko, throwing the Imperial Court of Kounan into a perfect frenzy. No one knows what has become of any of the treasures of Kounan's protectors.
Description: Both the staff and the cloak are deceptively modest and simple. The cloak is a simple brown traveling cloak, not too fine but not too cheap, which has obviously seen some better days. The staff is a simple walking staff, unadorned and capped in metal at both ends.
Statistics
The cloak is a simple cloak, and will keep its wearer warm and dry in cold and damp weather. The staff, in addition to helping its carrier up any steep hills, does damage as per a quarter-staff. The staff possesses the Level 5 Primal cantrip Elder-Form, and allows its bearer to change shape at will -- or to change the shape of others. Chichiri was noted for not so much changing shape as reducing his normal shape to about 1/3 his normal size and floating cutely about -- imagine the demoralizing effect forced super deformation would have on the average Redcap. The cloak possesses the Level 5 Wayfare cantrip Flicker Flash. To activate, one must throw the cloak to the ground and step into it; the bearer will be teleported instantly, the cloak tagging along with.