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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Ogre Replacement - Enfant Terribles

Brutes steeped in madness and violence
ENFANTS TERRIBLES
(Large Monster)

No. App. 1-2 (2-12)
HD: 4
AC: 2
ATK: 1(Armored Fists) 1D8 or by Weapon
Move: 30'
Save: F2
Morale: 10

The Enfant Terribles, also known as a Suckling Homunculus, is neither a child nor a homunculus.  Their origin is unclear, but their appearance suggests they are either the product of outsider entities from one of the less pleasant spheres (Pandemonium most likely) or the result of ancient science perverted by sorcerers.

An Enfant Terribles appears as a bulky suit of encasing plate armor, most often of crude iron, speckled with rust, grim with ichor, old blood, and spittle.  The armor stands seven to nine feet tall and is proportioned to a bulky warrior, except for the helmet (when it is not lacking entirely) which is tiny, often reset between the shoulders or pushed upwards like a thin stalk above the mass of reeking metal.


Within the helmet is the only indication that an Enfant Terrible is a living creature, rather than a construct, as it holds the animate, screaming head of a pink chubby baby in mid tantrum.  The head is attached to a neck, though not one of the appropriate size, but the few men who have removed the rest of a dead or trapped Enfant Terrible's armor cannot agree on what the body looks like: a squamous mass of fleshy tendrils, the hairy body of a giant ape, an overmuscled baby, a colony of pink hariless rats, or a collection of gears and vacuum tubes have all been reported.  It is rare to have such an opportunity for study though, as Enfant Terribles are brutal opponents without mercy and driven by some sort of furious destructive frenzy.  Most often these monsters will attack with oversized maces or cleavers, either of which does 1D12+2 damage due to their size as well as the strength and brutality of their wielder.  These weapons cannot be wielded by normal men, even two handed due to their weight and odd balance. 

Enfant Terribles are of abysmal intelligence, incapable of memory or cognition beyond simple needs to kill, protect their territory, and jealously hoard shiny objects which they run through their hands cooing with delight. Playing with a large enough hoard of bright, shiny or other distracting objects is the only time Enfants Terribles seem peaceful; they do not sleep and at most times they scream unconscionably.  This screaming makes them incapable of surprising others, while their untiring nature and singular fixation on violence makes them immune to sleep and charm spells.  The Enfant Terribles' moronic stupidity however mean that they save at -2 to all other mind effecting spells, such as fear or illusions.

A large pack of the things is know to live around and within the trumpeting spires - those biological towers made of "living plasm of ancient mammals ... their huge cynical voices modulating on the wind."*  It is unclear if the Enfant Terribles are somehow related to the spires intrusion or if the wailing of the towers simply attracts them as a louder echo of their own constant cries.


*Harrison, M. John (2007-12-18). Viriconium (Kindle Location 2456). Random House, Inc.

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