May

With the release of The Day After Ragnarok coming up on us fast, we’re going to be previewing some more material from the sourcebook over the next few days. Today’s entry is one of the fearsome monsters that has appeared in the wake of the Serpentfall: The fearsome Fly-by-night!

Fly-By-Night

These winged terrors have appeared all over the world since the Serpentfall. A man-sized cross between bat, great ape, and toad in appearance, they swoop out of the sky and snatch human prey, taking them to isolated mountain caves or ruined skyscrapers. Some unconfirmed reports claim they drink blood—ranchers have discovered cattle, horses, and water buffalo dead and exsanguinated from mysterious slashing wounds. Or the blood-drinking Thing may be different from what the Americans call the “fly-by-night.” British authorities have sardonically nicknamed it the “valkyrie,” after the legendary “choosers of the slain” in Nordic myth.

Elsewhere it has other names: the camazotz in Mexico, the kinyan tiwicakte among the Sioux, the guiafairo in Senegal, the sasabonsam in the Gold Coast, the kikiyaon in Upper Volta, the olitiau in Central Africa, the kongamato in Rhodesia, the ahul in Java, the orang-bati in the Moluccas, and the wakwak in the Philippines.

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d8(A), Spirit d6, Strength d10, Vigor d10

Skills: Fighting d10, Intimidation d8, Notice d8, Stealth d12

Pace: 6 Parry: 7 Toughness: 8

Special Abilities

• Armor +1: Valkyries have thick hide under their thick fur.
• Bite: Str+d4; if the fly-by-night is a blood-drinker, the target loses 1 die of Vigor on a raise. At 0 dice, the target is Incapacitated.
• Fear: Seeing a fly-by-night forces a Guts roll.
• Flight: Pace 12, Climb 4
• Infravision: Fly-by-nights halve normal penalties for darkness when attacking warm (or very cold) targets.
• Long Arms: +2 to grappling attacks
• Quick: Fly-by-nights discard action cards of 5 or lower.
• Swooping Attack: A fly-by-night that makes a grappling attack with a raise does its normal damage to the target, then carries him up into the sky, moving the remainder of its flight pace. Depending on circumstances, the fly-by-night may continue to grapple, attempt a bite, or drop the victim onto something hard, sharp, or unpleasant. In the latter case, the victim might have to grapple in order to stay aloft.
• Arcane Background (Magic): Some Theosophists believe that the fly-by-night is actually a Lemurian survivor reawakened by the cataclysm; some African and Asian tribes consider it a transformed witch. If they’re right, it has Smarts d10, Spellcasting d10, and possible powers like bolt (lightning), deflection (gust of wind), elemental manipulation (air), invisibility, obscure, and even teleport.

Next: The terrible threat of Djehuti-Yamun!

Atomic Overmind News, Savage Worlds, The Day After Ragnarok