Lunar ravager

Lunar ravagers were bloodthirsty fey that lived in lodges among the clouds and came to the surface of the world to hunt. Some said that they embodied nature's viciousness.

"I've heard the horns that come with the full moon. I've helped bury the headless bodies of those who've ventured into the forest on such nights. Unless you wish to end up as a ravager's trophy, I suggest you spend the night here."

- Ostler the barkeep, advising the adventurer Regdar

Description
Lunar ravagers stood about tall and weighed about. They had pale skin, females slightly more so than males, and their hair was always blond. Lunar ravagers wore heavy armor and carried a shield and crescent-bladed battleaxe when hunting. They always had a bronze hunting horn with them as well.

Personality
Lunar ravagers were cruel, selfish, and bloodthirsty. Some were less bloodthirsty, focused more on testing their skill than on killing other creatures; these rare ravagers were chaotic neutral and known to occasionally trade.

Abilities
Lunar ravagers had some innate magical abilities, but were also powerful fighters. They were recorded as being able to replicate the effects of air walk and faerie fire at will, and pass without trace and invisibility (though on themself only) three times each night. Additionally, they could mimic a visual-only variation of clairaudience/clairvoyance on an area with which they were familiar, if it was illuminated by moonlight at the time.

Their most notable magical ability was that they could teleport, similar to the greater teleport spell. They could transport only themself and whatever items they carried in this manner, and it required 1 minute of concentration to use this ability. When inside a cloud lodge, they could transport themself to any point within of the lodge. When outside a lodge, they had to be standing in moonlight and could only transport themself to the nearest lodge. They became visibly misty and insubstantial just before teleporting.

Lunar ravagers could see five times as far as a human could in dim light, and ten times as far when in moonlight. Despite their size, they were exceptionally skilled at hiding when outside at night.

Combat
Lunar ravagers typically wore enchanted studded leather armor when hunting, and carried an enchanted, heavy wooden shield, a masterwork axe, and about eight javelins, as well as their distinctive hunting horns.

When hunting alone, a lunar ravager relied on its innate magic to surprise enemies, and would observe a potential enemy for some time before attacking, hoping to learn of some weakness and to gain a terrain advantage. Once in melee, they tested their opponent's defenses before fully attacking. If facing a group, then a lone ravager would seek to slay a single foe, grab their body, and flee.

When hunting groups, lunar ravagers tried to cover large areas by spreading out in ragged lines with between or even half a mile between each hunter, each of whom would "cast" pass without trace to evade trackers. They would sweep across the land, screaming war cries, sounding their bronze horns, and generally driving all other creatures before them while they communicated with each other and tracked potential prey. When one ravager spotted a likely target (which could be anything from a hapless farmer to a dragon disturbed from its lair), they sounded their horn and the entire group would use invisibility while closing in. Further horn calls told hunters where to go to prepare for an ambush, while a single ravager drove the quarry into said ambush. Once they encircled their target, they fought with vicious abandon. Some used air walk to prevent an aerial escape, while most stayed on the ground. Such a hunting party fled only if half of its members were slain, and would otherwise continue hunting all night.

Society
Lunar ravagers were mostly displaced from the natural world, living in lodges that floated upon clouds. They were essentially overgrown scavengers, as they saw the land below as nothing more than a hunting ground for riches and prey. They hunted for meat and raided villages for supplies and strong drink upon the ground; while in the skies between raids, they hunted birds and other flying creatures. Lunar ravagers preferred to raid areas that had a clear view of the sky, were close enough to civilization to yield supplies but far enough to avoid armies or other major threats. They would hunt on any terrain, although they rarely went underground. While the residents of a cloud lodge did have basic control over the direction it travelled, the chaotic ravagers typically preferred to let the winds take them where it willed. That strategy both prevented them from over-hunting an area, and also made them difficult to handle, as they struck randomly and were gone before local authorities could organize. Then they celebrated the hunt by feasting and drinking.

Lunar ravagers society was centered in clans and based on the principles of strength, battle prowess, bluster, and wealth. Clans were groups of individuals related by blood or by mating, and each clan lived in its own cloud lodge. The status of an individual was based on merit, with males and females able to earn status by returning from raids with ample loot, rich food and drink, and fine trophies. Clans met each by chance, and when such meetings occurred, the two clans might fight, trade goods, rob each other, swap a few members, exchange news, or engage in a debauched revel; with some or all such activities occurring in no particular order.

Lunar ravagers were greedy fey, and their cloud lodges were always full of the trophies and treasures (mostly coins and art objects) they had scavenged over the centuries; when raiding they took every coin and valuable object they could find, and particularly delighted in robbing mortals of heirlooms or sentimental valuables. The ravagers themselves cherished their bronze hunting horns, which they passed down within clans and which made a distinctive bone-chilling noise.

However, the ravagers disdained crafts that lacked a direct connection to fighting, status, or easy living, seeing such activities as a waste of time. They were only known to construct their lodges, forge armor and weapons, and make jewelry. Any other tools, implements, or supplies, they took from others.

Lunar ravagers loved battle and hated cowardice, although a knife in another's back was still the preferrable way to settle disputes amongst themselves. They exulted in toying with their victims and often underestimated smaller opponents, a tendency that worked against them when they encountered skilled opposition. They were not fools and would retreat before an enemy that had or seemed to have the advantage— their belts were much more likely to bear the skulls of common folk, dire animals, or magical beasts than those of heroes, dragons, or fiends.

Sometimes, lunar ravagers would embark on long journeys to improve their prestige and prove their skill at fighting; such ambitious ravagers were among the smartest, bravest, and most cunning of their kind. They would ally with other vicious creatures, typically werewolves or evil fey, and wreaked havoc wherever they went. Their goal was invariably to return to their with enough wealth and fame to become the leader of their clan.

Ravagers that were stranded, because they either wandered too far or stayed on the ground too long and were trapped and unable to return home, whether they got into their situation by happenstance or the machinations of a jealous rival, were no less dangerous. Stranded ravagers would seek out weaker but like-minded creatures such as ogres or orcs to torment and command. Unfortunately, a lunar ravager's intellect, strong personality, and insight made it a clever commander. Only a very few lunar ravagers chose to leave their lodges and live as such rulers among smaller folk.

Some lunar ravagers were known to "train" as barbarians, with slightly smaller numbers recorded to train as rangers or rogues. A very few were known to become clerics of Erythnul.

Lunar ravagers in Toril typically avoided more settled areas, having learned the hard way of the power of wrathful mages and Harpers. In the east, however, rumors claimed that the Red Wizards had entered a pact with several ravager clans, providing the fey with gold and other riches in exchange for transport and mercenary service; some speculated this was part of the Red Wizards' latest scheme against Rashemen.