A displacer beast, also known as a dirlagraun,[6] was a monstrous magical creature.[3]
Contents
Description
Displacer beasts were large cat-like creatures, sometimes described as panther or puma-like with six legs and a pair of long tentacles sprouting from their shoulders. They were covered in a pelt of blue-black fur. They were usually about 9 feet long and weighed as much as 500 pounds, but the occasional mutant could be twice this size. In some versions, they were considered to be emaciated.[3]
Abilities
Displacer beasts used their innate magic to bend light, making them appear to be a foot or two from their actual positions.[3]
Displacer beasts were not very intelligent, but they were more so than animals and could even speak some Common.[3]
Ecology
These monsters lived in small groups or preferred to be alone.[3] Many humanoids trained them to act as guards or pets, such as members of the Unseelie Court and onis.[2]
Society
Like many big cats, displacer beasts often were pack hunters, although they were sometimes encountered alone.[3]
Uses
Displacer beasts' hide was a valuable commodity, used to create highly sought-after enchanted items such as Kumakawa hide armors and cloaks of displacement.[7]
History
The beast appears to have originated in the Feywild.[2] In the Feywild they were trained by the Unseelie court for hunting purposes. Eventually the Displacer beasts broke free of the fey's control and roamed causing chaos wherever they went. After they left captivity, the Unseelie court sent out blink dogs to track and drive the Displacer beasts out of the Feywild and into the materiel plane.[1]
Another theory posited that displacer beasts had their origin in Bhaal, the Lord of Murder, who brought forth the first displacer beast, Shantu, using the a corrupted moonwell on the island of Gwynneth in the Moonshae Isles.[8]
Notable Displacer Beasts
Wyllow and the displacer beast Crissann.
- The elf druid Wyllow had a displacer beast companion called Crissann named after a human mercenary wizard she had befriended many years ago. Halaster turned her against Wyllow and she was forced to kill the mercenary.[9]
Appendix
See Also
Appearances
- Adventures
- Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
- Novels
- Starless Night
- Referenced only
- The Ring of Winter
- Video Games
- Curse of the Azure Bonds • Eye of the Beholder • Gateway to the Savage Frontier • Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance • Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder • Neverwinter (Sharandar) • Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
- Board Games
- Faerûn Under Siege
- Card Games
- AD&D Trading Cards
- Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
- Through Twilight Boughs
Gallery
Further Reading
- Bill Mickelson (May 1986). “The Ecology of the Displacer Beast”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #109 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 32–34.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 81. ISBN 978-0786965614.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 56. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
- ↑ Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 28. ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (May, 2009). The Sword Never Sleeps. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 294. ISBN 978-0-7869-5015-7.
- ↑ BioWare (June 2002). Designed by Brent Knowles, James Ohlen. Neverwinter Nights. Atari.
- ↑ Douglas Niles (December 2004). Darkwell. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 47–48. ISBN 0-7869-3566-9.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
