Ethereal filchers were strange, kleptomaniacal creatures with the power to shift to or from the Ethereal plane.[1]
Description[]
Filchers had an extremely alien anatomy, consisting of a sack-like torso with four arms balanced on a single leg. The muscular leg ended in a prehensile foot, and each of the flexible and multi-jointed arms ended in dexterous hands with long fingers. The creature's face was on the center of its torso and consisted of a large mouth and four eyes. A typical ethereal filcher stood a bit shorter than the average human.[1]
Behavior[]
For some unknown reason, ethereal filchers loved to collect all manner of baubles and trinkets—especially items that had magical auras. They would lurk and roam about from the safety of the Ethereal plane until they noticed something of interest. They would then shift into the Prime Material plane to swipe an object from an unsuspecting victim. If successful, a filcher would quickly scamper back to its secluded lair and delight in the new addition to its collection of junk. Usually, an individual filcher would only steal a single item from a victim.[1]
Abilities[]
Filchers could inherently see magical auras, and they had the supernatural ability to shift from the Ethereal and back again. (A filcher native to the Material plane was only capable of existing on the Ethereal for several seconds before it had to return. It is not certain if the same limitation applied to filchers who were already native to the Ethereal realm.)[1][note 1]
Ethereal filchers were only mildly intelligent, and seasoned adventures had several common tricks that they used to divert the annoying pickpockets, such as carrying around items with false auras or keeping cheap but gaudy items easily accessible.[1]
Combat[]
Filchers did not actively engage in combat, but they would sometimes bite a victim as a simple distraction to help them snag an item. If badly injured, most filchers would flee.[1]
Society[]
Filchers were unable to speak and were always encountered alone, which suggests that they had no culture to speak of.[1]
History[]
Some scholars believed that ethereal filchers had the same planar origin as ethereal marauders and ethereal theurges—also known as nilshai—being true natives of the Ethereal Plane.[2] Others argued that they only used the plane for their thieving purposes.[1][3][note 1]
In any case, nilshai—who were sworn enemies of star elves—were known to keep ethereal filchers as servants within their strongholds,[4] and filchers were a common problem for visitors staying at the World Serpent Inn as well.[5]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The 3rd-edition Monster Manuals clearly state that ethereal filchers were native to the Prime Material plane. However, later 3rd-edition sources change this such that they were native to the Ethereal plane.
Appearances[]
Adventures
Miniatures
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Richard Baker, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter (April 2005). Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 8, 14. ISBN 0-7869-3657-6.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan (September 2001). Manual of the Planes 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 54. ISBN 0-7869-1850-8.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Matt Forbeck, Sean K. Reynolds (May 2003). Unapproachable East. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 68. ISBN 0-7869-2881-6.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (2001-09-21). Brave New Planes: The World Serpent Inn. (PDF). Web Enhancement for Manual of the Planes 3rd edition. Wizards of the Coast. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved on 2018-09-09.