Monkey, also known as Mad Monkey,[1] was a demigod and greater spirit and a former official of the Celestial Bureaucracy. He was a rogue trickster and notorious for his pranks, for which reason he was banished to Toril.[2][3][1]
Description[]
Although capable of shapechanging into a wide variety of forms, Monkey’s natural form was that of a human man with the head of a monkey; he usually appeared as this or as a regular human, standing 5 feet and 6 inches (1.7 meters) tall. He wore robes of greater quality than the attire of the top mandarins of Shou Lung.[2] However, since his true divine appearance would leave minor mortal creatures awestruck, and he found this embarrassing, Monkey usually adopted the guise of an elderly man, a drunken scholar, a foolish young man, or a hopeless romantic, and others; these were usually typical characters of legend and literature.[1]
Personality[]
Impulsive and unpredictable and often causing trouble,[3] Monkey's motivations were inscrutable, though it was clear he had no desire to dominate others, nor to rule over anything.[2] He was also far too much of a free spirit to hold any role or duty for any length of time and would soon grow bored and mischievous.[1] What he enjoyed was playing tricks, pranks, and jokes and pestering all the gods and powers of the Outer Planes.[2] While his pranks were often small-scale, when they involved celestial powers they quickly became epic in scope.[1] Monkey's mischief had angered even greater deities. Yet he never displayed any fear at their reactions, nor any convincing remorse when they caught him. His banishment did nothing to change his ways nor his sense of humor, and it seemed certain that, should his punishment ever be rescinded and he be allowed back into the Celestial Bureaucracy, he would do something to get banished again the very next day.[2]
Despite his great wit, Monkey was remarkably short of common sense and would undertake actions and make wild boasts that would inevitably cause strife for himself. He did not even try to conceal or cover up his activities and his lies were outrageous, and he told them with not a shred of ethics. He mocked his foes and humiliated them before their peers.[2]
However, he had adopted a somewhat fatherly manner with the people of Toril.[2] In fact, he was truly fond of humans and regularly helped them in various matters.[3]
Monkey was always polite and well-mannered, at least by mortal standards. But amongst the Celestial Court, he was considered uncouth, even sacrilegious. He enjoyed fruit, rich foods, and wine and could consume awesome amounts and never feel full, despite not needing to actually eat. Those who offered to make him a meal would come to regret it. Fortunately, he was a vegetarian.[2]
In contrast, Monkey was not all that concerned with riches, treasure, and magic items, though he possessed significant quantities of each.[2] If he was robbed, he would pursue the thieves to retrieve the goods, but rarely was he vindictive.[3] Instead, what he really valued was knowledge. He possessed just as much, if not more, of this intangible treasure and nothing on Toril escaped his inquisitive nature except the secrets of his celestial peers.[2]
Abilities[]
"The punkiest monkey that ever popped!" Monkey and his Hu Sen guise.
A master of martial arts, Monkey would fight unarmed or with his staff and had developed his own unique form of martial art titled the Mad Monkey school, which was based around the naginata. In any case, he could simply wish himself to be proficient in any weapon he picked up or skill he turned his paw too.[1]
Impressive as he was in martial combat, Monkey possessed an incredible amount of magical powers.[2] First, he had all the spellcasting capacity of a supreme wu jen and shukenja both. Moreover, at will, he could create illusions, teleport flawlessly, communicate in any language and speak with any animal (he could not control them, but could easily persuade them to do something seemingly harmless), and shapechange at will (taking the form of any living creature and some purely imaginary).[1] In any case, Monkey’s most amazing power was that he could innately cast any spell he wished with only a thought, without the need for material, somatic, or verbal components, with the exception of ones that permitted travel to the planes and the summoning of creatures from the planes, as well as wish.[2]
He also immortal and could not actually be killed, as a result of various circumstances.[2][1] Potent magical weapons were needed to harm him and he could regenerate at a rate that would make a troll green with envy. In any case, he could never actually die, owing to the terms of his banishment to Toril. Should his body ever be destroyed, Monkey would simply be reborn at sunrise the next day, completely whole and healthy.[2]
He was also an admirer of the fine arts and had mastery in many areas of artistry.[1]
Possessions[]
Monkey eschewed magic items and other devices and most weapons apart from his iron bar of power. This was a metal +5 quarterstaff that could expand to any size and he used it when in his natural form. When in disguise as a mortal, he might wield any weapon, but no more a +3 weapon in item enchantment.[1]
Activities[]
Monkey was invariably out in the world either playing pranks on people or paying penance for them when he went too far.[2][3] Even when he had his freedom and could wander the planes[note 1] Monkey preferred to pass some of his time on Toril or elsewhere on the Prime Material Plane.[3]
Although he could never die, Monkey would on occasion fake his death for some ruse or dark prank. He did this to trick someone into taking a certain action, such as making a villain overconfident or encouraging someone to do a good deed.[2][1]
As payment for services rendered, he would often answer virtually any question regarding anything on or about Toril.[2]
Tactics[]
With his incredible powers, Monkey could never be forced into battle and when he did engage in combat, it was only when he wished to and he was practically undefeatable. Armed with his sword, he attacked in a flurry with dazzling speed. At such times, he always fought to embarrass and humiliate those who thought to best him in combat and only tried to kill evil beings. Since he cared for the natives of Toril, rather than slay those who dared attack him, he would, simply teleport them to a remote island or mountain peak.[2]
History[]
Monkey served as an official for the Celestial Bureaucracy until he was dismissed by the Celestial Emperor because of his fondness for mischief. He was stripped of most of his powers and banished to Toril, where he was limited to the Prime Material Plane.[2]
In his time, Monkey performed more pranks than could be counted or listed. Among the most notorious, he stole the Peaches of Immortality, fought with the Animal Kings, learned the Seven Great Disciplines from the Nine Masters, and shaved the Lord of the Dead's beard.[2]
Against the Dragon Claw[]
The demon Lung Jua, the Dragon Claw, visited the Court of the Celestial Emperor and petitioned to be allowed to test and prune the many needless martial arts schools of T'u Lung by challenging and defeating them. After Lung Jua convinced the court, the Emperor approved and forbade the other powers from interfering. But Lung Jua had tricked them: he sought to destroy his rivals while establishing his own martial arts school, Dragon Claw, as well as a power base in Kara-Tur, all without interference from the Celestial Heavens. However, the Mad Monkey discovered Lung Jua's scheme and chose to thwart it. Rather than fight the demon head-to-head himself,[4] Monkey sought legendary heroes to stop him. But they were all dead,[5] so he established yet another martial arts school, Mad Monkey, to train up some new heroes to defeat the practitioners of Dragon Claw.[4][5]
"The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!" Hu Sen has no problem meditating after slaughering the ogre magi on Mad Monkey Island.
For this exercise, he adopted the guise of an old, mad monk named Hu Sen, given to much drunkenness, criticism, and rambling, and based himself on the remote Mad Monkey Island He asked the spirit of Akari Island, Harooga, to send his way anyone who had witnessed the Dragon Claw style so he could train them. In Shou Year 2608 (1358 DR), a band of adventurers accompanying the scholarly wu jen Ko La Ko found themselves on Mad Monkey Island, one way or another, and came across Hu Sen in the aftermath of a battle with a hundred ogre magi. He introduced himself as "Wandering tutor, part-time hermit, and outcast of heaven." Then a pair of go-zu oni, masters of the ogre magi and servants of Lung Jua who had been sent to check on Monkey, arrived and were defeated by either Hu Sen or the adventurers. Whether they impressed him or not, he offered to train them in the Mad Monkey style, in exchange for all the alcohol they could provide. If they refused, then he tried to give them a whistle shaped like a monkey's head that would summon him, should they have need.[5]
"With a little bit of monkey magic, there'll be fireworks tonight." Hu Sen sitting out one of his own training sessions.
If they accepted, Hu Sen brought them to his pocket dimension version of the island for an extensive training regimen, which was grueling and frustrating, filled with many strange tests, countless "Rule #1s" and no others, and dubious philosophies based on the Path of Enlightenment, and interspersed with attacks by oni. Their training aided by Hu Sen giving them each talismans of the monkey that would help them learn the martial art even if they were otherwise unsuited. The process took 10 weeks for the adventurers, but only 10 hours passed in the real world. At the final text, Hu Sen warned them of the danger of the Dragon Claw and encouraged them to challenge Lung Jua. If successful, he rewarded them with a +3 naginata and possibly passage back to T'u Lung.[6]
When they finally confronted the demon in Panchengjuduohuh, the City of Endless Doors, then Hu Sen arrived, either to lend his aid, mainly by empowering them with his own life-force, or else to congratulate them on their victory. He took back the talismans of the monkey, and with it the martial arts knowledge, except from those who chose to become monks and his disciples.[8]
Home[]
Despite his propensity for playing pranks, Monkey preferred his privacy and so he made his home, a place called the Cave of the Monkey, in a remote, hard-to-reach valley deep within the Yehimal range and a fertile oasis amongst the bleak mountains. The entrance was well-hidden and concealed an extensive cave network. His actual chambers were lavishly decorated and held a library with scrolls from centers of learning across Toril, from Shou Lung and Wa to Phelzol and Skuld to Waterdeep; a treasure chamber with stolen jewelry and artworks; and gates leading to other worlds and planes. The cave itself was in fact a demiplane and was of course full of tricks, traps, fakes, and surprises. However, Monkey was rarely actually here and he used it mostly to cross between planes,[3] before his banishment.[note 1]
He had another home, Mad Monkey Island. It moved about the seas as he willed, though at one time it was found in the Celestial Sea, near the Prioto Islands. Formed from an extinct volcano, it was a tropical island that was unremarkable but for a great many drunk-seeming monkeys.[5] Monkey also had access to a pocket dimension that was a perfect replica of Mad Monkey Island, apparently accessed by means whirling a bull-roarer and producing much smoke without appearing to actually work. This ruse allowed Monkey to bring people into the pocket dimension without them realizing they'd gone anywhere at all. Time passed slowly here, roughly a week for every hour in the material plane. On the island, Monkey dwelled in a cave with a secret door hiding a portal to elsewhere on Toril.[6][note 2]
Relations[]
Given how much he had angered, annoyed, and offended them, Monkey had no allies, let alone friends, amongst the Celestial Bureaucracy.[2] Despite this, and though even the Celestial Emperor himself wouldn't admit it, Monkey was a key figure supporting the Bureaucracy precisely because being beyond its rules and strictures and not following the course charted by the Emperor gave him the freedom to act in areas where active officials could not and to fix their mistakes, as he did by opposing the demon Lung Jua.[1][4] Thus, Monkey was one of the mightiest beings outside of the Celestial Bureaucracy and was a completely free agent who served no master.[1]
Reputation[]
Monkey was considered a powerful spirit in many of the religions and faiths of Kara-Tur and the Hordelands, and his cave was a key site in the legends of each of them.[2][3] First, Monkey was a figure in the legends of the Shou people. The peasantry saw him as a humorous folk hero who defended them against corrupt officials, while many bandits who saw themselves as preying on the rich and providing for the poor called themselves "Monkey" after him.[2] Amongst the followers of the Path of Enlightenment, in Shou Lung, Monkey was said to have regularly given insights to the Shou sages, while in Tabot, he was counted as a mischievous albeit helpful boddha, or sage, himself. Similarly, in the Way, Monkey was held to be a trickster who caused trouble but defeated evil spirits. Shamans of the Hordelands simply understood him to be great spirit, one to be respected and placated.[3]
Appendix[]
Background[]
Monkey is inspired by the character of Monkey King from Chinese literature, most notably the novel Journey to the West.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 While The Horde's Monstrous Compendium entry for Monkey states he is banished to Toril and restricted from travelling the planes, the entry for the Cave of the Monkey in Volume I mentions his travel to the planes and discusses portals in his cave giving him access. This article presumes this refers to the situation prior to his banishment, and that these portals are no longer usable by Monkey at the time of the sourcebook.
- ↑ Given their similar descriptions and functions, the Cave of the Monkey and the cave on Mad Monkey Island may be related, or even the same place.
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Jeff Grubb (1988). Mad Monkey vs the Dragon Claw. (TSR, Inc), p. 52. ISBN 0-88038-624-X.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 David Cook (August 1990). “Monstrous Compendium”. In Steve Winter ed. The Horde (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 0-88038-868-4.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 David Cook (August 1990). “Volume I”. In Steve Winter ed. The Horde (TSR, Inc.), pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-88038-868-4.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jeff Grubb (1988). Mad Monkey vs the Dragon Claw. (TSR, Inc), p. 2. ISBN 0-88038-624-X.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Jeff Grubb (1988). Mad Monkey vs the Dragon Claw. (TSR, Inc), pp. 18–19. ISBN 0-88038-624-X.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jeff Grubb (1988). Mad Monkey vs the Dragon Claw. (TSR, Inc), pp. 21–29. ISBN 0-88038-624-X.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (1988). Mad Monkey vs the Dragon Claw. (TSR, Inc), p. 27. ISBN 0-88038-624-X.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (1988). Mad Monkey vs the Dragon Claw. (TSR, Inc), pp. 50–51. ISBN 0-88038-624-X.
Connections[]
| The Nine Immortals Ai Ch'ing • Chan Cheng • Ch'en Hsiang • Chih Shih • Fa Kuan • Hsing Yong • Kwan Ying • Nung Chiang • Shu Chia The Lesser Immortals Jade Ladies • Ladies of Compassion • Lords of Karma • Monkey • Moon Women • Rice Spirits • Spirit Warriors The Sages • Ancestors • Spirit |
Yen-Wang-Yeh |