The broad-leaf forest grows dense in the Canopy of the Azimyth Bats (12.09), the ancient branches intertwining so that scarcely a ray of light shines through. Out of the corner of the eye, shapes seem to move in the dark canopy above, and only the keenest of eyes finds the giant bats hanging upside on perches. These are no ordinary bats, however. These are the azimyth.
Like many giant animals of the Shrouded Lands, these giant bats were gifted with intelligence and limited spellcasting ability thru the experimentation of Severard of the Seven Circles.
While the azimyth are inquisitive and friendly creatures by nature, they will not hesitate to protect the secret of their home. They prefer to do this by dealing with visitors in good faith, and then politely requesting that the visitors submit to a geas to wipe the memory of how to find the Canopy. The leader of the azimyth is a venerable matron called True Ear who is fascinated with studying the lore of the Shrouded Lands and has amassaed quite a collection of books. True Ear is reluctant to let any azimyth stray too far for too long, as she believes that the magic imbuing them with intelligence fades the farther and longer they are away from the Canopy.
However, a fringe group among the bats are not so friendly. Led by Torn Wing, a powerful enchanter of his kind, these azimyth believe they were originally human spellcasters apprenticed to Severard who submitted to his experiments in good faith and were betrayed. Torn Wing and his followers intend to take back the village at the Tangled Web (13.08) from the spiders and unearth Severard’s secrets.
Connections:
- Occasionally the azimyth will fly as far afield as the Kingswood to pollinate the wildflowers it is famous for, or even the Castle of Dances (15.18) to pollinate the dancer’s blooms.
- At least one azimyth bat, affectionately nicknamed “Hiccup”, sometimes sneaks into the honey meadery of the Bolger halflings (11.08) and is found piss-faced by halfling mead-guards. Some of the mead-guards report “Hiccup” going on about aspiring to be a wizard’s familiar, though the halflings just laughed it off.
Hooks:
- If a PC wizard comes to the canopy, they might be approached by Hiccup. Are they interested in taking on drunken giant bat as a familiar?
- Is it possible the giant bat mount of the goblin warlord Najir Dum of Hoth Akhbir (02.05) was actually an azimyth bat? Was it enslaved or turned to evil? Or are the beliefs of the azimyth true, that if they are away from their home for too long they lose their intelligence?
- Recently Torn Wing has discovered the Tasty Tomb of the Thaumaturge (13.09), and under the pretense of securing honey for the azimyth, plans to finance adventurers to explore the honey-soaked catacombs. What is Torn Wing hoping to find in the tomb?
- The azimyth and the courier bats sometimes mingle in the Kingswood. What is the nature of these meetings? Are the azimyth giving packages to the courier bats or receiving packages from them? Might the courier bats and azymith be distant relatives?
