Ovinnik
Level 4Abilities
Tremorsense allows a monster to feel the vibrations through a solid surface caused by movement. It is an imprecise sense with a limited range (listed in the ability). Tremorsense functions only if the monster is on the same surface as the subject, and only if the subject is moving along (or burrowing through) the surface.
A home with a friendly ovinnik is blessed, as the ovinnik preserves food from vermin and mold. A home so blessed never suffers from random accidents such as fires, and any checks to Craft, Earn Income, Repair, or Subsist in the home receive a +2 circumstance bonus. If the ovinnik is unfriendly, such checks take a -2 circumstance penalty instead, as the ovinnik causes devastating fires and infestations An ovinnik must spend a week in a place before these benefits occur.
An ovinnik is naturally Invisible while within sight of their bound home. The ovinnik can become visible, or even selectively visible-allowing some people to see them.
While in their bound storeroom or granary, the ovinnik slams a paw against the ground, stirring up a cloud of grain dust in an 20-foot emanation. Within this cloud, they gain a +4 status bonus to any fire damage they deal. The ovinnik doubles their fire resistance against this increased damage. The grain cloud dissipates after the first such effect or after 1 minute if no such effects occur.
Description
The ovinnik is the most ferocious of house spirits, and the only one that will kill if sufficiently angered. They live in granaries, storage rooms, and sheds where food—particularly grain—is kept. Ovinniks resemble bipedal cats but bark like a dog to scare away thieves, and they often demand gifts of milk, pancakes, and dead roosters.
House spirits are shy, often helpful, sometimes wrathful fey who dwell alongside peasants and farmers. They reside in the house, the yard, the granary, the bathhouse—wherever people build and live. Due to this proximity, house spirits often take on the mannerisms or appearance of nearby mortals. Their reclusive nature and tendency to go unseen earned them the moniker of "spirits," though in truth they're fully embodied fey.
House spirits take an almost parental interest in "their" mortals. Given proper respect, these fey work tirelessly for their charges—they chop wood, care for livestock, mend clothes, sweep the floor, and tend to the stove. If offended, though, the house spirit becomes a menace, frightening animals or children and ruining belongings.