Fetchling

Fetchling Scout Creature1

N Medium Fetchling Humanoid Shadow

Senses Perception +5; darkvision

Languages Common, Shadowtongue

Skills Acrobatics +7, Athletics +4, Deception +5, Diplomacy +5, Society +3, Stealth +7, Thievery +7

Str +1, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +2

Items chain shirt, dagger

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AC 18; Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +5

HP 18

Shadow Blending When the fetchling scout is concealed as a result of dim light, the flat check to target them has a DC of 7, not 5.

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Speed 25 feet

Melee [one-action] dagger +9 (agile, finesse, versatile S), Damage 1d4+1 piercing

Ranged [one-action] dagger +9 (agile, finesse, thrown 10 feet, versatile S), Damage 1d4+1 piercing

Occult Innate Spells DC 15; 1st illusory disguise

Shadow Stride [one-action] (illusion, occult, shadow) Requirements The fetchling is in dim light; Effect The fetchling Strides. They have a +10-foot status bonus to their Speed during this Stride. The DC from shadow blending increases to 11 during this Stride, and the fetchling remains concealed by dim light until the end of the movement, even if they leave dim light during the Stride.

Sneak Attack The fetchling scout’s Strikes deal an additional 1d6 precision damage to flat-footed creatures.

About

The people known today as fetchlings are a distinct ancestry descended from generations of humans who became trapped ages ago on the Shadow Plane. No longer human at all, these people, who call themselves kayals, have become monochromatic in coloration, with flesh tones and hair colors varying between white, black, and all shades of gray. Their limbs are lithe and willowy, and their eyes are generally solid yellow, yellow-green, or white, though a rare few have a purple or blue glow.

Fetchlings have developed their own complex societies in the Shadow Plane, often under the tolerance of or in servitude to the strange, malignant creatures there, such as the sinister velstracs or the enigmatic d’ziriaks. While individual fetchlings can be any alignment, they are all survivors in a harsh environment, which leads to a tendency toward pragmatism. Fetchling clothing mimics the regions they dwell in, with drab colors tending toward darker shades. When they trade with humans or other societies on the Material Plane, they often wear masks or concealing clothing to hide their appearance.

Typical fetchling communities are insular and swiftly close ranks in the event of an intruder. Though individual fetchlings don’t mind traveling to and blending in with other societies to facilitate trade, they often hide or even react defensively if they have their own visitors. When one considers the nature of the other denizens of the Shadow Plane, however, this tendency to assume the worst of interlopers might make sense to some.

Fetchlings are not as common on the Material Plane; most of those who dwell there are loners by choice who have left their home to seek out adventure elsewhere, exiles who were banished from their homelands, or planar castaways with no ability to return to the Shadow Plane. This last category, the lost and stranded, are the most likely to be found in larger groups. In cities of significant size, one can sometimes even find a small community of a few dozen or more fetchlings living among humans, although they often do so subtly by dyeing their hair, wearing brightly colored clothing, and utilizing layers of makeup to hide their pallid complexions.

Kayals understand that many Material Plane cultures view them with suspicion or even fear, and take pains to adapt to cultures with which they seek to establish trade.

Unfortunately, kayals’ mastery at cultural adaptation can often backfire, leading to fears that the so-called “fetchlings” are an invading force that seeks to duplicate and replace those with whom they merely wish to do business.