Fralex
Explorer
I created this monster primarily out of a desire for Undying Light warlocks to have an appropriate familiar, something like a will-o'-wisp but less powerful. With the myriad legends surrounding ghost lights, I felt there was room for another interpretation. This one gives them qualities that would let them fit right in not only with Undying Light, but Archfey, Great Old One, and even to some extent Fiend or Undead.
A faint snatch of laughter drifts through the forest. For a moment, a tiny, luminescent figure peers out from behind a tree, then playfully darts off into the distance. A trail of shimmering ghost lights dances in its wake.
Hinkypunks are similar to will-o'-wisps, but more mischievous than outright malevolent. They have a particular fondness for revealing things other creatures try to keep secret, using trails of ghostly flames to lead travelers to the locations of hidden treasures, or point out where someone is hiding. Following them is not without risks, however: hinkypunks find exposing people's secrets just as amusing as leading gullible travelers into hunting snares or getting them to dig up the nests of stinging insects.
A hinkypunk will sometimes bond with an individual that has proved to share the fey’s love of uncovering secrets, serving as that person’s familiar. Their natural ability to hide within innocuous objects like lantern flames make them very well-suited for spying. The worst of them make themselves consorts of powerful evil creatures, attracting unknowing victims to the hands of the feys’ masters for dark purposes. Such partnerships often end in betrayal, not necessarily by the hinkypunk. If a spellcaster manages to bind the spirit to a specially-made lantern, they create a powerful magic item called a witch’s lantern. Such objects allow the user to exploit the fey’s abilities for themself.
If a witch’s lantern is destroyed without releasing the enslaved hinkypunk inside, the hinkypunk is killed. Depending on how long it was trapped, a particularly vengeful one might return to life as a will-o’-wisp.
| Variant: Hinkypunk Familiar Warlocks who choose the Pact of the Chain can be granted a hinkypunk familiar by their patron. Some hinkypunks are willing to serve a spellcaster they meet as a familiar. Such familiars have the following trait: Familiar. The hinkypunk can serve another creature as a familiar, forming a magic, telepathic bond with that willing companion. While the two are bonded, the companion can sense what the hinkypunk senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. At any time and for any reason, the hinkypunk can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond. |
Can also be viewed in the database.
