Mist Sylph

The mist sylph is a sylph that is summoned to Ravenloft and corrupted by the dark powers. It appears to be a fairy-like being, though it is nearly as large as a human. Its wavy hair is composed of cloying mist, and such vapors trail around the creature at all times. Otherwise, mist sylphs have elven features, but with a cruel twist, and wings of dragonflies. However, their wings do not seem to catch the light and glitter like the insects' do; instead they seem muted and dull, and whenever the mist sylph moves them a harsh staccato sound reverberates in the area. (Unlike normal sylphs, mist sylphs must use their wings to fly; they have no innate levitation power.)

When a mist slyph is first summoned, it must make a saving throw vs. paralysis or go mad.

If forced into combat, the mist sylph has no natural attacks. Her body is much too frail, and she has no skill wielding weapons (if forced to fight with a weapon she has a -5 penalty to hit). However, the mist sylph has potent spellcasting abilities, and it is for this reason that she will often try to fight from a distance, allowing her spells to take full effect while removing her from the danger of the fight.

The mist sylph has a number of spell-like abilities she can cast once per day (unless otherwise noted). She casts all the following spells at 7th level: feather fall (twice per day), wall of fog (three times per day), dust devil, fog cloud, ride the wind, stinking cloud, whispering wind, gust of wind (twice per day), wind wall, solid fog (twice per day), and cloud of putrefaction.

Also, all mist sylphs have the ability to assume mist form, in which they cannot be harmed. Such a form can be maintained for up to three hours. They can, once per month, summon a mist elemental. However, they have no control over this creature, so they would most likely only do this under duress, since the mist sylph would very likely become the object of the elemental's anger.

Mist sylphs do not have the ability to infuse evil as their elemental counterparts do, but they seem to take delight in corrupting mortals into evil actions. Their favorite tactic is to find a sleeping victim and use their whispering wind power to send evil thoughts and words to the sleeping person's ears. This has the effect of inducing nightmares in the poor sleeper, causing the victim to suffer as if he had experienced a vivid nightmare (as explained in The Nightmare Lands). In short, the victim must make a System Shock roll with a -25% penalty or suffer a -1 penalty to all die rolls for the next 24 hours. Note, that the mist sylph's power encompasses a two-foot radius, so if multiple people are sleeping within this area they are all subject to the effects. Those of evil alignment are unaffected by this power and those who are neutral only suffer a -15% penalty to their System Shock rolls.

The mist sylph is a hateful and spiteful creature. Its transformation has robbed it of its natural levitation ability, making it work much harder to stay aloft. Sylphs naturally have distaste for the ground, and thus the fact that they must return to it so often to rest their wings irks them to no end.

Mist sylphs still build nests, but they have a predisposition for those areas that gather fog and mist, such as forest glens. Many have found the Mistlands, in the domain of Necropolis, to be to their liking. They avoid the Misty Border however, due to its dangerous nature, and the lack of building materials for a nest. They will always build their homes as high as possible to allow them to still stay in the concealing fog. Mist sylph reproduction is identical to that of the normal sylph, except that they dare not summon an elemental to guard their egg for fear of its destruction.

Mist sylphs live for up to 1,000 years, but they grow increasingly haggard and ugly as their time of death approaches.