Selkie
| Selkie | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Alignment: | Neutral (good tendencies) |
| Type: | Humanoid |
| Subtype: | Aquatic, Shapechanger |
| First appearance: | Dragon #41 |
Selkies are shapechanging humanoids who can take the form of beautiful humans or seals.
Ecology
Selkies are omnivores, preferring shellfish, fish, crustaceans, and seaweed. Those who have visited human communities often acquire a taste for human fare. They have a weakness for fine wines.
Selkies take care of their environment, harvesting only what they need. They will complain to humans who overfish their waters, sometimes bribing them with pearls or other treasures to see their way.
Selkies are allied with aquatic elves and dolphins in their war against sahuagin and sharks. They are merely tolerant toward tritons, locathah, and merfolk. They are unfriendly toward the Rhennee.
Selkies are sometimes curious enough about humanity to marry a human, but such marriages seldom end happily. Eventually selkies always return to the sea, abandoning their human families. Half-selkies are always human in every important respect, though they may have slightly webbed fingers and toes.
Selkie pelts have little value in human markets.
Environment
Selkies generally appear in subarctic to arctic marine environments. They live in large caverns or grottoes which contain both water and air, as young selkie must breathe air until they are half-grown at one year of age.
There is a community of selkies in the Nyr Dyv who warn sailors away from monsters. Some selkies visit Tenser's tower. There are also selkies in the Sea of Gearnat, Relmor Bay, and Midbay.
Typical physical characteristics
Selkie shapeshifting powers are limited; they can only appear as seals when in the sea and only appear as humans when on dry land, though they may choose which form to take while on the shore. Their human forms are very attractive by human standards, with gray, bright emerald green, or starting light blue eyes, gray or black hair, and pale skin. Their seal forms are the same size (5 to 6 feet long) with slightly webbed hands instead of fore-flippers and flippered legs instead of a seal-like tapering tail.
Alignment
Selkies are usually neutral with good tendencies. In Dragon #41, they were given the chaotic good alignment instead. In third edition they are simply neutral.
Society
Selkie communities are segregated between male and female, with slightly more females though both genders have equal status. Males are the hunter/gatherers, while females handle domestic duties. The leader of a selkie community will be a venerable elder with clerical powers, including the ability to control the weather, cure diseases, heal, and predict the future. Selkie shamans defer to the elder.
Selkies often explore sunken wrecks and collect the treasure they find to trade with surface-dwellers, or overworlders as they call them.
Religion
Selkies worship the goddess Surminare. They believe if they misuse their ability to control the weather they will face the wrath of the sea.
Language
Selkie speak Common and Aquan.
History
According to Dragon #41, selkies (called silkies in that article) are descended from a legendary human fighter/magic-user named Angus MacOdrum. Sometime in the distant past, Angus led an army of aquatic elves to victory against a sahuagin incursion. After the battle, Angus married twelve aquatic elven sisters, and their descendants were the selkies. Enemies of the selkies dispute this legend, claiming that Angus was an arrogant wizard cursed by the gods with a kind of seal-lycanthropy, and that he passed this curse to his descendants.
Creative origins
Selkies (also known as silkies or selchies) are mythological creatures in Faroese, Icelandic, Irish mythology, and Scottish mythology.
Bibliography
- Cagle, Eric, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matt Sernett, Chris Thomasson, James Wyatt. Fiend Folio. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2003.
- Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1982.
- Moldvay, Tom. "Dragon's Bestiary: The Silkie." Dragon #41. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
- Sargent, Carl. Ivid the Undying. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995. Published online. PDF by William Allman with maps. Original RTF archived:Wizards.com. WGR7 or WGRx
- ———. Monster Mythology. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
- Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.
External links
Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.
- Selkies on Wikipedia
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selkie | Monster | Fiend Folio, D&D 3.0 | 148, 149 | |
| Selkie | Monster | From the Ashes: References Card | #11 | |
| Selkie | Monster | From the Ashes: References Card | #14 | |
| Selkie | Monster | MC1 - Monstrous Compendium Volume 1 | Insert (Selkie) | |
| Selkie | Monster | MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix | Encounter Tables | |
| Selkie | Monster | Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e | 311 | |
| Selkie | Monster | Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e (Premium Edition) | 311 | |
| Selkie | Monster | Monster Manual 2, AD&D 1e | 107 | |
| Selkie | Monster | Stormwrack, D&D 3.5e | 214 |