Batbanes

Sometimes called Batbane Women or simply Bat Women, some claim that these chimeras are the offspring of a single woman or group of women that were once human, but struck by a terrible curse for an evil deed they committed. Others suspect that they are the unfortunate results of forbidden experiments with devilish wizardry.

Batbane Women look like a hideous crossbreed of a human female and a bat. Most of their once human features are hidden under monstrous deformities. Leathery batwings stretch from the legs to their elongated arms, with hands and feet ending in long claws. Their mouths are full of sharp teeth and their ears are big and pointy. They are partially covered in a silky black fur, but have patches of bare skin. The hairless spots differ in size and position from one Batbane to the next, with the exposed skin often showing a sickly and pale appearance. Their faces are usually but not always hairless.

The Batbanes are capable of flying for short periods of time, and prefer to attack their prey with dives from above. They can use the claws on their feet to grab and carry away their victims, if those are not much heavier than themselves. Due to their ability to produce and perceive ultrasonic sounds, they can maneuver in absolute darkness and are almost impossible to surprise. Their instincts and behavior are very feral and although they can subsist purely on drinking blood, they tend to also rip apart and eat some of the flesh of their prey in the process of feeding. They get their main sustenance from wild animals, but prefer the more potent humanoid blood when the opportunity presents itself. They eschew the sun, sleep through the day in dark places and only come out to hunt at night.

The curse of the Bat Women is lifted during two nights per year, on the summer and winter solstice. In these nights, their bodies and minds transform back to their human origins, and they are driven to seek the companionship of other human beings. Though still feral in nature, they regain some intelligence and a rudimentary ability to speak. Some Batbanes even grow attached to certain individuals they meet during these nights and try to revisit them again at a later solstice. Usually, their new friends are totally oblivious to the Batbane's true nature. Although a Batbane in human form is generally in a friendly and social mood, they can still get very dangerous if they feel threatened. In very rare cases, when pushed too far, they may even transform back to their inhuman form before the night is over, with dire consequences for anyone nearby.

Some whisper that if a benevolent soul could unravel the original cause for their curse and redeem it, all of them would be saved from their fate, and could live free from the curse or at least die in peace.

DCC RPG stats:

Batbane: Init +2; Atk claws +1 melee (1d4); AC 12; HD 1d8; MV 30’ or fly 30’; Act 1d20; SP pick up opponents after a successful flying attack (avoid with DC 11 Fort save) and drop them from 10' (1d6 damage), never surprised; SV Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +1; AL N.