A family member has been watching all of the episodes of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir so it got me wondering, could we design someone called the Butterfly for Birthright?
This is not linked to any character in Miraculous.
Would it be humanoid?
Male, female or undefined?
Would it be able to speak?
Would it be Shadow World based/linked?
Would it be an awnshegh or ehrshegh?
Could it be both somehow?
What would its main strengths/powers be based around?
Would you consider it Lawful or Chaotic? Good or Evil?
Could it be renamed as Papillion, French for “butterfly” (or Papa Lion, just to confuse people)? Or the Monarch (to totally confuse people)?
I know nothing about Miraculous, so you can be sure any input from me has zero influence from it. Heh.
To me ‘the Butterfly’ sounds like a chaotic good ershegh. Not sure why- it was just the first thing that came to my head.
I envision a small being- some bloodforms can be huge, so why can’t some be small? How far between humanoid and pure butterfly, i am not sure yet… have to think about that.
Well, “butterfly” certainly suggests it can fly. I mean, butterflies fly, and the word “fly” is right in its name. Heh.
I like the idea of it being small though. Most ehr / awnshegh grow larger, but a tiny one would make it an unusual friend or foe. Now, what powers might it have… ?
The default would be some sort of humanoid, and the stereotype of butterflies is usually feminine. Of course, you might go with something even weirder. Inspired by Texas’s own Monarch butterflies…
The Butterfly is one aspect of an awnshegh, known in the south as the Devourer. It is well known in Rjurik and Vos Lands, but hated and feared in Anuire and the Khinasi lands.
Every nine years, the Butterfly comes to the northlands, staying in a few provinces, and changing through the seasons for nine years, before returning south. While in the Northlands, it is known for the beautiful crops and forests left in its wake; it is said that the scales of its wings are powerful components in Plant Growth and related spells. And when it returns to the South, it lays several clutches of eggs, then dies; it’s body is noxious and poisonous.
In the spring, the eggs hatch, and the Devourer comes forth; a giant caterpillar which will spend nine years eating all it can; if one is slain, another comes forth from another clutch of eggs, until it has eaten its fill. It then creates a chrysalis and, in only a few days, emerges again as the Butterfly, who will fly north for nearly a decade, before the cycle begins again.
It is speculated that the Devourer (and thus, the Butterfly) could be permanently killed if all the clutches of eggs could be found and destroyed, but no one has been able to achieve this. Because of its wide territory and long cycle, few lands suffer depredations from the Devourer more than once a century, if that, while the Butterfly of the north is well-loved for the bounty it brings.
That combination of the eggs, the Devourer and the Butterfly is an interesting proposal. It fits right in with the way the land is connected to the bloodlines. Just because one form dies in one location shouldn’t stop the bloodline being inherited by another from afar.
It also reminds me of the Gloomwing Moth (which I have intentionally been avoiding mentioning):
Gloomwing moths were solitary creatures, only gathering in groups to hunt large prey. Gloomwing moths were in fact the final stage of growth for tenebrous worms and only lived for several weeks. Their life was simple, consisting of hunting prey to eat, and finding a mate. Female gloomwing moths laid up to ten eggs on the corpse of another creature. After twelve days, tenebrous worms emerged from their eggs and began feeding on the corpse. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Gloomwing_moth
So what blood abilities do you think this 3-stage awnshegh would have? Could it speak and understand speech? Would it have limbs that could hold or wield anything? What about the Devourer?
Could the eggs hatch in some other form as its “children” to help defend the Devourer and other eggs? What “treasure” would they give if killed? You mentioned its scales being good spell ingredients. Any other ideas?
Anyone got an alternate idea for the Butterfly that doesn’t look like a butterfly (or the Fae)?
Well, I’d start with Invulnerability and Long Life (Great), obviously… hard to have a 20 year life cycle if you’re living as long as a butterfly. Major Regeneration is probably also a good idea, if only just because it’s a bug.
Otherwise, I’d be inclined to give The Butterfly phase different abilities than the Devourer phase… and, on consideration, might even make it an ehrshegh, instead of an awnshegh. Give it a Reynir bloodline, so it’s more “circle of life”, instead of the corrupting influence of Azrai.
Okay, I can see how an ehrshegh would work. The Invulnerability would have the limit that if you killed all the eggs first, the Butterfly and the Devourer would be vulnerable.
But what about individual features/feats/skills/attacks/supernatural capabilities for the Butterfly and Devourer? What special things do you think they should be able to do that isn’t a blood ability? Is one smarter than the other? Can either talk or understand speech? What does the Devourer eat?
What back-history can anyone think for this unique creature? How was it created?