A shape-changing shadow-beast, stored as a speck of energy inside
a pebble. Most of the time it looks like a hyena, with extra long
fangs. It stinks - a cross between rotten eggs, unwashed armpits and
decaying toadstools. Its speech sounds normal, but its laugh is an
eerie, wailing chuckle or an unearthly manic cackling. It can disguise
itself as a lickit.
Behaviour
You summon a sinistrom by rubbing its pebble, and it has to obey
you. The stone starts to glow. Then the glow flickers out like a flame,
and solidifies. The sinistrom is returned to its pebble the same way.
When it wants to change shape, it collapses in on itself and reforms.
It can be killed the same way as anything else, but the body completely
disappears at the moment of death. If you dunk the pebble in fertle-juice
it turns to treacle. One hundred and sixty-nine sinistroms were created
thousands of years ago, when a spell went wrong. Although they all
arrived at the same time, their age is calculated on the amount of
time they have spent out of their pebble. They are the scariest of
all the shadow beasts.
A huge three-headed bird, with untidy grey feathers.
Behaviour
Employed as cranes on building sites, as they can lift three heavy
beams at once. Sometimes used as guards, as they can look in three
directions at once. Very fond of their food, the more exotic the better.
A shadow-beast that looks like a big black cartoon dog. One ear
is pricked, the other hangs down, and its eyes are different colours.
Behaviour
Hunts for its prey at night, or in dark places. It only eats creatures
that have died laughing, so it tells jokes and does silly little dances
until its victims collapse from hysteria.
