monsterdata | NAPHIL

Entry tags:

NAPHIL

BASIC INFO

Nephilim are holy creatures defined by light. Possessing wings, halos, and holy magic, these angel-like creatures feed by filling their victim's body with their power, forcing out the victim's soul for consumption. Unlike other monsters, Nephilim are weak to darkness.

MANDATORY CHANGES

● Feathery wings on their back, ranging from one wing to six, with which they can fly.

● A halo. This can be the traditional white or golden aura around the head, a cartoonish floating ring, etc. It may brighten when the Naphil experiences strong emotion, making them difficult to look at.

● An extra pair of functional eyes somewhere on the head.

● Either bull horns, a lion's mane, or a bull or lion tail. You may choose more than one of these, but at least one must be present. Nephilim can only have one tail.

● The ability to use holy magic. Nephilim have four primary spells:

- the ability to induce awe in a human, terrorizing them into stillness
- the ability to create and control plasma (as in ionized gas)
- the ability to create a barrier through which only Nephilim can cross
- the ability to channel holy energy into a human's body

● Nephilim do not need to sleep, and are in fact unable to.

● Nephilim do not cast shadows, and are unable to shield other monsters from sunlight.

● A weakness to the dark and dark magic. When in complete darkness, Nephilim lose their corporeal form and become a haze, undefined and without physical body. They have difficulty maintaining their forms in weak light (e.g. moonlight); although Nephilim can produce light from their halos, this is not enough illumination to maintain their forms. Dark magic can kill Nephilim.

● The need to feed by purging human souls. Nephilim accomplish this with the final holy magic ability listed above. They fill the victim with holy power, which causes the body to expel the soul. It is not until the soul exits the body that Nephilim can consume it, leaving behind the purified husk of their victim.

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OPTIONAL CHANGES

● Any psychological changes are welcome! Feel free to pull from real world myths, canon creatures of this variety, or any other source!

● A fog form. This is an exaggerated version of their monster form that appears only during the fog and is a chance to make your monster more "horrifying" during the fog.

● Stealth form: the ability to take the form of an inanimate angel statue. The size can be anything from the Naphil's usual height to palm size, and can be damaged or mossy in order to blend in with the terrain even more. In this form, the character can remain solid, even in total darkness. However, they will be unable to move or change back until light is on them, and they are no more durable than normal stone, leaving them more vulnerable.

● Additional wings can be placed anywhere on the body.

● An ethereal glow from within that shines through the skin and eyes. Like their halo, this light is not enough to maintain the Naphil's form in darkness, but it can make them difficult to look at directly.

● More eyes, either on the face or elsewhere. Unlike the mandatory pair, these are non-functional.

● Physical growth. Nephilim can grow an additional two feet in height, and may "fill out" accordingly to have an imposing stature.

● Odour of sanctity. Nephilim just smell nice. This can be traditional, or it can be unconventional but still pleasant. The odour extends not only to their flesh, but to their blood and tears, and may linger even after the owner has left the room.

● Leitmotif. Some Nephilim may be followed around by a discreet musical motif typically associated with divinity, such as orchestral or choral music. This music cannot hold any actual lyrics, and is easy enough to tune out by those in the Naphil's near vicinity.

● The ability to travel at greater speeds, though only when not observed. If they are being watched by a human or monster, they are restricted to their normal speed — however, if their observer closes their eyes or blinks, the Naphil is unrestricted until their eyes open again.

● The ability to create a sigil, which can be used to invoke a Naphil. Nephilim will be summoned to the sigil when it is used, either through immediate teleportation or a compulsion to travel to the sigil as fast as possible. It must be invoked by another and could be used by enemies as well. Nephilim can only be summoned once per day.

● Stigmatic healing ability. Nephilim can take the wounds of others, but the damage will be transferred wholly to them. If they "heal" a broken arm, their own will be broken in turn.

● Nephilim may have two additional spells:

- a spell of purification, which allows them to purify things like muck-ridden water
- a spell that brings others' regrets to the surface and amplifies them

If these abilities are used on other monsters, they are effective for up to one hour, and can only be used once per day.

● A strong sense of justice, of the "swift and furious" type. This can extend to a need to purge only sinners, or even a sense that all humans they've purged are sinners by proxy.

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ALLOWED SPECIES

Nephilim are humanoid, but lions and any bovine species are allowed for the horns and tail, and any avian species are allowed for the wings.

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ARTWORK

Artwork generously donated and submitted by players as an example of this monster in various forms. This can give you an idea of what you can do with this monster.

Want to donate? Submit your own.

AM
Normal form by Carbon

Angela
Normal form by Everett

Egon Spengler
Normal form by Ash
Normal form by Pythonmelon
Normal form by Pythonmelon

Fiora
Normal form by Groove

Greed
Normal form by Tony

Javert
Normal form by Everett

Kain Highwind
Normal form by Carbon

Margaret Booth
Normal form by Everett

Sora Shiunin
Fog form (with tail halo bracelet from Fourth God) by 1Apple-fox1

Steven Grant
Normal form by Plus
Normal form (2022 Felfri event variant) by Plus

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SKIP TO A SECTION

♦ BASIC INFO
♦ MANDATORY CHANGES
♦ OPTIONAL CHANGES
♦ ALLOWED SPECIES
♦ BONUS IMAGES

♦ FAQ
♦ ASK A QUESTION

MONSTER LIST

♦ Common Monster Traits

♦ Arachne
♦ Demon
♦ Faerie
♦ Gargoyle
♦ Goblin
♦ Harpy
♦ Kelpie
♦ Lich
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♦ Naga
♦ Naphil
♦ Nymph
♦ Pooka
♦ Shade
♦ Simulacrum
♦ Slime
♦ Troll
♦ Vampire
♦ Waldgeist
♦ Werebear
♦ Werewolf

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have a very specific question in mind? Here's some questions that have been asked in the past!

FIRST OFF:

Wasn't this monster called Nephilim (singular) in the past?
Don't worry about it.

MONSTER ABILITIES:

Nephilim can create and control 'ionized gas'? What is that?
Plasma is the fourth state of matter; a gas which has been ionized because one or more electrons are torn free from an atom. You know our sun? That's an almost entirely ionized ball of plasma! It's also used in plasma TVs and neon lighting. And lightning is created because the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud, which is full of electrons, is attracted to the positive charge of the ground below. The charge travels from cloud to ground, which ionizes the air it passes through.

Okay. So how does that apply to Nephilim?
Simple! When a Naphil uses this ability, the air they direct this ability towards becomes instantly ionized and most of the time, this will take the form of a bolt of lightning. However, if a Naphil were to put even more oomph into this attack, it might even manifest as a solar flare. However, the solar flare would take far more energy, forcing the Naphil to feed much sooner, or else risk a frenzy.

About the barrier spell, is there a time limit for how long it lasts and/or a limit to how many times it can be used within one day?
Nephilim can create one barrier at a time and they must stay close to it or it will dissolve. The maximum time it can stay up so long as the Naphil sticks around is 15 minutes.

How "physical" is the barrier? Is it a sort of invisible line that can't be crossed, or closer to a sort of semi-transparent bubble?
This is entirely up to the player!

Only Nephilim can cross the barrier, so what about monster powers or projectiles? Any kind of attack, really?
The barrier serves as a safety zone, so powers cannot pass in or out of it. Nephilim would not be able to attack outside of it, and other monsters would not be able to attack anyone in the barrier.

Can this barrier be used to trap someone?
Nephilim can make a barrier surrounding themselves and an object/person and then step outside, protecting or trapping the object/person inside for as long as they stick around or for 15 minutes.

Does Stigmatic Healing only work on physical wounds, or can it take away other pain too?
It only works on physical wounds.

Does the purification spell also work to undo poison or alcohol or drugs in a person's blood?
The purification spell would not cleanse a person of poison or alcohol or drugs- this would be more under Stigmatic Healing. In the chance that a Naphil does use a purification spell on someone, it'll probably completely destroy their microbiome and end up killing them.

How does the summoning sigil work?
The sigil can be carved or written in any form, but it must be a symbol of some sort. Characters can incorporate physical objects into making the sigil to summon your character (kind of like placing objects on a pentagram), or paint/carve the symbol directly onto an object. What the summoning process looks like is up to your discretion, and whether a sigil is 'used up' after one summoning or lasts for multiple summonings is also up to you. Nephilim can destroy their sigils again if they wish.

When you say a Naphil can only be summoned once a day, is that once a day total, or once a day per person who has a sigil?
The sigil ability can be used to summon a Naphil once per day total. It's not per person, or per existing sigil. This can be upgraded via Mana coins or god boons.

Can a sigil be drawn or carved onto another living being instead of an object?
Yes.

About the greater speeds a Naphil can reach when they aren't observed, how fast are we talking in relation to other monsters?
They can move as fast as Arachne and Vampires, or near to a Demon's teleporting.

MONSTER BODIES AND CHANGES:

If a Naphil has multiple wings, does that mean they can fly better/faster than other winged monsters?
No.

Do Nephilim need to flap their wings to fly, or can they just hover?
This is up to the player.

If they can hover, is a Naphil's flight still dependent on their wings?
They would still be able to hover a few feet without their wings, though they may find that their overall ability to fly will be dampened severely until their wings grow (back) in.

When you say wings anywhere, does that mean I can replace my character's feet/hands/etc. with them?
Sure!

Is the halo physical, or would things go through it?
The halo can be solid, if that's what you want.

What happens if someone touches the halo? Is it pleasant to the touch for most humans and monsters (except the dark ones), or will it burn anyone regardless of their monster affiliation?
This is up to player discretion! Maybe it only burns if the Naphil hates someone in particular, or maybe it only burns Demons, or maybe it doesn't burn at all. The world is your oyster.

Are extra bull/lion features like paws or a snout allowed, so long as they don't provide any special benefit?
Unfortunately, Nephilim are only permitted to have bovine horns/tail, a lion's mane/tail, and avian wings. No additional animal features are permitted, apart from perhaps a bull's or lion's ears. However, we are willing to relax this rule for the Fog form, since Fog forms are more extreme.

For the functional pair of eyes that need to be on the head, would a Naphil's tongue or neck also count as part of the head?
That would be totally fine!

If Nephilim can only have two sets of functioning eyes at a time, with the optional ones being non-functional, are they able to change which eyes are the working ones at will?
Unfortunately, switching up which eyes on the body are the functional sets would count as a new ability.

Can the Ethereal Glow be switched off at will, or be outside the Naphil's control?
Yes.

Is it possible for the glow to be concentrated and shine brighter through scars or other breaks in the skin?
Yes.

Is it possible for the Odour of Sanctity to be non-specific and/or different to different people?
Yes.

What exactly happens when a Naphil loses their form in the darkness?
A Naphil will lose their physical form in the dark and will eventually die. Whether they feel pain and how long it takes for them to die is up to player discretion as long as they die within 12 hours.

Does the form they take in darkness mean they could pass through solid objects and doors this way, or could you put a Naphil haze into a pickle jar and carry it around?
Nephilim still are able to collide with solid objects in haze form. You could totally put a haze Nephilim into a jar. However, if the haze is exposed to light, they'll return to their original physical form and burst out of the jar. Really, it'd be terrible for everyone involved, but who's to say you can't try?

To what extent (if at all) can they still use their magic while in this form?
Nephilim can still use their magic in haze form, but you’re free to play with the effects of darkness on their magic. Maybe it's weaker, maybe it doesn't work, maybe there's a backfire and it's harder to control — feel free to have fun with it!

What are the effects of fire light or electric lighting on their corporeal-ness, or lack thereof?
Both fire light and electric lighting will help Nephilim retain their forms.

Nephilim can't sleep, but can they be knocked unconscious through any means?
Yes, they can. However, even in cases where slumber is forced, such as with a Nymph's sleep-inducing venom, Nephilim will find no rest in it. They'll simply regain consciousness some time later feeling disoriented and weak.

OTHER:

What is considered 'holy' in Ryslig? How do Nephilim fall into Ryslig's religious history?
The lore surrounding the Nephilim is very loose and conflicting across the peninsula. Traditionally, angel imagery is associated with the heavens, both in the real world and in Ryslig, and therefore angels have a strong connection with Day and Night. Day and Night are both currently absent in Ryslig, so the Fog took their inspiration and shaped a monster in their image. This can account for their later appearance in game, since Naphil was not a monster that was offered in the bestiary when Ryslig first opened.

“Holy” when it comes to Nephilim means that they are sacred and just. Nephilim are fast and furious arbiters of justice in their own minds. How this is interpreted and twisted by the individual character and/or the Fog's influence is up to the player.

The general population is split on what they think of Nephilim. Angels are awe-inspiring creatures, and it's a toss-up whether a human is awed in a bow down and worship sense, or in a fight-or-flight-and-cower sense. Some see Night and Day's influence in the Nephilim, and hope that it's an omen that they will return very soon. Others see them as punishers, here to see humans burn.

We hope this gives you some food-for-thought, while still giving you the freedom to play it as you wish.

Edited 2023-07-25 13:30 (UTC)