Rummele
“PM Alex” © Matt Barley, accessed at their deviantArt page here
[One thing I think is interesting going through these old Dragon Magazines is seeing how much continuity there was between eras. I wrote for a few of the Creature Catalog articles in the end of Dragon’s print run, in the late 3.5 era, and some of those monsters were taken from articles I pitched that the publishers didn’t want all of, but were interested in the monsters in parts. It appears that Stephen Inniss was in the same boat. He has three monsters in CC2 and one in CC3, all of which are themed around the less explored chaotic planes: Gladsheim and Pandemonium in 1e. It looks as though Inniss pitched an article on the planes, but they just wanted the monsters. One of those monsters has stuck around, too, as this article is the origin of the lillend. I intend to cover all three of the lillend’s less well known spiritual cousins.]
Rummele CR 10 CN Outsider (extraplanar) This creature looks like a lean, shaggy dog with especially long limbs. Its nose is shiny and its eyes are bright. Its paws are somewhat similar to human hands.
Rummeles are sometimes called “chaos hounds”, as they are dog-like outsiders native to the Maelstrom. They are spontaneous and adventurous creatures, who travel over long distances in search of new experiences. Their curiosity can often get them into trouble, but they are skilled fighters and more than able to save themselves from most situations. Their bite hits with the force of a greatsword, and they can trip and hurl enemies across the battlefield. If outmatched, they escape—rummeles can both blink and teleport at will, and are sometimes confused for blink dogs.
A rummele may disguise itself in mortal form and associate with adventuring parties, as these are prone to getting into all sorts of interesting mischief. As a humanoid, a rummele always has no visible whites to their eyes, which can give them away to the observant. Rummeles have a number of useful divination abilities, which they use to find treasures and adventure sites to keep themselves useful and valued, despite any annoyances their behavior might otherwise cause. Some rummeles work with valkyries and einherji as scouts and spies, but they may grow bored with constant violence and crave other forms of stimulation. Rummeles value treasure less than stories and memories, but usually carry some mementos or trophies from particularly memorable escapades.
