#sadko

"Sadko" by Ilya Repin, 1876.

Image © Eugenia Vi, accessed at her ArtStation here

[After a whole bunch of reruns of CR 12 magical beasts, here's a brand new one! This is, in fact, the first in a miscellaneous world folklore set, one inspired in large part by my girlfriend, @abominationimperatrix. The alkonost is a monster I was first introduced to in a wild way, in The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, a Roger Corman produced dub of the Soviet epic Sadko that appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000. And so learning that it wasn't originally "the bluebird of happiness", and had its own tradition behind it, took a while. This art is my favorite because it incorporates the monster's origin. "Alkonost" is a Cyrillic adaptation of "Alcyone", the woman turned into the first kingfisher in Greek mythology. One of the few remaining tidbits of that story actually gets inverted in the Slavic version; instead of laying their eggs when the storms of winter are unnaturally calm, they lay straight into stormy water! So I had to incorporate that into my version, and wanted to make an alkonost in kingfisher colors.]

Alkonost CR 12 CG Magical Beast This creature has the body of a bird, with ochre and blue feathers, and the head of a human woman. Both aspects are beautiful. She has an expression of serene grace on her features.

An alkonost is sometimes called a bird of happiness or a bird of paradise. They are goodly kin to the sirens, and use their magical music only in defense or to aid others. They are incorrigible optimists that see the beauty in everything and are certain that good will ultimately prevail over evil. They are by no means naive, but assume good intentions until demonstrated otherwise. Alkonosts may deliver messages of hope and joy for goodly gods or nature spirits, and they are sometimes mistaken for angels. An alkonost is a purely mortal creature, albeit one with a lifespan measurable in hundreds of years.

It is rare that an alkonost starts a fight, but they can certainly end them. The song of bliss sung by an alkonost fills those that hear it with an overwhelming euphoria and saps them of their will to fight. Anyone who resists this effect will be targeted with the alkonost’s other magic, at first to try to convince them to lay down their arms. The talons of an alkonost are relatively weak, but the birds can create magical gusts of bludgeoning wind to fight creatures that resist their compulsions. If accompanied by allies (charmed or otherwise), alkonosts fill a support role, using bardic magic to bolster their strength.

Alkonosts tend to live on islands, tropical mountaintops and other remote locations. This is partly because they value sites of natural beauty and partly because they value solitude. The song of bliss is so beautiful that it can induce feelings of worship and dependence in those who hear it, and the goodly birds do not particularly want to have armies of devoted thralls. If their homes or persons are threatened particularly dangerous monsters, they may use diplomacy and enchantment to recruit other creatures to assist them. In these cases, alkonosts go their separate ways when their goals are accomplished.

Most alkonosts are female, but males and members of other genders do exist. Alkonosts are poor parents, but make up for it with their magical abilities; an alkonost mother lays her egg in stormy seas, whereupon it is incubated by the rocking waves and blowing winds. When it washes up on a shore, the egg hatches into a Tiny alkonost with a fully mature mind, which goes about finding itself a territory and learning new things to find wonder in. Alkonosts feed on fresh fruit and nectar as well as fish and insects; one of the ways to curry an alkonost’s favor is with finely cooked foods (since cooking without hands is very difficult).