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Bannik

The bannik is the spirit of the bathhouse—also called the sauna or banya—and resembles a wizened little person with wild hair and nails of pine or fir. While domovois consider themselves to be in charge of a home, banniks are the wisest and most respected of the household spirits. Traditionally, the third steaming of the bath belongs to the bannik and their guests (often other faerie creatures), and to interrupt it is a deadly danger.

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

BannikCreature 5

Small Fey 
Source Feybound pg. 119
Recall Knowledge DC 20 • Fey (Nature)
Perception +14; tremorsense (imprecise) within their entire bound bath
Languages Common, Fey
Skills Diplomacy +13, Household Lore +15, Medicine +14, Stealth +11 (+13 within their bound bath)
Str +2, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +4, Wis +5, Cha +3
Master of the Bath A bannik’s bathhouse never encounters random accidents, and any mortal that bathes there receives a +2 status bonus to Fortitude saves against disease for 1 week. An unfriendly bannik can invert their blessing—bathers take a –2 status penalty instead. A bannik must spend a week in a place before these benefits occur.
AC 21; Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +16
HP 85; Weaknesses cold iron 5
Shy A Bannik is naturally invisible while within sight of their bound home. The Bannik can become visible or even selectively visible—allowing only certain people to see them.
Speed 20 feet
Melee [one-action] claw +15 [+11/+7] (agile), Damage 2d4+6 slashingRanged [one-action] steam jet +15 [+10/+5] (fire, primal, range 20 feet, water), Damage 2d6+6 firePrimal Innate Spells DC 22; 4th read omens; 3rd cleanse affliction, heal (×2); 2nd augury, sound body; Cantrips (4th) prestidigitation, stabilize
Boil Alive [two-actions] (fire, primal, water) Requirements The bannik is in their bound bath; Effect The bannik conjures a plume of superheated steam in a 10-foot burst within 20 feet. Each creature in the area takes 6d6 fire damage (DC 22 basic Reflex save). The bannik can’t use Boil Alive again for 1d4 rounds.Tear Off Skin [two-actions] The bannik makes two claw Strikes against the same target. If both hit and deal damage, the bannik pulls off the creature’s skin. The target takes 1d4 persistent bleed damage and is frightened 2; if either Strike was a critical success, the target takes 2d4 persistent bleed damage and is frightened 3 instead.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Liminal Baths

The folklore around the sauna or banya is rich and long—childbirth takes place in the banya and the sick are brought here as well to be healed or to pass on to the next world. Saunas are places of profound supernatural forces, for life and for death, and certain magics are best done in the bathhouse. Divination in particular is often performed here, with the bannik whispering a prophecy into the diviner's ear.

All Monsters in "House Spirit"

NameLevel
Bannik5
Domovoi2
Dvorovoi3
House Spirit Mob6
Kikimora4
Ovinnik4

House Spirit

Source Monster Core 2 pg. 194
House spirits are shy, often helpful, sometimes wrathful fey who dwell alongside peasants and farmers. They reside in the house, the yard, the granary, the bathhouse—wherever people build and live. Due to this proximity, house spirits often take on the mannerisms or appearance of nearby mortals. Their reclusive nature and tendency to go unseen earned them the moniker of “spirits,” though in truth they're fully embodied fey.

House spirits take an almost parental interest in “their” mortals. Given proper respect, these fey work tirelessly for their charges—they chop wood, care for livestock, mend clothes, sweep the floor, and tend to the stove. If offended, though, the house spirit becomes a menace, frightening animals or children and ruining belongings.

Sidebar - Locations Bound Spirits

Every house spirit chooses a specific place to be their responsibility and their place of power. House spirits can and do leave, temporarily or permanently, but it’s never a trivial decision. Typically, a given location has only one spirit, which gains power if their home is particularly grand. A great palace’s domovoi is fearsome indeed.

Kith and Kin

House fey often treat each other as family. Sometimes, this is literally the case with the domovoi and the kikimora as a married couple, the dvorovoi their younger sibling, and the bannik as a curmudgeonly elder. More often, it's a sort of metaphor among the spirits—though fey treat metaphor very seriously indeed. This isn't limited to just the house spirits, either. A kikimora might call a poludnica a distant cousin or in-law, and the bannik has always had cordial relations with rusalkas and vodyanois.

Shelyn's Corner

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