Hey Bartender, There'S A Fish In My Beer
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Water, fresh streams, beer |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Intelligence | Animal (1) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Nil |
| Number Appearing | 1 |
| Armor Class | 7 (Special) |
| Movement | Sw 18 |
| Hit Dice | 1 |
| THAC0 | Special |
| No. of Attacks | Special |
| Damage/Attack | Death |
| Special Attacks | Poisonous explosion |
| Special Defenses | Nil |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | T |
| Morale | Unsteady (4) |
| XP Value | 100 |
Description
Hey Bartender, There's a Fish in My Beer
Herlinte (HER-lin-tay)
The Herlinte are a race of tiny, silver fish, about 3", that inhabit the rivers. They are skinny, and cannot be seen without magical aide when in water.
Combat
If swallowed with alcohol they will survive as long as the character remains intoxicated. When he sobers up, the fish or its young (if it lays eggs inside the person), will explode killing the person.
When swallowed with no alcohol, they will immediately explode in the stomach, causing death.
As for their small size, they are impossible to hit without a fishing NWP, and with it a successful hit roll must be rolled and a skill check must succeed. When it is hit, however, and killed, it will explode in poison, ruining the beer and the cup. The poison is lethal in connection with ANY living tissues, (you could put it on a monster while it is sleeping and shoot it, killing it and the monster) but can be cured with a dose of pure water, which neutralizes the poison.
Habitat/Society
When out of water, they look like small guppies. They are commonly found on the bottom of rivers, sleeping.
In the beginning, they were only found in one lake of a cold climate (GM's should create a northern lake in his campaign world), which was made solely from alcohol and pure water. Most adventurers would stop at that lake and take a drink. Then the fish would enter the body of the poor fellow when they drank, and when the alcohol wore out of the fish died, causing a poisonous explosion, rupturing the bloodstream and contaminating it with poison.
One adventurer discovered the fish and netted them all, using a magical fishing device. He flushed them into the nearest river. The lake of alcohol, it seemed, depended on the fish for the alcohol to survive, so it turned into a normal lake, and the fish couldn't live without the alcohol so they hibernate along the river's floors.
Commonly, bartenders keep a jar of them, in river water, to drop in an annoying person's alcohol drink. After that person leaves, he will eventually be poisoned. The fish only live when they are in beer, and without beer they eventually die and explode, except when in water, which causes hibernation.
Ecology
Herlinte are solitary creatures who only meet to breed which they can only do when some alcohol is present. The alcohol is also required when laying eggs (typically 5d6 eggs). A big danger is a swallowed fish that lays eggs in the victim. The eggs enter the bloodstream of the person where they eventually hatch.