The Beast Fears Fire - The Lesser Otterleys

Lesser Otterleys/Red Swamp Tigers [Hardship 3]
Impulse - Bring Forth Change

The people of Crickton should take some comfort in the fact that the only members of the wicked Otterley clan in their nation are the ones who got exiled from the family many generations back for not being evil enough. Well, exiled is a word you can use for, escaped under cover of darkness and swam all the way to the Bogsong, never to poke their noses out again is another. Unfortunately, less evil than the main branch of the Otterleys still leaves whole vistas of evil before you reach anything you might invite to dinner, and even though a fair number of the lesser branch isn't particularly evil at all, their river necromancy has gone kind of sour in the swamp and makes them very disturbing to deal with.

The Otterleys of the Bogsong resemble otters, in particular, giant river otters, though their faces are a little less angular. They grow to be almost 3 meters, tip to tail, with rich red fur (similar in color to red velvet cake) and visible blood-red auras. Generally, they are content to be left alone, minding patches of melons and vegetables and eating aligators and crocodiles, but some are interested in people (as their ancestors were once human before the river necromancy changed them), and some are interested in making mischief, an aim for which they are well suited.

Harm 4 or Change - The lesser Otterleys aren't usually that aggressive towards humans. Most are a little cranky and secretive or simply, for lack of a better word, assholes who like to mess with people. They are very strong, have sharp teeth and strong jaws, and will maul a person if they've the mind, but the real danger and harm that they cause is with their river necromancy, which, unfortunately, even the most benign and well-meaning of the family has trouble controlling. At least, controlling in a sense that it does not change the things around it.

Gabble Gabble, One of Us
When you are touched by the red aura of Lesser Otterley River Necromancy, face Hardship
On a Hit, you feel a little funny and your skin crawls a bit, but that's the worst that happens to you, unless you try to fight the Otterley, at which point, make this Move again.
On a Hard Hit, you assert your own form against the necromancy, and for the rest of the Scene, the Otterley can only do Harm 2 to you.
On a Miss, your body starts to change with what the magic wants. You can either choose a significant alteration to your appearance or suffer 4 Harm from the shock. If' you're fighting the Otterley, and you choose to change, you suffer 2 Harm from being mauled, anyway.

I look through the eyes of a stranger
Otterleys use their powers to make attendants of the fruits and vegetables they grow, usually little humanoid figures with the fruit or vegetable as a head, which they call alarunes. Watermelons and pumpkins are the most common alarunes, but tomatoes, cantaloupes, cucumbers, onions, eggplants and just about anything will serve. They create these creatures as servants, mostly, as they are only really formidable combatants when they gang up (Disaster 2 Harm 1 Gang).

Lesser Otterleys don't usually change the form, significantly, of someone they are not trying to kill, but every so often, you get one who fancies themselves a scientist, and that's how we get frog people, or about a hundred other small populations of unfortunate folks in the Bogsong. River necromancy doesn't let the Otterleys turn you back into what you were before they started messing with you, not exactly. Hell, not even bogstalker-close. They could turn me into something else and then back into a fat white guy with a beard, but not anyone you would mistake for me.

Lesser Otterleys recruit new blood from the locals, either by changing themselves into human form or potential lovers into river tigers. Over time, any person turned into a river tiger picks up the river necromancy, once that happens, they can never truly be human again. Otterleys born in human form tend to change into river tigers at puberty, which is awkward, even as puberty goes.

You can sell river tiger furs, and there are some people who will pay a lot for them. These people don't go anywhere near the Bogsong, and perhaps, once you've made the sale, neither should you.