The Calythiop

Art by the wonderful Locheil 

If you've traveling upon the steppe you may have heard whispers of the Calythiop. A strange creature to be sure, camel bodied but possessing a human face and human hands. It is said to grant wishes. Shitty wishes. Really really shitty wishes. Most stories you hear of it recount how so and so's cousin was tempted by a Calythiop and then had drought for six months or so such. Still... Some people are desperate enough to strike deals with such creatures.

How does the Calythiop appear before you?

1. Whispering promises out of the darkness around your camp fire, only its face can be seen.

2. Swimming through your dreams as you sleep, showing you visages of your desires.

3. Following you, always on the edge of vision, waiting for you to confront it.

4. Sitting straight in your path, lazy moving its tail and picking its teeth.

5. Waiting for upon a mountaintop you feel inextricably drawn towards.

6. Being chased by the last person it screwed over with a wish.

What does it desire in return for your wish?

1. An incredibly rare golden furred marmot. Alive.

2. The magical amulet of a nearby wizard.

3. The flesh of your best horse.

4. The robes of a particular traveling holy man.

5. A tincture of a local noble's blood.

6. Your true name.

How does it screw you over?

1. Interprets your wish extremely literally: I wish I was rich, you become rich in the past tense.

2. Curses you with complications: a tax collector comes along and seizes all the gold you wished for.

3. Undoes your wish or takes the results back after a period of time.

4. Just straight up tries to kill you with how the wish is granted: gold brick hits you in the head.

** Authorial Note **

The legend of the Calythiop was first imparted by Ishthyromeda the steppe amazon to her friends whilst they travelled to an ancient mountain tomb. In the lands of the King Of Kings.