Somnalu
Somnalu is a unique dream creature that inhabits the Valley of Burdens in central Casmaron.1
Appearance
Somnalu's body resembles a giant lizard with a flexible spine, mottled black back, spiny dorsal frills, dull red stripes running from head to tail, and two pairs of forelimbs, bound by webbed skin. Its face is a huge red eye surrounded by six smaller ones. If Somnalu is defeated, the eye abandons its old body and creates a temporary body (called Somnalu Oculus) from the wisps of dreams, which can fully reform into a corporeal body after centuries.2
Background
According to the Ninshaburian epic The Age of Namzaruum, Heaven's Liege, when Namzaruum and his followers were captured by rival petty lords, this creature arose from the deepest pit of the Valley of Burdens. Everyone in the valley fell asleep at once, and were beset by ghastly nightmares that paralysed them, allowing the monster to easily feast on them. Namzaruum swore a vow to destroy it, and broke from his restraints. By dawn, he emerged victorious, tossing its body back into the deepest pit.13
The Wrath of Namzaruum, a scroll declared apocrypha after its authors were castigated as heretics, tells that when Namzaruum's followers grew cruel, his contempt fed the corpse of his nemesis, allowing it to re-emerge as a blood eye wreathed in smoke and starlight, seeking vengeance against the wicked. Its justice turned the valley from a fair, rich civilisation into a husk, and earned it the name Somnalu. Since restoring its body, Somnalu has continued its vengeance.1
Habitat
Somnalu's lair is a remote cavern in the Valley of Dreams, where the veil between planes is thinnest. Although this allows it to easily travel into the Dreamlands or the Netherworld, Somnalu avoids doing so since returning can be difficult. If threatened, it retreats home and keeps a planar escape.1
Somnalu shares its home with more common dream creatures like nightgaunts, which pay it no heed, and are kept by Somnalu as guardians.1
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 . “Somnalu” in Monsters of Myth, 86. Paizo Inc., 2021
- ↑ . “Somnalu” in Monsters of Myth, 88. Paizo Inc., 2021
- ↑ . “Somnalu” in Monsters of Myth, 85. Paizo Inc., 2021