The Heqet

Flies and bugs and fish come up,
but the toad, it floats and haws.

Flies and bugs and fish swim up,
but the toad, cold blood gives pause.

The mun'gu said that the stars were lining;
the mun'gu says while the spears are shining;
and Zuzu calls.

Flies and bugs and fish draw up,
while the toad sharpens his claws.

- Excerpt from the Third Song of the Sunken Choir

Slimy Skin and Brumal Blood

The Heqet are small – four feet high on average – but heavy, possessing cords of sinuous muscle to rival the strength of a man half again their stature. They take the visage of frog-like creatures, their legs and arms spindly – no neck – belying considerable strength. They are cold blooded, and thus move little, but breed rapidly, as true frogs. They can croak, but are often quiet, and take advantage of their aquatic propensities whenever able. 

The Heqet speak their own language - incorporating clicks and croaks of various tones that are difficult for Humans or Demihumans to imitate.

Encountering the Heqet

Socially, the Heqet congregate in four categorical types: the nature of these types - and the four ways in which the Heqet can be encountered - determines the number appearing:

Enc. Type	Chance	Scouts	Breeders	Mundunugu	Toadlings
In Lair	20%*	3d6 x 10	3d6	2d4	2d4 x 5
Patrol	3-in-6	3d10	1d4-1	~	2d6
Pilgrimage	2-in-6	2d10	1d4-1	1d4+1	2d4
War Party	1-in-6	3d6 x 5	1d4	2d4	2d10-2

Lair chance is 20% for the Heqet - probabilities given for different encounter types are used when the encounter occurs outside the lair of the Heqet.

Amphibious: All Heqet can breathe underwater in fresh or brackish environments. Additionally, all Heqet have a swim speed of 120' (40').

Scouts

Heqet Scouts
Armor Class:	7 (6 with Shield)	No. Appearing:	Special
Hit Dice:	1	Save As:	Fighter 1
Move:	60' (20')	Morale:	7
Attacks:	1 Weapon	Treasure Type:	K
Damage:	1d6	Alignment:	Chaotic
Frequency:	Uncommon	Chance In Lair:	20%

Heqet scouts make up the bulk of Heqet colonies – roughly 2/3 of the population. They are four feet in height, rubbery skinned, and wear armor made of intertwined leather and cork wood plating. They tend to carry shield and spear.

Leap: Scouts may – in lieu of moving – leap: covering 30’ of ground immediately. If using this ability to charge into combat, the Scout gains a +2 bonus to attacks in that round only. 

Breeders

Heqet Breeders
Armor Class:	6	No. Appearing:	Special
Hit Dice:	2	Save As:	Fighter 2
Move:	60' (20')	Morale:	9
Attacks:	1 Slam	Treasure Type:	J
Damage:	1d4	Alignment:	Chaotic
Frequency:	Rare	Chance In Lair:	20%

Heqet Breeders are a subset of females bearing eggs. Though not in cold weather – Breeders will broaden in span, taking up almost twice the width as typical, and release eggs which then implant into the skin in an irregular pattern. Tadpoles develop in pockets along the skin for 1d4 months and are birthed from said pockets as fully-formed as Toadlings. Thereafter, the breeder sheds her skin and, a month later, is able to renew the process. There is little attachment to young among the Heqet – Breeders are not protected, as such, over other warriors, but their mobility is impaired by the process.

Leap: Breeders may – in lieu of moving – leap: covering 20’ of ground immediately. If using this ability to charge into combat, the Heqet gains a +2 bonus to attacks in that round only. 

Breeders tend to be unarmed – but may take up arms if available when under threat. Similarly, Breeders do not wear armor – they don’t fit in it – but the thickness and roughness of skin during the breeding cycle provides medium armor (Armor Class 6) equivalence.

Mundunugu

Heqet Mundunugu
Armor Class:	9	No. Appearing:	Special
Hit Dice:	2	Save As:	Elf 1
Move:	60' (20')	Morale:	9
Attacks:	1 Staff	Treasure Type:	ind (lair)
Damage:	1d4	Alignment:	Chaotic
Frequency:	Rare	Chance In Lair:	20%

Mundunugu are the spirit leaders of the Heqet. They are sworn to Chaos and bound to the dark power Zuzu, adorning themselves in his chimeric likeness. No to Mundunugu look quite the same in their spirit garb. Mundunugu are magic users: commonly employing Curse and Hold style magic. They may cast spells under water.

Leap: Mundunugu may – in lieu of moving – leap: covering 30’ of ground immediately. If using this ability to charge into combat, the Heqet gains a +2 bonus to attacks in that round only.

Of Mundunugu garb – 2-in-6 Mundunugu have garb and adornment sufficient to qualify as light armor, which increases their Armor Class to 7.

Toadlings

Heqet Toadlings
Armor Class:	9	No. Appearing:	Special
Hit Dice:	1-1	Save As:	Normal Man
Move:	90' (30')	Morale:	6
Attacks:	1 Slam	Treasure Type:	Nil
Damage:	1	Alignment:	Chaotic
Frequency:	Uncommon	Chance In Lair:	20%

Toadlings are the wandering young of the Heqet. Toadlings mature quickly – evolving into their next state after only a few months – but during the first portion of their lives, they have the facilities of toddlers.

Leap: Toadlings may – in lieu of moving – leap: covering 15’ of ground immediately. There is no benefit on a charge for a Toadling.

Toadlings tend to be unarmed – but have been known to throw rocks: which qualify as Sling (-2 to hit) where all targets are treated as being one range increment further than they are.

Spoiler Alert!

The Deeper Lore section contains some notes to help a GM (me) to run Heqet in a way consistent with the archetype they are supposed to fill and some of the inspirations behind their creation. If you play in (or want to play in!) a game GM'ed by me, beyond this point will ruin some of the mystery for you for both Heqet and for most of the sentient races: having some impact in the game world that isn't immediately available outside of player character discoveries.

Deeper Lore

The Heqet are a vice race - their Chaos Seed being granted and imbued by the sin of Sloth. The entropic entity associated with Sloth is Zuzu - the Storm Lord and the Bringer of Famine - whose locusts consume what they did not grow and who disappear, sleeping for years at a time until such opportunity arises to feast on the labor of others again. As to how the Heqet came into being, this is a curiosity regarding the other entity - the Rabisu - whose spirited undeath is fueled by the emanations of Zuzu as well.

The Rabisu are vampiric in nature - they lurk in the darkness, pained by daylight, and feed on the life essence of the naturally living: parasites - some seen as cursed for it; others wildly blessed - who are granted presence, eternal, at the cost of others around them. Thralls held by the Rabisu tend to be, themselves, cattle - their warm blood feeding their lords.

Among the Rabisu are many powerful lords - but the most powerful among them, in argument with Zuzu, with whom he saw himself co-equal, was cursed. Zuzu sunk the lands around the vampire king's domain, filled the fallow fields with swamp and salt - precluding him from walking his own estate, salt and water being the fundamental elements of birth and of natural life. And from those bogs, so also were the vampire king's thralls cursed - their blood made cold, their skin made rubber - that the vampire king might be reminded that the life that flowed through him was not his own and again, condemning him: dooming him to rely on the machinations of these slow, indolent minions and the capricious Zuzlings (the personal impish messengers of Zuzu, himself) for basic sustenance.

Though very few know the story to this day - Heqet, thus, were almost at first a cruel joke: a punishment for the hubris of lesser evils. Regardless, the Heqet find themselves in the service of Rabisu frequently, if only for their entropic association - as they make good servants. They can count on their masters not feeding on them, remaining themselves at full strength and at times, their captains and chiefs might even assert to be co-equal to the vampire lord they serve! And they can easily go where the Rabisu cannot - into the waters that birthed the world.

Likewise to this day, the Heqet are highly distasteful to the Rabisu.  In a literal sense, of course.
Public domain or open license artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com and Pixabay and adapted for thematic use. Attributions in alt text.