IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
If you suspect you have received an ash mephit from an enemy,
please consult this guide to the Lower Planar Mephit Code.
Ash Mephit
N | Small | Fire | Elemental | Mephit | Negative | CR 1
APPEARANCE: Ash mephits have powder-gray skin and wings, long skinny arms and legs, and membranous wings. They are surrounded by a perpetual haze of white dust. Too weak to pose a real physical threat, they can instead cough up a cloud of choking ash.
PERSONALITY: Bitter, detached and emotionally spent. Ash mephits tend towards ruinous cynicism, deflecting deep conversations by changing the subject, using cold logic, or dark humour. They’ll harp on about themselves and their woes endlessly, with their nasal whining voices.
MEANING: When used as a message, an ash mephit is sent when that the giver doesn’t even think the recipient is worth corresponding with any more.
STATS: [ D&D 2e | 5e | PF 2e ]
Ash Mephit Lamentations
Imagine a chorus of endlessly whinin’ grumbling, each more miserable than the last, and you’ve got the right picture. There’s somethin’ almost tragicomic about them. For creatures made outta the ash and soot of the bleakest plane, they’re shockin’ hosts.
They’re like that lonely relative we’ve all got, the one who invites you over for tea and biscuits, then treats your ears to a marathon of complaints. Don’t get me wrong; you’ll get your belly filled, and a roof over yer head. Aye, they offer all the niceties, but it’s at the cost of yer sanity, and you’ll feel emotionally drained. They’re the kind of hosts who’d complain about the very food they serve ya, mind you. “Oh, this? It’s too bland, too ashy, too—everything!” But don’t you dare try to chime in with yer own gripes or sarcastic jabs.
Why are ash mephits like this? Maybe being made from the detritus of a realm less cheery than a tomb leaves ’em with a world-view that’s all doom and gloom. They’re like the physical embodiment of a sigh. I’ve heard some scholars think these little critters are easier to summon than other mephits. If that’s true, then it’s like the Inner Planes are saying, “Well, I could put some effort in, or I could just make another ash Mephit.”
Some examples of ash mephit complaints, just so you know what you’re letting yourself in for:
- “The winds, cutter! They sweep in and mess up me burrow. As if it weren’t a chore already to keep any place in this dump tidy. I mean, why do we even bother?”
- “You see that rock over there? Hate it. Too pointy. The one next to it? Hate it. Too smooth. Nothin’s ever right here.”
- “Ash zombies? Don’t get me started. All they do is stagger around, moanin’…”
- “You see that portal to the Plane of Fire over yonder? Yeah, it’s all glowy and whatnot, real attractive. But no one ever comes back this way, do they? It’s a one-way trip to ‘somewhere better.’ Bah!”
- “Ooze mephits think they’ve got it bad? They’re just slippin’ and slidin’, not a care in the world. Meanwhile, I get grit in my eyes! Do you know how painful that is?!”
- “I met a dust mephit once. Kept tellin’ me how miserable their existence was. Such a drag. As if they have a monopoly on bein’ downtrodden!”
- “Air elementals! Floatin’ about like they’ve got no cares in the world. Lightweights.”
- “Once met a Prime, fresh out a portal, wide-eyed like a nipper in a sweet shop. Asked me how to survive here. I says, ‘You don’t.’ Then he went and found a gate back home. What a quitter!”
- “I’ve heard tales of folks meetin’ genies on other planes. Genies! Grantin’ wishes and all that! And what do we get here? Soot snakes.”
Enjoy. Or don’t. What’s it matter, eh?
Canonical Source:
- [2e] see Planescape Monstrous Compendium Volume 1 here
- [3e] see Monster Manual 1, p132 for mephits, but OF COURSE they missed out the ash mephit, because EVERYONE always ignores us
- [5e] see Monster Manual, p215 for mephits, but OH LOOK they missed us out YET AGAIN, honestly I don’t even know why we bother existing some times. But at least we got some love on 5esrd.com, it’s better than nothing I suppose. But no pictures. Rude!
- [PF2e] these stats are homebrew, because literally nobody has ever wanted to use an ash mephit in Pathfinder before. I don’t even know why we bother, I’m going back to watch embers cool.
See Also: Parlez-Vous Mephit?, the mephit code, language of Lower Planar diplomats and wizards.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt