Daiko

Daiko

Daikos are strange golden snakes carved from stone, guilded with beautiful patterns on their scales. They can effortlessly glide through any stone without leaving a trace—and just as effortlessly petrify those who harm them.

Despite being dangerous however, Daiko aren’t inherently evil, and they rather enjoy talking to bashers whom they find unthreatening. Daikos are fond of riddles and tests of character. For example, a daiko may suggest that a body could take all the gold they want—but that would turn to useless stone if they were to ever let go of it.

Many addle-coved planewalkers have thought they’d gotten the better of a daiko but come back empty-handed, as they’ve forgotten how heavy gold can be—or else they let their greed get the best of ’em.

It is said that all daikos respond to a giant serpent named Great Poloz (although some reckon he’s really a fallen couatl), who has the power over any piece of gold and does not obey the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. There have been some reports of unidentified daikos with skin of lazuli colour, who seem to be operating on their own accord outside of the Plane of Mineral. They seem to be able to shape-change into humanoids and carry on with their chaotic antics among the mountainous regions of the Prime.

Sources: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt. This is a homebrew addition to the lore. Daiko, Great Poloz, Mistress of the Copper Mountain and other associated concepts all come from the works of Russian writer and folklorist Pavel Bazhov, who took inspiration from the folklore of the miners and workers, who lived in the Ural Mountains.