Caoimhin the Kindly

The smallest member of the Seelie Court is Caoimhin (KOO-ev-inn), patron of the little killmoulis. He is a timid and grumbly deity who is keenly aware of his own weaknesses, but has an inner strength where his friends and allies are concerned.

Caoimhin (PDF Version)
(The Kindly, the Timorous, Miller’s Friend)
Demipower of the Planes, N(CG)

Portfolio:                 Food, shy friendship, comfort
Aliases:                     None
Domain Name:           Wanders/the Seelie Court (the Hidden Ways)
Superior:                   Titania
Allies:                       Cyrrollalee, Skerrit, the Seelie Court, the Seldarine
Foes:                           Bast, the Cat Lord, Ferrix, Malar, the Queen of Air and Darkness, Raxivort, Squerrik
Symbol:                     Tiny bowl and pin
Wor. Align.:              NG, CG, N, CN

Rarely seen even by his compatriots in the Seelie Court, little Caoimhin (KOO-ev-inn) is the shy patron of killmoulis. He enjoys good food and comfortable clothing and living conditions, and takes pride in surreptitiously helping others complete their tasks. These desires mean his followers live on the edges of rural human society, and this tie to civilization keeps him in the Outer Circle of the Seelie Court.

Caoimhin is a timorous being, preferring to avoid notice by hiding from those larger than he, a category that includes virtually all other powers, even other small members of the Seelie Court. While he has a great desire to help his allies, he has little confidence in his ability to aid them in large ways or affect significant change, which typically manifests as nervous grumbling. However, if backed into a corner, he fights as fiercely as he can, and his timid nature never causes him to abandon allies in danger. Caoimhin has a strong sense of morality that governs his actions, although he only stands up to other members of the Seelie Court if he feels they are in the wrong, and even then it is not a common occurrence. Finally, while he does not feel himself worthy of the responsibility, he deeply loves his little people and looks out for their wellbeing as best he can, paying especially close attention to how they are treated by the big folk they live near.

Within the Seelie Court, Caoimhin spends most of his time eating sweetmeats and honey in the comfort of his hidey-holes and tunnels that are said to connect to a number of divine workshops throughout the upper planes. He does not mingle often with other members of the Court, favoring his creature comforts and the safety of his holes, but can be drawn out with bardic recitation and harmonious music played on stringed instruments, both of which entrance the little fellow. Occasionally he gathers the courage and curiosity to explore outside the Court, but only if accompanied by or within close proximity of another sylvan power.

Despite his timidness, Caoimhin is well liked by the rest of the Court, and he reciprocates those feelings. However, he is greatly intimidated by most members of the Court, especially those who significantly larger than he or are boisterous and outgoing. He gets along best with Fionnghuala, for she also has a connection to the human world, although she is often absent from the court. Titania loves him dearly, mothering and mollycoddling at every opportunity; he is embarrassed by this attention and feigns great annoyance, but in truth he finds the display of affection comforting, for it reassures him that he belongs and is wanted. He has not made any formal alliances with powers outside the Seelie Court besides those who frequent the Court, such as Skerrit and the elven deities, although it is said kindly powers of craftsmen, such as Hephaestos, leave treats out for him on the rare occasions he visits their realms, and he has established tentative contact with the halfling goddess of the home and hearth, Cyrrollalee. Outside of these powers, he holds enmity towards those whose followers are known to hunt and kill his killmoulis followers, particularly Malar, Squerrik, and Raxivort. He also holds enmity for Ferrix and the Cat Lord, since his pleas to them to encourage their feline followers to not hunt killmoulis have so far fallen on deaf ears. As with all other members of the Seelie Court, he strongly opposes the Queen of Air and Darkness, whom he worries will corrupt his followers like she has so many others, but the very thought of ever confronting her nearly paralyzes Caoimhin with fear.

As he lacks the power to dispatch an avatar to the Prime Material Plane himself, he must rely on Titania or another power to do so. As such he is not particularly active, and typically only makes an appearance if accompanied by a strong avatar, such as that of Oberon or Damh, or Titania herself. While he is basically a coward, his avatar will never abandon another member of the Seelie Court, and will fight to defend his followers if they are threatened.

Caoimhin’s Avatar (Thief 19, Illusionist 7)
Caoimhin appears as a typical killmoulis, except slightly larger. He has woody brown skin, blue eyes, and a prodigious nose through which he inhales food. He wears a thick, ragged woolen garment that completely covers the gossamer armor that identifies him as a member of the Seelie Court. He draws his spells primarily from the school of illusion/phantasm, but can cast spells from all schools save necromancy and invocation/evocation.

AC −2; MV 27; HP 78; THAC0 11; #AT 1
Dmg 4 hp (pin +3)
MR 30%; SZ T (1 foot tall)
Str 9, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 16
Spells W: 5/4/3/2*
Saves PPDM 9; RSW 6; PP 8; BW 12; Sp 7
* Numbers assume one extra illusion/phantasm spell per spell level.

Special Att/Def: If forced into melee, Caoimhin uses Ratsbane, a small pin +3 that can instantly slay any normal or giant rats it strikes if they fail a saving throw versus death. Against other natural animal predators of killmoulis, including giant varieties, this pin inflicts double damage. However, he prefers to use magic and subterfuge to avoid or distract any potential foes; only in the rarest of circumstances will he physically fight larger creatures than himself.

At will, Caoimhin can cast improved invisibility and mending, and can inflict fear upon natural felines, canines, and predatory rodents. Three times per day, he can cast seeming if with other killmoulis, as well as confusion, primarily to cover an escape. Further, he can cast fog cloud, minor creation, emotion (calm), and he can create a symbol of persuasion three times per day each. If he desires to do so, he can communicate empathically and telepathically with all sentient creatures within 120 feet; his voice comes across as grumbly and nervous in their minds.

Caoimhin is immune to poison, disease, caused wounds, death magic, polymorph attacks, and nonmagical weapons. He always carries a small selection of magical items of a protective or healing nature, gifted to him by Titania or another member of the Seelie Court, including a brooch of shielding, a cloak of displacement, and 1d3 potions of extra-healing.

Other Manifestations
Caoimhin tends to manifest his power on the Prime Material Plane in subtle ways to aid his followers, especially against humans or other creatures who try to eliminate killmoulis living within their homes. Strange and unfortunate circumstances tend to happen around them, like tools breaking in such a way that the user gets hurt, or objects get left out in places that will trip them. If the danger to his followers persists, or stems from a source unlikely to be bothered by such mishaps, then Caoimhin takes more direct action to lead his killmoulis away to a safer environ, typically with a persistent smell of baking sweetmeats that are highly directional. To cover the exodus, he manifests in similar forms to the spells fog cloud, confusion, anti-vermin barrier, and stinking cloud to disrupt pursuit. If humans are in danger themselves while trying to protect killmoulis, even inadvertently, he has been known to grant them temporary abilities such as displacement (as the cloak), mirror images that they cannot see but their foes can, or the protection of spells such as fog cloud or protection from evil. Should a human succeed in protecting killmoulis, and be aware of what they did, they may find unusual boons helping them for a time afterwards, like tools and machinery fixed up and restored to like-new condition, tasks done overnight, such as many bushels of wheat milled perfectly into flour, etc.

As a member of the Seelie Court, Caoimhin is served primarily by aasimon, asuras, and eladrins (especially coures), as well as hollyphants, humans and demihumans, magpies, mice, songbirds of all sorts, squirrels, and sunflies. He demonstrates his favor through the discovery of food and clothing in unusual situations or places, unexpected comforting warmth, easily locating small objects thought lost, and perfect hiding places. His displeasure is shown through the snagging and ripping of clothing, the snapping of clothing seams, the sudden disappearance of small objects an individual is searching for, and simple household tasks being undone (cooking that spills of its own accord, sewing and knitting unraveling, minor repairs that fail, etc.).

The Church
Clergy:                      Specialty Priests
Clergy’s Align.:      CG, N
Turn Undead:           SP: Special
Cmnd. Undead:         SP: No

All clerics and specialty priests of Caoimhin receive religion (Seelie Court) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.

Caoimhin’s faith is virtually unknown, even among the various faerie races.  His faith is found almost exclusively among those faeries that live near or amongst rural human and demihuman populations, and they have little contact with other faiths. When there is contact, they are respected by other faiths of the Seelie Court for their earnest and friendly nature, although they are seen as somewhat stodgy for their preference to work over play. When they become aware of Caoimhin’s faith, followers of human and demihuman deities favored by rural workers and farmers sometimes attempt to establish friendly contact by leaving out food and items of clothing for the small creatures. Caoimhin’s priests are invariably the leaders of their clans and family groups.

No temples are built to honor Caoimhin, as his followers do not build abodes of any sort. They see their living arrangements as somewhat temporary, as they are always fearful that the big folk they live amongst will attempt to drive them off, or get nasty pets that dislike their presence, such as dogs and cats. Neither do they create shrines, for similar reasons, even if they could be portable. There is rarely any obvious sign of the current or past habitation of followers of Caoimhin within the buildings and homes of the big folk.

Novices and full priests of Caoimhin use no titles to distinguish each other by rank, and simply refer to those who are drawn to his service as Children of Caoimhin. Specialty priests are known as hobs, which make up the entire priesthood. It is no surprise that the bulk of Caoimhin’s clergy are killmoulis (78%), but he is also popular among brownies (14%), bookas (4%), dobies (3%), and other faerie races (1%).

Dogma: One need not do big things to help others. Always perform a service in exchange for something received or taken. When living amongst the big folk, seek out those with good disposition, for they will treat you well. Perform services for them and they will leave rewards for you, but do not reveal yourself. Protect them as you can and they will protect you as well. Kindly big folk will allow you to live in their homes, but do not take it for granted. Take pride in the services you do for big folk. If mistreated or harmed by big folk, mete out punishment through nuisance rather than do harm. Make your displeasure at their lack of care known.

Day-to-Day Activities: Followers of Caoimhin spend most of their time looking for food, performing services at night for the big folk whose homes they inhabit, and trying to make their homes as comfortable as possible. They have a very transactional view of property, so if they take any food or possessions from the folks they live near, they also perform commensurate work as recompense. They are especially skilled at cleaning and other household chores, as well as milling, tailoring, and cobblering. They are exceptionally quiet when they do this work, and rarely wake the home owners they are helping. While really not capable of fending off pests like rats directly, they do often try to trap or poison them, and seal up the holes they use to get in. If there is a problem they do not feel they can deal with, but the home owners should know of, they use whatever means they can to subtly alert the big folk.

However, if the big folk they live amongst attempt to run them out, or mistreat them by not giving rewards for services done, they can and do use their powers to cause endless problems for them. They especially favor gumming up mill machinery, cutting stitching on clothing, and misplacing and hiding tools. They are never directly harmful in their punishment, but they are intent on letting the big folk know that they expect kindness from them.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: Caoimhin’s clergy observes no holy days or ceremonies, although they do offer small prayers over every meal, and they thank him whenever big folk leave gifts for them.

Major Centers of Worship: There are no holy sites or temples dedicated to Caoimhin.

Affiliated Orders: The clergy of Caoimhin sponsor no martial or monastic orders, nor do they have affiliated adventuring bands.

Priestly Vestments: Priests of Caoimhin have no formal raiment, as they cloth themselves in gifts, scraps, and cast-offs. Even looking for the member of a community with the best clothing is not a reliable indicator of a priest, as they give such items to those who need or deserve it most. They can be distinguished by the pins they carry as holy symbols.

Adventuring Garb: Priests of Caoimhin do not adventure, and are not inclined towards combat, usually wearing no armor and using only pins as weaponry. They do not manufacture weapons, and only use make-shift weapons if they absolutely must defend themselves.

Specialty Priests (Hobs)
Requirements:          Wisdom 11, Charisma 9
Prime Req.:                Wisdom
Alignment:                CG, N
Weapons:                   Flatware, needle, pin, any small household tool or utensil
Armor:                       Leather or padded, no shield
Major Spheres:         All, chaos, creation, guardian, healing, travelers, wards
Minor Spheres:         Divination, elemental (air, water), protection
Magical Items:         Same as clerics
Req. Profs:                Any one General group trade skill (cobbling, leatherworking, seamstress/tailor, etc.)
Bonus Profs:             Hiding (PHBR10)

  • Any faerie creature may be called to Caoimhin’s service, but most are killmoulis or brownies. It is said that halflings may become hobs, but this is unsubstantiated.
  • As they progress in levels, killmoulis hobs only gain 1d2 hit points per level, whereas most other Tiny (2 feet or smaller) faerie creatures gain 1d4 hit points per level. Faeries and other creatures of Size S or larger gain hit dice as normal.
  • Killmoulis hobs never need verbal components for their spells.
  • Hobs can turn undead animals (including giant varieties) as a cleric of the same level, including but not limited to animal skeletons, zombies, and ghosts. They are unable to affect any other sort of undead.
  • Hobs can cast mending (as the 1st-level priest or wizard spell) once per day for every three levels (twice at 3rd, three times at 6th, etc.) they have achieved.
  • At 2nd level, hobs can cast purify food and drink or sanctuary (as the 1st-level priest spells) once per day.
  • At 5th level, hobs can cast charm person or mammal (as the 2nd-level priest spell) or invisibility (as the 2nd-level wizard spell) once per day.
  • At 8th level, hobs can cast create food or water (as the 3rd-level priest spell) or emotion (calm) (as the 4th-level wizard spell) once per day.
  • At 11th level, hobs can cast anti-vermin barrier (as the 6th-level priest spell) or improved invisibility (as the 4th-level wizard spell) once per day.

Caoimhinar Spells
In addition to the spells listed below, priests of the Miller’s Friend can cast the 1st-level priest spell mending, detailed in Demihuman Deities in the entry for Dugmaren Brightmantle.

2nd Level
Tailor’s Friend (Pr 2; Conjuration/Summoning)

Sphere:                    Creation
Range:                     0
Components:           V, S
Duration:                 1 turn/level
Casting Time:          4
Area of Effect:         30-ft. radius
Saving Throw:        None

This spell creates a minor, unseen magical force the size of a killmoulis (about one foot tall) that can perform basic tasks. Despite the name, it can do significantly more than just sewing; it can help cobbling, milling, cooking, and other basic skills, as well as performing unskilled tasks like cleaning. In general, it has the same abilities and restrictions as the wizard spell, unseen servant, but it can only carry 10 pounds and push 20 pounds of weight across a flat surface. In addition, it can perform any rote tasks that the caster is proficient in; for example, it can sew straight seams if the caster is a proficient seamstress or tailor, but it cannot perform fancy embroidery or sew complex seams.

3rd Level
Mouse Hole (Pr 3; Alteration)

Sphere:                    Travelers
Range:                     30 ft.
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 1 hr. + 1 turn/level
Casting Time:          6
Area of Effect:         Up to ½ × 1 × 8 ft.
Saving Throw:        None

When this spell is cast, it creates a small opening in a wall or other barrier that the caster and other creatures can pass through. The hole has a rounded top and is always twice as tall as it is wide, to a maximum of one foot high. The hole itself can be up to eight feet deep, and multiple castings of the spell can extend the hole further, even through multiple layers of material, so long as the material is wood, cloth, ceramic, mud brick, plaster, or other building materials softer than stone or clay brick. At the caster’s option, the hole entrance can be disguised with illusions of piled up objects, leaves, dirt, or other normal objects, but the illusion cannot make the surface appear whole. If dispelled, the hole closes away from the dispelling caster, ejecting any creatures within the hole.

The material component for this spell is a small piece of cheese.

4th Level
Misplace Objects (Pr 4; Alteration)

Sphere:                    Chaos
Range:                     30 yds.
Components:           V, S
Duration:                 Instantaneous
Casting Time:          7
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        Special

By means of this spell, the caster can magically rearrange loose objects on a surface or in a container. At the completion of the casting, soundless motes of glittering magical light rush forth and wash over the objects or container in a scintillating wave lasting for a full round. When the motes dissipate, the objects have been teleported about randomly and generally into inconvenient and hidden locations within 40 feet. For example, if cast on a drawer of flatware, this spell might cause spoons to be teleported under floorboards, into the rafters, under pillows, and behind paintings. Sometimes objects might all be teleported into another container if that container is in an inconvenient location, or a location likely to be disturbed, like precariously positioned pots or buckets.

This spell can affect up to one loose item per caster level, and can only affect items up to half a cubic foot in volume. This spell can affect inaccessible objects and containers, but not containers that are locked or protected by magic, nor can it affect extra-dimensional spaces.

This spell can be cast upon a creature, in which case it acts as a wand of misplaced objects. Targets are allowed a saving throw versus spell with a +2 bonus to avoid the effects, and can always determine the location this spell was cast from.

2 Responses to Caoimhin the Kindly

  1. Barastir says:

    I liked this entry very much, a bit far from the extra-powerful deity stereotypes. Keep the good work.

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