A Handful of Yokai- Hanzaki

The streams and rivers of Japan hide monsters. Beneath fast-flowing water, the lumpy brown and black skin of the Hanzaki (also known as Ōsanshōuo or "Japanese giant salamander”) hides the predator as it stalks for fish and frogs. This camouflages works incredibly well considering the Hanzaki’s great size. While only the second largest salamander species in the world, an adult Hanzaki measures almost five feet from the tip of its tail to its wide mouth. Japanese folklore teaches Hanzaki continue growing until the day they die. As the centuries pass, venerable Hanzaki mature into truly monstrous Yokai, able to swallow livestock or a human with a single gargantuan gulp.

In the most famous legend of a rampaging Hanzaki, a young man named Miura no Hikoshiro stepped forward to save his village from the monster’s predation. Immediately after Miura dove into the deep lake sheltering the Hanzaki, the Yokai swallowed the villager’s defender whole. Fortunately, the villager kept his wits enough to slice the gigantic salamander in two with his sword from inside its belly.

 

Soon after the villager’s finished celebrating Miura’s victory, strange noises disturbed the hero’s household. Something unseen slammed on the door and cried out at night. Then the entire Miura family died. The villagers assumed the ghost of the Hanzaki cursed the family and sought the monster’s forgiveness. They erected a shrine to the Yokai and worshiped it as a god. Appeased, the Hanzaki’s ghost ended its vengeance. Strangely, Hanzaki means “cut in half” from the belief that if a salamander were bisected the two pieces would grow two new Hanzaki. Miura sliced his foe in two. Perhaps he was haunted by two ghostly salamanders.

 

Hanzaki (Gigantic 30 foot-long river salamander)

Initiative:

Physical: 8

Mental: 2

Social: 2

Health Pips: 22 AV: 4

Special Traits:

Gulp- The Hanzaki grapples by gulping down its opponents. If the target of the grapple wins the test, they escape. If the Hanzaki wins, their opponent slides down the monster's throat. The Hanzaki may perform a free crush action (damage 7) each round on swallowed opponents. The Hanzaki may also have more than one opponent trapped in its throat at a time. 

To escape the Hanzaki’s grapple, the opponent must fight their way out by making 3 successful unopposed attacks with 3 black dice to every attack. They may attempt all three attacks in one round by performing multiple actions as normal.

Damage: Stomp (10)

Adventure Ideas

Killing a monster is not the end of the fight if it can come back as a ghost and haunt a hero's family. It can’t be killed again, so some sort of truce or arrangement may be the only option. Are there lawyer-mediums brokering cursing contracts between the living and the dead? The ghost can only stalk certain members of the family on certain days of the week. An offering of sheep or gold buys off purposefully malignant misfortune for a day or two.

A small, remote village worships a monster as a god to avoid further destruction. Over time, the worship outwardly devolves into annual festivals and folksy traditions but devout followers practice the old ways indoors. The religion’s roots run through the village, reinforced by certain boons brought by the monster’s blessings. When a brave warrior disappears after riding out to save the village from the false god’s tyranny, it may be the work of the monster’s disciples, not the monster.

Even the most monstrous Hanzaki sticks close to water. For salamanders of a more incendiary nature, see this previous monster post.