Kappa

Mischievous by nature, kappas delight in playing pranks on unsuspecting travelers. While not overtly malicious, kappa pastimes can be a significant nuisance to their victims, such as stealing the clothes of people while they bathe or snatching up unattended food from campfires. Kappas also enjoy proving their worth in competitions of strength and, despite their propensity for trickery, are known to be honorable competitors who keep their word and remain polite in conversation.

While kappas vary in physical attributes from region to region, they’re all amphibious, turtle-like humanoids with beaked mouths, webbed hands and feet, and slimy scales that range in color from bluish green to pale yellow. They often have black hair, arranged in a ring to accommodate the central depression atop a kappa’s head. Water from a kappa’s home lake, stream, or river fills these depressions, or head bowls, which are believed to be the source of their strength. Younger kappa are easily tricked into bowing and accidentally emptying the water out of their own head bowls. Losing this water makes the kappa lethargic. The longer a kappa’s head bowl remains empty, the weaker they grow. While this issue rarely poses a serious danger for a kappa living near their home body of water, it can prove fatal to a more adventurous kappa.

Kappas aren’t inherently hostile and have been known to befriend lonely children and lend aid to stranded adventurers by providing directions or minor medical treatment. Still, many areas known to house kappas have signs both warning of the creatures’ presence and encouraging travelers venturing over or through water to first toss in a cucumber, kappas’ favorite food, in exchange for safe passage. Kappas put up some of these signs themselves to increase the likelihood of receiving a tasty treat.

A Dark Side

Kappas despise horses and, due to this behavior, are sometimes mistaken for strangely-armored goblins. Kappas gleefully kill and consume the innards of horses that venture too close to the water’s edge. Some have even developed a taste for human flesh. These vile kappas have been witnessed drowning people before tearing them apart for consumption.