Monster Of The Week: The Quickling

Zipping through the thicket and brim, little Zym left the lumbering oaf far behind.  Skating along the water's edge, he skips easily along the liquid and dances up the lily to perch in the phosphorus purple sky.  Miles away, his eyes twitch down to the spoils of his mischief: a locket, large in his hands.  It is brass, with a gold chain, and metal clasp.  Zym clicks it open to reveal a beautiful portrait of an elven maiden - a noble perhaps.  With a proud grin, Zym snaps the locket shut, tying it onto his back and, with a bolt and a blur, disappears into the Underwood...

At A Glance

In 5th Edition, a Quickling is a tiny, mischievous fey of lightning speed.  They think and act quickly, moving faster than the untrained eye can track, and most creatures see them as mere blurs.
  To a Quickling, however, the outside world is painfully slow.  They see it all in transfixed time, not unlike our recent renditions of Quicksilver on the big screen.  This boring world with a lack of motion and meaning creates a creature of jittery purpose and mobility.  If a Quickling is ever "at rest", it would be found pacing, and not for long.
  They are the plight of the of those that wander the strange forests of the Fey, tying shoelaces, stealing coin purses, tricks of artful malice; and though they sometimes blur their chaotic intentions and sew violent discord, they never seek to murder...at least not directly.

An Insult Too Many

Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, is not to be left waiting.  To do so is to incur the wrath of one of the oldest and most powerful Archfey in existence.  And yet, this exact insult is the crux of a Quickling's lineage.
  Once a race of egotistical, lazy, and narcissistic Fey, these gluttonous creatures ignored and delayed a summons one too many from their great Queen.  So, as an Archfey is want to do, she cursed them.
  Their tall frames were shrunk to tiny sprites.  Their slow minds quickened to an alarming, maddening speed.  These Fey, under their new life, would never be late again, the insolence of their hubris burned into the fibers of their being.

By The Numbers

These are tiny, fast, hyper dextrous creatures with itty-bitty hit points and decent AC.  They won't last long in a fight, though, at least not one on one.  But just as an army of squirrels is still an army, 1d4+6 (Dexterity of at least 22!?) adds up right quick, and with their evasive, blurred movement, if ever your adventures happen upon a batch of them, they'll need a better strategy than "stab it until it dies."

Quicklings in the Ionian Feywild

Unlike other entries, the Quickling's Faerunian lore fits perfectly already into the core concepts and forces that rule my Feywild and its regions.  The only adjustment here may be in the relationship of the Quickling's curse.  
  While I am certain that some Quicklings worship their Queen openly, I would assume that many harbor a great ill will toward the Queen, and a great fear to never act on it.  I, being a cruel world-builder, have woven a long, manipulated memory into the Quickling that spins the Queen's actions as an act of salvation.
  The lazy Fey would certainly have perished without her "blessing," so they worship and serve her without question.  In fact, the most zealous and devout Quicklings will create "orders" and guilds in direct service to the Winter Court so as to gain the Queen's favor.  Such favor achieved...is rare, and if ever it happens, THAT Quickling may actually last in a one-on-one fight.  
So if a chill breeze follows a Quickling, exercise caution if you mean to chase it into the Deep Wood.

See you in the forest.
-Adamus

Source: Quicklings and their official 5th Edition attributes can be found in Volo's Guide To Monsters, published by Wizards of the Coast.

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