Meet the Ikorni: Tiny Fey with Big Potential for Your D&D 5e Campaign

Spring Has Sprung in your DnD 5e Game

The sun is out, the temperature is rising, and new life is beginning. Seedlings sprout aspiring to one day be ancient trees that spread their branches to mingle with the clouds. Who planted these seeds? Who is the caretaker of the forest? Introducing the Ikorni (e-korn-nai) a benevolent fey creature dedicated to planting new life in your Dungeons and Dragons 5e game.

Who hasn’t sat and watched a squirrel prepare an acorn hoard for hibernation, watching as the tiny rodents dart from trees, rushing to the ground in a frantic energy to hastily bury acorns for winter.

Each year the arboreal rodents stash away seeds, but this entertaining accident is how new forests are created. In a fantasy world what if it wasn’t an accident but the machinations of a tiny fey? Today I’ll introduce you the Ikorni—sometimes called a “green strider”—a squirrel-shaped fey creature that lives to sow life in the world.

The Ikorni is a tiny fey that looks identical a regular squirrel, with one big execption. Each Ikorni has a tail unique to match their personality. One individual may have a fern leaf in place of fluffy fur, another may sprout a plume of hawk feathers, a third brandishes a tail completely made of twigs bound in leather bands, the last one shimmers in a rainbow of vibrant colors. Regardless they all have one thing in common, the drive to sow life in wild places.

Roll on the table below to help decide how your ikorni expresses itself.

Roll 1d4 to determine the unique physical trait of your ikorni

1 Fern Leaf Fur: This Ikorni has fern leaves growing where fluffy fur would normally be.

2 Hawk Feather Plume: Instead of fur, a plume of hawk feathers sprouts from their body.

3 Twig Tail: Their tail is made entirely of twigs, neatly bound with a leather band.

4 Rainbow Tail: They sport a vibrant rainbow-colored tail, shimmering in magical hues.

Though the ikorni are tiny creatures, they come equip with a handful of abilities that help fulfill their tasks. These creatures were gifted a set of runes from Culochlan, the nature god of small gifts. These rodents use these glyphs to empower seeds with life giving magic. Using their sharp teeth the ikorni etch these symbols onto seeds before planting. As the seeds sprout the magic imbued inside spreads into the surrounding area.

There are three runes in total; the rune of life, the rune of abundance and the run of vitality.

The rune of life gives living energy to scarred and desolate land to help grow new forests

The rune of abundance boosts the production of fruit and seeds

The rune of vitality grants power to seedlings to grow into hardy trees

These runes can be gifted to individuals who have proven themselves to be allies to nature. In your game you can reward these boons to your players in place of magic items.

Boons

The ikorni, though small have incredible power, power they gladly share with anyone they consider an ally to nature. If you want to grant a boon to a party of low level Player Characters, the ikorni have three non-game breaking options to choose from. If your party befriends an ikorni, the fey creature may bestow one of the following magical boons

Vitality- grants temp hp equal to the casters proficiency bonus and spellcasting modifier

Life- this boon allows the user to cast Aid. This spell grows in power to match the casters level. At level 1 cast as a first level spell. At character level 5, 10 and 15 the boon gains an additional spell slot increasing the max hit points by 5.

Abundance- allows the caster to max out the dice when casting a healing spell. So instead of rolling the dice for healing, the caster instead uses the highest value of the dice.

A player character can only receive a single boon. Each boon can be used 1/day and the player character regains the use of the ability each day at dawn.

Arch Enemies

Just like their sprite cousins, the ikorni share a fear and hatred of giant spiders and ettercaps who prey on their diminutive size. Adventurers often find the ikorni side-by-side with sprites, forming a unique alliance against their common enemy—your party may be sent on a quest to drive out a nest of giant spiders so the ikorni can return life to a ravaged forest.

Allies

Dryads, sprites, and pixies form communities along side ikorni. Satyrs might play harmless pranks, while treants fiercely protect the tiny arboreal fey. Druids of all forms call the ikorni friend.

How do you use the monster?

This table can be used as inspiration to create an adventure around the ikorni.

Roll 1d4 to determine the type of adventure your party embarks on

1 The Ikorni hire the adventurers to eliminate a nest of invading giant spiders or rescue an important NPC tangled in the spiders’ web.

2 The party is tasked with seeking out an Ikorni to learn its restorative runes.

3 A druid sends the party to a neighboring forest to find an Ikorni, hoping they can heal a dying forest. Contact reveals that the affliction has spread—now the PCs must help the fey before returning.

4 The adventurers must aid a group of Ikorni to negotiate with a guild of lumberjacks before the group disrupts the balance in the forest. If negotiations fail, sabotage is always an option.

Conclusion

Your campaign may not have room for a new monster stat block to manage, if you’re running a fey inspired game but don’t have room to add a new monster with a different stat block, you could add the boons above onto any fey creature. Sprites or Pixies could fill the same niche, but the ikorni could be a fun new way to add interest into your game.