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| by Dave Allsop |
Honestly, I like it mostly because of the way it was drawn in 4e. The blue and red seems like a bad idea - too cartoonish - but for whatever reason, it works.
When I look at this monster, I immediately imagine its voice. To me, this is a new york city cab driver going: "Hey, youse look delicious" and tearing off goo from his belly and chucking it at some guy who won't stop honking their horn at him.
The miniature was sublime as well. Check it out:
The mini doesn't look exactly like the art, but it is definitely striking. My friend Matt noted at the time this mini came out that someone sculpting these miniatures spent a lot of time on the butts. If you turn this mini around, he does indeed have a detailed butt. Many other minis had them, too, each carefully rounded and dimpled.
I have dug through every old product I could think of to pull up as much information on the solamith. There really isn't all that much. Most of the time, they are used as "some monster" in a lair - a guard or sentry.
We don't know if they have an abyssal layer of their own, we don't know if there is a demon lord that spawns them, we don't even really know how the whole "eating people" thing works. Can they communicate with the creatures they devour? Can they access their knowledge? Can they devour the people's clothes and items, too? Are there magic items rattling around in those bellies, and do the solamiths gain power from them?
To me, there is just a ton of potential in these monsters. But, like so many, they've been lost in the endless march of creation. There's a lot of cool D&D things that are made, put into a book, and then left to collect dust, as people seem more focused on making new things than developing the awesome things that are already there.
Looking around on the internet, I see virtually nobody talking about this monster, aside from settling the mini. Let's fix that!
Monster Manual 5
"A corpulent monstrosity at least 10 feet tall lumbers forward on slablike legs. Rings of flabby flesh cradle at its horned head. Pressing out against the green-veined and pallid skin of its great gut are screaming faces."
Appearance:
- Weighs up to a ton.
- Horned head has burning eyes and flat teeth.
- Skin "...pale with bright green veins." The 3e solamith looks cool, but I prefer the 4e version with the blue skin.
Soulfire: The solamith can tear flesh from its body (taking 5 damage) and hurl that flesh up to 100 feet away. The flesh explodes in a 20-foot-radius, doing fire damage. If it deals more damage to itself, it can increase the radius and the damage.
Soulfire Retort: When hit with a melee attack, the Solamith can unleash a 15-foot cone of soulfire.
It can summon 1d2 solamiths once per day.
"A solamith is a manifestation of depraved gluttony and burning hunger, drawing energy from the spirit it devours. That power charges its flesh with spiritual fire, which it uses against its enemies by tearing away and hurling bits of its own body."
Eating: Solamiths scour the Abyss for lesser demons and petitioners to eat, despite requiring no sustenance.
They tear their victims to pieces, but become "dainty eaters," chewing slowly and enjoying each morsel. Once the meal is finished, a new face appears under the skin in their gut, pleading for release.
"Solamiths are animalistic and savage, except when they eat." They are content to prowl the Abyss, paying no heed to the suffering they cause.
Role: Solamiths wander the Abyss. Some serve as artillery in armies.
"When in the presence of a more powerful demon or evil entity, a solamith fawns and snivels, hoping to be taken in as a pet or prized soldier."
They don't collect treasure.
Quinix's Gatehouse Guards: Quinix is a glabrezu who lives in a ruined city as a ruler of gnolls and lesser fiends. He has two solamiths who guards the city gates. They sometimes attack the gnolls and servants, as they are a bit "too zealous."
4e Manual of the Planes
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| by Steve Ellis |
I love this book.
"A corpulent creature of all-consuming hunger, the solamith attacks by tearing off chunks of itself and hurling the wads of necrotized, exploding tissue at enemies. Those it slays, it devours to replenish its spent flesh."
Claw: Does regular damage and fire damage.
Soulfire: The solamith can tear chunks of itself off to throw. "The solamith cannot reduce itself to 0 hit points or fewer in the fashion." It has three options as far as throwing chunks. It can take 5-15 points of damage. The explosions now do fire and necrotic damage.
Soulfire Retort: When it takes damage from melee, it fires off a cone of fire and necrotic, which also pushes the enemy 5 feet.
"Despite its imposing bulk, a solamith is a soft target that must rely on protection from its allies."
Solamith Lore:
- "Its favorite food is the flesh of mortal humanoids."
- "When the creature finishes, a tortured face appears under the skin of the demon's belly - a spiritual echo of the dead creature's soul."
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| by Felipe Torrent |
This book is a collection of mini-adventures.
Caverns of Demise: In this adventure, the heroes seek out the caverns in the hopes of finding the Bloody Maul of Kord, a magic item that the church of Kord lent to an NPC who was slain in the caverns.
"In truth, the Caverns of Demise are a nexus of planar portals, an area where the fabric of reality is susceptible to incursions from other planes."
The first section of the dungeon has a portal to the Feywild. Quicklings and a treant have taken it over.
The second section has a portal to the "Elemental Chaos", which encompasses both the elemental planes and the Abyss. A bunch of creatures came through - infernal bats, a salamander, and two solamiths!
"Two ponderous demons with tortured faces showing through their stratched bellies crouch in a pair of alcoves, while a number of fiery bats flit through the air."
Field of Everflame: "When a gate or portal to a fiery region of the Elemental Chaos remains open for several centuries, a small area around it can become imbued with the magic of everflame."
In case you are wondering, the third area has a portal to the Far Realm, which contains a beholder (!), a rakshasa (!!) and two Far Realm insanity portal traps (!!!).
The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos
Mal Arundak, the Bastion of Confusion: There is a fortress in the Abyss where angels believe that they are guarding the trapped essence of the Chained God, Tharizdun. They've been tricked. The angels have been here so long that the Abyss has transformed them into demons. They have horns, their wings are fiery, but the former angels are not aware of their dread transformation.
In the vast wasteland near Mal Arundak, there is a vast, unmoving demon called Asag. "This strange being engulfs any creature that attempts to gain refreshment from its sparkling but poisoned waters."
Several solamiths dwell within burrows dug into Asag's massive body!
It doesn't say exactly what Asag looks like, other than that it resembles a "shining and treeless oasis." How does a demon look like an oasis? Is it underneath it or something?
Dungeon Magazine #163
Brink of Madness: This is an adventure about the Far Realm, the third part of a well-received arc called "The Tear of Ioun."
The Demon Pit: The heroes are making their way through the fortress of the bad guy. One area is known as the Demon Pit: "These room bear witness to Malachi's dealings with demons."
There are a bunch of demons in this area. A solamith is in the actual demon pit:
"An obese demon surges from the pit, its belly a glowing red mass distended from its blue body. Tortured faces press against the skin of its abdomen as if trapped within. The demon has clawed hands, a horned head, and a fanged maw. From its belly it rips a chunk, which begins to smolder and smoke."
E3 Prince of Undeath
This is an amazing adventure. Orcus stabs the Raven Queen with a shard of evil and she is slowly dying. It is up to you to save her!
This adventure has a variant of a solamith in it - the solamith hunter. The creature shows up three times in this scenario.
The first solamith hunters are part of a blood war squad. These 2 solamiths are teamed up with an immolith and a shadow demon.
Level Up: Basically, the solamith hunters are just higher level solamiths with beefed up stats. Regular solamiths are level 15, these guys are level 30. They take 8-32 damage when they use their soulfire.
Later, Orcus uses more hunters to guard a different area. The description: "A corpulent demon with a bulging belly of wailing, decomposing faces tears off chunks of itself and hurls them toward you."
A solamith is used a third time, guarding the door to the Raven Queen's throne room where she lays, dying. Check out the flavor:
"A maelstrom of souls swirls above this grand courtyard, screaming like a cyclone. Two reflecting pools tainted with blood stretch to either side..."
That's it! That is all I could find. Let me know if solamiths have appeared anywhere else. I feel like I might have missed something.
2 comments:
Red shroud use them as guards in héros citadel of Pazunia
Nice! There is no 5E version, is there?
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