H Is for Hiawatha’s Friends
This week, after wheedling for more than a year, I’m finally getting to teach Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha to my 5th graders. At the same time, as part of Latin class, we’re studying Penelope Lively’s In Search of a Homeland, a retelling of Virgil’s The Aeneid. We are so epic! Today I take a break from Tiamat’s Throne to provide quick Swords & Wizardry stats for two of Hiawatha’s friends.
Two good friends had Hiawatha,
Singled out from all the others,
Bound to him in closet union,
And to whom he gave the right hand
Of his heart, in joy and sorrow;
Chibiabos, the musician,
And the very strong man, Kwasind.
Chibiabos
Hit Dice: 7+7
Armor Class: 5 [14] (9 [10] unarmored)
Attacks: By weapon
Saving Throw: 9
Special: Amazing powers of song
Move: 12
Alignment: Law
Challenge Level/XP: 10/1,400
Chibiabos possesses amazing powers of song. When he sings, even normal animals — both domestic and wild — will stop what they’re doing in order to listen to his beautiful music. Of course, this desire to hear Chibiabos’s pleasing melodies won’t cause an animal to endanger itself or passively tolerate hostile action. With a happy song, Chibiabos can cause all humanoids who hear him to feel at peace. With a sad song, he causes the same to become sorrowful. Again, these feelings cannot cause anyone to endanger themselves or ignore obvious threats. As if these powers aren’t enough, Chibiabos can “cast” these spells, one at a time, once per day each, through his music: charm monster, charm plants, and mass charm.
Kwasind
Hit Dice: 8+14
Armor Class: 3 [16] (7 [12] unarmored)
Attacks: By weapon (double damage)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Amazing strength
Move: 15
Alignment: Law
Challenge Level/XP: 10/1,400
Kwasind possesses amazing strength. His melee and thrown weapons inflict double normal damage, and even his unarmed attacks inflict 1d6 points of damage. He can hurl boulders as a stone giant (3d6 points of damage). Kwasind is powerful enough to tear apart stone structures with his bare hands as a half-strength earth elemental.
I never learned Song of Hiawatha – good thing because memorization isn’t my best subject.