Looking for a new supernatural creature

[MonkofLords]

I am attempting to create a City Setting, and I'm just curious if anyone knows of any sort of supernatural creature that eats or removes memories. I don't want to go the cheap way of "of course no one knows about them, they can take your memories away!" and see if I can pull on something real.

[bibliophile20]

I remember one... but suddenly I can't remember a thing about it...  

Honestly, though, there are a couple of routes you can play with here.

Route one: bargain with the Fey; as Lea showed during Bianca's ball, the Fey, or at least some of them, are capable of precisely targeted amnesia.  So a Fey that trades memories for boons is completely believable.  Demons work, too.

Route two: a beastie from the Nevernever that feeds on thought and memories; it doesn't have to be sapient, but could just be something following its instincts; for additional fun, have it be a larvae of something that's alot smarter and is getting older.

Basically, define which approach will work better for your purposes, the sapient bargainer or the instinctual hunter, and then start designing something to fit.

[HobbitGuy1420]

A broad class of being, called Memnovores, much as fear-eaters are called Phobophages.

[devonapple]

Or make it an infovore Outsider, literally feeding on the information in their heads.

[UmbraLux]

I am attempting to create a City Setting, and I'm just curious if anyone knows of any sort of supernatural creature that eats or removes memories. I don't want to go the cheap way of "of course no one knows about them, they can take your memories away!" and see if I can pull on something real.

The Baku are dream eaters. 

[HobbitGuy1420]

Oooh.  got the perfect folklore phenomenon to use for this memnovore. 

"alien" abductions.

It's a spirit, demon, outsider, or some other memory-eating critter from the Nevernever.  It catches folks, eats various pieces of their pasts, eats the time it spent eating them, then leaves them by the side of the road.

[MonkofLords]

Well, I did remember that instance with the Fae, but I can't really make this a direct deal, and it needs to work fairly wide scale.

A Never Never beasty of some sort could work too, but it does need to be sentient.

Baku seem interesting, but I do want to stick to memories, and the "alien" thing is a little too out their for my purposes.

My original idea was a different court of Vampires that kept their numbers artificially low so they wouldn't be easily detected, and so that their weaknesses couldn't easily be figured out, but I didn't want to just randomly come up with a new court.

[devonapple]

My original idea was a different court of Vampires that kept their numbers artificially low so they wouldn't be easily detected, and so that their weaknesses couldn't easily be figured out, but I didn't want to just randomly come up with a new court.

Maybe you want to try another take on the Jade Court?

[bibliophile20]

My original idea was a different court of Vampires that kept their numbers artificially low so they wouldn't be easily detected, and so that their weaknesses couldn't easily be figured out, but I didn't want to just randomly come up with a new court.

According to WoJ, there are three more Vampire Courts out there, but they're at the level of "mosquitoes". 

[MonkofLords]

According to WoJ, there are three more Vampire Courts out there, but they're at the level of "mosquitoes". 

Well, these guys need to be a bit more threatening than that.

Let's go with the Memnovores thing, and try to get more specific. I really don't want them to be Fae if I don't have to...so I need a sentient creature, that gets more experienced the more memories it eats, and needs to be basically human with its wants and desires (can be bribed, etc.). Beyond that, those are my only real requirements.

[bibliophile20]

Illithids?

And "mosquito" was more a reference to their impact on the level of international/interplanar affairs; individually, any vampire is still going to be deadly.  And when we already have a class of emotion-eating vampires, other choice bits of what it means to be human--our memories--become a viable storytelling option.  And as you said they keep their numbers artificially low, that's what made me think of the three minor courts. 

[MonkofLords]

Illithids?

And "mosquito" was more a reference to their impact on the level of international/interplanar affairs; individually, any vampire is still going to be deadly.  And when we already have a class of emotion-eating vampires, other choice bits of what it means to be human--our memories--become a viable storytelling option.  And as you said they keep their numbers artificially low, that's what made me think of the three minor courts. 

Oh, yes, the court I was designing would definitely not have enough manpower to really be political players. Essentially, I just need them to help someone create a large group of mindless people, ready for the taking. As for weaknesses, I was just piecing together a variety of random Vampire myths, and the in story explanation being that this group has spent a great deal of time falsely attributing these weaknesses to other courts, thus confusing what they are actually weak against.

[UmbraLux]

My original idea was a different court of Vampires that kept their numbers artificially low so they wouldn't be easily detected, and so that their weaknesses couldn't easily be figured out, but I didn't want to just randomly come up with a new court.

Well, the Yara-ma-yha-who is a vampiric 'identity' stealer.  But, if you can fit them into your story, some fallout from

(click to show/hide)

the Oblivion War or Venatori

may also work.  The lotus eaters from Odysseus bring up another, less combat centric, option.

Let's go with the Memnovores thing, and try to get more specific. I really don't want them to be Fae if I don't have to...so I need a sentient creature, that gets more experienced the more memories it eats, and needs to be basically human with its wants and desires (can be bribed, etc.). Beyond that, those are my only real requirements.

Have you decided what the Jade Court eats in your campaign yet?  Even if it's Chi / Spirit / Life Force, it could affect memory either as a side effect or another power.

[devonapple]

In RuneQuest, the Morocanth, a species of carnivorous, sapient ground sloth, developed a spell that turns humans into the equivalent of herd animals. You want a monster, but one can also consider that someone just got hold of the right spell/ritual (sponsored or otherwise).

[admiralducksauce]

You could adapt the strigoi/striga/moroi/shtriga as a creature that eats memories.  Maybe combine that with the baku and say that the folkloric creatures are two interpretations of the same beastie.