Inktober Monstrosities: S for Spriggan

The Spriggan is a nasty creature from Cornish mythology. They were depicted as grotesquely ugly, wizened old men with childlike heads. They were known for being unpleasant and mischievous, frightening travelers, destroying crops and stealing children. Normally they were small in size, but it was sometimes thought that they were the ghosts of giants, and so able to swell massively in size.

In D&D, a spriggan in small form is depicted as an unusually ugly gnome, that when it feels the need, can grow in size from small to a massive brute. They first appeared in the Monster Manual II for AD&D first edition, then later in the Greyhawk Appendix to the Monstrous Compendium and the Monstrous Manual for second edition, and finally the Fiend Folio for third edition.