Of t all the myriad hosts that lurk or prowl about the threshold of the world of mortal beings, waiting for the call of whosoever would dare to become their master, if only for an hour or for the commission of one desperate act, the twelve beings recorded by Kudara within the Scroll of Seven Scintillant Shadows remain a mainstay of many a sorcerer's arcane arsenal.
Call of the Twelve
Level: 2
Duration: 1 Round +1 round per two levels of caster
Range: 20'
Caster causes a glimmering black dodecahedral umbralith to form between their outstretched hands. The twelve-faces of the object correspond to a particular minor plane and the caster suffers 1d4 damage per round that they hold onto the thing. Once cast, the umbralith crumbles as it rolls and randomly summons forth one creature per level of the caster, each with 2 HD. Only those beings specified by Kudara can be summoned by this method. Tampering with the underlying structure of the spell is strenuously discouraged. Exploration of Kudara's spells in particular are best left to advanced students working under direct supervision.
Kudara also provided instructions for fashioning alternative forms of Umbraliths for use in a variety of summoning operations, unfortunately much of her work was lost in the Fall of Urnassos during the Eleven Year War. Kudara herself died in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Wermspittle from Black Smoke inhalation. Quite a number of spurious works and dangerous forgeries bearing her name have cropped up ever since.
Twelve Lesser Servitors of Kudara
- Oltrinnugarri. Inscrutable twelve-limbed land-dwelling pseudoctopi savages with six eyes, the Oltrinnugarri wield slender wire-wrapped javelins and poisoned darts with exceptional accuracy (+1 to hit). Unfortunately the poison that coats their darts tends to be nullified by their transition into this strata of reality. They are immune to Charms and most coercive spells. When summoned, the caster can only point to a foe or a direction and get out of the way. It is rumored that if more than three Oltrinnugarri are called forth at the same time, they might have the means to hold open the connection and call more of their cold-blooded brethren through the aperture. So far there has been no record of such a thing happening, but still, one does wonder.
[AL C, MV 90' (90'), AC 6, HD 2, #AT 1d4, DG 1d4+1 per javelin/dart, SV F2, ML 6] - Ujjaleer. A massive mound of slow-moving green sand that wails mournfully as it drifts against the wind at an odd angle. Whether it is sentient or not is pointless; this sand is highly toxic and seems to be attracted to all forms of water. It abrades everyone within a 12' radius for 1d4 damage, those so damaged need to Save at -1 penalty against the contaminants in the sand, failure indicates that the wounds inflicted by the Ujjaleer's abrasive attacks become necrotic (double previous damage), success allows the wounds to crust-over to leave gruesome scars that will throb painfully near other planar portals and the like.
- Blue Eels. Screeching, gasping predators from a vast ocean realm, these beasts flop about fitfully outside of the waters of their home. There are those who suspect that this is a flawed transcription error, that these aren't the creatures actually intended to be called by Kudara.
[AL N, MV 90' (30'), AC 6, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d4 (bite), SV F1, ML 3] - Pojigon. Maroon and ochre ape-things in octagon-linked chain-mail, wielding crescent-shaped bardiches, muskets and war-clubs. They are the descendants of a mercenary band of Marmosets stranded far away from their ancestral lands due to the treachery of a duplicitous abhuman sorcerer they know only by the name 'Naragol.' Punctilious and professional, the Pojigon will seek to accept the surrender of any foe they face under the command of a summoner.
[AL L, MV 120' (40'), AC 4, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d6+1/3d4/1d4+1, SV F2, ML 10] - Glivver Pok. Garishly-plumed six-limbed weasels who chitter insanely as they seek to gnaw or claw their designated prey into gibbets of raw, red flesh. They really, really like the color red, but are not intelligent enough to attempt to barter or parley. They simply attack until killed or the summons expires.
[AL C, MV 150' (50'), AC 6, HD 2, #AT 2 or 1, DG 1d4/1d4 or 1d6 (bite), SV T2, ML 8. Special: If for any reason the Glivver Pok taste the caster's blood, they gain the ability to summon themselves back to that spell-caster once again.] - Green Snails. Fat, bulbous green snails in iron-reinforced war-shells. They wield special dart-knives attached to their reproductive organs, which they plunge into the bodies of their opponents. Sedentary and flabby, they prefer to watch over things or to perform guard duties when possible. Each time a specific caster summons the Green Snails, they accrue an additional 5% chance of attracting the attention of the Snail's masters.
[AL N, MV 30' (10'), AC 2, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 2d4+1, SV F2, ML 4. Special: Take double damage from salt-based attacks.] - Yiggo Bosh. Levitating yellow and white-banded anemone-things. The Yiggo Bosh despise all beings exhibiting bilateral symmetry. They can lash out in any direction, up to a distance of 10' and deliver a painful sting that ignores any organic material used as armor. Metals cause them 1d4 damage on contact. They fear mirrors and will seek to flee if confronted by reflective surfaces.
[AL C, MV 60', AC 6, HD 2, #AT 1d4, DG 1d4+poison per attack (Save or take double damage), SV MU 2, ML 6 (drops to 2 if presented a mirror).] - Ochre Swarm. A buzzing cloud of translucent flies. They are blind, but capable to sensing body heat. they swarm their intended victims in an attempt to fill their guts to bursting.
[AL N, MV 90', AC 8, HD 2, #AT 1, DG (Special), SV MU 2, ML 11. Special: Swarm Attack roll 1d4 and consult following--1) Take 2d4 damage. Save to take half. 2) Take 1d4 damage per round. If victim takes in excess of 10 points of damage, they take an additional 3d6 from ruptured stomach. Save for half. 3) Take 3d4 damage. Successful Save indicates reflexive vomiting expels swarm before it can do further damage. Victim unconscious for 1d4 Turns. 4) Take 2d4 damage. Save or take double damage.] - Rudigoth. Blue-salt encrusted skeletons of vaguely humanoid beings with overly-long limbs and egg-shaped and crested skulls. They flicker with the dim memory of lives exhausted in their perpetual service to merciless deities best not named. Those they slay, they take back with them.
[AL N, MV 90' (30'), AC 5, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d4 +2 (cold-metal spears), SV F2, ML 10. Special: Immune to all mind-influencing spells. Cannot be turned, only destroyed.] - Pelx. Dun colored four-legged and four armed mice with four digits on each limb. They constantly mutter and whine to themselves, switching to another language once they realize anyone can understand them. Each of their four eyes glows with a virulent form of gray energy that corrodes magically-embedded items as though they were so much zinc in an acid bath. Their bite is poisonous, causing the victim's skin to slough off in nasty strips.
[AL C, MV 120' (40'), AC 5, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d6 weapon or bite for 1d4 + Poison (Save of take 1d4 per round for 1d4 rounds as skin sloughs off), SV MU 2, ML 6] - Sadinax. Sixteen-foot tall, four-ton walruses who carve their great scything tusks into skrimshaw totems. Their hide is thick and heavily scarred, often deliberately scarred to show their history and to commemorate great battles, and so forth. Called forth by this spell, The Call of the Twelve, they will not deign to serve, but instead will send twice the usual number of 2' tall shaggy, spindly lemur-like hominids clad in rattan armor and wielding an assortment of smaller forms of combat cutlery. These nameless, mindless creatures charge screaming into battle, frothing at the lips and heedless of any and all threats. They collapse into frothy masses of gray foam that leaves a sweet-smelling black sediment wherever they fall in battle.
[AL N, MV 120' (40'), AC 5, HD 2, #AT 2, DG 1d4/1d4, SV F2, ML n/a: Frenzied.] - Jonnov. Bipedal turtle-things with no visible head or face. They waddle into battle with an uncanny sense of their immediate surroundings that makes it all but impossible to surprise them. They are grenadiers and crossbow-users, preferring to keep their enemies at a distance as much as possible. Pink gill-lung palps are located beneath their arms, retracted into the shell during combat.
[AL N, MV 90' (30'), AC 3, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d6 or 3d6 (affects 12' radius), SV F2, ML 10]
