Candlewerm [Wermspittle]

One of the first creatures one learns to Summon, Call or Bind at the Academy is a Candlewerm. The little beasts make excellent 'first servitors' for those students who've never yet had a pet or gained a Familiar. Besides carrying around candles or torches, these things can be taught simple tricks...like the time a student trained a Candlewerm to wield a wand...with rather mixed results.

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Candlewerm
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 30' (10') [Climb Walls]
Armor Class: 8 [as Leather]
Hit Dice: 1 hit point
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1 point
Save: MU1
Morale: 6 [11 if made a Servitor]

Special: Blind (Immune to visual illusions, Glamers, Figments), Able to climb vertical surfaces, Vague Empathy allows them to mostly understand a few verbal commands.

Candlewerms are among the most common, minor forms of Servitors known in Wermspittle. The little things are not suited to service as Familiar, but they are intensely loyal and surprisingly clever--if one takes the time to train them to do more than just lug around a lit candle or carry a torch in their specialized mouth-parts.

Certain obscure treatises claim that it is possible to enhance minor servitors like the Candlewerms, but few spell-casters ever make that much effort as it is considered a waste of time.

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A spell-caster may choose to invest as much as 10% but no less than 1% of their recently earned XP to enhance their Candlewerm, allowing the creature to gain additional hit dice as if advancing as a magic-user at 10% of the normal XP cost and never gaining the ability to cast spells...unless further measures are taken to elevate the simple wermic-brain of the creature...but this sort of thing is strenuously discouraged on campus...

Grotesk: Zaalu

Modified Version of
Drie monsters, by Anonymous, Arent van Bolten, Pierre Firens, c. 1604 - c. 1616.

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Zaalu
No. Enc.: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20')
Armor Class: 8[11] (as Leather)
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4 or by weapon
Save: F2
Morale: 9 [Improves by 1 each time they roll a natural 20 to hit.]

One of the more commonly encountered forms of Grotesks, the Zaalu are typically covered from hoof to head in light gray, white or yellow-white hair and never willingly wear clothing, preferring to charge into battle naked. They possess a pair of stunted wings that form a protective mantle about their shoulders. Despite the wings they are flightless. Sure-footed and excellent climbers, they cannot swim and generally avoid bodies of water. They are often mistakenly categorized as sexless, but this is not exactly correct; each individual is an egg-layer and they can produce 1d4 eggs every three months with or without the assistance of any other Zaalu. They do not sell their eggs to non-Zaalu, but have been known to cook and eat their own eggs while engaged in long-term guard duty or military service.

Zaalu prefer to wield short-spears that have spiked-hafts just behind the diamond-shaped tip that can be used as long-handled maces. They also carry short swords or daggers as secondary weapons and tend to rely on slings as their preferred missile-weapon as their hands tend to be too small for anything other than a light hunting bow or child's prodd.

Zaalu claim to be descended from ancestors who were abandoned, lost or trapped in the Low-Lands and while most do try to see their deformities as a mark of distinction and pride, as they have been taught by their elders, there has always been a lingering sense of resentment among the Zaalu for those who were able to leave the Low-Lands and whose ancestors escaped the ravages of the plagues, poxes and pestilences that have so twisted and changed them into what they have become...which is still a matter of strenuous debate among scholars, surgeons and other authorities.

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Source of Inspiration: Drie Monsters, a print from the 1600s. The Zaalu and numerous other varieties of Grotesk-kin can be found all over the Low-Lands outside Wermspittle thanks to the lingering effects of ancient weapons that still pollute the soil, water and air with strange teratological compounds... 

The Twenty-Fourth Entity (Thirty-Six Configurations)

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Cold and calculating, be not fooled by this being's assumed form; it is a ruse, a mask, an unsubtle disguise. It preys upon the members of an insect species that inhabit various interstitial realms. It consumes their brains, absorbing their memories, subverts their existence. It never attempts to masquerade as any of the individuals it has taken over. It is far to vain for such a ploy. It is this vanity that one can exploit to draw the entity forth, trap it thoroughly within the Cerulean Hexagon, and bind it to a pact...if such a thing is truly desired. But be warned; the Twenty-Fourth Entity is a poor host and a worse guest. It knows no limits, respects no boundaries save those imposed by triply-reinforced willpower and backed up by powerful spells. It will seek to gain your trust. It will do everything in its power to convince you to let it go free, to rescind the Hexagon. Should you do so--- [the rest of this page of the manuscript is rendered illegible due to some sort of persistent blue fungal stain at this point].

Adilak,

On the Twenty-Fourth Entity

Excerpted by permission from,

The Book of Thirty-Six Configurations

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To Call Forth the Twenty-Fourth Entity...
The sweet scent of scarab-shells and parsley, mixed with a half-measure of Purple Amber and patchouli (preferably in oil form), are called for in all the standard texts that refer to this being. Copious amounts are to be cast upon large braziers filled with blazing coals. The smoke should fill the entire chamber of art. The chalk used in inscribing the restrictive geometries is not explicitly specified, however Otrimeer of Balg has noted that the chalk crafted from the spiritually-fossilized crustaceal beasts of Pon'Du tends to work marvelously well.

The Twenty-Fourth Configuration is quite an informal thing, compared to the others. One merely forms a double dodecahedral inscription upon the floor--an entirely 2-dimensional representation--and fills the space to overflowing with the prescribed materials in the recommended forms. Child's play, really, when compared to some of the more demanding Configurations.

Boswile's Incordium Vitae has an entire 52-page sub-chapter devoted exclusively to this specific Entity. Someone really should decrypt it from the Voynick cipher he used to conceal his extensive insights into the nature and quality of this Entity in particular.

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Summon Entity of the Twenty-Fourth Configuration is a very specific variation on the Summon Entity spell which in turn is a modification of the more common Summon Demon spell, as are almost all of the Thirty-Six Configurations.

Summon the Twenty-Forth Entity
Level: 6
Duration: See Below
Range: 10'

This spell is one of six that are rather lax in their use of a special diagram (The so-called "Twenty-Fourth Configuration"). As outlined above, there is no step-by-step procedure, nor any schematic for drawing this diagram in Adilak's The Thirty-Six Configurations. Instead, in this instance, it is left up to the ingeniousness and imagination of the would-be caster.

As with all other forms of Adilak's notorious Thirty-Six Configurations, using the spell without the proper diagram will result in the spell not working at all (70%) or something else being summoned without any sort of protection, binding or pact (30%). Using the spell with an incomplete or inaccurate 'configuration' will have a slightly better chance of operating at least partly correctly (Failure: 75%, Something Else Summoned: 20%, Contact with the Entity: 4%, Success: 1%). Using a complete and correctly-configured diagram causes the spell to work 100% correctly, but then the caster still needs to define any pact and/or bargain with the entity for any service(s) desired of it. It is assumed that anyone seeking to cast such a Summons will take appropriate safeguards and make all the necessary preparations.

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The Twenty-Fourth Entity
No. App.: 1 (Unique)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (Innate Passwall/Planeshift ability)
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 9  (9th Level spell-caster, uses d6 for HD)
Attacks: 1d6+1 (tentacle-stings) or Spell
Damage: 1d4 per tentacle, or by Spell
Save: MU9
Morale: 11*

Special: Cast Dispel Magic up to 6 times per day, but only upon inanimate objects that it physically touches (treat as a tentacle-sting attack if opposed). The effect persists for 1d100 hours per item affected. Once the dispel-effect wears off, randomly re-roll (or otherwise) re-determine the magical capabilities of the affected object. There could be a Save allowed for each pre-existing ability, success permitting that particular ability to survive intact, but that's optional.

Spells Available per day (By Level): 3,3,3,2,1

Typical Spells Known

• First Level: Charm Person, Dalrin's Lesser Call, Detect Magic, Ermhalgo's Javelin, Repel/Attract Black Smoke, Shield.
• Second Level: Abstraction, Barricade (Minor), Call of the Twelve, Contraventory Injunction, ESP, Knock, Levitate.
• Third Level: Aethyric Agitation, Black Chatter, Clairvoyance, Fire Ball, Greenflames, Protection from Firearms, Shatter Bones.
• Fourth Level: Confusion, Dimension Door, Efflugent Wrath, Sottarix's Six Clouds, Wall of Scintillant Shards.
• Fifth Level: Contact Other Plane, Feeblemind, Magic Jar.

The Twenty-Fourth Entity appears in the form of an Interstitial Insectoid. This body is a ruse, an undead shell occupied by the actual Entity. This Entity is most often called upon to lend guidance and instruction in the practical skills involved in necromancy. Not the spells, but the underlying skills such as the preservation of organs, dissection, the various types of sutures utilized in reassembling cadavers, reinforcing bones, flaying of hides, reattaching ligaments, solutions for maintaining the pliability of joints, how to reduce flesh to essential saltes, the formulae for various reanimatory fluids, techniques of mummification, magical implications of certain types of burial, The Three Secret Languages of the Ghouls, and more. They can also provide access to a number of banned and censured text-books containing a wide range of necromantic lore, much of which has been lost or forgotten for decades, if not centuries. But all this comes at a price. Of course.

The Twenty-Fourth Entity requires the still-living brains of intelligent insects. It will refuse to impart any of its secret knowledge until a deal is struck and a suitable bounty of brains has been delivered unto it. Each minor secret is worth 1d4 brains, more important things are worth correspondingly larger numbers of brains. Access to some of the black grimoires it holds would be worth scores of brains. But even for a hundred brains, the Entity will only oversee the transcription and copying of a few select spells from these books, and will never consent to relinquishing them to anyone else.

In some cases, the Entity will consent to bartering spells of equal level on a one-for-one basis. All the spells are entirely necromantic in nature, even the ones that duplicate or parallel certain of the more common spells such as Hold Portal, in this case the spell calls forth a whispering cloud of skeletal hands that forcibly holds the designated doorway closed. Most of these spells are fairly simple revisions of the standard sort, and quite obviously not really worth the trouble, except to a dedicated necromantic student, who, quite frankly, ought to already have access to most of these spells.

This is a duplicitous and manipulative Entity. One given to lies and subterfuge. Its motives remain opaque and undetermined. Perhaps it is seeking after specific spells, hence the willingness to barter. No one knows for sure. All that is certain is that the Entity's demands grow increasingly steep, becoming unreasonable fairly quickly.

Should the Twenty-Fourth Entity be reduced to less than half its normal HD due to violent means, it will withdraw, leaving behind the undead form of a 9th level insectoid necromancer. It has watched and heard and knows everything that the Entity did while in control of its form. That was the bargain they struck more than a hundred years ago. The necromantic insectoid will not be pleased to have the arrangement terminated abruptly. They will seek to withdraw, using guile and lies, or misdirection and force if necessary, so that they may recover, rebuild and prepare themselves for another encounter with those who drove away its patron. They will have revenge.

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*When confronted with the Threefold Loop of Iglavob this entity suffers a -6 penalty to Morale and will seek to avoid all contact with whomever wields the enigmatic icon. However, anyone having the temerity to inflict this hateful execration upon the Twenty-Fourth Entity earns its eternal enmity...and it is an exceptionally vengeful creature...though if it is forced to abandon the current host, it is unclear what form they will take next time...

Twelve Lesser Servitors of Kudara

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.

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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.

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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.

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Twelve Lesser Servitors of Kudara

1. 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]
2. 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.
3. 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]
4. 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]
5. 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.]
6. 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.]
7. 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).]
8. 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.]
9. 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.]
10. 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]
11. 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.]
12. 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]

Ten Wicked Little Things (plus Dalrin's Lesser Call)

Wicked things can sometimes come in tiny packages like these minor horrors from unsavory otherplaces and dubious otherwhens. Each creature can be summoned forth via Dalrin's Lesser Call, a very minor variant of Monster Summoning. Of course, those who are familiar with that spell could also substitute these things for the usual creatures called forth by their more powerful summons, should that appeal to their sorcerous sensibilities...

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Dalrin's Lesser Call (Flawed Transcription)
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: 150 feet
Duration: Requires 1d4 minutes to take effect
The caster gains the ability to summon forth a very minor monster in exchange for a small quantity of their own blood. For every 1d4 points of self-inflicted damage the caster invests into the spell grants them either one additional 1 hp monster summoned, or gives the summoned creature 1 additional hit point. The creatures called forth obey commands of fewer than six words and dissolve into a foul black stain after half an hour or less.

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The uncorrected version of this spell is left in circulation among apprentices and other students of sorcery as a sort of test or object lesson in the making. It is rumored that Dalrin copied the original over from a banned grimoire that corrupted and twisted his mind, thus explaining his penchant for self-mutilation as a core-mechanism and component in all six of his surviving his spells. Cheap block-printed scrolls of this spell are often available for a few coppers.

Dalrin's Lesser Call (Corrected Transcription)
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: 60 feet
Duration: Immediate
The caster summons forth a number of minor monsters equal to their level. Each creature so summoned has 1 hit point per caster's Level and they persist for 10 minutes per caster's Level. In some versions of this spell the summoned creatures do not fade out when the spell expires, but rather they collapse into lumps of protoplasmic goo that dries into a dull, yellowish grit.

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This spell is never revealed to a first-year student. Until they acquire enough sophistication in their spell-work there's no point in confounding them with too many variants and alternatives to the spells they are already attempting to commit to memory.

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Ten Wicked Little Things (1 HD)

1. Bulazing. Blue-veined sagebrush-like plant-things that clump epiphytically onto any exposed flesh they can reach. They cause 1 hp of damage forcing their roots into the host's bloodsteam, then begin to purge the blood of all toxins. Effectively, this is a hostile application of Neutralize Poison (LL. p.24). The area surrounding the root-wound is rendered a distinctive splotchy blue. Those who have been touched by the Bulazing gain a +1 bonus to all reaction rolls and morale checks in relation to plant-based organisms for the next hour, unfortunately, they also reek of rotten cabbage and attract wandering monsters at double the normal frequency for the duration of the effect.
   
   [AL N, MV (See above), AC n/a, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (Root-bite), DG 1hp (See above), SV MU 1, ML 8]
2. Delve Urchins. There are six varieties of Delve Urchin listed in the Animalum Malificarum. All of them categorized by coloration patterns depicted in elegant watercolor illustrations. They exude a somnolescent venom from their spines that causes those stung to fall into a deep, restful sleep for 1d4 hours per hit point of the urchin. spell-casters often summon these things when having bouts of insomnia. they are otherwise harmless. The venom dissipates quickly and tends to evaporate before any significant quantity can be harvested.
   
   [AL N, MV 3' (1'), AC n/a, HD 1 (1d2), #AT 1 (sting+venom), DG none (Save or Sleep), SV MU 1, ML 3]
3. Tulush-Noy. Tiny bronze skeletons with scissor-like claws and horrible grinning mouths that drool a foul translucent blue ichor. The blue ichor is highly flammable. The scissor-claws are too small to inflict more than 1 hp of damage on anything larger than a mouse, but they are eager to try. Note: If using the Uncorrected Form of Dalrin's Lesser Call (see above), these creature's hit points are determined first, then the corresponding damage is inflicted on the caster automatically. All part of the service.
   
   [AL N, MV 60' (20'), AC 7, HD 1 (1d4), #AT 1 (scissor-claws), DG 1 hp, SV MU 1, ML 10]
4. Kir-Vhoff. Smoky gray globs of a buttery material that does not float,. It isn't clear whether the Kir-vhoff are extraplanar lichens, strange mold-colonies, or something altogether other. All that is known about the stuff is that it seeks out fingernails, latches on to any such that it encounters and promptly dissolves them. Those who loose finger or toe-nails to the Kir-Vhoff suffer a -1 penalty to all actions, move at half normal speed, and must keep the perpetually-seeping wounds bandaged for 1d4 weeks unless a Remove Curse or Cure Disease is used, in which case the wounds close-up in under an hour and new nails begin to grow naturally. A more robust form of Kir-vhoff are known to be bound into particular books, scrolls and instruction manuals either originating in Yukovia, or pertaining to things related to the exiled monarchs of that troubled state.
   
   [AL N, MV 3' (12'), AC 7,  HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (Nail-Bite), DG 1hp (Save or lose nails), SV MU 1, ML 3, unless within 30' of finger/toe nails in which case it's 9.]
5. Pig on the Wing. This swine flies through the air on a pair of membranous pink wings. It leaves a spotty trail of feculence in its wake, but the meat is delicious, if you can cook it before it fades away, according to certain self-declared authorities. It doesn't really have an attack, but it is well-suited to disrupting rituals, interrupting spell casts, making stairs even more treacherous and slippery, and soiling journals, workbooks and grimoires. The stains these things leave behind will permanently obscure any section of a recorded spell exposed to it, making that copy useless for anything other than a partial reference.
   
   [AL N, MV 50' (150'), AC 8, HD 1 (1), #AT 1 (dive crap), DG none (Save or Stain), SV MU 1, ML 6]
6. Nervik. Delicate, root-like masses of disembodied nerves drawn away from a richly flooded realm. The Nervik flutter and flit through the air, latching onto their victim and phasing into their body, to merge with their nervous system. Those affected by a Nervik experience momentary vertigo (1d4 minutes) before having their senses re-tuned to the bizarre undersea realm of these creatures for the next 1d4 Turns. During this time, the victim is completely unaware of their immediate surroundings and incapable of defending themselves. However, this effect is immediately broken upon their taking even 1 point of damage. Those under the influence of a Nervik are immune to all Charms, Sleep, and Suggestion spells for the duration of the bond. There is a slight chance of the observer becoming observed, with a corresponding chance that some thing that preys upon the Nervik might somehow latch onto the nervous system of the person bonded to it. But that almost never happens.
   
   [AL N, MV 30' (120'), AC n/a, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (nerve-merge), DG (See above), SV MU 1, ML 4 Note: Driven of by color yellow.]
7. Chalamigan. Pink and green phlegmy-mass that oozes slowly, obscenely through the air, never quite fully there. Should the Chalamigan  succeed in touching a victim, it will form a nasty, slimy layer across their outer surfaces, blinding them and requiring a Save against suffocation--but because the Chalamigan is not entirely manifest, a failed Save only means that the victim has passed-out.
   
   [AL N, MV 30' (120'), AC n/a, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (nerve-merge), DG (See above), SV MU 1, ML 4 Note: Those touched by a Chalamigan gain the ability to Speak with Slimes 1d4 times before the ability fades. Each time this ability is used, another Save is required, failure indicates that they have choked themselves into unconsciousness hacking up another Chalamigan.]
8. Drivi Clams. Black and brown whorled shellfish that form a layer covering just under 5', (This can be extended by investing blood/damage, of course).  The vicious little things will snap closed on anything that gets near them, causing 1 hp of damage per foot of surface traversed. A very minor nuisance, completely inedible, and reputed to cause dysentery if summoned inside a keg or wine barrel.
   
   [AL N, MV n/a, AC n/a, HD 1 (1 hp), #AT 1 (bite), DG 1hp (See above), SV MU 1, ML n/a]
9. Yovire. Three-winged tongues of bloated, unhealthy-looking grey-mauve flesh, the Yovire are considered an atrociously disgusting form of sensory vampire--they devour their victim's sense of taste--by attacking the tongue in a wet, sloppy, nausea-inducing assault. Those ravaged by the Yovire never really regain their sense of taste.
   
   [AL N, MV 5' (120'), AC 8, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (Tongue-lunge), DG (Save or vomit; see above), SV MU 1, ML 8. Note: The fit of vomiting induced by the Yovire has a 60% chance to clear ingested poisons. Recovering from their attack, regaining one's sense of taste, can take weeks unless Cure Disease is used.]
10. Zumimi Leeches. Squiggly pink leeches speckled with yellow pustules and trailing streaks of noxious slimy filth, the Zumimi Leeches are notorious for attacking the toes of their victims. They do very little real damage with their raspy bites, however their saliva suppresses the immune system of their victims, exposing them to infection, pox and parasitism. Unlike other creatures summoned by Dalrin's Lesser Calling, these things have a base 40% chance to persist past the expiration of the spell. Many a soldier confined to half-flooded trenches or forced to march through muddy fields have run afoul of these despicable little monsters, often losing a toe to the gangrenous rot brought on by untended little nicks and pricks.
    
    [AL N, MV 10' (30'), AC 7, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (bite), DG (% chance of infection), SV MU 1, ML 3.  Special: Repelled by Black Smoke Residue, otherwise known as Trench-Salt.]

You might also like the three variant spells and minor monsters such as the Squiggling Sores, Scabrous Servitors, or Fingerling Demonlets featured in our recent Spell Design Challenge post...or perhaps you might like to see another dozen Exotic Bivalves from Wermspittle?

The Ninth Entity (of the Thirty-Six Configurations)

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It comes from an arid and poisoned world. A place where acid taints the rain and the very dust tries to kill all it comes into contact with. A relic, derelict world, forgotten by its one-time masters and abandoned to the unkind caress of razor-winds and the slow-motion corrosion that have done their worst to bury or obliterate all traces of the past.

It is a product of arcane sciences and technological arts. But it is also a cast-off thing, an unwanted reminder of long ago days and violent nights when fables were flesh and things were different than they will ever be again.

It is alive, in a way. Autonomous in another, yet still it is bound. A creature of artifice, a destroyer by design; it would be something other...something more. Hungry for meaning, it wanders through bitter realms and broken worlds looking, ever seeking. Always driven onward by the emptiness within, it has become a warrior in search of a soul to call its own.

Adilak (Osri Duradage),

On the Ninth Entity

excerpted with permission from

The Thirty-Six Configurations

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To Call Forth the Ninth Entity
The Ninth Configuration is to be made upon a bare concrete floor using powdered rust and broken fragments taken from a destroyed construct. Each of the inner junctures is to be drawn into a small loop within which a candle, glowbulb, or other light-source is to be placed. The outer points of the diagram are to be drawn to a razor-fine point. There are other details, but most of them are either obscured by bloodstains or obliterated by scorch-marks. The one legible footnote refers to using a spell referred to as 'The Recapitulation of The Bitter Dust of Ain,' in some manner to properly prepare the space for the formation of the prescribed diagram. A note in the margin alludes to some sort of generator, but whether or not this is necessary for the spell to work is unclear.

The Ninth Entity can be summoned, theoretically, despite the extensive damage done to the grimoires and other papers of Adilak after the purge of the Chartreuse Cantors in 1198. Of the series of Thirty-Six Configurations attributed to Adilak, only six still survive and of those only two are considered functionally complete. The Ninth is one of the more notorious fragments, an incomplete configuration that becomes something of an obsession among those devoted to the esoteric mechanics of translocation, transport and summoning.

Panzure's Panoptical Lexicon is rumored to hold an 'unapproved' version of the Ninth Configuration, which he copied from his one-time mentor's library without permission. It is believed by more than a few experts in such matters that, were one to acquire an authentic copy of Panzure's book, it would very likely make it possible to re-construct the Ninth Configuration once again. Poorly-bound forgeries of this book have been known to fetch sizable sums at auction, though some collectors have been known to wreak a terrible vengeance on those who attempt to pass such things off on them. Book selling can be a risky business at times; especially when it comes to obscure grimoires and haunted texts probably best left to the more experienced buyers and aficionados of such rare and dangerous things.

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Summon Entity of the Ninth Configuration is a very specific variation on the Summon Entity spell which in turn is a modification of the more common Summon Demon spell.

Summon Entity of the Ninth Configuration
Level: 7
Duration: See below
Range: 10'

This spell makes use of a special diagram (The so-called "Ninth Configuration"). A step-by-step procedural outline and schematic for drawing this diagram is provided in Adilak's The Thirty-Six Configurations, however most extant copies are incomplete, damaged or simply missing (often stolen by agents of unscrupulous collectors). Using the spell without the proper diagram will result in the spell not working at all (30%) or something else being summoned without any sort of protection, binding or pact (70%). Using the spell with an incomplete or inaccurate diagram will have a slightly better chance of operating at least partly correctly (Failure: 15%, Something Else Summoned: 80%, Contact with the Entity: 4%, Success: 1%). Using the complete and correct diagram causes the spell to work 100% correctly, but then the caster still needs to define any pact and/or bargain with the entity for any service(s) desired of it.

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Entity of the Ninth Configuration: The Servitor in Search of a Soul
Minor Summonable Entity
No. Enc.: 1 (Unique)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (most environments)
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 2 (weapons)
Damage: by weapon
Save: F8
Morale: 10 (7 if bound by spell)

Special Abilities: +4 on all Saves. Ambidextrous. Does not need to breathe. Regenerates 1d4/turn. Infravision to 90'.

Immunities: Unaffected by all mind-affecting magics such as Charm, Sleep, Telepathy or Illusions. Cannot be detected by ESP or other psychic abilities. Immune to Acid attacks.

Weapons: +2 Battle-Axe (does double damage on an unmodified roll of 19 or better), +2 Flexible War-Flail (wielded as a flail, but strikes as a sword or as a whip, on demand, inflicts 3d4 damage, can be used to block an opponent's attack instead of making a normal attack). Both weapons are crafted (grown?) from a non-corroding yellow metal that retains a very sharp edge.

This Entity has no name associated with it currently. It does not respond to ecclesiastical healing and cannot be Raised if destroyed. It does not eat, drink or sleep. It remembers everything it has observed (eidetic memory), but rarely shares details regarding its past. This reticence may be overcome by non-magical means (multiple CHAR Checks, Reaction Rolls, etc.).

The Entity is driven by its desire to gain a soul for itself.

If properly bound, the entity will serve faithfully for one full year, which it reckons according to the world it originated upon (roughly 246+1d100 days).