Gloomshadow (Wermspittle)

Gloomshadow
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral (70%), Chaotic (30%)
Movement: 90' (Hypergeometrical Folding)
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 3+2
Attacks: 1
Damage: (Special)
Save: F6
Morale: 12

Will 40
Vigor 0

Weird roiling and billowing amorphous creatures that resemble hazy, green-gray smears of non-light, Gloomshadows are sentient forms of immaterial photomorphic pseudolife from beyond the Arch of Lindraxis. These things tend to coruscate and oscillate in response to any observer's movements as though it was aware of those observing them. They encourage and invite psychic contact, that they might communicate with those ignorant of their true natures, so that they might infiltrate the minds of vulnerable meat-animals, that they might make puppets out of those foolish enough to open themselves up to these horrid parasitical creatures.

They forcibly possess victims by a form of invasive telepathic insinuation that resembles a sapient sword's attempt to dominate a wielder. A successful Insinuation attempt will result in the Gloomshadow taking over the victim's body. Should the host be reduced to 0 hp or less, the Gloomshadow will withdraw and attempt to possess some other likely-seeming candidate. The dead are of no interest to them.

Gloomshadows move by virtue of folding themselves along various hypergeometrical axes, allowing them to appear anywhere within a 90' radius at will. They are also extremely susceptible to being trapped by magical squares, tetrahedrons, circles and other figures, diagrams and matrices. It is considered a fitting test for fledgling sorcerers to summon forth, trap and bind a low-level Gloomshadow in some societies, schools and cliques. There are hundreds of scrolls, tomes and treatises describing myriads of different experiments, applications, and strategies for working with a Gloomshadow including the creation of special golems, constructs, and other such items. There are those who believe that the Umbra-Blades of the Jaladari consist of bound Gloomshadows, but this has not been proven conclusively by any reliable source.

It is rumored to be possible to bind a Gloomshadow into a small, tightly wound matrix that would allow the wielder to make use of their Hypergeometrical Folding ability, however this is a difficult and very dangerous undertaking--the Gloomshadow is far more prone to fold the would-be user into a fatal position such as deep within a solid object. Despite the risks, this remains a major area of inquiry and experiment...

Most respectable Oneirists and Ectomancers reject any claim of there being a relationship between the Gloomshadows and Gloomswallows, apart from an unfortunate similarity in terms of their respective names. Of course, this does not rule out the possibility of a Gloomshadow-possessed Gloomswallow...a thoroughly disquieting thought indeed...