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...