Roachlings

"Both the cockroach and the bird would get along very well without us, although the cockroach would miss us most."

Joseph Wood Krutch

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Roachlings
No. Enc.: 10-100
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20') Climb Walls as Thief.
Armor Class: 7 (as Leather and Shield)
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 2 at -1 to hit, or 1 at +1 to hit.
Damage: Half of normal damage for Melee weapons.
Save: F10
Morale: 8 (Suffer -4 to Morale in Bright Light)

Special: Climb Walls, Hide in Shadows and Move Silently as Thieves. Some specimens advance as Thieves or Magic Users. All Roachlings are capable of extruding 'gut-crystals' and/or 'milk.'

Ranging from 1' to 3' tall when walking upright, Roachlings are rarely if ever encountered alone. They know full well the dangers of the Bright Places and avoid them as much as possible, except for a few demented or deranged individuals who have developed a taste for adventuring in the humanish world.

Roachlings can extrude a messy yellowish-pink goo that they dredge up from their mid-gut and work into a thick, viscous material that sets-up like a form of pinkish amber. This so-called 'gut-crystal' is packed with nutrition and is much sought-after by the Candy Makers and Confectioners.

They used to sell their 'milk' to anyone, especially during the harsh winter months, but during the First Pruztian Occupation the Roachlings banded together and made a contract with the Maidens of the Well who have held a monopoly over the roaches' 'milk' in Wermspittle ever since. This of course has led to some friction over the years with the Confectioners who likewise signed an exclusive arrangement with the Roachlings in regards to their 'gut-crystals.' To this day it is not uncommon to see gangs of Candystripers or Sweethearts ambushing or accosting lone Milk Maids. It is rumored that the Milk Maids are in negotiations with the Sisterhood of Swans to gain some protection from the Candy Maker's servants and agents...

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"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it."

Donald Knuth, as quoted by Alan Kay

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Before the Great War there were rumors that a number of rival Orders and some Academic Libraries were using swarms of literate Roachlings to transcribe ancient scrolls, clay tablets, illicit manuscripts, and other sorts of things in secret. None of the groups accused of this crime have ever admitted to it and no one was ever punished for it, allowing many Yellow Journalists to decry this as some sort of hoax or fraudulent account. Nonetheless it would account for the Roachlings acquisition of both literacy and spell-casting capabilities...and their disturbing access to some extremely archaic forms of spells and rites few modern scholars know beyond off-hand mentions in the records of defunct organizations or the vague descriptions offered in decaying popular texts from centuries ago...

A more disturbing claim is that while employed as scribes and archivists by their various masters, the Roachlings slipped a few sarcastic comments, pornographic marginalia and even some critical yet subtle errors into the works they copied. Thus it is common practice to blame faulty spells, gibberish scrolls or mis-translated rites to the Roachlings...despite nothing ever having been proven.

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There is a wonderful little article at Science Alert that gives a bit more detail on the 'Super Food of the Future, Cockroach Milk. Obviously, such a food-source would be critically important in the winter in Wermspittle...too bad it is in such short supply...

Straw Troopers

My life has been so short that I really know nothing whatever. I was only made day before yesterday. What happened in the world before that time is all unknown to me...

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Strohtruppen (Straw Troopers)
[also referred to as Mulltruppen (Junk-Troops)]
No. Enc.: 3d6
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40'0
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6 (Weapon)
Save: F4
Morale: 12

Strohtruppen, or Straw Troopers, are soft automatons constructed from the uniforms of the fallen, captured regimental banners, bloody bandages, blanket-rolls and then packed with straw, moss, rags, more bloody bandages, tent flaps and anything else that can be scrounged. They are equipped with whatever weapons are to be found, usually pole-arms, bayonets, broken rifles, make-shift clubs and the like. No one expects them to do anything except follow whatever orders they receive without question or hesitation, no matter the danger or the stupidity. They have no true intelligence and can only carry out the simplest of commands and then only if they are delivered at high volume, as these things tend to be hard of hearing. They also cannot see much farther than 200', though they can see as clearly in the dark as they do in the daylight. In addition they are unaffected by Hold, Charm, Sleep, ESP, most forms of glamer or illusion and Fear effects. There are rumors that a specialized form of Hold spell has been developed by the Franzikan Military College, but if this sort of thing does exist, it is not in open circulation at this time.

Straw Troopers are so very similar to the crude Fodder Golems and Corn Dollies crafted by farm communities in the Low Lands that most scholars agree that these things are essentially the militarized, modernized versions of those more humble, rustic forms of soft automatons.

Commandant Zulmer of the the Wall Guard has come under intense criticism for allegedly approving a plan to bolster the units along the Inner Ramparts with an unverified number of Strohtruppen and salvaged Fyters. Some of the most scathing condemnation has come from the ultra-conservative Black Rose Coalition who control nearly a third of the Security Council. Representatives of the Black Rose demand that instead of resorting to such inhuman things as Straw Troopers to reinforce the ranks of the seriously depleted Wall Guard units, that they instead return to the time-honored practice of utilizing undead soldiers...

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Soft Automata include Fodder Golems, Bannerbearers, Leatherim, Corn Dollies, Teerkinder, and others. They lack the inherent toughness of traditional automata and are most often employed in a short-term, disposable manner.

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Source of Inspiration: The Scarecrow from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as seen through the lens of Mr. Frazer's The Golden Bough, with a touch of Arthur Machen: "...it is my belief that an awful lore is not yet dead."

Illardin

Illardin
Hit Dice: 1 to 3
Armor Class: 8 [11]
Attacks: 1 (eye-beam for 1d4+1)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Limited ESP, Telepathy, Telekinesis, Suffer Double Damage from Poison.
Move: Innate Levitation
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 5/240+

Equally at home underwater or the surface world, Illardin are intensely curious beings who are fascinated with all aspects of magic and spell casting. If the Illardin recognize someone as a spell-caster of any sort whatsoever, they will attempt to convince this person to become their mentor. Anyone agreeing to teach the Illardin must Save or fall under the effect of a Geas making it impossible for them to advance any further within their primary spell-casting class until such time as they have successfully taught one spell to the Illardin. Successfully teaching a spell to these creatures eliminates the Geas, however there is a base 30% chance that the Illardin will recommend the player character's services to their friends and family, resulting in more 'students' appearing every few weeks.

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More Swords & Wizardry Stuff at Hereticwerks

Arctic Fireballs

"An Arctic fire-ball had traversed the sky, showering abroad, a sulphurous glamour over the snow-landscape. Before the intenser blue of its momentary shine had passed away, I saw Wilson stagger forward, and drop. And him and his lantern I buried deep there under the rubble ice."

The Purple Cloud,

by M.P. Shiel

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Arctic Fireballs
(Polar Irrlicht)

No. Enc.: 1

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Movement: 360 (120)

Armor Class: 

Hit Dice: 6

Attacks: 1 (constant / area effect)

Damage: 1d6 (20' radius)

Save: MU6

Morale: 8

Special: Anyone looking directly at one of these creatures must make a Save or go blind for 1d6 Turns. Repeatedly gazing into the searing blue light incurs a cumulative penalty of -1 on all subsequent Saves. Failing a Save three times in a row results in the blindness becoming permanent.
Damage inflicted within its area of effect alternates randomly between extreme heat and extreme cold.

When reduced to zero hp the creature explodes as an Incendiary Cloud (75%) or Ice Storm (25%).

Shimmering immaterial horrors from beyond the Arctic Circle, these effulgent orbs of preternatural azure flame plunge headlong through the night leaving trails of sparks and sulphurous fumes in their wake. Unquiet beasts of uncertain provenance, they make a fearful and easily distinguishable roar in their travels. It is described as being something akin to a stuttering sort of thunder one feels in their bones more than it assaults the ears, according to the accounts of various survivors. Even before the uncanny sound might be heard, a searing blue light will sweep across the landscape evaporating shadows and blinding any foolish enough to look too closely into the source of this weird radiance.

Unnatural things, intrusive forces from some Parallel Realm or malign sphere of existence few know anything about, there are many unanswered questions regarding these mysterious, sinister creatures and too few definite answers...

There are those who would reward any intrepid investigator who successfully uncovers a clue as to the actual identity of these things or any facts regarding their ultimate nature. Divinations and prognostications do not work on these things necessitating the gathering of intelligence by the time-honored process of discrete pursuit and patient observation...

Recent Developments

1. An Ill-Advised Attempt at Binding one of these things has resulted in the death of four students, leaving three others horribly burned and their Student Advisor Miss Kalisham missing and presumed either Displaced or possibly disintegrated. The Board of Inquiry is seeking the advice of anyone with what might pass for a reasonable amount of credible knowledge in these sorts of matters i.e. direct, personal experience in dealing with malevolent Irrlichts and related things.

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2. Mandival Kosrigand, a nearly destitute disgraced scholar with a penchant for exotic forms of Black Liquor claimed to have captured a specimen of what he prefers to refer to as an Effulgent Azure Orb, if only to annoy his detractors and rivals. When a group of his peers broke down the door to his study all they found was his charred corpse and what remained of his papers scattered in total disarray. Perhaps his method worked and someone moved to snatch it away before he could share it with anyone else. Maybe he was the victim of spontaneous combustion and there's nothing more to the matter. All that is certain is that someone would do well to take a closer look at things, just in case some sort of sorcerous skullduggery might be afoot...who knows who might be the next victim...

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3. A lone Forager who was presumed lost for three weeks reappeared just recently telling a bizarre tale about a strange series of caverns where all the exposed surfaces were vitrified to the point of being nearly glass-like due to the efforts of a '...radiant blue sphere of corruscating flame wreathed in a halo of sulphorous fumes that resented all intrusions upon its secret domain.' Allegedly the Forager was able to escape, but became lost in the Middle Deeps and was forced to wander through numerous unmapped areas before finally stumbling across a Sewer Militia Antekeep on the banks of a deep, cold river. They've only just left the custody of the Sewer Militia and word of their misadventure has spread quickly.

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4. Nasigallir of Greft, renowned for her research into photovoltaic phenomena has put out a call for research assistants and support staff, including a contract with a notorious fully licensed band of Pruztian deserters mercenaries...rumor has it that she intends to hunt down and either capture or destroy a number of Arctic Fireballs as part of her ongoing efforts at weaponizing various forms of Irrlichts under her grant and Letter of Patent & Marque bestowed upon her by Baron Ludrivarca Bollingern, master of one of the 'violently independent freeholds' that have seceded from the Empire now that the War has descended into anarchy and chaos. The Baron is not a man who abides chaos. At all.

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Inspiration: The quote from M. P. Shiel's The Purple Cloud was the starting point for this nasty luminous horror that was somehow brought back from the Arctic by some ill-fated expedition or another. Perhaps it is somehow connected to the Inner City at the Two Magnetic Poles and the Dno-Hna Formula or is it one of the ancient and shining foulnesses that fester between the angles of Yr and Nhhgr? Possibly...

Zinn Soldiers (Combat Automata of Wermspittle)

The Soldier is a splendid manWhen marching on parade,And when he meets the enemyHe never is afraid.He rights the wrongs of nations,His country's flag defends,The foe he'll fight with great delight,But seldom fights his friends...

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Bad translations of the surviving interrogation transcripts leaked by Yellow Journalists during the collapse of the First Pruztian Occupation have led to many inconsistencies and much speculation regarding the origination and derivation of the various forms of combat automata known as 'Zinn Soldiers,' so-called because of their special alloy-plating.

Zinn Soldiers (Conscript Demi-Automata)
No. Enc.: 1d4
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 3 (as Plate Mail)
Hit Dice: 2+
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6, or by weapon
Save: F2+
Morale: 11

Special: Unlike Fyters, Zinn Soldiers gain experience in their respective class(es). Most are Fighters, but some are more specialized and a rare few are dual-classed. Also Zinn-plated portions of these soldiers gain a +4 bonus to all Saves versus acid, corrosion, Black Smoke, Purple Vapors, etc. However Zinn Soldiers still need to breathe, even if their face or head has been reconstructed, thus they remain at risk from poison gas and can drown or suffocate.

Zinn Soldiers are conscripted troops that have been rebuilt from the shattered remains of badly wounded and dismembered soldiers recovered from the battlefield. Originally the process was something of a progressive and aggressive replacement of lost body-parts with cheap zinn-plated prosthetic limbs. Zinn Soldiers usually retain some portions of their original human bodies whereas Fyters never had any experience of the flesh, having been turned out as fully functional automata from the factories.

Those troops, including a few higher echelon officers and the like, that have only received a simple replacement hand, foot, arm or leg were returned to their units with little fanfare. Those unfortunates that required more extensive efforts on the part of the battlefield surgeons lost more than just their human appearance as they were summarily conscripted into special infantry units made-up entirely of survivors like themselves, all of whom were now relegated to permanent service with no chance of release until after the cessation of hostilities, and even then only by special dispensation in recognition of outstanding service. These units, while often small in number, served as shocktroops and kommando units, often being the first ones in and the last ones out, especially if things went badly. Having already been documented and listed as killed in action, these troops were seen as eminently expendable by the High Kommand.

In the last months of the Great War a number of Zinn soldiers refused obviously suicidal orders, opting instead to either desert or rebel against their commanders. As more and more of the Zinn soldiers became troublesome and rebellious, they were replaced by Fyters, combat automata that had never known life of any kind and lacking sort of flesh or remnants of humanity. The introduction of the first Fyters resulted in a majority of Zinn Soldiers withdrawing from the field of battle to either go back to their homelands or to march off in a random direction in search of some place they could claim as their own. Not being at all sympathetic to their once-loyal troops, the Pruztian High Kommand condemned these traitors and set specialized units of Maschine Killers the task of hunting down and destroying disloyal Zinn Soldiers.

It is rumored that many Zinn Soldiers have since found aid and support among the Borderland Keeps and other Pruztian settlements located outside the Imperial City and those enclaves directly connected by Unterrail or other means. A sort of outlawry has arisen along the frontier of the Empire with Zinn Soldiers taking over various Lakeside Manors and other fortified locations and engaging in acts of banditry and subversion against the Nobility and their lawful representatives and agents. Some few are making names for themselves as disciplined units of Freikorps and perhaps they shall one day redeem their reputations and force some sort of reconciliation with the empire. Others wantonly destroy everything in their way as they wander across the wilderness, rootless and aimless and ripe for some well-spoken warlord or other such opportunist to set them to nearly any sort of mischief.

Based upon actual reports from the battlefields and given unofficial sanction by certain highly placed individuals who spoke under condition of anonymity, lurid horror stories concerning a few flawed individual Zinn soldiers, possibly damaged in combat, caught in the attempt to replace portions of their zinn-plated limbs or internal systems with bits of flesh taken from corpses or in some cases still-living victims. Nearly all of those aberrant individuals were summarily executed upon discovery of their hideous acts. Thankfully this seems to be a relatively rare thing, but all manner of macabre rumors and horror stories are in circulation and fill the pages of Nickle Dreadfuls and less reputable scandal sheets.

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Since the end(?) of the War few specialists have the skills or knowledge to construct Zinn-prosthetics or to attach them to still-living human remains. Those few who do possess this specialized knowledge tend to be kept under close watch deep within the most heavily-guarded and fortified sections of the Imperial City or one of the major redoubts used by the High Kommand.

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There are of course numerous rumors of undead Zinn Soldiers, but there has been no verifiable proof of their existence and the High Kommand strenuously denies that any such thing is even possible...

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Zinn is an alloy (98% tin, 2% lead, antimony, and other elements including a trace amount of Green Powder used in the Plattnerizing process) that is highly resistant to acids, poisons, fungi, mold and to some extent even the milder forms of Black Smoke. The exact formulation of Zinn was classified as a state secret by the Pruztian High Chancellery and knowledge of the formula was strictly limited on a need-to-know basis for more than fifty years and zealously guarded by the descendants of the Baumhoffer family until some agent or agents unknown managed to steal the notebooks, records and original test samples from the Baumhoffer family vault. The Prustian Imperial Laboratories have never been able to successfully duplicate the original formula for Zinn, though they have come up with a number of other useful alloys and compounds.

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Inspiration: The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum which is available at Project Gutenberg, Wikisource or at Open Library.

Yellow Brick Roads

"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour."

Charles Dickens

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Yellow bricks do not seem all that threatening, except perhaps in the midst of a riot when someone might lob one through a window or something, yet the yellow brick roads leading to and from the Jumbles, the Barrier Woods, the White Orchard, the Inner Ramparts, and especially the Eastern Rampart are a lingering source of dread and an ever-present reminder of the implacable, ever encroaching, inhumanly patient things that rule over the ruins of more than one Adjacent World.

After the bombs stopped falling and people got on with the hard work of surviving and re-building things no one gave much thought to the yellow bricks they dug out of the wreckage and ruins. Even fractured, chipped and half-broken bricks were put to use in reconstructing hearths, homes tenement walls and market stalls. No one realized that the bricks were infected, no one would have cared that all the roads paved with these bricks led back to centers of pestilence, hotbeds of disease and infection. By the time anyone started to ask questions about something as commonplace and ordinary as bricks and the old roads originally built from them, it was well past the point of doing anything about it.

The old roads had been there before even the Three Camps were first established on the plateau where Wermspittle was in time founded. The yellow brick roads were older than the mounds where the rocks are cut with spirals of Aklo. Only the Blue Walls deep below are older, according to the descendants of the Etrurian outcasts who interred their honored dead and kept the Mystery Rites of their people in the outer caves. A few academics quibbled over increasingly esoteric and rarefied theories as to who built the roads and why, but for the most part people just took them for granted.

Crude, rectangular blocks of some dense, yet porous and highly durable unglazed ceramic; the old yellow bricks had endured millennia of exposure to the elements and to the ravages of all out war. It was only natural that the survivors put the bricks dislodged and torn loose by the bombs and artillery barrages to work patching their walls and shops and homes.

It wasn't until after the rebuilding effort was well underway that something terrible happened at the Eastern Section of the Inner Ramparts. The Guardhouse is surrounded by blazing pyres and quarantined under penalty of death. The survivors have all been issued flame-throwers and a small group of Puritans have been welcomed to assist with the constant burning of whatever has infected the lower levels of the all-but-abandoned Guardhouse.

Commandant Zulmer has sent scouts along the winding, twisting lengths of the various branches and by-ways of the old yellow brick roads. The way leading into Wermspittle from the Eastern Keep has been closed to all civilian traffic, unless they are transporting loads of 20 gallon glass jars of acid back toward the Guardhouse. All through the city yellow bricks are beginning to soften and to seep a sweet-smelling fluid with the unmistakable aftertaste of corruption and decay...and people exposed to the fluid began to chuckle until their mouths bled, their faces contorted in a hideous rictus that was somewhere between a scream and a smile. The lucky ones died well before their bodies blossomed into wet fronds of long dormant fungi...

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Inspiration: The Yellow Peril by M. P. Shiel provided a meaningful (if slightly sordid) detour through some troubling history that was actually more than a little pertinent to this stuff, even if it isn't necessarily immediately obvious; Mister Sardonicus and The Man Who Laughs both contributed a little to the proceedings; Mr. Lovecraft's The Shunned House; Ambrose Bierce's An Inhabitant of Carcosa; Mr. Chambers' The King in Yellow,..and of course L Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...as well as a certain song from 1973. And Yes, there is a definite, distinct connection between the Yellow Brick Roads and the Sickly Yellow Phantoms and Yellow Kids...as well as the Inner Ramparts.

Palegator

"Writing fantasy lets me imagine a great deal more than, say, writing about alligators, and lets me write about places more distant than Florida, but I can tell you things about Florida and alligators, let you make the connection all on your own."

Terry Brooks

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Palegator
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20')
Armor Class: 5 (as Chain Mail)
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 1 (Bite or Tail-slap)
Damage: 1d6+2 (bite), 2d4+2 (tail-slap)
Save: F6
Morale: 6

Special: On a natural to hit roll of 20 the creatures' Bite does half damage but it then locks its jaws and begins to roll or thrash about causing 3d4 automatic damage until it is dislodged. Likewise on a natural 20 to hit with the Tail-slap the target must Save or be knocked flat.

Vicious pernicious predators that slither and skulk in shadows and sewers, the Palegator is one of the more fearsome beasts that the Sewer Militia must face on an all too regular basis. The record for largest Palegator encountered to date is 27' at over 1,800lbs. Larger specimens are believed to lurk within the Middle Deeps or lower regions.

Heavy Leather armor fashioned from Palegator hide is much sought after by non-commissioned officers within the Sewer Militia mostly due to the legends and lies that have grown up around their regular encounters and hunting efforts. Many of them have sustained grievous wounds or injuries in the course of hunting, trapping and killing Palegators and so have taken to wearing the hide as a mark of honor. It is also worth noting that Commissioned Officers who have never actually been involved in one of these hunting expeditions are 'informally banned' from wearing this particular type of armor as it is seen as an insult by most of the rank and file.

A smaller, more agile sub-type of Palegator is to be found exclusively within the White Orchard. These creatures are notorious for ambushing unwary visitors who allow themselves to get dazzled or distracted. A small number of these beasts were recently acquired by a small clique of sorcerers who are rumored to be attempting to breed these things so as to create miniature varieties that might serve as either familiars or servitors. Of course this is all based upon the statements of a group of disgruntled adventurers who claim that they were not adequately compensated for their efforts. The sorcerer's identified in this claim have made no official statement.

There is a thriving market for Palegator eggs, especially in the Autumn and Winter months. Hatchlings are notable for their mottled coloration and while less desirable due to the attendant risks and hassles of handling them will still fetch a modest price year round. However, a hatchling that is nearly devoid of all markings is worth a great deal to some spell-casters, certain cultists and a few collectors of peculiar things. Should one encounter such a thing, it is best to remain discrete lest one tempt some interested party to resort to cheap and quick violence instead of haggling with opportunists...

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Source of Inspiration: "Boys shoveling snow into a manhole discovered a 6-foot gator trying to make his escape from the sewer. The boys lassoed the sickly saurian with a clothesline and dragged him up to street level. Because the gator snapped at the kids (and thus convinced them he could indeed be dangerous), they attacked him with shovels and killed him. Speculation was the gator had fallen off a passing steamer, swum to shore and found the entrance to the sewer."
The New York Times, February 1o, 1933. More such urban gator-tales at Snopes.

The Obscure

While fame impedes and constricts, obscurity wraps about a man like a mist; obscurity is dark, ample, and free; obscurity lets the mind take its way unimpeded. Over the obscure man is poured the merciful suffusion of darkness. None knows where he goes or comes. He may seek the truth and speak it; he alone is free; he alone is truthful, he alone is at peace...

Orlando

by Virginia Woolf

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There may be three or perhaps only five scholars and connivers who have achieved true Obscurity. Free from oversight, devoid of any restrictions, they relish their intellectual and personal autonomy. They walk through the halls of academia unnoticed and unacknowledged. Their watch everyone, observe everything, always quietly keeping to themselves and not getting involved. They are patient in their plotting and deeply resentful of their co-conspirators. It is disconcerting to know that one is not alone after all, that they each share their subtle anonymity with others, no matter how few in number.

Years they have wasted, each attempting to thwart the other, to derail the plans or machinations of their fellows...but always at a safe distance and under completely deniable circumstances. They have falsified records, hidden evidence, planted rumors like seeds sent forth on the wind, always working diligently from behind the scenes, uncredited and unsuspected.

No one noticed the deaths of their fallen colleagues. Even among themselves they remained only vaguely conversant with the rude outlines of one another's efforts, more an inferred presence than anything verifiable. They only started to pay attention when they realized that there were other players operating under other rules, others who were intruding upon the dawdling game among academics. The Unseen were very jealous of their position, the Murkim were apprehensive of their reputation, the Perdu would suffer no challenge to their prestige. No one noticed how one obscure academic after another met an untimely, unfortunate end. At least not until one of them attempted to speak out for fear of their life...

But who would listen to such a story? Who would care? Who could they turn to?

Perhaps a group of player characters...

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Source of Inspiration: Orlando by Virginia Woolf, which you can read about at Wikipedia, or actually read the thing yourself for free via Project Gutenberg Australia, or purchase a copy via Amazon or watch the movie with Tilda Swinton...

Pale Shadows

A shudder through the silence crept

And death athwart the noonlight swept…

Graves closed round my path of life,

The beautiful had fled;

Pale Shadows wandered by my side,

And whispered of the dead.’

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Pale Shadows
No. Enc.: 1d4
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90' (30') [Cannot traverse areas of magical Darkness]
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1
Damage: Special
Save: MU2
Morale: 10

Special: Cannot be Turned. Can only be struck by Blackened/Darkened or magical weapons or spells. Darkness destroys them.

Pale Shadows are encountered occasionally near the Jumbles and certain disreputable shrines, sometimes within the Glowfield, but mostly they are to be found within the White Orchard. Fragile, ephemeral things, they are sometimes confused with figments, oneirical fragments or other such sorcerous residue. In truth they are more akin to phantasms or very weak hauntings, only barely meriting mention among the rolls of the undead, Pale Shadows are most often dismissed as minor nuisances, easily ignored or dealt with by even the most incautious adventurer. But perhaps it would be worthwhile to listen to these whispering, wandering spirits who recount the deeds and exploits of those long gone and forgotten.

The Book of the White Glyph is purported to include spells for binding Pale Shadows into carved ivory lanterns and other such objects so as to encourage the spirits to focus upon specific deeds and particular long deceased individuals.

Fantomists are known to pay a small bounty for Pale Shadows delivered to them intact and unharmed...but they never explain precisely how they intend for this to be done, preferring it to be left to those who already know how to accomplish the task before revealing any of their trade secrets.

Some Wanderer families will barter good silver or salt for a set of candles that somehow seem to attract the attention of Pale Shadows...as well as other things. Their only words of warning are to never, ever under any circumstance take these candles into the White Orchard, let alone actually light one there...

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Source of Inspiration: Noon, by Sarah Helen Whitman.

Spell: Galvanic Grip

Galvanic Grip
Level: 2
Duration: 1 Round per level of caster
Range: Touch

This spell infuses the caster's designated hand with a coruscating current of electricity that crackles and sparks very noticeably, as well as emitting a distinct smell of ozone. Upon a successful attack, the caster grabs hold of their victim and inflicts 2d4 damage per round (plus either INT or STR bonus), for the duration of the spell, during which time they cannot relinquish their grip upon their victim.

The victim of this spell is required to make a successful Save in order to have a chance to attack the caster.

The caster can extend the duration of this spell by 1 round per 1d4 hit points of damage they choose to sacrifice.

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