Tenebrous Monstrosities

This once placid myconid is now officially Up To No Good.

Fungi and arachnids exposed to concentrated unlight will quickly develop unseemly characteristics. Other creatures sicken and die, but they seem weirdly increased by their exposure.

Any monstrous spider or fungus can be affected. And sure, yeah, there are not a ton of fungal monsters in the monster manual, but the internet has some that you might like.

Once one of the eligible creature types has been irradiated with a dose of unlight, it develops a result from the table below over the course of a day or so. All effects are permanent, and multiple exposures will not result in further change. Also, you may want to give groups of identical abilities off here to keep things simple.

Tenebrous Mutation Table (d10)

1: The creature's intelligence increases to 20 and it's alignment changes to evil.

2: The creature exudes a shroud of inky spores in a 15-foot radius similar to a deeper darkness spell. The spores do not inhibit fungal or arachnid creatures.

3: Any creature struck by the creature's melee attack has their speed reduced to 2 until the end of their next turn as strands of semisolid darkness cling to them and inhibit their movement.

4: The creature's size increases in size until it is huge (10 feet by 10 feet). It gains +50 max hit points and automatically succeeds on the first saving throw it rolls, each encounter.

5: The creature can pass effortlessly through walls and doors of less than a foot in thickness unless they incorporate significant quantities of lead, gold, or another heavy metal.

6: The creature is invisible during the first round of each combat. This isn't an all the time thing, it's more like the unlight kicks in when it gets agitated enough for a fight.

7: The creature permanently bilocates. It occupies two spaces, but is the same creature. Damaging one damages the other, et ceteras. The two creatures can travel any distance apart but will be pulled into other planes together if one passes through a portal or plane shifts.

8: The creature gains resistance (half damage) against spell damage. It can also exhale a 5-foot wide, 25-foot long breath weapon of disintegrating darkness, inflicting 5d6 disintegration damage, Reflex half. It can do this three times per day but not two rounds in a row.

9: The creature grows a horrid mouth full of inky teeth in an unlikely location on it's body. The mouth makes an extra attack with the creature's normal attack bonus, each turn, inflicting something like 2d8 damage on a hit.

10: The creature sprouts a set of asymmetrical wings capable of propelling it through air, water, or interstellar void. It also develops the ability to reproduce via fission and to digest any organic material, if it did not possess those abilities before.

The Silent God

This depiction of the sun-child looms over an eagle to
demonstrate his peaceful mastery over it.

In the blasted desert known as Eiginn, the sun-blind priests whisper their prayers to the yawning sky, offering praise to their placid, imbecilic deity. The silent child does not respond.

His Holy Person

The sun-child is mute. He appears quite often, especially to those dying of exposure or enduring terrible suffering. His touch heals completely, restoring life and vigor without effort. There is no communication, nor any indication that Solarian understands the significance of his actions. He appears, removes any suffering that he perceives, and vanishes without further consideration. He is a being of pure benevolence, but seems incapable of any emotions or thoughts beyond this. It is uncertain whether he is even capable of understanding a language.

A desert-stranded character dying of dehydration that has caught Solarian's eye might be visited by the godling, have his thirst quenched and health restored, only to return to the same agonizing state a few days later for lack of alternatives. Solarian could very plausibly keep visiting and restoring that character's health for weeks, while never giving a thought to helping them escape the desert or the agony that they are sure to endure there.

Solarian's power is absolute. If it occurred to him that it would remove suffering to transform the Eiginn from an arid wasteland to a verdant forest, he could do so in an instant and without appreciable exertion. But it does not occur to him.

His Sacred Band

Solarian's holy symbol is a sunburst with a face in it, or else any other sort of solar symbol. His clerics garb themselves in white cloth (often silk) and choose their domains from Sun, Life, Healing, or Solitude (depending also on what edition you are playing).

Solarian asks for offerings in the form of scattered grain or water decanted onto the open desert, as well as destroyed weaponry or other instruments of war, long vows of silence, and willing exposure to the elements.

When Solarian appears, time stands still except for Solarian and the creatures to whom he reveals himself. He approaches them, blesses them silently, and wanders away. No other interactions with the deity have ever been recorded.

The current enemies of Solarian's adherents include the hideous reptiles that infest Eiginn, creatures from the lower planes, and organizations or religions concerned with commerce and manufacture. Solarian himself does not have any enemies, and is probably incapable of grasping the concept.

Feats
These feats are only available to devotees of Solarian.

Vow Of Quescience

Limitation: You must never speak above a whisper. Aside from the obvious practical concerns, your near-silent prayers limit your range: your spells cannot extend beyond close range. This limitation is absolute and cannot be increased via metamagic or other abilities.

Benefit: In return for honoring him with your silence, Solarian grants you a +2 bonus to all of your saving throws. You also have a +2 bonus to checks related to moving silently.

Behold The Countenance

Limitation: You have stared at the sun for so long that your vision is permanently destroyed. You regard this as a sacred state rather than a limitation. Regardless, the blindness inflicted on you is magical as well as mundane, and only a heal spell or better will restore it (nullifying the benefits of this feat until you can remedy the situation).

Benefit: If 5e, you can memorize an extra two spells, per day. If other, you can memorize an extra two spells of your highest spell level. Either way, you also gain a +2 bonus to AC and saves.

The merciful sun-child shines down upon the holy desert of Eiginn.

Sacred Sites

There are many holy place in the Eiginn. One such spot is the Well Of Human Suffering, a lush oasis whose water flows from an exceedingly abundant natural spring. Sentient creatures who drink of this water are wracked with unfathomable agony. The natives mostly use it to water crops and feed their camels. Near the spring is a shrine dedicated to Solarian, to whom the creation of the spring is attributed. A carven stone explains that the well is filled with the suffering that Solarian has removed from mortal men. Since the woes of mankind are many, the well never runs dry.

Another important site is the mountain known as the Palace Of Vultures. Once the location of the largest temple dedicated to Solarian, it was plundered by an army of brigands a little over a century ago. It contained the greater part of the church of Solarian's wealth, and now is infested with desert spirits.

Lviem is the most important remaining shrine. It is founded in the cave-carved cliffs in the stony part of the desert. It is there that novices learn the sun chants and how to officiate various religious ceremonies. A hundred or so priests and novices live in the dry, winding passages.

The Sun-God's Prayers

Aureation (1st-level)

Your blessing causes a creature touched to shine with the light of the sun. They gain 3 temporary hit points and the next attack against them this encounter has disadvantage.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, it imparts an additional 3 temporary hit points for each slot level above 2nd.

Pacifying Halo (2nd-level)

You heal 1d8 hit points and are surrounded with a supernatural aura of peace until the end of your next turn. Any creatures adjacent to you during this time have disadvantage when attacking.

Living Blessing (4th-level)

This spell insulates a sufficiently humble creature touched from death. If the creature affected dies before the next day, they return to life with 1 hit point at the following sunrise. The creature does not suffer any kind of level loss or additional penalty. This spell can only be cast upon creatures with 9 hit dice or less. This spell fails if the corpse is destroyed or disintegrated.¹

This is apparently what a Staff Of Brilliance looks like.

Sacred Relics

Sunstone (common trinket)²
This scintillating stone emits light in a close radius. In addition to shedding light while equipped, you heal an additional hit point with your healing spells. If you shatter the sunstone as an action, you are healed 3d8+5 hit points.

Mendicant's Cloak (common cloak)
This humble cloak is threadbare, but contains potent magic. While wearing this cloak, you have a +1 bonus to saves. If it is the only magical item you are equipped with, you also have +10 max hit points.

Staff Of Brilliance (uncommon staff)
This staff has 5 charges. While holding it, you can expend 1 or more of its charges to achieve one of the following effects:

• Water From The Rock (1): While outside of combat, you strike a large natural stone, creating a small crevasse from which bubbles thirst-quenching water. It is enough to provide water for 10 people. Each creature that drinks at least one full dose of the water heals 5 hit points.
• Cleansing Light (2): An otherworldly, colorless light shimmers forth from the staff. You and any living creatures within 2 spaces each heal 1d8+5 hit points. Each undead within that radius suffers 1d8+5 disintegration damage, no save.
• Evoke The Sun (3): This ability can only be used during the day and on the surface. A brilliant sunbeam shines down on 10-foot radius location within close range. Creatures within that area must save or be blinded until the end of their next turn.

The staff regains 1d4 charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll 1d20. On a 1, the staff immolates and is destroyed.

---

1 Players usually eschew most forms of preventative measures that require significant resource expenditure. A 4th-level spell is no joke to parties of 9th level or lower, but might just be worth using under very particular circumstances.

2 I divide magic items into common, uncommon, rare, and unique categories. Deal with it.

Black Words: The Ishnindah's Spells

Whence comes the Ishnindah?

You need better spells. The Ishnindah has them. Her spells are unfamiliar and dangerous, but probably better than whatever you can research or borrow from the gods. Luring the Ishnindah is not an easy thing. Nor is it wise. Still, adventurers do lots of dumb things and this could easily be one of them.

Attracting The Ishnindah

One cannot find the Ishnindah. One can only hope to attract her by assembling things that she finds appealing. Smoke from simmering blood. Severed hands. Liquid nightmares (difficult to extract!). Moonless nights. Arhythmic drumming. Mutes. Assemble enough of these in one place for long enough and she will eventually show up.

Her Blasphemous Words

The spells of the Ishnindah do not reflect the magical traditions of any known species in your campaign world, nor evince the channeling of divine energies associated with magical prayer (at least, not of any deities with which your players are familiar). They are alien and dangerous. The players can learn and cast them, anyways. It's up to you whether you wish to restrict them to any particular class.

She is happy to teach them to players, but may require payment in the form of their body parts. Eyes, tongues, fingers, hands, it all depends on the Ishnindah's mood. Adventurer Protip: Anything less than a wish isn't going to restore body parts traded to the Ishnindah.

Spells

Invoke The Other-Gnaw (1st-level)

This spell masticates a target within short range. There is no apparent source of the chewing; the target evinces deep bite marks all over their body without an apparent source (treat it as force damage). The bite marks are dissimilar to any recognizable species or even phylum. The damage inflicted by this spell should by whatever is appropriate for a 2nd-level spell in your game (in mine it would be 3d8, Fort half). One important caveat: each time you cast this spell, there is a cumulative 1% chance that you will be devoured completely by teeth similar to those used by the spell. The caster's flesh will be bitten off and disappear into midair. By the time the teeth are done, absolutely nothing will remain. Even drops of blood will be lapped up by invisible tongues.

Osseous Seed (2nd-level)

This spell afflicts a target with virulent organic poison. The poison inflicts a cumulative 1 damage on the target at the start of each day, until they die or a neutralize poison spell is cast upon them. If the target should perish, a tree of bones will grow from the corpse. It derives energy from moonlight and will grow at the rate of a normal tree but without decay and to a potentially limitless size. It will only bloom on the evening before the end of the world. The blossoms will drive any creatures that see them violently, irrevocably mad (no save unless they have ten or more hit dice). There are entire planets out there that have had their mass completely converted into osseous trees in this manner, over millions of years. Vast skeletal constructs drifting through the void, covered in heinous flowers.

Moon-Glaze (2nd-level)

This spell coats a single weapon with a crystalline substance supposedly similar in substance to the otherworldly flora of the moon. The sharper-than-obsidian edges of the crystalline coating give the weapon a +1 critical chance (if it would normally critical on a 20, it instead would critical on a 19 or 20). Alas, the strange material is fragile, and passes its fragility on to the weapon it coats: if you roll a natural 1, 2, or 3 with an attack, your weapon will shatter into a thousand tiny shards. If a weapon would plausibly be immune to shattering in this manner, the spell fails. Like, if you cast it on your holy avenger +5, that sword is probably going to transubstantiate the glaze into water vapor. I wouldn't let this spell work on any item that is already keen or of +3 or greater enchantment. Moon-glaze will oxidate off a weapon in about a week assuming continued exposure to an earthly atmosphere.

Putrid Claws (2nd-level)

Upon casting this spell, your hands agonizingly twist into jagged caricatures of human fingers, sporting quasi-mineral spurs and crystalline edges. Your claws inflict 1d6 damage + your level on a hit. Any creature that you injure with said claws will be wracked with fever, unable to sleep that night unless they are restored to full hit points or receive a cure disease spell. You cannot cast spells while you have putrid claws, and the effect lasts for 1d4 hours (you cannot end it early).

Address The Audient Void (3rd-level)

This spell enters a willing target into a peculiar arrangement with a mostly-malicious otherwordly intelligence. Casting this spell requires an obsidian mirror worth at least a thousand gold, a troupe of at least ten amoral kymbala players, 1d30 human sacrifices (the exact number is unknown to the caster, they must keep sacrificing until it works), and a goat. The character so affected is wracked by pain and internal distortion, resulting in a constitution score that is halved or reduced to 5 (whichever is worse). Thenceforth, every 1d4 weeks for the duration of their natural span of years, an unusually powerful byakhee with hit dice equal to the character's level will sail forth from the sky or the shadows of a particularly angular corner. If the character is alive, the byakhee will seek to kill them (the character should probably seek to defend themselves). If the character is dead, the byakhee will raise them from the dead (as per the spell) and depart without further fuss. This effect can be ended via a remove curse spell, but only if the recipient is willing. Theoretically, the character could be encased in some sort of spherical or non-angular subterranean area that would prevent a byakhee from reaching them, but this would most likely result in negative outcomes.

The Unseeing (3rd-level)

While this spell is memorized but not cast, you possess a random extra-sensory perception. Upon uttering the single syllable of this spell, you lose that sense and all natural flames within a 1000-foot radius are extinguished. Only flames of a less than 3-foot radius are affected. If a fire is magical, blessed, or in any way metaphysically unusual, then it is unaffected. For example, the holy fire in a shrine that was kindled by the prophets of yore from the Original Flame will not go out, but the candles and torches in the temple foyer will. A volcano and its environs would completely unaffected. On the other hand, a small town would probably have a lot of trouble defending itself in the middle of the night if the attackers had night vision and knew this spell.

Accursed Atavism (5th-level)

The target of this spell must make a Will save or be doubly cursed. First, they lose the ability to use or comprehend tools. Their understanding is reduced to about that of a household pet. For example, they understand that a sword causes pain and is dangerous, but cannot comprehend how to use it. Such a character can still benefit from armor that they are wearing or that others put on them, but will drop objects held in their hands. Even using a doorknob is a stretch. Second, they lose the ability to eat or derive nutrition from anything except for raw flesh. This probably exposes them to digestive problems and parasites, since the spell does not convey any improvements to their ability to consume those substances. A remove curse spell will suffice to end this effect.

True Aklo (any level)

The Ishnindah has taught you several words in True Aklo, a language whose existence is part of the fabric of reality and that can be used to open your mind to the cosmos. It also drives you pretty crazy: if you have access to this spell, you must make a Will save each day or suffer a minor form of madness (I like this madness table). This is an unusual spell: you can memorize it at any level you are capable of casting, but cannot ever cast it more than once per day. When you do cast it, it causes you to magically gain one casting of a random spell from your class that is one spell level higher than the one that it was memorized at. For example, if you memorize and cast True Aklo as a 2nd level spell, you gain a random 3rd-level spell from your list. This higher-level spell that you gain cannot be used in conjunction with metamagic or any other weird stuff like that. If you memorize True Aklo as a 9th-level spell, you are driven homicidally mad for 1d100 days, then disappear forever.

Qelong River Demon: Giant Catfish

(Click to enlarge. The art is from here.)

The third in my little series of Qelong creatures.  This one is intended as a sort of boss monster.  The sort of thing that surfaces right when your sampan runs aground on a submerged log, or when a battle with a clutch of naga-kin runs overlong.

The Spells And Secrets Of The Hazarim

The exiled Hazarim know much of interest to adventurers and their enemies. Read more about the Hazarim here, or this probably won't make much sense.

Relics Of The Faithful

Pilgrim's Conveyances

Over the years, so many Hazar corpses have required transportation to the holy city of Ummaq that magical coffins are a cottage industry. Since the dead are revived at their destination and dispense with funeral trappings, these objects can see continuous recycled use amongst the faithful. Some even originate from inside Ummaq, where the once-dead inhabitants sometimes craft items to help their brethren. All conveyances will have unusual resistance to damage and protect their contents from harm.

Some possible variations:

• An urn that animates the spirit of the deceased within as a ghast, but that ghast cannot venture beyond thirty feet from the the urn, nor will it seek to do aught except protect itself and those carrying it (assuming they are heading toward Ummaq).
• A gilded sarcophagus made of insect-lacquer. Any who open it are driven dangerously, self-destructively mad for 1d4 days. We're talking "thinks they need to eat fire to live" crazy. They need to be restrained or will surely perish. Those that have been raised from the dead at least once by any means prove immune to this affliction.
• A marvelously crafted mahogany coffin, inlaid with strange stones. If the coffin is rapped upon, it sheds a horrendous red light that strikes all within thirty feet blind for a day (save negates).
• A humble sack stitched from the shirts of many different pilgrims who have made the sacred journey conveying others' remains to Ummaq. It and its contents are invisible save to those who truly believe in the Hazar gods and their prophets.

This used to be all the rage in Khaldok.

Over the years, Gossivam has sometimes given away some of his marvelous personal possessions to needy believers not quite ready to enter the sacred city (because they are still alive).

Gossivam's Shawl: This item imparts a +1 bonus to all saving throws. If one perishes while wearing it, raise dead and similar spells cost 25% less gold to cast upon the deceased. Gossivam has no problem getting new shawls, so he gives this item away fairly frequently (every year or two).

The Prophet's Ring: This unique ring hails from Gossivam's days as a greedy false prophet. It is made in the style of the ancient Khaldo, appearing as an insect curled about one's finger. The wearer enjoys a +3 bonus to initiative and can heal another creature touched (never himself) 2d8+5 hit points, once per day. If this ability is used or the ring changes hands, the initiative bonus is lost until the next day.

Potions And Elixirs

Surrounded as they are by the superstitious, insectophiliac Khaldo culture and the alkaloid-rich herbs of the drylands, the Hazar have developed some skill with alchemy.

Diviners' Draught: Concocted of powdered moon-moss and thousands of kiln-moths dissolved in a vitriolic extract, this potion allows the consumer to detect magic (as the spell) for an hour. Additionally, it allows the character to analyze anything they behold during that time as though they spent an hour studying it, even if they glimpse it for only a moment. Side effects occur after the effects wear off and include vomiting and sub-conjunctive hemorrhaging.

Natharon Oil: If one consumes even a small amount of oil from the dangerous nathar beetle, one is simultaneously rendered unintelligible to others and unable to parse language of any kind. This includes spoken, written, or even magical/telepathic communication. Strangely, a natharon-consumer is able to perfectly understand others under the effects of the drug, including almost any writing. The effects last for 1d6 hours and may cause lasting illiteracy for several weeks, especially with prolonged use and poor dosing. Hazar courtiers dilute the natharon oil into short-lasting potions that can be used to write cryptographically or read the same, with minimal risk of side effects.

Potion Of Undead Detection: The wide-leafed vines that grow near Ummaq can be pulverized and fermented to make a strange potion. When consumed, it causes violent illness based on the proximity of undead creatures: if there is at least one undead within a mile, the character feels mild nausea. If there are undead within three hundred feet, they retch uncontrollably for 3d6 minutes. If undead are within a hundred feet, the character suffers 1d6 damage and retches for at least ten minutes. If undead are within twenty-five feet, the character is so ill that they are reduced to 1 hit point from partial organ failure. Strangely, these potions do not function correctly in the presence of living vines of the species from which it is derived. when consumed within a mile of them, the character always suffers as though undead were within the closest proximity.

Prayers From Exile

Some of the spells and prayers used by the Hazar date back millennia, others have been revealed to priests more recently, gifts from the gods to help protect their people. Note that Hazar culture does not distinguish between arcane and divine spellcasters. To a Hazar, they are simply different kinds of priests. The spells below may be available to either or both, depending on your preferences.

The Lesser Invocation (1st level)
A short prayer traditionally recited before religious meetings, this incantation can become weaponized given a little magical energy. When cast, the caster heals 1d8 hit points. If the caster hits with a melee attack within the next round, the first such attack inflicts an extra +1d8 damage.

Forefather's Curse (2nd level)
A curse pronounced in an unrecognizably ancient Hazar dialect. Nobody even knows what the words mean, anymore. Whatever they are, a single living creature within short range is thoroughly cursed for a week and a day. During this time, food eaten by the target only provides 25% of its normal caloric value. Additionally, they suffer heatstroke when undertaking any labor as though they were performing said task in the middle of a sweltering desert. This makes something as simple as hammering in some pitons or wearing a suit of armor debilitatingly difficult. Finally, animals are automatically hostile to the target and seek to harm or avoid them if they can. Intelligent or magical animals might receive a save to resist attacking them (they still hate the target and want them to die, though).

Sacred Undoing (3rd level)
The works of man are flimsy to those who perceive the world of secrets. This spell can be cast upon a building or section of building not exceeding thirty square feet. Inside that space, any unlocked and unwarded doors or structural obstructions (barricades, portcullises) are destroyed, crumbling into useless chunks. Nonmagical glass or crystal based architectural features shatter into smithereens. If there are suitably flammable materials anywhere within the structure, 1d6 small fires (campfire-sized) will be lighted that will develop into a structure fire absent serious counter-efforts. Additionally, the caster can specify one 10x10 area on the exterior of the structure that will cave in, creating a large hole. This spell will not cause any but the most precarious structures to collapse immediately upon casting, but make a total structural failure due to other causes far more likely (during the next windstorm, for example).

The Grimwalk (2nd level)
After a few hours of chanting over a ritually prepared corpse, it animates as a zombie with double the normal hit points and that only suffers half damage from magic of any kind. The zombie cannot be controlled or turned, and will travel unerringly toward Ummaq of its own accord, only fighting if it is obstructed. Since the zombies created by this spell are not especially intelligent and frequently end up at the bottom of ravines or battling fearful travelers, this spell is regarded as a sort of last resort for those that do not have the luxury of personally conveying their friends' remains to Ummaq (a Hazar religious obligation). Note that it is violence-inducingly offensive to imply or state any similarities between the state of undeath and the special, sacred resurrection that occurs at Ummaq.

Prepare One's End (3rd level)
Adventuring is perilous. Sensible spellcasters will take precautions regarding their own final disposition. If you should perish within three days of casting this spell, your body will animate (as the grimwalk) after 1d4 hours of being dead. Unlike the grimwalk, this spell allows you to retain the majority of your intellect (though not your class abilities) for the first 24 hours of your animation, allowing you to do whatever you desire during that time (help your friends, try to find a cleric, etc).

A sky-demon descends to begin ritual combat against its summoner.

Syncretic Spells

Some spells have been learned from the wizards of Khaldo or developed with their influences during the Hazar exile there.

Clairvoyant Ichor (1st level)

You imbibe great quantities of poisonous insects, rendering yourself weak and nearly paralyzed from poison. This state lasts for an entire day. While it persists, your blood is altered to convey sensory information: you can perceive anything that occurs in the presence of a half liter or more of your blood as though you were standing there. Producing such a large quantity of blood necessarily involves inflicting damage equal to 25% of a character's hit points. Your mostly paralyzed body can strenuously whisper any revelations to those tending it. You only perceive information from blood shed the same day you cast this spell, though it need not remain in a liquid state. However, seriously diluting the blood or burning it will terminate your connection. Effects that cure you of your poisoned, paralyzed state also end this spell (or, in the case of protections from poison, prevent it).

Convene The Trial (4th level)

This spell summons a sky-demon to kill you. When cast, the creature lurks above you for up to an hour, singing songs about how it is about to kill you, then descends to wage ritual combat. In the old days, the priests of Crepulon would cast this spell before a crowd of people in order to prove their prowess and demonstrate the favor of their god. More recently, the Hazar have realized that the sky-demons really, really hates having the sacred formula of their rituals disrupted to the point where they will actually defend the caster from other enemies. Once those enemies are dealt with, the creature again turns its attentions to you. How you stat your sky-demon is up to me, but something along these lines might work.

Gossivam's Lamentations

The Sleeping Empire

No people have suffered like the Hazarim. Their empire once spanned from the sands of Llarsh to the emerald waters of the Dying Sea. For a time, this sufficed. But several disastrous centuries served to reduce the empire until only the capital remained, surrounded by semi-independent villages. When the Khaldo came from the north with their great army, it is held that the city burned for twenty days.

The Khaldok Exile

For the insolence of the Hazar judge-king who refused to surrender, the Khaldo king decreed that the Hazar people would be destroyed forever. Of the four-hundred-thousand Hazars in the city, a mere twenty-thousand survived and were taken as slaves. Most were eventually brought to the capital at Khaldok, where they commanded a fine price due to their literacy.

Over the centuries, the Hazar remained enslaved but grew ever more useful and prominent amongst the Khaldo aristocracy. Their advice was sound and their divinations potent. A sort of sycophantic class of palace slaves arose, whose lives were more or less indistinguishable from the Khaldo royalty whom they served. They incorporated many of the strange Khaldo practices, including their preoccupation with dreams and spell-enhancement via the ritual handling or consumption of poisonous insects. Some even began to worship the strange Khaldo deities: Crepulon, whose eyes are the stars and whose hands are fish; Esshss, whose numberless legs are exceeded only by his even more numerous children; and broken-winged Chinnu, whose blood is nutritious enough to sustain her and, at least symbolically, her worshippers.

Gossivam, The False Prophet

After several centuries of exile, a man arose amongst the poor who claimed he could perform the ancient, now-lost art of raising the dead. He was not the first man to claim this, nor the first to be proven false when his arts were challenged. The crowd intended to beat Gossivam to death for his lies, but a stranger in their midst revealed himself to be an emissary from the long-neglected Hazar gods. "Though he was untrue, I have made him true. Do not kill this man," the stranger commanded. He departed on a whirlwind of flame, as the prophets of old.

Gossavam arose from the ground, his wounds closed. He spoke with newfound presence: the wisest of the free Hazar would come with him to the ruins of their old capital, Ummaq. There, they would set about their godly work. One by one, led by infallible miracle, Gossavam and his faithful disinterred the corpses of the ancient judge-kings and returned them to life. Only missing is Zakar-shum-Wai, the first judge-king, who was devoured by a whale.

Each of the judge-kings was brought back in a state of decay befitting their sins in life. Marunhal, the fourth king famous for butchering his wives, was hardly more than a skeleton. Juvenae II, who twice foreswore his regency, appears as whole as during his first life. Regardless of the state of their body, each retained the wisdom and experience gleaned from their years as ruler, and exhibited a holy dedication to Gossavam and his sacred mission.

The Eternal City

Ummaq, the sacred capital of the lost Hazar empire, lived once again. Most of the revived judge-kings also possessed the gift of life-giving, and set about its use with vigor. By the thousands, the lost citizens of old Hazar returned to life, though most displayed signs of decay in accordance with their failures during life. The city rebuilt itself. The long-fallen Walls Of Astrovar were rebuilt under the watchful eyes of old Astrovar himself, with many of the same engineers and servants who had helped him during his first life. This time, sustained as they were by sacred prayers and guided by holy purpose, they required neither sleep nor food. The wall sprung up almost overnight.

When the Khaldo sent their army to tame their unruly subjects, they found a city girded by stone and guarded by soldiers that could not be slain. Their army's careful sorties experienced terrible losses before giving up. The Khaldo have embraced a face-saving fiction, claiming the city as a tributary.

In Khaldok, the exiled Hazar slowly became aware that their ancient capital was reborn. Pilgrims ventured to behold it with their own eyes. The walls were indeed a sight to see, but none were permitted within. Gossavam himself waited by the city's gate, turning away the living.

"Only the dead may enter," he said. "Bring me your righteous dead and I shall return to them their breath, that they may reside with us, forever." He was as good as his word. Hazar brought before him were returned to life, whereupon they entered the city walls and were never seen again. As with the others, their state of decay upon revival reflected their moral decrepitude.

The Exile Ends

Eventually, it became the universal Hazar custom to send their deceased to Ummaq. A cultural sea change occurred: what righteous man would fear death, when he was awaited by the holiest prophets, the wisest kings, and all his friends and family who had gone before?

These days, most Hazar turned their back on the Khaldo, keeping themselves as separate as possible. Meanwhile, the palace Hazar cling ever tighter to their power, seeking to distance themselves from their poorer, more religious kin. In many ways, the powers of the Khaldo government are now largely wielded by a bureaucracy of semi-integrated Hazar. Still, many a palace Hazar sees to it that his bones will be discreetly conveyed to Ummaq upon his demise.

The grounds outside Ummaq are tended by an order of benevolent monks, who seek to protect those traveling to the holy city, while maintaining a state of such moral rectitude that their bodies will pass into Ummaq without blemish.

Elsewhere, the Hazar are valued for their knowledge of science and lore. Small Hazar communities can be found in many larger kingdoms throughout the region, providing their services while still maintaining their traditional beliefs.

Seemingly immortal himself, Gossivam still stands at the gates of Ummaq, reviving the dead and ushering them within. None who enter Ummaq emerge, ever.

Thieves And Minor Magical Item Properties

Thieves have it rough. It's not just spider climb and knock and fly. It's the way DMs put in extra traps if there is a thief and don't bother putting in locked doors if there isn't. Quite reasonably, most DMs react to party composition rather than blindly inserting a quota of thief-only challenges. Being a skill-monkey isn't all it's cracked up to be.

So here's an ability unique to thieves:

When a thief appraises a newly-found magical weapon or suit of armor, they have a 5% chance of noticing or being already aware of an additional magical property of said item.

Sure, wizards study spells and history and magic all day long. But they don't spend all day daydreaming about the magical items that have passed through history and are worth stealing. "I wish I lived a hundred years ago so that I could steal Emilio Gotteson's Improved Cloak Of The Bat. That was much better than this dusty normal cloak of the bat that I just found, even if it looks similar... wait a minute." Nor are bards quite the materialists that thieves are. Sorry, bard, you didn't take any 200-level "Things Worth Stealing" courses in your bardic college.

When the 5% chance occurs, roll on the following table (d20):

1. Lucky: You have +1 to all saving throws.
2. Absorbing: Each day, you suffer half damage from the first source of damage to affect you.
3. Life-Giving: Begins each day with a 15 hp healing pool otherwise identical to a paladin's laying on of hands.
4. ____-Hating: Roll 1d6: animals, dragons, humanoids, undead, outsiders, or aberrations. The item glows when that creature type is near, giving you a +4 initiative bonus if enemies of that type are present.
5. Bloodthirst: Each encounter, the first time you hit with a weapon attack, it inflicts +1d8 damage.
6. Hearty: You have +5 max hit points.
7. Protective: You have +1 AC. Great!
8. Ever-Ready: You can summon the item from anywhere within 100 feet if you were the person who possessed the item most during the previous day. If armor, it appears on your person.
9. Coruscating: Any time you critically hit, you heal 1d8+5 hp.
10. Bewildering: Any time you critically hit, you may teleport 5 spaces. No line of sight needed.
11. Sagely: The item can memorize a single 1st-level wizard spell if you let it read someone else's spellbook. You can use the item to cast said spell.
12. Marching: You know how the DM puts your miniature on the board and tells you to roll initiative? Move your miniature four spaces before rolling initiative.
13. Glowing: Your item emits light similarly to a torch unless you are consciously willing it not to. I feel bad if you rolled this.
14. Reflexive: +2 to Reflex saves.
15. Fortitudinous: +2 to Fort saves.
16. Mind-Shielding: +3 to Will saves.
17. Impenetrable: Any time you suffer exactly 1 damage after resistances and everything have been taken into account, you ignore that damage.
18. Improved: The object has an additional +1 (+1 armor becomes +2, et ceteras).
19. Duplicating: Each day, the item has a 33% chance of producing a copy of itself. That copy lasts until the next day, whereupon it dissolves into blue ash.
20. Soaring: You are flying during the first round of each combat. Your speed is the same as your land speed.

Add the listed prefix to your item, e.g. if you roll a 1 with a longsword +1, it becomes a lucky longsword +1. I tried to keep them from being too complicated or distracting from items existing purpose.

If there are multiple thieves in the party, I suppose you could stack their percentile chance.