Native Incarnations

Elemental-like Creatures from the Celestial Sphere

Previously I’ve written about the idea of places associated with the physical damage types, as opposed to the already defined places associated with energy damage types and other spheres. One point touched on there is that there is no elemental sphere of sharpness to summon an enemy from; if such places are populated, they act as attractors, not facilitators of travel. Today we’ll be considering the results of a third option: the creation or aggregation of incarnations from materials and forces already present.

Filth Manifestation

Filth manifestations appear as large amalgamations standing 12’ tall, composed of primarily dead and rotting matter: corpses, sewage, and detritus, dripping wet. They are most often observed at the edges of dense civilization, found in sewers, polluted rivers, and garbage dumps, but can also be found in bogs, or in any place where the dead and discarded accumulate.

Combat

A filth manifestation strikes in combat with two powerful smashes from its arms, dealing 2d8 {B!} each. Each creature struck by the filth manifestation must make a successful Death saving throw or become afflicted by disease as the spell cause disease.

Filth manifestations are immune to enchantment effects and mundane bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. They are not only immune to poisonous and necrotic damage but healed by an amount equal to the damage dealt when any such damage is inflicted on them.

Ecology

Filth manifestations absorb the decaying mass of other creatures, including those they slay. On absorbing more solid matter, a filth manifestation dries up. After absorbing the remains of 30 HD of creatures in a filthy, wet place (sewers bog, etc) a filth manifestation absorbs additional moisture and splits in two. Filth manifestations are sapient but care little for the affairs of other beings, except where they might affect the comfortable places of rot and ruin suitable to their kind.

Spoils

Because they absorb the bodies of the fallen, an encounter with a filth manifestation might yield treasure. The treasure (if any) is distributed throughout the manifestation’s body. 10% of such treasure might be incorporated in places where the manifestation, if willing, could yield it without injury.

A destroyed filth manifestation can be harvested with Alchemy 2 for the following components useful in magic research:

• filth residue (26 4/6 st., 1600 gp, cause disease, plague)

Characteristics

Filth Manifestation Primary Characteristics

Type: Incarnation
Size: Huge (200 st.)
Speed (land): 40’ / 120’
Speed (swim): 40’ / 120’
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 8**
Attacks: 2 (smash 1+)
Damage: 2d8 {B!}
Saves: F8
Morale: +4
Vision: Lightless Vision (60’)
Other Senses: Acute Olfaction, Aquatic Mechanoreception
Proficiencies: None
Standard Load: 60 st.

Filth Manifestation Secondary Characteristics

Expedition Speed: 24 miles
Supply Cost: None
Training Period: 1 month (sapient)
Training Modifier: None (sapient)
Battle Rating: 0.486 (individual) / 9.5 (unit)
Lifespan: Indefinite
Reproduction: Splitting
Untrained Value: 1,600gp
Trained Value: 11,600gp

Filth Manifestation Encounters

Lair: None
Dungeon Enc: Solitary (1)
Wilderness Enc: Solitary (1)
Alignment: Neutral
Treasure Type: I × 2
XP: 1600

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I originally had some ideas of this being a disease-and-poison monster, but that seems like too many different condition effects, and introduces weirdness if it deals poison while being healed by poison.

As always, here’s a relevant item.

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Vile Vial

Base Cost 3,250gp: Single charge choice of 5^th level effect or Cause Disease 3^rd level effect = 6.5^th level effect. Apparent Value: 25gp.

This vial of green-black sludge smells like a dead cat, left out in the sun for a few days and thereafter pickled. The drinker of the vial (extraordinary strong and sweet liquor, or magic, may be able to hide the foul taste) is afflicted with a horrible wasting plague as the spell cause disease unless he succeeds on an Implements saving throw.

Pouring the vial over at least 100 st. of rotting or dead matter (for these purposes, consider a corpse to being rotting after 6 hours, or 2 hours in sweltering temperatures) and an equal quantity of unclean water will animate the resulting mass as a filth manifestation. The filth manifestation will grudgingly follow the orders of the pourer for the following day, though it will do so in accord with its nature- dirtying, agglomerative, and without subtlety. After a day has passed, or when it is slain or dispelled, its constituent elements remain.

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The spell used here was built as requiring a specific environmental source. If half a ton of corpses doesn’t sound that specific to you, consider that you may be spending too much time around corpses.