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Ioun Stones of the Orrery of the Ancients
This chamber, located near the top (just below the observatory) of one of the few intact towers in Hyrantum, contains a most unusual orrery. At the center, over a meter across and lit by continual flame, is a stone sphere covered with fanciful giltwork representing the sun.
Orbiting it at vastly scaled down distances, and vastly scaled up speeds, are eleven ioun stones, representing the planets of Golarion's system, and as long as they orbit the central sphere, and she remains within the 20 ft. diameter chamber, the lich astronomer who resides in this tower benefits from the stones as if she had personally equipped them.
The stones cannot be removed from this room so long as the lich is active, but even if she is only temporarily dispatched (her phylactery not found to 'finish the job') her link to the stones is sufficiently disrupted for them to be seized as treasure. (When she reforms, she may well decide to track down the thieves are reclaim them...)
Aballon The smallest and closest orbiting stone to the 'sun,' this tiny grey iron sphere is barely the size of a peppercorn, and moves so quickly as to be a barely visible blur, making it both the smallest and fastest-moving ioun stone yet seen. When equipped, it's bearer gains a +5 ft. bonus to all speeds, and suffers no penalty to their Armor Class for taking the Charge action. Three times per day, when the user would take a 5 ft. step, they can move 10 ft. instead (with the usual benefits of a 5 ft. step). Once per day, they can ignore difficult terrain for a single round's movement.
Castrovel This cloudy green malachite sphere is the size of a grape, and confers upon it's bearer the Favored Terrain (jungle) and Favored Enemy (plants) class features of a 1st level Ranger. If the bearer already has these features, these bonuses stack. Additionally, the bearer gets their Favored Enemy bonus to the saving throws of natural attacks from creatures with the Plant type, or from poisons derived from plants.
Golarion This mostly opaque brownish amber sphere contains a barely visible miniscule fossil centipede deep within it, and is crisscrossed by hair-thin adamantine wires across it's surface, culminating in six tiny spikes, not even a quarter of an inch high. Representing destructive power constrained, the stone grants it's bearer +2 to both CMB and CMD to initiate or defend against a Sunder maneuver, and ignores the first 2 points of Hardness when they attempt to Sunder something. Their own equipment benefits from 2 additional points of Hardness against attempts to Sunder it, in turn. Finally, whenever the bearer would inflict damage that would reduce a creature to less than zero hit points, they can choose instead to reduce the creature to exactly zero hit points, and stable.
Akiton This banded red agate sphere allows the bearer to benefit from the Ferocity trait of a half-orc, usable a number of times per day equal to their Constitution modifier (minimum once). If they already have this trait, they can use it one additional time, and can also choose to be affected by a rage spell whenever at or below zero hit points, as long as they remain conscious.
Verces This zebra jasper sphere is black on one side and white on the other, and orbits in such a way that one side is always facing the bearer (or the sun, if 'equipped' in the Orrery of Ancients). If the white side faces the bearer, they benefit from Cold Resistance 5. If the black side faces the bearer, they benefit from Fire Resistance 5. The facing can be changed by the bearer as a standard action (that provokes an attack of opportunity). Either form of resistance is doubled against nonlethal damage of that energy type, such as from environmental extremes of cold or heat.
Eox This fire obsidian sphere lacks the brilliant display of the finest specimens, and is solid black, save for a faint impression of three green 'flames' within it, resembling somewhat the 'Man in the Moon,' or the figure from Monet's 'The Scream,' two eyes and a mouth open wide. When equipped, the bearer can speak and understand Necril, and has a +2 bonus to saving throws versus the supernatural abilities and attacks of undead or spells from the Death Domain or Wizards School of Necromancy. Additionally, a number of times equal to the bearers Intelligence modifier (at least once) per day, when the user makes a Knowledge skill check, whispered voices (can be heard as if he was receiving a message spell, although the whispers are in Necril), the bearer can roll again on this Knowledge check and take the best result.
Triaxus This multicolored copper turquoise sphere has bands of warm orange and cool blue, and is warm to the touch when the ambient temperature is cold, and cool to the touch when the ambient temperature is warm. The bearer is always protected by an endure elements effect, and has a +2 to saving throws versus cold or fire effects, including extremes of cold or heat. It orbits so slowly as to appear immobile, it's stately progression only noticeable over the course of many days observation.
Liavara One of the two largest ioun stones ever seen, this grapefruit sized peach colored cloudy moonstone seems to radiate calm certainty. The bearer benefits from a +4 saving throw versus the nightmare spell, or similar effects that would assault their dreams, a +4 to Perception checks when they are asleep, and they are never flat-footed when surprised (even if they still do not get an action in the surprise round, if caught off-guard).
Bretheda The second grapefruit-sized labradorite sphere contains bands of dark blue and purple, and allows the bearer to cast alter self[i] (CL 10) on themself at will. No matter what trait they choose to benefit from, their appearance does not change more than superficially, and they gain no bonus to Disguise checks, nor does their Strength or Dexterity change according to the size of the adaptation they manifest.
Apostae This pea sized brown tiger's eye allows the bearer to cast [i]open/close cantrip at will, and has three charges per day that can be used to cast hold portal (1 charge), knock (2 charges) or a temporary version of wall of iron (3 charges, lasts only 4 minutes and creates only four 5' squares) at caster level 4. If the bearer is a spellcaster, they can expend a spell or slot equal to the number of charges that would be expended to use any of these spells without expending charges from the stone, but the resultant spell will be at CL 4, regardless of their caster level.
Aucturn This pea sized stone is oddly squishy and damp to the touch, and while it appears greenish-yellow to the bearer, it's appearance is inconsistent to all other viewers, never changing visibly when being looked at directly, but appearing different to different viewers, or at different times, sometimes as a gemstone, sometimes a tiny world, sometimes something organic and unwholesome, such as a feral animalistic or insectile eye, or a glistening hummingbird's heart, still beating, or something equally disturbing. The 'stone' has an Intelligence and Wisdom score of 10, a NE alignment, a single rank in Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Perception and Sense Motive (giving it a +4 bonus in each of these skills), and can communicate telepathically with it's bearer, and will occasionally volunteer some (usually practical, if amoral) advice or even use Aid Other to assist it's bearer in the use of one of these four skills. It speaks Aklo, but it's bearer can understand it's telepathic communications even if they do not normally understand Aklo, and it might be persuaded to serve as a translator, albeit with it's usual macabre and sinister off-color commentary. Due to it's occasional recalcitrance, regular use of Diplomacy (or Intimidate!) on the stone is recommended to earn it's cooperation.
Hey, kill a lich-astronomer, save a bunch of Lirgeni remnants from whatever she's up to that's probably not healthy for them, and get *eleven* unique ioun stones as treasure! I kinda love doing the research for stuff like this, and looking up both the planets involved to get an idea what sort of ioun stone powers or traits would feel appropriate, and then what sort of precious and semi-precious stones would best fit the desired colors and qualities!
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So I recently read a threat about hot ladies being redeemed (Nocticula, Sorshen, Arazni) while not-so-hot ladies like Gyronna and Lamashtu, stay evil, and it got me thinking about non-evil worshippers of Lamashtu.
Instead of just focusing on her mothering aspect, there's fodder I think in her embracing of madness and deformity. In the 'old days' that seemed all squicky, but in a more enlightened age, she's the champion for 'neurodiversity,' for finding a place for people who would have been discarded or regarded as 'damaged' or 'a burden' by less enlightened societies. Ditto, her embrace of disability (aka 'deformity'), people whose bodies are more 'diverse' than the accepted range. (Biodiverse? Physiodiversity?)
And so a CN sect of Lamashtans who run an orphanage for children that the societies around them would have shunned, locked away or thrown away, children with challenges aplenty, could be an interesting splinter sect of non-evil Lamashtans. (and there could even be some thematic crossover with vengeful Calistrians, only the Lamashtan avengers don't go after boyfriends who pissed them off, but after parents who discarded children they didn't like the looks of, or towns that beat someone up and ran them off for 'looking weird' or 'acting weird.)
I've always been a fan of the corner-cases, where someone veers away from the core tenets of a god (such as the Abadaran or Iroran Paladins, imposing moral values on faiths that don't really have any), to focus on values that were allowed by the 'one-step' alignment rule of 1st edition, but not always covered as much.
NE Clerics of Pharasma, all about hunting down people who are bidding on the Sun Orchid Elixir and 'cheating death,' or even hunting down people who either have cast resurrection, or have been resurrected, or perhaps just randomly killing people in the deserts of Thuvia, who are hunting for the elusive sun orchids (while also spitefully destroying any they find themselves!).
CG Clerics of Calistria, all about pranks and tricks to tweak the nose (nonlethally!) or ruining the reputations of stuffy full-of-themselves tyrannical law-and-order sorts, coordinating subtle acts of civil disobedience to make the tyrants look foolish, sex positivity and open relationships and sexual equality, etc.
LN Clerics of Zon-Kuthon who are all about pain and adversity and privation as a means of forging oneself, strengthening oneself, innuring oneself for the challenges to come, when the things in the Outer Dark finally come for us all. Steel is made from iron, they say, by burning and beating it, and putting just a touch of the darkness into it (coal, metaphorically, added to iron).
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A long while back, I did a one-letter off spells list, with stuff like Shocking Grass and Burning Lands.
And now, some one-letter off spells from Ultimate Magic!
Tonic Gift (Toxic Gift). 1st level. You cast this spell as a standard action, and then drink a potion as a move action within the next round, it's effects are immediately transferred to a willing (or unconscious) ally within Close range. You are not affected by this potion, only the ally. A spell slot equal to one plus the level of the spell in the potion can be used to have the potion affect both you *and* the chosen target.
Blood Cow Strike (Blood Crow Strike). A target within Close range is trampled by a herd animal, per the Bestiary. If it fails it's save versus the trample attack, it also suffers 2 points of bleed damage for the next minute, if it is not staunched before then. The 'blood cow' appears as a normal cow, appearing at the moment of impact and disappearing directly after trampling the target, but red and wet, as if covered in blood.
Blade of Blight Victory (Blade of Bright Victory). If the target fails their save, the cannot score critical hits or benefit from any other form of precision damage, such as a ranger's Favored Enemy bonus, or Sneak Attack dice. Any attempt at a coup de grace only inflicts normal damage during this time. This effect lasts for 1 minute / level.
Guiding Stab (Guiding Star). You cast this spell as a movement action. If you successfully strike a target with a melee attack within one round, you mark the target so that all allies get a +2 bonus to strike the target with any attacks for the next round.
Dance of One Hundred Cats (Dance of One Hundred Cuts). Affects as a 20 ft. radius within Close range, one hundred normal sized cats of various colors and breeds appear and begin moving in a strangely formal 'dance,' purring loudly. All able to view this dance are fascinated as by hypnotic pattern. Attacking these cats causes them to fade away at the end of the round, although rumors speak of a higher level version that turns aggressive if attacked and becomes a giant cat swarm...
Envious Surge (Envious Urge). As a swift action you can charge a target who has a visible item worth at least 100 gp x your caster level. Your attack must be a disarm or steal attempt at the object of your envy, and you do not suffer an AC penalty versus the target of your attack (but do against any other attackers). The movement of this charge does not provoke an attack of opportunity, nor does the disarm or steal attempt at the end of the charge.
Mice Body (Ice Body). This is just a polymorph effect that can turn the caster into a Diminutive mouse, which is great for stealth, but not much else. It can also be cast on an ally, or upon an unwilling target (who gets a Fortitude save), and acts as baleful polymorph.
Malicious Sprite (Malicious Spite). Summons a chaotic evil sprite that targets a single creature within medium range, and lasts 1 hour per level. This sprite focuses all it's ire on the chosen target.
Woolen Phalanx (Wooden Phalanx). Summons 1d4+2 animated sets of clothing, which can't inflict lethal damage, and count as Small animated objects. They have DR 5 against Bludgeoning attacks. Lasts 1 minute / level.
Ball Construct (Call Construct). You compress a single construct under your own control into a ball that fits in your hand. At any time thereafter, you can speak the command phrase 'Pokemon, I choose you!' and toss the ball into a square within 10 ft. and the construct returns to full size and potency. This spell must be recast to be re-used.
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Random thoughts on
Practical Magic of the Arcanamirium
Permanent Illusion (6th) is a permanent Major Image (3rd), so permanent Minor Image would be (5th), permanent Silent Image would be (4th) and permanent Ghost Sounds would be (3rd).
Permanent Ghost Sounds is used to create animal calls, toys that make animal sounds, lockets that include the voice of a loved one, holy icons that quote inspirational scriptures, music boxes that produce actual music, taxidermic animals that produce natural sounds, etc. Also the occasional fake musical instrument that plays a specific tune (generally quite well) regardless of the skill of the person pretending to play it (the instrument itself being designed to produce no sound, so as not to conflict with the magical tune playing at the same time). Usually these instruments only have a single song, so they aren’t much good for repeat performances as your audience might get suspicious that you only seem to know one tune…
Permanent Silent Image is used to create realistic three dimensional ‘portraits’, and quite commonly in noble studies to create fantastic landscapes, or in a scholarly setting to illustrate the subject being studied, like maps, or anatomy, or the inner workings of a siege engine. The temple to Nethys in Quantium has the most well-known display of this sort, with life-size ‘light sculptures’ of Nex himself, Anghazaad, and various other prominent figures from arcane history, including Old Mage Jatembe, which have resulted in consistent depictions of these historical figures, since these images of them as they were in life have been around for many years (and are, presumably, accurate?). A controversial ‘light sculpture’ of Nex *as a gnome* is stored in a forgotten chamber, as it was considered disrespectful, but that it would *also* be disrespectful to destroy even such a controversial homage to their founder.
Ray of Frost is cast by one of a half dozen apprentices at the fish market every morning on tables containing a flat indentation into which seawater is poured, which they freeze into sheets of ice, upon which the fish are displayed for the day. In some case, awnings overhead are soaked with seawater and similarly frozen so that there is an icy overhang. These same apprentices also are commissioned by nobles and businesses all over the city to keep basement ‘ice boxes’ filled with fresh ice, to keep their own private stocks fresh. (Some also have private pools chilled during the summer months, to create cool dipping pools for refreshment of residents and guests.) The payment goes to the Arcanamirium for this service, not to the apprentice, although tipping is usually welcomed by the busy apprentices, if not encouraged or condoned by the Arcanamirium itself. The cost is a pittance compared to the expense of the chill boxes below.
Chill Boxes are sold to the wealthy, and certain businesses that deal with storage or transport of perishable goods, after a strategic number of them were given free to larger food storage, slaughterhouses and fisheries (none of these businesses were given enough cubic footage to chill all of their daily product. The first hit is free…). Each uses Prestidigitation to keep the contents at just above freezing, regardless of the temperature outside the box. Sizes are 1 cubic foot, 2 cubic feet, 4 cubic feet, 6, 8 and 12 cubic feet, with the larger models costing more. (the winter (colloquial term, ‘fetch me some wine from the winter, would you my good man?’))
Permanent Dancing Lights float in a room, never moving. They can be programmed to only come on at night, or to respond to a command, or the presence of an amulet. Permanent Dancing Lights that move around, following people wearing signature items, or float above special candelabra, cost extra.
Self-Mending clothing are a luxury. Self-mending boots and shields are far more practical and worth the expense, for a finely crafted shield or hand-tooled or beloved pair of boots. (They mend themselves as often as 1/day, if damaged in the case of a shield, 1/week (if damaged, or on Oathday, otherwise) in the case of boots undergoing regular use.)
Self-cleaning clothing (via Prestidigitation) are also a luxury, as are clothes that maintain the brightness of their colors (also using Prestidigitation). Much more extravagant magically enhanced clothing, such as a gown that has a moving image of a cloudscape, stormscape, or dragon in flight, upon it, or one that has a mantle of peacock feathers that rise up on command when you enter a room, cost SOOO much more.
A pair of rings / earrings can have Message linked to be usable between them. A stationary Message device can also be built into a house, so that the wearer of an amulet can have their voice heard in various servant quarters / work areas to summon aid. Such things are commonplace in the Arcanamirium itself, and apprentices regularly get whispered directions from senior staff all over the campus (although, generally, only a single member of the arcanascenti, and the leaders of the college themselves, have access to any single apprentices token, so usually an apprentice won’t receive conflicting instructions at the same time).
Arcane Mark (invisibly) can be used on gemstones for sale, to ensure that if they are stolen, their true provenance can be later discovered. Several arcanists sell their marks to invisibly mark items so that they can be later identified if stolen, or if suspected of being replaced by forgeries. Few of the wealthy consider this worth the risk, as a rumor has been spread that a marked item can be summoned to hand at any time by the wizard that marked it. (A misunderstanding of how Instant Summons, which none of the low-level wizards selling Arcane Marks as a protective service can even cast, works. The two or three who are high enough level to cast Instant Summons have far more productive and profitable things to do than cast Arcane Mark on some wealthy twits valuables.)
Lullaby is cast on decorative mobiles hung over cribs, to help keep the toddlers of the wealthy quiet. Unless special ordered, these mobiles tend to have dangling 'charms' that subtly encourage acceptance of magical lore, such as symbols representing the schools of magic. Gotta hook 'em young!
Fog-catches. Use minor magic to draw in moisture from the evening fogs over the city into central pools, which are covered by thin metal ‘doors’ (which fall closed again if not held open, while filling a pail with water, although the most recent one uses an Open/Close cantrip instead) to prevent contamination by external matter. Weak necromancy is used to discourage (or kill) tiny vermin that enter the area, and Prestidigitation keeps the water clean and chilled, while also gently agitating it (three hollow glass marbles float in the water, and spin slowly around the center of the pool, remaining equidistant from each other and the walls and center of the pools, keeping the water gently agitated. These freshwater caches are available in several districts, but are subject to all sorts of conspiratorial nonsense, like how the necromantic magic that keeps insects away also makes the drinkers infertile, and this is a plot to keep the poor from breeding, as the wealthier citizens have their own wells. (Insects tend to pile up in drifts outside the cache, killed by the necromancy, and then pushed out by the Prestidigitation…)
Unseen Chef – unseen servant that has Profession (cook) as a class skill, 1 rank in that skill, and Skill Focus (Profession (cook)), for a +7 Profession (cook) check. It usually takes 10, and performs only unseen servant functions related to cooking, placing out meals and cleaning up after itself in the kitchen (or campsite) where it is anchored. It is an uninspired cook. Expect lots of stews, but its creativity is also limited by what foodstuffs are available, the presence of a fire (or supplies to start one) and cooking utensils. Cold sandwiches might be your lot, if it has nothing to build a fire with! Rarely made permanent, but, of course they did, the meals in the Arcanamirium for the students and lower tier members, are all made by unseen chefs. You need to be of higher rank to rate one of the living cooks!
Permanent Floating Disks. Follow the bearer of a specific amulet. Fairly common on the docks, and special blue cap-wearing porters command a premium by using these items (and / or their own spells) to assist in loading and unloading ships, and ferrying cargo around the docks and even up into the city. The most prestigious of these blue caps can be seen with no less than five disks following her like her own personal caravan, and rarely lacks for customers.
Permanent Grease. Used on an area or surface that needs to remain frictionless for use. The most prominent such use is a greased track in the shipyards in which a ship is brought into a raised berth to be worked on, and then slid back into the water when repairs are complete, but there are some less visible greased chutes into the sewers to prevent garbage from clogging up the disposal chute, or creatures living below from climbing up from the sewers into the city… A quarry outside of town also has a greased channel they use to move quarried blocks of stone from the quarry to a barge for transport more easily.
Stable that has a hitching post that can cast Mount (CL 1) at will, but can only have 1 mount active at a time. Multiple such posts exist in the Arcanamirium stable, and each has a amulet hanging from the post. Someone taking a horse out must take the amulet to control that mount, and also serves as notice to anyone entering the stable that this particular horse is ‘out’ at the moment. Apprentice level ‘worker mages’ out doing Ray of Frost or Prestidigitation duty do not get to use these Mounts. Only in the Arcanamirium can you enter a stable, and it just has hitching posts, no actual horses. (Or, bonus, no droppings to clean up, and no need to feed them!)
Animate Rope cast on several ropes currently in use as transoms and hoists on the docks, but wow, it’s been a disaster so far! Superstitious sailors resistant to anything new and the latest in self-knotting ropes do not go well together. One (expensive!) rope was hacked to bits after a group of sailors insisted that it ‘went rogue’ and tried to strangle one of them!
Erase is used to recycle paper or parchment by several local businesses, getting rid of each weeks tallies so that they can reuse the paper for the new weeks business. The journeyman who provides this service secretly records some quite interesting data on transactions in the city’s businesses for his own investment opportunities…
There is a permanent Feather Fall from the highest tower of the Arcanamirium, and both supplies and sometimes people just get tossed (or jump) out the window and drift to the courtyard. Doing this in the presence of visitors is discouraged, as it started a rumor that the curriculum is so mercilessly hard that students have leapt from the tall tower to their deaths (which discourages noble families from sending their children, and more importantly, tuition, to the Acanamirium!).
Small animated objects like brooms that clean a specific room, saddles that equip themselves, dishes that place themselves (or remove themselves when the meal is done) or tall candelabras (usually lit by continual flame) that follow someone around at night are expensive, but popular. Most such items come preprogrammed with a specific set of tasks, those that can be directed by the wearer of an item of jewelry are more expensive.
A journeyman has taken to transcribing risqué, politically subversive or simply scandalous tales in otherwise dry by popular textbooks for young ladies (and gentlemen) of breeding, using Secret Page. Only someone who knows the command word can see and read the verboten material, while to any nosy nanny or disapproving parent, the books are perfectly staid and respectable tomes of history, business matters or noble genealogies. When A Proper Ladies Guide to Etiquette secretly contains the unredacted version of the scandalous Conception Exception, well!
A new spell designed for this sort of practical / mercantile magic;
Olfactory Image / 'Ghost Scents' – as ghost sounds, but produces odors as you wish. Damaging or debilitating odors lack their usual potence, but someone familiar with Ghast or Troglodyte stench will at least recognize the smell and perhaps think some of those creatures are at least nearby, if not present. This spell is more commonly used to produce fragrances, and the price is set according to the price of the original fragrance. If you want a trinket that exudes a fragrance that normally costs 500 gp. an ounce, and is imported from Vudra by way of Jalmeray, the Arcanamirium is not going to let you buy this item for 100 gp... (They might have, but the wealthy Jalmari fragrance importers would punish them in the court of public opinion for undercutting their business!)
Persistent Ghost Scents would be a 3rd level spell.
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Back in the day, the presence of Dark, Spirit and Guardian Naga, but not Water Naga, prompted me to make my own. (This was before Bestiary 3, when Paizo went ahead and statted them up, but hey, I still like the idea of there being Sylvan Naga!) I took the somewhat odd approach of having *all* naga be the same, mechanically (barring attributes being prioritized differently, depending on class choice), with the whole dark/guardian/spirit/water thing being just different factions of a single species.
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(Water) Naga
CN Medium aberration
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 22 (+4 deflection, +3 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 58 (8d8+24)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +5
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee +5 (1d6+3 plus poison)
Ranged spit +6 touch (poison)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Spells Known (CL 5th)
2nd (4/day) – detect thoughts, invisibility
1st (7/day) – charm person, expeditious retreat, magic missile, shield
0 (at will) – daze, detect magic, mage hand, open/close, read magic, touch of fatigue
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 17
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 18 (can’t be tripped)
(4) Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Eschew Materials B, Lightning Reflexes, Stealthy
(4+Int – 48) Skills Escape Artist 4 (+12), Knowledge (arcana) 8 (+13), Knowledge (nature) 8 (+11), Perception 8 (+14), Sense Motive 4 (+7), Spellcraft 8 (+13), Stealth 8 (+16), Swim 0 (+20)
Languages Common, Goblin, Sylvan
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate or warm rivers or marshes, temperate or warm aquatic
Organization solitary or nest (2-4)
Treasure standard
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Hold Breath (Ex) A water naga can hold its breath underwater for a number of rounds equal to 4 times its Constitution score before it risks drowning.
Undersized Weapons (Ex) The tentacles framing their face are smaller and weaker than their naga's size would suggest, and can only wield weapons scaled for a size Small creature, and with an effective Strength of 5. They can however manipulate potions, wands, writing implements or spell components just fine.
Poison (Ex) Bite – injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 1 save
Spells A water naga casts spells as a 5th level sorcerer. Some water naga cast as other spellcasting classes and use the appropriate spell lists, casting attributes (altering which mental attribute is primary appropriately) and preparation methods, but do not gain any other class abilities.
The size of a constrictor, but with the head of a man with serpentine features, two foot and half long tentacles hanging down like scalplocks and a beard-like frill of a half-dozen or more tiny slender tendrils directly under their mouth that can be used for fine manipulation, but to no real offensive affect, naga can occur in a bewildering array of colors and patterns, or none at all, some resembling no species of snake known, sometimes blending into their surroundings, at other times brightly contrasting with it. They prefer warmer climates, and are most common in arid or tropical equatorial regions, but can be found scattered throughout the Darklands, and in smaller populations in regions as far north as Mendev and Lastwall.
There are many conflicting tales about the origins of nagakind. Some say they were created in their current form by their patron goddess Nalinvati. Others say that the Sekimiri ‘serpentfolk’ crafted them as a servant race of ‘lesser spellcasters,’ without arms so that they would always remain dependent on their masters. An Ulfen tale says that ancient serpents sleep near the bones of the dead, absorbing the whispers of forbidden and occult knowledge from the lingering spirits, and that over time, this dark knowledge festers within then and causes them to manifest faces, so that they can speak the words of power they have heard from the slumbering dead (an odd tale, since naga are almost unknown in Uffen lands…). Nagakind dismiss such tales, seeming to have no interest in the origins of their species, concerned only with advancing their own personal arcane and occult lore, gaining in both knowledge and personal power. Their pursuit is a selfish one, and while they come together fleetingly to perpetuate their race, they do not cooperate in their individual development, and seem to cooperate more readily with other races, with drow, fey, hags and humans being their preferred partners in arcane pursuits, although they may also lead small cults or tribes of humans, kobolds or (degenerate) serpentfolk, occasionally manipulating a tribe of goblins in service to some scheme or another.
Many ‘Guardian’ naga used to be clerics of Aroden, and have split into two main factions, half following the Inheritor, Iomedae, and the other half, Pharasma, the Lady of Graves, with each group regarding the other as faithless traitors (although they never take such disagreements so far as to actually commit acts of violence against each other, simply pointedly ignoring each other when forced to work together). Most cast spells as clerics, but a few as wizards, and used to follow Arazni, but now exclusively follow Pharasma, or no one at all. They are the most likely naga to be found with a group of human knights or clergy of their faith, and to field spells of healing and abjuration. Those who cast as clerics have 15 Wisdom and 13 Intelligence, instead.
‘Dark’ naga live in the darklands, and ally with drow, or more commonly lead tribes of derro, kobolds, morlocks or (degenerate) serpentfolk. They tend towards oracle, sorcerer, witch or wizard spellcasting, often with a focus on spells of enchantment, evocation, illusion and necromancy, and may take additional levels in these classes, gaining the appropriate class abilities (and increased spellcasting). Preferred starting languages change to Undercommon, Necril, Sekimina, etc. Dark naga are obsessed with power in all its forms, and are the most likely to progress far into their arcane studies, or seek alternative sources of power, with one prominent individual being among the leadership of the sinister Technic League, and another being a blind oracular high priestess of Dahak, operating above-ground in the Shackles.
Sylvan naga are secretive advisors to the elves of the Mwangi Expanse, preferring to keep out of sight deep in elven communities and respectfully deferred to, which has lent them a sinister reputation among Sovryian elves who think that their ‘forlorn’ kin have developed an unseemly dependence on their whisperings and manipulations. In truth, the sylvan naga have suffered greatly due to assumed ties to the ancient and reviled serpentfolk and sought refuge among their elven allies, and are more in-tune with the natural world, than with the ‘sinister’ machinations to which they are associated. A Sylvan naga can choose druid spells as sorcerer spells (casting them as arcane spells), and almost always have class levels in druid, choosing the Nature Bond option of a cleric Domain instead if an Animal or Plant companion (choosing from Animal, Community, Plant, Protection, Scalykind, Water or Weather) . Preferred starting languages include elven, Mwangi and sylvan. Sylvan naga with class levels in Druid have a 15 Wisdom and 13 Intelligence. There is always an open position at the Magaambya for a sylvan naga ‘halcyon-speaker’, said to be a position created by Old Mage Jatembe himself, but there has not been anyone in that position in living memory, and it remains something of a curiosity.
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Random thought;
With the (relatively) recent changes to Irrisen, with the rise of Anastasia to rule, I wonder how much the old class of Jadwiga winter witches have found it prudent to move outwards, to set up shop in distant lands like Brevoy or Taldor or even somewhat closer to home like Belkzen, Nidal, Ustalav or Oprak, serving as mysterious and 'exotic' arcane advisors and the like, rather than hang out in areas where they are reviled by local Ulfen populations, and might find themselves no longer quite as comfortable.
It could be an interesting bit of setting detail for the occasional winter witch to be seen hobnobbing in Cheliax, or attending (or presenting!) a lecture at the Arcanamirium, now that Irrisen itself has turned a (ha ha) cold shoulder to them.
And it would logically result in some of their more specialized ice-related magic proliferating throughout the arcane community, as they would no longer be quite so incestuously tied to Irrisen's borders.
I've always found the Jadwiga fascinating.
How much (if anything) does a group of Jadwiga brought to Irrisen remember about the place they came from? Did they have to go through some sort of Battle Royale/Hunger Games like competition to qualify to be some of the hundred or so she brings over to rule Irrisen for a century?
Are some of them related by blood, and, if so, do they even remember that, or do they instead have a 'tradition' of not having kids with other members of 'their generation' (so no Kseniya having kids with other Kseniya, even they are visibly not even remotely genetically related), treating their own generation as 'one family unit' even if that is not the actual case? (And, if so, does that result in the occasional bit of unintended inbreeding, as an 'Elvanna' turns out to be a bit too closely related to a 'Harcatha,' with some of these visibly marked and 'shameful' children most likely to grow up to become bitter and spite-fueled Hags over time?).
How old are they when they arrive? At least old enough to rule, so late teens / early twenties? And then they rule for 100 years, at which point most of them should be venerable and / or dead, if fully human. Are they fully human? Are they in fact bred from a hidden realm controlled by Baba Yaga from some millenia-ago captive populations of Ulfen humans and Snowcaster elves, with the current population being entirely half-elves (explaining some of their longevity) and not even remembering their ancient (fully elven or fully human) ancestors?
Or do they have some other special means of extending their vitality, such as a racial trait that increases the age at which they go up an age category by one year for every caster level they gain, giving them incentive to learn witchery (or sorcery, or clerical / druidic magic!).
Or some combination of the above. Half-(snowcaster) elves, who also can get up to +20 years of extra lifespan by reaching caster level 20 (which, generally, only the queen will), could at least justify a queen not being terribly feeble at the end of her 100 year reign. (I've always loved the idea of a stable population of half-elves, or half-orcs, somewhere, that have no 'unfortunate implications' or mixed parentage, just two folk with a some elf-y or orc-y bits getting together and making a like-blooded baby.)
With the lean away from gender-limited groups (particularly all-evil female groups, like the Darklight Sisterhood, or the old 'evil queen' trope where women in power are seen as unnatural and wicked), it could be interesting to have only 70% ish of witches be ladies, and have even a few of the *rulers* have been Witch-KINGS.
I feel like Irrisen was really kind of closed off and 'inaccessible' for play, under the PF1 paradigm, and with Anastasia in charge, and perhaps winter witchcraft (and the Jadwiga as an ethnicity) spreading out a bit more, that 'those toys' are now more available for player use and setting flavor for a game *not* set in Irrisen, which, IMO, is a good thing.
Since the topic I started "Leveled Mutations" has immortality not become total till epic, all others must flee the kingdom to survive. The witch queen may be using such mutant's blood to remain immortal.