Friday, April 26, 2013

Holy Shit (or, native Clerics and Paladins on Kalak-Nur)

Clerics in Kalak-Nur are as the Labyrinth Lord Class except:
-Weapon and armor restricted by deity (not restricted to Blunt weapons)
-Turn Undead is a spell and it's effects vary by deity
-WIS bonus (if any) = # of bonus spells at 1st level

Paladins as LL except:
-Alignment restrictions are by deity (not only lawful deities have Paladins)
-Turn Undead once per day per level
-"Lay on Hands" may be reversed and/or used on objects (2 HP healing or damage to a person or object 1/day by touch);
-Cure Disease OR "Lay on Hands" 1/day, not both;
-Detect Evil actually detects intension or lies (good and evil are not absolutes to natives)
-Protection from Evil, 10' radius may have unpredictable effects
-The steed summoned at 4th level will not be a horse unless a portal to another plane is open

Kalak-Nur uses the following alignments for natives:
Outsiders, however, tend to keep their notions of Good and Evil and the related powers.

Some Gods, and their followers' abilities:

Gorgathon, The Eye of Fire - god of knowledge, light, the sun and moon. The Sun is his right eye, ever watching, all seeing, ever gathering knowledge of all things.
The moon is his left eye socket, his left eye lost in a godwar (actually stolen by The-Knife-In-Darkness and hidden in a monster's belly). The left eye socket represents "turning a blind eye", seeing and letting go, forgiveness, knowing but not acting upon.
Often worshipped by magic users, his followers are voracious gatherers of knowledge.
His Clerics have access to Divination spells from the Magic-User list, and Magic User worshipers vice versa. His worshippers may not learn spells of Darkness or Cold.
Symbol: The sun and moon.
AL: Neutral Charming (although his opponents find him Tedious, and his followers tend toward Law)
Cleric Weapons: be judicious in the use of fire, do not destroy sources of knowledge; it is encouraged but not required to discover and disseminate strange weapons and methods of fighting
Turn Undead: will also repel creatures of Darkness/Shadow and the ignorant (those who fear knowledge); only works in light shed by open flame, sun or moon.
Paladins: May take 1 round to  MARK any creature or item they can see; by concentrating and taking no other actions for 1 TURN, they will know where the light of the sun or moon last shone upon that person or item (none may escape the burning eyes of Gorgathon.)
By concentrating for 1 TURN in the open sun or moonlight, a Paladin of Gorgathon may use "Lay on Hands" or Cure Disease an extra time per day.

NICE BOOTS LET'S MAKE LOVE - a Tyrannosaurus Hex that very recently absorbed so much magical energy she became the God of War, Chaos, and Confusion.
AL: CHAOTIC. Charm or Tedium have yet to be established.
Wild Mages may become her Clerics at any time, but cannot undo this decision.
Cleric Weapons: Use your natural weapons, or spells. Seek mutations to give you natural attacks. 
IF you have no natural claws/teeth/etc, you may use a Polearm or dagger. The amount of HD of creatures you've killed with your Polearm is your percentage chance to gain a Claw, Bite or Breath weapon. You may only attempt this spontaneous mutation once. If successful, 1d6: 
1)Claw1d4 
2)Claw1d6 
4)T-Rex Legs, Kick 1d8 
5)Big Teeth Bite 1d6, also bleeds another 1HP that # of rounds after
6)Breath Weapon determined by DM
Turn Undead: Is a spell. Can be used to Control Undead or Turn Lawful Creatures as well.
Spells: As a Wild Mage with access to Cleric Spells. No healing. Anything that refers to Evil and any radiuses centered on you create Wild Magic Zones. Here are some Wild Magic Tables.
Paladins: 1 in 6 chance of a Wild Surge any time a Paladin ability is used. Protection from Evil, 10ft Radius is not that at all - it's a Wild Magic Zone, 10 ft around you for every two levels you have gained, 3 rounds a day +3 rounds per level gained. That's right, Wild Magic for everyone. You are truly a holy warrior, delivering the gift of your Goddess to all you encounter. Every time you gain a level, there is a percentage chance equal to that level that you turn into a Tyrannosaurus Hex and go crazy for that many days. So at level 3, There's a 3% chance you become a T-Hex and rage out for 3 days. At the end of your rage, you are still a big dinosaur covered in sloppy runes, but you have your old mind back. This will probably affect the stats on your sheet only minimally, but will affect reactions to you quite a bit.

Vanamanaghor-Knife-In Darkness - God(dess?) of darkness, stealth, deception. Not openly worshiped. Culturally a "lovable rogue" in that people like to tell hyperviolent stores of his/her exploits stealing from and assassinating the avatars of other gods, which s/he does purely for sport. To many, s/he is a symbol of getting one over on "superiors". The god does not reveal itself, so gender is unknown. Symbol: A black knife or a silver knife on a black field.
Clergy are all Cleric/Assassins. Can choose to create Darkness, 15" radius once per day per level instead of Turning Undead. As the spell.
As with all campaign things, this is a work in progress.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

The News From Kalak-Nur

Before the horrible southern tunnels were blown up, +Erik Jensen 's Bumphrey looted this painting:
A portrait of a Goblin King of old. Bumphrey and +Chris H 's "Magician" found and looted an ancient Mining Goblin throne room, taking all sorts of loot, including this statuette:
They found a door with old goblin runes, and more recent elven runes, indicating an Ice Demon was trapped within. The party left it alone. Then the throne room got blown up along with the rest of the horrible southern tunnels, killing the awful Afar the Green but freeing the Ice Demon, EMFLWEM.
Every since that happened, the frog and eyes of the statuette have been glowing weirdly.

Lacon the Fire Lizard, incidental ally of convenience, has called Bumphrey and any brave souls that will accompany him to meet up on a grave matter of immediate importance. As in, HURRY! and Bring the painting and statuette!
You see, the objects on the table in the painting are a code that, if deciphered, tells of a ritual to banish or bind demons to one's service. Many people are looking for that painting, and all of them bad dudes. Lacon believes the ship between Targenmoor and Baksheesh might have something in its memory banks to decipher the painting. He also believes a Mining Goblin historian who might know has a secret library under the mountain near Mocata's Stronghold.

Do you go East, and risk the demon finding you and destroying the painting (and eating you?) Do you go North, and risk being brought in for suspicious activity by Mocata's Justicars of Magic? Either way, it's a hard race against time over grey steel sand with a demon and who knows what kind of underworld cutthroats at your heels?

Oh, also, the Mining Goblins will pay a lot of money for the stuff Bumphrey has.

Meanwhile, +Pearce Shea 's new guy Bento is looking for the underground, illegal (by Mocata's law) cult of Vanamanaghor-Knife-In Darkness, of whom the people love to tell stories but no one openly worships.
He's going to have to figure out how much money he's willing to spend to carouse, then roll 1d8 on this table. +1 for every 100GP:
1) In trouble with local authorities; imprisoned or owe 2d4x100 GP to local underworld figures

2) Mocata's Goat-Men heard you asking shady stuff, and you're now in a prison cart headed for his stronghold; your stuff is in a cart somewhere in the same caravan.

3) Mocata's Justicars have heard of you, and are seeking you for questioning.

4) You got so drunk you forgot the goal; roll on Jeff Rients' Carousing Table

5) You found them, embarrassed yourself, and they disappeared; -1 on this table next time.

6 -7) Next time you're in a Kalak-Nur game, you start in one of their secret places of worship, surrounded by Assassin-Priests and their flunkies; if they don't like what you're saying, you might get killed. If they do, you might get conscripted into the faith and have some responsibilities.

8) You remember finding them, but you're not sure what happened; you wake up locked inside some rich person's vault and there are guards outside.

9-10) You don't remember much of the meeting, but you think it went well; anyway, they are receptive to future advances and you know how to contact them.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Kalak-Nur Session Wrap-up in which AFAR is Defeated and a new Goddess of War is made.

Kalak-Nur Session Wrap Up
DM Goes Mad 
1,264 XP each.
A great magical mushroom cloud is seen in the frozen south. For a moment, it looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex's head.

Summary of action at bottom of post. As always, fire, marbles, and strategy were effective.

LOOT:
20 GP
Now useless map and diary
Surgery Kit that allows transplanting of creature limbs once 
(bone saw, scalpel, gauze; allows crazy stuff like putting a Frost Toad tongue in place of your hand)
Frost Toad Corpse

THE WITCH CAN MAKE (from the toad):
(cost=200 GP per potion): 4 Healing Potions, but you are 2 AC penalty against COLD and take double damage from COLD/FROST for 3d4 rounds after drinking. You appear 56 degrees F to infravision during this time.
(cost=1000 GP) Potion of Frost Giant Control (can be used for other COLD creatures too)and choose ONE of the following:
(cost=11,000 GP) Cube of Frost Resistance
OR (cost=6000 GP) Short Sword +1, Frost Brand, +2 VS COLD creatures

DEFEATED:
2 Collecting Ice Toads (1 stuck in tunnel, 1 exploded)
1 Service Droid (Afar's mouthpiece)
35 Rot Grubs
1 Guard Droid
Afar the Green, and his control panel chair

DIED VIA INDIRECT PLAYER ACTIONS
Drone, Magikiller
Banshee
3 Guard Droids
The only living person to escape and map Mocata's torture dungeon.
Mining Goblin covered in magical tattoos that could have given you some.
Some Toads, Beetles, Whispering Creepers, other Droids

FREED VIA INDIRECT PLAYER ACTIONS
EMFLWEM, ICE DEVIL

Sir Ward is a Paladin of the level his XP total would make him. More details on that later. He is bound to the faith of GORGATHON EYE OF FIRE, god of Knowledge. (http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com/2013/04/gods-of-kalak-nur.html)

EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO MAGICAL RADIATION:
KELLEN - 2 of your magic items, determined at random, are now mundane. You absorbed their magic into your skin, and have 1 use of each item from your fingertip before that magic is gone forever.
NIXOT - 1/day you can secrete a sticky coating on your fingers, you can't let go of what you're holding and someone has to roll off against 20 STR to take it from you. Can't support over 50 lbs, so no climbing with it unless you are less than 50 lbs. Lasts 3d20 minutes or until you say so.
SIR WARD - you can blur your features to look like a hideous blank man for 6d10 minutes 1/day. Includes clothing. You aren't harder to hit, but no one will recognize you.
BUMPHREY - Your tail grows large and can be used as a club, or to deliver touch attacks.

SKEREE and MALICE were not mutated, but can willingly absorb the radiation from another PC who is willing to give it up. The effect will be different. However, they have Banshee Madness.
MALICE : Self-Starvation-Your madness has inspired the irrational belief that if you deny yourself food you can deny the extent of your fear. You permanently lose five Hit Points while under the effects of this madness.
SKEREE : Prone to Nightmares Your fear finds you in your dreams -dreams from which you awake screaming and unrested. After awakening from a night of slumber, roll 1d6. On a roll of 1-3 you feel no ill effects; on a roll of 4-6 you gain none of the benefits of a full night's sleep and suffer a -1 penalty on all rolls for the day.
(get rid of it with spell n such, read here: http://talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/search/label/madness)

ULTIMATE RESULT: At the end, the Banshee killed Afar for good. The T-Hex and avatar of Cthon pushed the Magikiller Drone in the pit, they looked at each other, they the T-Hex pushed the avatar of Cthon in.
Cthon stays a minor demigod of the Elves. Afar dies and is laughed at generally. Emflwem the Ice Devil is roaming the world.
The Tyrannosaurus Hex absorbs all the magical energy of the explosion and is judged too powerful to stay mortal by the gods. She is judged worthy of the position Afar was vying for.NICE BOOTS LET'S MAKE LOVE, Tyrannosaurus Hex Goddess of WAR, CHAOS, and CONFUSION is now accepting worshippers from any and all lands.



Summary below. If any players want +100xp/level, they can write their own.
Weird portal is there, Ice Toad is stuck in tunnel on the other side, party figures out portal dynamics and shoots it before it tongues them to death. Nixot cuts the tongue off, carries it around.
Party finds dying White Elf Priest of Cthon, he gives them map and book (Afar's Diary, lazy transposition cipher) before dying.
Party opens door to far away statue of T-Rex, Service Droid with voice of Afar the Green coming towards them.
Party does weird kinky bondage stuff to droid, Malice shorts it, causing all to be shocked.
Nixot hears insane whispering in head (being the only Elf), opens door to see a bunch of blue bugs and a cell with someone pacing. Attempts to parlay with the insane avatar of Cthon are unsuccessful. The door is closed after fire is set to bugs.
Kellen checks out statue of T-Rex, is statue of Tyrannosaurus Hex(http://metalvsskin.blogspot.com/2013/03/communitas-monstrum.html), he chooses not to plug the Power Cube he has into the base.
Party runs into 4 Killer Guard Droids, Benny Hill Music plays. Lasers are shot. (http://www.gfilotto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/92427163256144230.jpg)
Nixot runs past to the goal (the "Battery" room) in a cloud of Darkness.
Malice and Skeree net the floaty Droids and pull them through a door, planning to shut it - but through the door they see a sad Elven lady in a laser prison.
Bumphrey rushes in to smash the laser and free the maiden in true Knight style. She is a Banshee that just wants someone to take her lute to Afar.
The battery room where Nixot went is skull-shaped, one "eye" is a pit glowing blue, one "eye" is a black pit sucking air in, "teeth" and "hair" are huge Mind-Eating Beetles, strapped to wall with limbs removed, pumping up Afar's brain.
Nixot hides among trapped Beetles, throws Collecting Ice Toad tongue down glowy shaft. Things are heard breaking on the way down.
Ward joins Nixot . They hear Afar's voice and a Magikiller Drone coming. Nixot runs.
Ward is sucked out of time, and faces Gorgathon The Eye of Fire, God of Knowledge . Vows are sworn. A Paladin is made. A dagger he found awhile ago becomes a Sun Sword.
Ward attacks Afar the Green, a Mind-Eating Beetle with a crazy jumble of surgically attached limbs, mounted on a floating chair. He gets in a good hit.
Out in the other room, everyone sees Nixot run back by the other way, toward the exit. Most follow him.
Bumphrey smashes more laser-prison mechanisms, grabs the Banshee's lute, heads to the skull-shaped battery room. Banshee follows.
Nixot sets another fire outside the door up the hallway, since the bugs are eating through it.
Skeree, Kellen and others run up the hallway. Nixot doubles back yet again, running to the Battery Room.
Malice runs in a circle or something and goes in there too.
Ward , his sword working in the anti-magic field of the killer drone due to divine power, is struck by Afar's Psionic powers. He saves and doesn't die, but is struck down.
Afar is commanding the Magikiller Drone to stay over the glowy pit, to cancel out the destruction the tongue Nixot threw in there is causing.
I roll shitty for the Guard Droids and Magikiller Drone, they miss 85% of their swings/blasts.
Malice runs in and hooks/ropes the chair, but is having trouble pulling it.
Nixot runs into the anti-magic field and drops a bunch of marbles under the chair.
Sir Ward stabs the chair's controls, causing it to crash down upon the marbles.
Malice changes position and pulls, the chair goes down the hole.
Afar uses Psionics to float in the hole, staying in the anti-magic zone.
Kellen (I think? Was that him?) throws a dagger. It hits, breaking Afar's concentration, sending him falling down the hole.
The Banshee , Afar's sister, screams. All are in the Anti-Magic Zone or save except Malice and Skeree . Due to the party's quick healing actions, they live.
Bumphree kicks the Banshee's lute down the hole after Afar.

All run.

On the way out, Kellen activates the Tyrannosaurus Hex statue, which becomes NICE BOOTS LET'S MAKE LOVE, a T-Hex frozen by the Elves as a trophy in ancient times.
Party encounters a Collecting Ice Toad, Nixot throws an explosive at it.

Not pictured: how many misses I rolled for the monsters, goddamnit. PCs succeeding on lots of rolls. PCs deciding to throw the Guard Droids in a room, them crowd in there to get hit by lasers.
The Avatar of Cthon using the flaming bugs to escape his prison. The Tyrannosaurus Hex and avatar of Cthon pushing the Magikiller Drone into the pit.
(Comment in the G+ thread)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Dear Lady Thuria, I Get the Joke As I Am Consumed By Slime

Oh Goddess of Luck, you were with me in the Vats of Manzarin, you were with me in New Wizard City, and as I drown while being consumed by Green Slime from the bottom up, I know: you were with me here in New Feierland.


Your omens to the High Priest said that someone's luck had run out, and as Hand of Fate I was sent West to carry out your whim. Then the High Priest made that weird joke that everyone laughed at, and at the time I thought, "How is that even funny?"
Ha.
Ha.

I found no one fitting the target's description, and got uncharacteristically lost in some shitty dark caves for a week...and then! Deliverance! I came upon a pack of whimpering puppies. The Whimpering Puppies seemed armed and able-bodied enough, yet were running in fear from one asshole with a crossbow. They said there were more Assholes, but by their behavior I suspected they had been eating Wizard City fungus. Anyway, the Whimpering Puppies said they would pay me handsomely to get them out of this pickle and save their friend who had been captured by Assholes.


Fire is great. Nearly every situation can be improved by fire, and nearly anything can become fire. Even Whimpering Puppies can start fires. I set them about it, to create cover to hide behind in this oddly flat, smooth tunnel thing. Maybe we were in an asshole. Anyway, Crossbow Asshole was demanding all our stuff, although for some reason he just wanted my potions. I'll give him my potions. By which I meant destroy all he holds dear.

Crossbow Asshole wasn't advancing, and kept attaching notes to his bolts that Captured Puppy's time was running out, so I decided to take the action to him. One of the braver Puppies came with me, and I handed him a Green Slime potion because even a puppy is dangerous with green slime. Then the other Puppies had the swell idea to wreck the Assholes' whole situation by getting the green slime in the river. Then they went back to whimpering behind a fire.

At that point I started to believe the Puppies that there was more than one Asshole, so I drank a Cloning potion to increase the number of People With Balls present. It made some weird bird headed thing, so I thought, Maybe that's not me after all, and gave him my best Trust Me Face. I gave him two poison potions and told him to go give them to the Assholes.

Who knows what became of that guy?

Anyway, Crossbow Asshole stopped shooting his little pop gun so I and the Brave Puppy with Green Slime advanced. I was hoping to see a bunch of Assholes clutching their stomachs, but alas, Bird Head failed me. Brave Puppy started toward the river, ignoring Crossbow Asshole, who we could finally see. I put on my Trust Me Face and proposed a deal to Fish Headed Crossbow Asshole: me and Brave Puppy will join your cause, and everybody will make lots of money. By which I meant me. For infiltrating Asshole Village and rescuing Captured Puppy.


Fish Headed Crossbow Asshole proposed a counter-deal: I kill Brave Puppy, keep my shit and go free. Knowing I had a potion that could reincarnate a berk as a tougher berk, I thought this was a good deal for both me AND Brave Puppy. I shot him in the back. He dodged and got it in the thigh instead of the spleen. Oh well, Brave Puppy, I tried to do it fast.


Then, Brave Puppy DRINKS the Green Slime, and starts rushing toward Fish Headed Crossbow Asshole! Man. Brave Puppy had spirit, no one can deny that. I'll remember him for the rest of my life. Which, judging by fact that I'm just a head and chest at this point, won't be long. Anyway, Brave Puppy becomes a puddle of slime.

I convinced Fish Head that I needed to take a trophy for my people, so I got Brave Puppy's thumb while it was still a thumb, and put it in my Reincarnate Potion. Then I poured a potion that was supposed to animate objects on the Green Slime that used to be Brave Puppy. I've wanted to weaponize Green Slime every since it got Momma on that one mission, and it brought a tear to my eye to finally do it.

Fish Headed Crossbow Asshole didn't realize I had sewn his doom, so we waved a fond farewell. I got the hell out of there. I headed toward where I though Captured Puppy was.


I poured out the mess that was congealing around Brave Puppy's thumb on a wooden platform on the river, setting a few gold and extra weapons next to it. Come on, Brave Puppy, reincarnate, I need backup! Then a new Asshole popped up out of the river. I tossed him my remaining Green Slime potion, which didn't shatter but started leaking into the water. New Asshole netted me and pulled me in after it. We both got Slimed.

There were some shenanigans with a house on stilts where I thought Captured Puppy might be, but alas, it was a trap. I got more Slime on me, and never got to where I could burn it off. All of which is why, oh Thuria, Lady of Luck, Chance, Coincidence, et al, I am now just a head being consumed by slime drowning in a river.

With my last thoughts, I wonder what happened to Bird Headed Me and the Puppies? I hope they're having a nice time somewhere. If I don't get to kill them, Goddess damn it, no one does. Live it up, little Puppies. Live it up. Take a vacation.



(If it is not obvious, this is an in-character recap of +Trent B 's New Feierland game over G+ where my Cleric/Assassin Pajak came in as the Cavalry and ended up as the AHEM catalyst for change.)

Monday, April 8, 2013

GODS OF KALAK-NUR

+Pearce Shea asked what gods were popular in Targenmoor, so I figured I'd post the Gods of Kalak-Nur as localized to there.


Famat-the-Veiled - Goddess of haggling, markets, trade, negotiation. Symbol: a smile behind a veil. Priests often calm the fights of others, but have heated arguments among themselves - then they go drinking as friends or lovers after.




Vanamanaghor-Knife-In Darkness - God(dess?) of darkness, stealth, deception. Not openly worshiped. Culturally a "lovable rogue" in that people like to tell hyperviolent stores of his/her exploits stealing from and assassinating the avatars of other gods, which s/he does purely for sport. To many, s/he is a symbol of getting one over on "superiors". The god does not reveal itself, so gender is unknown. Symbol: A black knife or a silver knife on a black field.





Monot-Grim-Faced - God of duty and The Grey Waste. Find your stitch in the fabric, find your place and get in it. Do not excel, do not slack, perform your duty and hold your tongue. Be even as the grey sand that blankets and surrounds us. This church receives regular and substantial donations of money, land, legal help, and other resources from anonymous sources. Symbol: below.





Chchcchchctktktktktk - An insect god worshipped by the humanoid bug people. Presented to humans as a humorous goof. Many things about this god are unknown outside bugperson communities, and those bug people that co-habitate with humans do not worship it.





Gorgathon, The Eye of Fire - god of knowledge, light, the sun and moon. The Sun is his right eye, ever watching, all seeing, ever gathering knowledge of all things. 
The moon is his left eye socket, his left eye lost in a godwar (actually stolen by Vanamanaghor-Knife-In Darkness and hidden in a monster's belly). The left eye socket represents "turning a blind eye", seeing and letting go, forgiveness, knowing but not acting upon.
Often worshipped by magic users, his followers are voracious gatherers of knowledge. His Clerics have access to Divination spells from the Magic-User list, and Magic User worshipers vice versa. His worshippers may not learn spells of Darkness or Cold. Symbol: The sun and moon.

(Kay Nielsen)



Slumugsh, God of trash, decay, age, time, fungus, slimes, oozes, jellies, unintelligent bugs, and the lost - its worshippers cultivate carelessness, do not become attached, lose things without a concern, feed those that feed on decay, and do not clean, leaving that to natural forces and slime unguents they collect from the secretions of detritovores.





Havet - dual aspect God and Goddess of Ice, Trolls, Frost Giants, hardness, toughness, challenge - worshipped by those who build everything they use, bind their own wounds, throw themselves into conflict and challenge, and do not cultivate soft round asses on opulent cushions. They scoff at the well to do, nobles and merchants alike, and scorn the hoarding of comfort.
Havet was once the God of the Sea and had a different aspect, but none in this region remember what the word "Sea" means.





Digrot - god of death, the undead, and dust.


(later edit: took out Vanamanaghor-Knife-In Darkness's nickname, as it was causing confusion in my home group with Gorgathon.)

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The 7 Daughters of Fury: Hexenbracken's Lost Queens

A bunch of us on G+ filled in the hexes on a map and called it Hexenbracken because Zak S had a good idea and then someone else had the good idea to keep adding detail to it and so like the Overlook Hotel, once you get in, you never really leave.
Here's one of mine:

1321
There 7 Penlaggans here with their gut strings accidentally tied together, floating out of weapons' reach. If one unties them and lets them leave, they will tell you: Leave a blood sacrifice in hexes 1121 1521 1219 1323 and 1419, then 1121 again, then return here. A demon will be summoned and have to do your bidding for a day. (Obviously they're describing topographical features and not giving pcs hex numbers, but you get the idea.)


Apparently I don't know how to spell Penanggalan!

A General in the Bleak Wars sought to end the conflict by having the wives, daughters, and consorts of his enemies kidnapped, ransoming for peace. He was ignored and defeated in battle, leaving him with a marginal force and seven women trapped in his tower. At the end, as his last stronghold was falling, he had them eviscerated - the stories say it took up to five strong men to hold each women still.

These women were nobles, a general, a sorceress; women who bowed to no one and were denied nothing. They did not bow to Death and would not be denied existence. The Seven rose again as Penanggalan.
They drove the General and his men insane before consuming them, then moved on to their own relatives who had not saved them. Some say it was truly they who ended the Bleak Wars, and in this the General got his wish. Others say it is more complicated than that.



More recently, a nameless traveller used their fury to blind them, and tricked them into tangling with one another. The Seven will calm their fury and leave peacefully if untangled, but it is gory, dangerous work. The current location of their bodies is unknown. Their heads float over a barren stretch of dirt between forests, so they can easily float out of reach and observe any who come near.
The Demon they know how to summon and bind is indeed the General, transfigured after death. They delight in seeing him suffer at menial tasks, or get defeated and summoned again. Those carrying out their instructions are typically safe from the Penlaggans themselves, who in slow times feed off the sacrifices once the ritual is successful.
Keep in mind that they really want to get untangled, and don't necessarily like each other. They really will look favorably upon anyone freeing them, unless also attacked by them.


Use +Jack Shear 's better stats here, but add the following appearance and ability notes:

Grrnuh: Lizard-Woman head, can spray the slime detailed in the Entrail ability up to 30 ft. from her eyes; proud warrior

Ssstithgor: Leech-faced Halfling head, Bite: 1d4, same damage every round until magically healed or given serious medical attention, STR check to free oneself from bite but even then it continues to bleed; sees everything as a commercial transaction

Renala: Human head with Charm Person 3x/day as if cast by 7th level M-U; spoiled but knowledgeable.

Strolnyra the Unforgiving: White Elf Head, can cast spells as a 7th level Magic User and a 3rd level Cleric (or if you have a Sorcerer or Witch class, use that); master strategist.

Mirchei: Human head by day, wolf head by night; haughty, vain, weakness for flattery.

Aaeron: Half-elf head, Command 4x/day as cast by 4th level; pretends innocence and humor; hated by the other 6.

Som Megat: Human head, can become Invisible at will. Aloof, charismatic, longs for being human but merciless toward them.

I'll leave the Demon ex-General for you to stat up!