Shadow Creatures - encounter from the Cult of the White Shadow

A creature that appears in the Cult of the White Shadow adventure is the Shadow Creature.  These are semi-ethereal (they have a solid, at least from the perspective of the prime material plane, core - even though it is shifty and elusive) beings, similar to summoned and commanded undead or elementals, but they are of the shadow dimensions.   How the shadow dimensions differ from the ethereal or astral planes is difficult to explain, and the relationship between the shadow dimensions and lower (infernal) planes is equally difficult, even the scholar archivists of Parn Tandalorn find it beyond simple explanation.

It will be recalled that the Cult of the White Shadow adventure takes place with the action mainly in a dungeon.  That dungeon is dug out of the rocky spire at the center of Khomaes, and is accessible through secret means within the estate-villa of Lady Arabelle Siago Rema.  Lady Rema is a lovely, if aging, noble woman that is regarded in the highest of social circles in the high city.  Secretly, however, she is a member of the Cult of the White Shadow, and provides resources, hired thugs, and funds for their operation.  A fact also not known, even among most of the adherents of the Cult, is that Lady Rema suffers from a curious magical affliction, similar in some regards to vampirism.  Rather than feed on human blood, however, she must feed on energies from the shadow dimensions.

Among the few learned individuals who know of her condition, it is suspected that Lady Arabelle Siago Rema contracted her shadow-vampirism through dabbling in magics beyond her understanding, and that she even owns a copy of the cursed book the Earnish-Amantic.  This book is an early text, penned by outcasts from the original Westroner travelers who settled at Dancer's Spike to form Khomaes.  Those outcasts had a curious side religion, following the foul deity Noxecatt.  They came into possession of certain Old One writings, and transcribed some of the spells related to summoning beings related to the Lady of Air.

The Shadow Creatures that are encountered in the Cult of the White Shadow adventure are permanently bound to this dimension, but differ not at all from those that can be summoned.  Following the stats of the creature, two spells from the Earnish-Amantic are presented.

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Shadow-Creature
Num Appearing:  As summoned or created.
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Movement:  90' shamble
Armor Class: 6 (see below)
Hit Dice: 3hd (18hp)
Attacks: 2 claws
Damage: 1d6+2/1d6+2
Save: F3
Morale: 10
Treasure: None. 
Special:The Shadow-Creature is not all of our plane of existence, part of it is of other planes of existence.  Because of that, it can often slip through the narrowest of openings.  I can easily slide through portcullis bars, or through a slightly ajar door, but it cannot fit between a door and its doorjam - there must be at least an inch or so of clearance (width) to fit through.  The Shadow-Creature is roughly man-sized (5'6" tall), and cannot double over, so the opening must be approximately as tall.
The Shadow-Creature is nearly invisible, bearing only the merest of ripples in our reality.  Means of magical sight can see the creatures just fine, but not infra-vision.  Ultra-vision can see them.  This means a -4 for anyone fighting such a creature.  Seeing the blur means that the foe of the creature has enough knowledge to know where to attack, but the -4 still applies.
The Shadow-Creature, being only semi-solid, takes half damage from non-magical weapons.

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From the surviving translations of the Earnish-Amantic the following spells are available.  The book, and the spells themselves, have a curse on them, however.  Learning the Magic User version of the spell (level 4, Summon Shadow Creature) means that the student must make a -2 save vs. Spell.  Success means no ill effect, failure means the student loses 1d3 intellligence, permanently.

Copies of the book are extremely hard to locate, and are in terrible shape (originals are over 1200 years old).  There have been some transcriptions, over the years, so that evil magic user spell books, or the scrolls of EHPs might have a copy of one of these spells included.  The original Old One text (it is presumed by the Archivists at Parn Tandalorn that all of the information within the Earnish-Amantic was originally in the Book of Zargo Zar the Sage) that the Earnish-Amantic was based on are not known to still be in existence.  Quests for that original source are common, but have never proven to be fruitful.

The style of books that was used, before the reforms of the monastic developments of the early Westroner Church, about 1350 years ago,  were pressed together stacks of oblong paper.  These were encased, in a volume, between plates of wood (or sometimes, leather or ivory), and wrapped in tight strips of leather or cloth. Almost all ancient books from this period, that came from Westroners, are of this variety.  Note that the type of writing here is of a script called Abbigave Round, which is of the Abbigave people, far to the West (rumored), that the Westroners came from.  There is an alternative form called Abbigave Tall.  Abbigave Round has some influence on Westschrift

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Summon Shadow Creature (spell)
Level: 4MU
Duration: 1d12 + casters level in hours
Range: 30'
This spell, when cast, means that 1d6 (plus caster's level) in Shadow Creatures (as above statistics) will appear within 30' of the caster.  He/she will then be able to issue some simple commands for the Shadow Creatures to avoid.  If the commands are troubling or contradictory, then the Shadow Creature will disappear.

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The other spell is for Clerics.  It must be studied by the cleric before it can be prayed for.  It will only be granted to evil clerics.  Each time the spell is requested (i.e. - added to the list of memorized spells for the day), the Cleric must make a regular save vs. magic.  Failure results in the realization that such creatures are destructive to the world, and that it is damned folly to have anything to do with them.  This shock causes 1d12 psychic damage to the Cleric.

Knowledge of this spell, and also of the Earnish-Amantic, as well as other whispered secrets about the Lady of Air, are passed around in certain circles.  This includes those pursuants of power that pay dark homage to Noxecatt and Dralizar, but also others.

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Create Shadow Creature (spell)
Level: 5CL
Duration: Permanent
Range: Touch.
This spell, when cast, will transform a recently (not more than 1 day old) dead corpse into a shadow creature.  The being will then serve the simple commands of the creating Cleric until it is destroyed.  The dead corpse is consumed in the process.

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Khomaes Barony (2)

The current head of the Barony of Khomaes is Aldra Ap Iaggio.  The Iaggio family has ruled the Barony for 8 generations now, stretching back almost 200 years.  Although the family, as with most of the significant families, is only interested in politics and the situation in the city of Khomaes (simply called "The City" within the Barony, but sometimes derisively referred to as the Drop or the Rift, because of Dancer's Rift.  It is also common for poets to refer to it as the Spire or the Spike, for Dancer's Spike).

The population of the city is approximately 22,000, but it has been a while since a general census has been called for.  The local economy, which is based primarily on local agriculture for the lower classes, and on a combination of industrial trade (amberstone and other materials coming down out of the Aghanz Hills), trade with the nearby Baronies, and the pilgrim and traveler trade.  The pilgrims and travelers have ample reason to come to The City, and hence the City itself flourishes, and creates additional demand on the surrounding areas, affecting the whole Barony.  The pilgrims coming are for the two cathedrals in the city, and also for the School of Charm.  The cathedrals are Appuco Fast, and it's twin Ramee Tower.  Appuco Fast is dedicated to St. Norena.  Ramee Tower is dedicated to the followers of St. Ellain.  Both churches draw a large amount of pilgrim traffic, and the business that pilgrims draw, to the Barony.

Westron is spoken commonly in this Barony, as with most of the Baronies.  But because it is so far north, there is also a wide understanding of Destrikking.  All written transactions, however, use Westschrift.

The surrounding towns are (see the map):

A. Truend - Pop 2,200 - Walled against the large mammals of the Darkearth Plains, and also against the Shagmen out of the Aghanz Hills.  A small elite corps of the town guard are called the Truend Rangers, and they travel the local area, looking for traveling groups of Shagmen, and breaking them up before they can get too close to Truend, or local farm villages.

B. Khoben Vale - Population 1,800 - There is a small section of dense trees that grows on either side of a minor river called Bruuka Wash.  Carved out of that is enough space for Khoben Vale, all within the trees, and partially on a rocky island in the middle of Bruuka Wash, the rest on either bank.  There are sturdy stone bridges connecting the whole affair, and stone walls and towers inside the forest, to protect the town.  Outside the little forest, there are single and small groups of trees, all of which attract the giant lynx common to the area.  In fact, sometimes the lynx is called the Khoben Cat.

C. Sagio Mill - Population 2,800 - This is an open town, without a city wall.  There are, however, several concentric rings of watch towers extending out, 20 miles in all directions around the town.  Most of the farms, and other holdings, relying on the town, are within that set of rings.  The town gets it's name from a very large stone mill, built next to a rather impressive mill pond.  There is no river feeding this pond, but the water in it constantly rotates (due to magic means), providing motion for the very large grinding wheel.

D. Iffel - Population 2,200 - This is a town built around a small castle (D'Mosh Castle), with a curtain wall around the core town.  It is, however, built right next to the King's Highway.  The curtain wall of the town backs up to and connects with the mound of the King's Highway, and within the walls of the town, there is a curious large tower, that has in it's central area, four very, very large platforms (like rafts, made of large logs lashed together), big enough for a large wagon and team.  Each of these platforms are actually elevators, up to a stone connecting ramp over to the King's Highway.  The elevators are powered by partially trained Mammoths, captured from the wilds of the Darkearth Plains.  This access to the King's Highway means that Iffel is quite wealthy as a trade location.  There is a similar elevator tower - obviously built by the Old Ones - on the south side of the King's Highway at this same point, but nobody bothers to maintain or man it.

E. Cyclot - Population 2,400 - This town has a massive wooden great hall at the center of it, lots of professional buildings (mostly of a half timber variety), and massive palisade walls made of very large shaped logs driven into the earth.  There are two concentric walls, one only 2 miles across, in a rough oval, only 1 mile across the narrow axis.  The second concentric wall is all of five miles across, roughly circular.  Inside the first wall is the "inner town" - which is for the wealthiest families, and prestigious buildings.  The second wall contains the "outer town" which are most of the minor nobility, lesser professionals, and more important land owners, who own grazing and planting estates outside the town.  Outside the walls exists a small community of Elves, mostly Wood Elves (about 400), but a few traveling Gray Elves are always present, also.  The residents of Cyclot, and the Elves, refer to this community as Duar Village.   These Wood Elves have strong ties to the Harp Woods. Much of the industry in the town is either from the surrounding forest products (charcoal burning, and carpentry rate very highly), but also a very strong wool market is present.  The sheep, a curious three horned variety, called the Odelle Sheep, produces very valuable wool.  The flocks that graze in open pasture outside the city are protected by shepherds.  Cyclot shepherds are known to be very competent, and dangerous, mostly due to the high number of dire wolves in the area.

F. Nowak - Population 2,200 - Another woodland related town, this one with a nearby Gnome community, of about 600 Gnomes, mostly underground.  The community is called Cheddom Tower, but the tower is a minor part of the underground Gnome village.  Together, the carpenters and craftsmen of Nowak and the Gnomes of Cheddom build some of the most intricate, and fabulous working artifacts (such as cuckoo clocks).  There is  a strong tradition of hunting amongst the wealthy and young from Nowak, in the Harp Woods.

G. Acron Trade - Population 2,400 - This is another walled town, built around a core of a castle (Bekno Keep), and surrounded by stone palisade walls.  It is built next to the King's Highway, and the Old Ones had constructed a curious platform settlement right next to the mound.  The platform is large enough for multiple buildings, and serves as a location for the main market of Acron Trade.  Approaches to the platform were built with a very long, shallowly sloping ramp up, so that animal and walking traffic have no trouble climbing it.  Stairs have been constructed, that are much steeper, but provide quicker access up out of the walled town of Acron Trade.  There is not a similar platform, nor an access ramp, on the south side of the King's Highway.  Although there is a thriving agricultural community of farms and villages surrounding Acron Trade, it is from trade that it makes its economy.

Note, this is part two of a two part article on the Barony of Khomaes.  Part 1 is located here.

Modern Languages

Many characters in a game will have access to multiple languages, and I think it is only fair to enumerate them for the setting.

Far and away, the most common language for Humans (and those dwelling with them) in the Valley is Westron.  This language is a modern variant of the original language spoken by the Human settlers who came into the Valley from the west.  The language has changed over the past 1500 years quite a bit, and when written word and documents are encountered written in the original form, it is referred to as Old Westron (generally not understandable by speakers of the modern language - like old english, there may be a few word similarities, but no fluency could be expected).  There is a written form that is very similar to our roman letters, called Westschrift.

Destrikking - This is the language of the Storm King tribes, although it is frequently called the "Northern Tongue".  The written form is in runes called the Ainark Runes.  Following a storyline of something written in Ainark would be difficult, but it is perfectly suited for recording spells and also associating great deeds with the names of heroes.

Holab - This is the language of the tribes of the Sun King, in its basic form.  There are two very different dialects, which we will call Eastern Holab, and Western Holab.  Details on the Sun King tribes will be coming soon, but for now just remember that those speaking Eastern Holab want to kill you and remove your organs for sacrifice.  Those peaking Western Holab want to kill you and eat strips of your flesh in order to capture your magic.  Clearly a travelogue, with lots of cheerful drawings and translation of common phrases would increase tourism in the area.  While both languages are mutually exclusive in spoken form, they share the same written language, which is very simple and not capable of conveying any nuance.  Sun King tribal wizards and shamans will usually employ some complex method of recording magical spells that involves complex knotted strings with hollowed out stones of different colors on the mesh the strings form.

Elves have a traveling language that they employ exclusively (when not speaking a Human tongue) while in the Valley, at least Wood Elves and High Elves.  They call it Eldarin and it differs from the language of Faery that they speak while in the Seelie Realms.  In an effort to mark their departure from Seelie culture entirely, the Gray Elves have their own tongue, which is completely different, it is called Elanarif.  Both of these have their own written form. It is considered highly heretical for an Elf to use the language of the Seelie Realm on this side of their portals.

The Dark Elves have their own language, as well, called Mortiggo it incorporates some languages of Goblyn (see below), and any words it has for surface geographical features (such as Tree, Mountain, Grass, etc) come from Eldarin.  The Dark Elves have a complex runic written form, called Mortine Runes.

The Dwarves have a language of their own, which they call Ardspeke.  It is written as Ardrunes.  Gnomes have a different spoken language, known as Kurakka Kurad, but it borrows the Dwarven runes for its written form.

The Goblyn races (Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, Hobgoblins, etc) each have their own racial tongue, although there is a simple lingua franca used amongst them that is simply called Goblyn Speech, or sometimes referred to as the Black Tongue.  It exists in a very crude runic form, called Goblyn Runes.

Forest Folk usually will speak Westron, as will Halflings.

Giants will speak a confused mashup of Westron and Goblyn Speech, except for Frost Giants, which speak the Northern tongue exclusively.

Dragons do not speak modern languages.

The Saurian Races (Lizard Men, Kobolds, Yuan Ti, Turtle Folk, etc.) speak a language called Saurial (it is difficult for mammalian mouths to pronounce).  Their written language is mostly a simple script of horizontal and vertical scratches.  Much of their knowledge (as it is) is transmitted by unspoken low frequency sounds, and the same is true for spell casters of this race.  They will record spells by committing the instructional form of them to memory as a simple song played on a drum or flute, and accompanied by what sounds like a guttural humming or moaning.  This is repeated when a saurian spell caster needs to re-memorize a spell, or teach it to another.