Living Effigy
Carved from gray stone, this enormous figure is shaped like the head of some primordial giant.
Living Effigy (CR 8)
Huge ConstructAlignment: Neutral
Initiative: -2
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision; Perception +19
Speed: 0 feet, Fly 10 feet (perfect)
Space: 15 feet
Defense
Armor Class: 20, touch 6, flat-footed 20 (-2 Dex, +14 natural, -2 size)Hit Points: 95 (10d10+40)
Saving Throws: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +6
Damage Reduction: 10/adamantine
Immunity: construct traits
Weaknesses: susceptible to mind-affecting effects
Offense
Melee: slam +13 (2d8+7/19-20)Reach: 5 feet
Special Attacks: charming gaze
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; Concentration +13):
- At Will- Detect Thoughts (DC 15), Obscuring Mist, Sound Burst (DC 15)
- 3/day- Calm Emotions (DC 15), Crushing Despair (DC 17), Good Hope, empowered Sound Burst (DC 15), Stone Shape, Thundering Drums (DC 16)
- 1/day- Arcane Concordance, Fear (DC 17), Witness (DC 16)
- 1/week- Dream, Nightmare (DC 18)
Statistics
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 (+5) | 7 (-2) | - | 13 (+1) | 16 (+3) | 17 (+3) |
CMB +17
CMD 25 (can't be tripped)
Feats: Empower Spell-Like Ability (Sound Burst), Hover, Improved Critical (slam), Skill Focus (Intimidate), Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills: Fly +2, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (history) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +19, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +6 Languages: Common, Giant
Special Qualities: preserved mind, silent watcher, statue
Special Abilities
Charming Gaze (Su)
As charm person with a range of 30 feet (Will DC 18 negates). The save DC is Charisma-based.Preserved Mind (Ex)
A living effigy is inhabited by an entrenched spirit that holds on to some aspects of its former intellect. A living effigy can choose two Knowledge skills, typically Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (religion). These Knowledge skills are class skills for the living effigy, and it gains a +4 racial bonus on checks with these skills.Shape Self (Sp)
Three times a day, a living effigy can shift its facial expression as if using stone shape, even though the construct exceeds the volume the spell can usually affect and is a creature rather than an object.Silent Watcher (Su)
As a standard action, a living effigy can use greater teleport (self only) as long as there are no creatures with an Intelligence score higher than 2 within 150 feet that can see the effigy. When using this ability, the living effigy can travel up to 10 miles from its settlement.Statue (Ex)
A living effigy can remain perfectly still and emulate a statue. An observer must succeed at a DC 25 Perception check to notice that the living effigy is alive. If a living effigy initiates combat from this pose, it gains a +6 bonus on its initiative check.Susceptible to Mind-Affecting Effects (Ex)
Unlike most constructs, a living effigy isn't immune to mind-affecting effects.Ecology
Environment: AnyOrganization: solitary
Treasure: incidental (offerings, 2 eye gems worth 500 gp each)
Resting among countless tribes across the world are strange icons and statues dedicated to the memories of ancient leaders or spiritual guides. Sometimes such figures hide greater intellects, inhabiting essences that watch over nearby settlements. Known as living effigies, these stone statues are possessed by the spirits of deceased chieftains and shamans who managed to partially cheat death by imparting a portion of their souls into stone images. Each living effigy is unique in its features—some resemble the heads of great giants, while others are busts of other creatures. Twin gems are embedded in the eyes of each living effigy; they glow a vibrant color whenever the statue uses one of its many magical abilities.
A living effigy's personality is as unique as its countenance, as the souls inhabiting the massive stones range from kind protectors wishing to continue their vigil over a settlement to brutal tyrants wishing only to reign past death. A living effigy stands 15 feet tall and weighs 40 tons.
Ecology
Despite sharing most of the traits common to other constructs, living effigies are sentient creatures that possess a portion of an inhabiting soul's intellect. Spells and abilities possessed by the originating soul are lost in the transfer, though some knowledge from the soul's past life remains. In addition to possessing this knowledge, the living effigy takes on the personal characteristics of the spirit that possesses it. In most cases, this directly impacts its alignment. The longer an effigy exists, though, the more detached it becomes from material concerns, eventually adopting an impartial stance on most subjects.
Much of a living effigy's existence is spent in unassuming silence, watching over the settlement around it. Unable to move (save for a limited means of supernatural travel that typically draws unwanted attention), these effigies often learn to appreciate their isolation. Preferring that others see them as nothing more than ordinary sculptures, living effigies act only when their settlements are in danger. Should someone seek to harm it or its people, an effigy uses its charming gaze or its calm emotions spell-like ability to ease the anger of enemies and members of the settlement. Though effigies rarely issue direct commands, their gaze makes the weak-willed see them in a positive light.
Though living effigies can speak, they rarely do so. Instead, the constructs prefer to rely on their mystical abilities to communicate with those nearby. Their most common means of direct communication are its dream and nightmare spell-like abilities. Living effigies use these abilities to intrude on the sleeping minds of leaders to influence the direction of their settlements. In situations where approval or rejection is necessary, the effigy uses its stone shape spell-like ability to alter its facial expression to an appropriate emotion.
Habitat & Society
Transferring from a body of flesh to a monument of stone is a trauma that takes a spirit some time to recover from. It takes a living effigy a full week to learn its various abilities, and even after this initial adjustment, the spirit still needs to cope with the solitary nature of its new existence. Cut off from the sensations it once had, a living effigy learns to rely on the surface thoughts of those nearby and minor interaction through dreams. Its eye gems can attract unwanted attention when it uses its charming gaze, but can't be removed until the construct is destroyed.
Settlements guided by living effigies are typically found in remote locations, away from the administration of governments or the intervention of outside agencies. Because of their nature as silent watchers, such effigies are most commonly found in far-flung communities in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, where they are treated as honored ancestors, and in the wilds of the Mwangi Expanse, where they are sometimes seen as ancestral spirit gods. Worshipers of most deities find the idea of a living effigy worrying, especially if the effigy's settlement has raised a pseudo-religion around the idol. While living effigies aren't technically undead, Pharasmin priests in particular have problems with them and often oppose them once their true nature is discovered, heedless of the protection and aid the living effigies offer to their communities.
Construction
The construction of the stone effigy requires an appropriate amount of stone (at least 40 tons' worth) and a successful DC 20 Craft (stonemasonry) check. If the crafter fails the check, the stone is rendered useless for this purpose and a new block must be obtained. The creation of the effigy also requires two gems that are worth at least 500 gp each.
A completed effigy acts as a soul receptacle, sucking in the intended target's soul as long as it dies within a mile of the inert statue. It takes the soul a full week to adjust to its new home, at which point the effigy animates and can use all of its abilities normally. During this transition period, the effigy remains a stone statue; it can be destroyed as normal or by removing or destroying the eye gems. Other forms of living effigies can be made of bone, bronze, wood, or similar materials.
LIVING EFFIGY
CL 15th; Price 71,000 gp
Construction
Requirements Craft Construct, limited wish, nightmare, trap the soul, creator must be caster level 15th; Skill Craft (stonemasonry) DC 20; Cost 35,000 gp
Comments