RITUALS
The rituals presented on the following pages are blasphemous and horrific rites indeed, all of which can be found within the pages of the Book of the Damned. Rules for occult rituals first appeared on page 208 of Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures; consult that book for explanations of how these magical rites function in your game.
Several rituals can be found in the Book of the Damned, but one ritual in particular should be addressed first: the quartern disjunction.
Quartern Disjunction
Source Book of the Damned pg. 187
School transmutation; Level 9
Casting Time 90 minutes
Components V, S, M (9 doses of holy water), F (the complete Book of the Damned
Skill Checks Craft (books) DC 35, 3 successes; Knowledge (planes) DC 35, 3 successes; Spellcraft DC 35, 3 successes
Range touch
Target the complete Book of the Damned
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The caster becomes exhausted.
Failure The caster is drawn into the Book of the Damned’s demiplane (see the Book of the Damned pages 167–170) and affected by feeblemind (CL 20th); the Book of the Damned is transported to a random location on a random Material Plane world.
Effect
The first step in destroying the Book of the Damned is to divide the book into four sections—one each for its daemonic, demonic, and infernal portions, and one for its apocrypha. Separating the book into these four parts is both difficult and dangerous. The ritual requires scrubbing the pages with holy water and reciting potent magical words while reading key phrases hidden throughout the text. Upon the successful completion of the ritual, the Book of the Damned tumbles apart into its four components, each of which must be swiftly separated from the others, for should all four components of the Book of the Damned be within 30 feet of each other at any point in time once 1 minute has passed following their separation, they immediately reform into the complete Book of the Damned as if the quartern disjunction had never been performed.
CONJURING FIENDS
To fiends, being conjured to do the bidding of a mortal spellcaster represents a double-edged sword—they loathe servitude, yet being conjured to the Material Plane affords them the hope of escape from such thralldom. Even in cases where a fiend is unable to slip from its conjurer’s control to run amok, the gifts the mortal plies it with or the incidental mayhem the fiend can wreak as a part of its actions taken at its conjurer’s demand can be enough to sate, if only temporarily, the fiend’s drive to influence the mortal realm.
Each type of fiend brings with it unique dangers and perils to the conjurer. A conjured demon constantly pushes and battles for escape from control, and if it gets free, the conjurer often bears the brunt of the fiend’s wrath. Devils might not even need to escape control to work their evils, using honeyed words and intricate arguments of logic to tempt conjurers into their clutches. Daemons, in their gluttony for souls, lure conjurers into the false impression that they are easy to call up and deal with, tricking conjurers into underestimating the magic required to remain safe.
While spells such as summon monster allow for short-term summonings, and other spells such as gate, planar ally, and planar binding function well for longer-term callings, the Book of the Damned presents an age-old method for conjuring fiends that uses a conjuration circle, the fiend’s name, and an offering—a method that anyone, spellcaster or otherwise, can potentially master.
Conjuration Circle: A conjuration circle is paramount in fiend calling; it not only lures and contains the fiend but also anchors it in place until it is bound by the conjurer.
It is best to carve the conjuration circle into the floor so as to avoid smudging or smearing written symbols, and then outline it in fresh mortal blood (the caster’s own, if possible). It’s believed that burning candles crafted from rendered infant fat so that their wax pools into the channels of the engraved circle, or inlaying the circle with silver, cold iron, or other material anathematic to the targeted fiend, can further enhance a conjuration circle’s power, but in fact what is most important is the skill with which the circle itself was executed.
Each type of fiend is associated with a different type of conjuration circle. Devils are traditionally conjured into a simple pentagram inscribed in a circle, while daemon conjurers use circles illustrated with complex abstract patterns relating to the nature of the fiend being called. Those who conjure demons use a circular rune known as the mark of the Abyss, its seven radiant spikes each representing one of the seven so-called deadly sins. Other patterns are used for other fiends. For example, circles made of organic tissue and blood can be used to conjure kytons.
Some conjurers believe that if they stand within a magic circle against evil, they are safe from a rebellious fiend. Unfortunately, that spell prevents bodily contact only from summoned creatures, not called creatures. Of course, the circle’s other powers (the resistance bonus, saving throw bonus, and protection from possession) still function, but there is nothing to stop a fiend called upon by fiendish conjuration from physically tearing the caster into pieces.
Name: The caster must know a fiend’s common name— the name by which it is known to its peers and educated mortals—in order to call out to it specifically with the ritual of fiendish conjuration; otherwise, a random fiend of the desired kind will answer. The name must be inscribed on the circle’s exterior, and if the fiend to be conjured serves a greater power, such as a fiendish demigod, that fiend’s common name must be inscribed as well. A fiend’s true name isn’t required for this ritual to function, but when used, a true name makes conjuring the specific fiend easier. If a true name is used, the caster of this ritual gains a +5 bonus on skill checks to perform the ritual.
Offering: An offering to the conjured fiend must be placed within the circle. Typically, this offering is a living creature or a trapped soul, but such a nonspecific offering must be significant in order to tempt the fiend. The offering must be of a CR at least 1 higher than the CR of the fiend being conjured. If a fiend’s particular likes and passions are known, the conjurer can substitute a specific offering to lure the fiend; typically, such offerings are less expensive but are difficult to come by and should be determined by the GM. See pages 102–110 of Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic for more information about offerings of this nature and several examples.
Fiendish Conjuration
Source Book of the Damned pg. 189
School conjuration (calling) [evil]; Level 9
Casting Time 90 minutes
Components V, S, M (rare incense worth 1,000 gp), F (a conjuration circle and an offering pleasing to the fiend, such as a sacrifice or trapped soul of CR equal to the fiend’s CR + 1)
Skill Checks Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate DC 34, 4 successes; Knowledge (arcana) DC 34, 1 success; Knowledge (planes) DC 34, 1 success; Linguistics DC 34, 2 successes; Spellcraft DC 34, 1 success
Range close
Target one evil outsider
Duration 1 hour/character level of the caster
Saving Throw none (see text); SR no
Backlash The caster becomes exhausted.
Failure The conjured fiend escapes from its conjuration circle. Its actions can vary, but most escaped fiends eagerly attack their conjurers for at least a few rounds before teleporting or otherwise fleeing into the world to begin a reign of terror.
Effect
The first 20 minutes of the ritual of fiendish conjuration involve preparing the conjuration circle and inscribing the appropriate names around the circle. This step involves attempting both Linguistics checks; if the conjuration circle is permanently inscribed and has been successfully used for this ritual at any point in the past, these Linguistics checks are attempted with a +5 bonus. The next 30 minutes of the ritual invokes the fiend, involving the Knowledge and Spellcraft checks; if the fiend’s true name is used, these checks are attempted with a +5 bonus. At the start of the final 40 minutes, the smoky, indistinct shape of the fiend manifests within the circle, at which point the caster must attempt the final four Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks. Once this stage is reached, the fiend manifests in the flesh at the end of the ritual regardless of the ritual’s success or failure, but only if the ritual is successful is the fiend trapped within the conjuration circle and unable to visit harm upon the caster.
If the ritual is successful, the fiend remains on the Material Plane for a number of hours equal to the caster’s character level, during which the caster makes an offering to the fiend and asks for its aid. If the caster’s alignment is the same as the fiend’s, the fiend automatically agrees to perform a service that takes no more time to perform than the ritual’s duration. A fiend will agree to perform a longer task if it is given an additional offering for its services. Each offering given must be of equal or greater value to the one given during the ritual’s casting and secures the fiend’s cooperation for an additional number of hours equal to the caster’s character level. At the caster’s discretion, the start time for these additional hours can be delayed until a certain circumstance arises, at which point the fiend immediately reappears in its original conjuration circle and can immediately depart to complete its task. If the fiend’s true name was used during the ritual, all of these periods of time normally measured in hours (including the ritual’s initial duration) are instead measured in days.
If at any point during the fiend’s servitude the caster is slain or the original conjuration circle is damaged, the fiend can attempt a Will save to escape the ritual’s binding power. If successful, the fiend is no longer bound to perform the task it has been ordered to do and can remain on the Material Plane for as long as it wishes.
FIENDISH APOTHEOSIS
The rituals of fiendish transformation can be found only in the rarest of tomes (such as the Book of the Damned). A few fiends know these rituals and can teach them as well, but they guard this knowledge closely, offering it only to those they deem deserving of the lore. One way to learn such a ritual from a demon is to use planar ally or planar binding to conjure the fiend in question and offer it a payment in return for the secrets of the transformation ritual—this could be a fourstep process requiring a new conjuration for each step of the ritual. Not every fiend knows this information, of course, so researching the name of a specific fiend that does can add an additional level of research required before the process can begin. A character might even receive the methods by which to transform into a fiend via a series of dreams or visions (typically granted to him from a fiendish patron in reward for service), although this route is best left for NPCs that are strictly under the GM’s control.
The nature of the fiend into which the caster wishes to transform determines which specific ritual is to be performed—different rituals exist for all forms of fiends, from demons to devils, kytons to oni, and divs to qlippoth. The mechanics for each ritual are similar, but once a character begins the transformation into a specific type of fiend, the next three steps must all build upon that fiendish race.
First Apotheosis
Source Book of the Damned pg. 190
School transmutation [evil]; Level 4
Casting Time 4 hours
Components V, S, M (exotic incense worth 500 gp)
Skill Checks Intimidate DC 18, 2 successes; Knowledge (planes or religion) DC 18, 2 successes
Range personal
Target caster
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The caster takes 4d6 points of damage and is exhausted.
Failure The caster is rendered unconscious for 2d4 hours and must wait 1 year before attempting the first apotheosis again.
Effect
The first ritual is the simplest and requires nothing more than for the caster’s alignment to become lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil (depending on the type of fiend the user wishes to transform into). To prepare for this ritual, the caster must undertake acts of a vile and destructive nature over the course of a year. The caster consigns her soul to Abaddon, the Abyss, or Hell even if she never finishes the subsequent rituals. The caster must select a powerful fiend at this point to serve as a demonic patron. The acts the caster must undertake can vary, but they should be of a nature that represents and honors the areas of interest of her chosen demonic patron—these acts are intended to attract the patron’s attention, after all. Even casters who begin the transformation ritual with an evil alignment must undergo this stage of the ritual, if only to select a fiendish patron.
On the day precisely 1 year after she began these evil acts, she must perform the 4-hour first apotheosis ritual to properly devote her previous year in the name of her chosen patron. Once she successfully completes the first apotheosis, she becomes eligible to undertake the second apotheosis.
Second Apotheosis
Source Book of the Damned pg. 190
School transmutation [evil]; Level 5
Casting Time 5 hours
Components V, S, M (exotic incense worth 500 gp, burned offering of a family member)
Skill Checks Intimidate DC 23, 3 successes; Knowledge (planes or religion) DC 23, 2 successes
Range personal
Target caster
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The caster takes 4d6 points of damage and is exhausted.
Failure The caster is rendered unconscious for 2d4 hours.
Effect
Preparation for the second apotheosis requires many more months of debased acts and vile plots, but at some point during this second year, the caster must contact her chosen fiendish patron, via either commune or contact other plane. A trusted minion or ally can cast this spell on the caster’s behalf; it’s common for a spellcaster to gain a cacodaemon, im, or quasit familiar so that it can use its commune spell-like ability for this purpose. Once contact is made, the patron must be told of the caster’s desire to become a fiend; during this time, the commune or contact other plane spell cannot be used to ask any other questions. At any point thereafter but before a year has passed, the caster must offer a significant sacrifice to her fiendish patron as a burned offering in a temple consecrated to the fiend. This offering can be either living or dead, but the burned offering must be of someone who is related to the caster by blood or family (such as a spouse or an adopted parent or child) and the caster and the offering must once have shared a positive emotional connection such as love or pride. If this ritual fails, the caster can try again, although the number of attempts she can make is limited in that each new attempt requires a burned offering of a different relative. Once the second apotheosis is successful, part of the caster’s body transforms into something fiendish as proof of her patron’s favor. Use the various fleshcraft grafts to model these partial transformations; the specific transformation granted is up to the GM, but typical results include claw gauntlet or wings of darkness. Once the caster successfully completes the second apotheosis, she becomes eligible to undertake the third apotheosis.
Third Apotheosis
Source Book of the Damned pg. 190
School transmutation [evil]; Level 6
Casting Time 6 hours
Components V, S, M (exotic incense worth 2,000 gp; prior completion of special quest); SC (up to 8)
Skill Checks Intimidate DC 28, 3 successes; Knowledge (planes or religion) DC 28, 3 successes
Range personal
Target caster
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary and secondary casters take 4d6 points of damage and become exhausted.
Failure The primary and secondary casters are reduced to –1 hp.
Effect
At some point after the primary caster contacts her fiendish patron (typically after she succeeds at the second ritual, but sometimes before), the fiend sends the primary caster a vision of a task she must complete (such as freeing a bound evil outsider from a Material Plane prison or assassinating a powerful cleric of a good-aligned religion). This task is typically one of significance to the fiend, and in many cases it is one that the primary caster has no hope of completing until she grows more powerful. There is no time limit for how long the primary caster has to complete this task, but she must perform weekly devotions to her fiendish patron in the intervening time in the form of regular worship and continued atrocities in the fiend’s name. Additional burned offerings to the demon, assaults on innocents, and betrayals of allies are popular choices. Once the assigned task is completed, the primary caster can perform the third apotheosis. Unlike the first and second rituals, the third apotheosis allows for the use of secondary casters, yet it carries a much greater risk for failure. If the primary caster succeeds, she permanently gains the half-fiend template and becomes eligible to undertake the fourth apotheosis.
Fourth Apotheosis
Source Book of the Damned pg. 191
School transmutation [evil]; Level 9
Casting Time 9 hours
Components V, S, M (significant living sacrifice of CR 9 or higher); SC (up to 20)
Skill Checks Intimidate DC 31, 3 successes; Knowledge (planes) DC 31, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 31, 3 successes
Range personal
Target caster
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary and secondary casters take 4d6 points of damage and become exhausted.
Failure The primary and secondary casters are slain.
Effect
For those who wish to go further than merely becoming a half-fiend, a fourth ritual exists. The primary caster’s fiendish lord grants no vision or advice to begin this ritual—the primary caster must take it upon herself to honor her patron in a manner appropriate to that fiend’s interests and areas of concern. Once every year, on the anniversary of the day the primary caster completed the third apotheosis, she can perform a special ceremony that recounts her accomplishments over the past year and culminates in a significant sacrifice (usually consisting of the sacrifice of an important member of an enemy faith,or of a lawful or good outsider; in either case, the sacrifice must be at least CR 9). If this ritual is a success, the primary caster transforms into a full-fledged fiend: she loses all benefits of her previous race and the half-fiend template but can immediately apply all of her class levels to her new fiendish race (for example, a human fighter 10 could become a vrock fighter 10). The type of fiend that she transforms into depends on both the nature of her chosen fiendish patron and the GM’s discretion, but it should generally not have a total number of Hit Dice more than twice her original Hit Dice. The primary caster generally gets only one chance at the fourth apotheosis, for failure results in her death; however, should she be restored to life, she can attempt the fourth apotheosis again.
SOUL TRAPPING
There are many different ways to capture souls. The most commonly used methods are spells such as soul bind and trap the soul. Some creatures, such as the undead called devourers, have their own innate methods of trapping souls, while night hags are capable of using a version of soul bind through their heartstones to capture the souls of those they torment, binding them in dark gems and selling them in planar markets.
Abaddon’s fiends use all known methods of collecting and storing souls, many of which are unique to themselves. Cacodaemons, the lowest caste of daemons, prove vital to this harvest in that they represent the most common means of turning souls into trade goods. These ravenous fiends have the unique ability to devour the souls of freshly killed creatures. When they feed on the recently slain’s soul, they transform it into a small jewellike object called a soul gem before spitting the gem back up for collection. Soul gems contain the basic essence of souls, and daemons use them in both raw and refined forms for various purposes. Of course, many cacodaemons would prefer to consume the souls in their entireties rather than passing the spirits on, but they are rarely given the option. More powerful daemons bully cacodaemons into giving up their treasures, employing (or enslaving) them as partners in the trade or even maintaining whole packs as pets. The spell create soul gem (see page 184) allows spellcasters to duplicate this method of harvesting a soul, although soul gems created by this spell are only temporary creations.
Despite most of the universe considering the practice of harvesting and using trapped souls as a resource or commodity to be heinous, the unconscionable soul trade thrives. Most of it takes place in reprehensible marketplaces on Abaddon, though black markets and buyers can also be found in the Abyss, Axis, Hell, and even the worlds of the Material Plane, as evil spellcasters and item crafters can make great use of powerful souls in dark rites. The raw value of a soul depends on the strength of personality and will to live within the life from which it was harvested—in short, creatures with a higher CR have stronger and more valuable souls. Other factors, such as alignment, creature type, and religion can give a soul different “flavors,” but these are largely aesthetic—valued by daemons for their taste but not generally making souls more valuable as a resource for any one use over another. See the sidebar on page 191 for more details.
In addition to consuming souls for the sheer joy of destruction, daemons use them to conduct strange experiments, construct their hideous domains, empower themselves, and more, and mortal spellcasters have followed their lead. Souls can be used to power spellcasting via the Soul-Powered Magic feat (see page 179), to impart life or intelligence to magic items or constructs, as components for certain blasphemous rituals, as convenient forms of currency, or merely as collectable works of art or as snacks.
Souls are especially useful in crafting intelligent magic items. Using souls in this manner is almost always an evil act, but exceptions exist in certain cases, such as a living creature that has volunteered its soul for use in the crafting of a potent item. When a soul is used to grant an item intelligence, the soul’s flavor can influence the item’s personality and, at the GM’s discretion, grant it additional magical properties.
Scholars have long debated whether the intelligence in such an item is that of the soul used, or if the soul is destroyed and the intelligence is only patterned on it—the implication being that recovered intelligent objects should be destroyed in order to liberate the souls used in their construction. As instances of both have been reported over the centuries, the question remains open, though few adventurers are willing to destroy their prized weapons based on conjecture.
The Book of the Damned contains a specific ritual for capturing a soul that closely mirrors the effects of soul bind or trap the soul, but the ritual’s result is more akin to a soul gem created by a cacodaemon. This cruel and horrific ritual has the advantage of not requiring an expensive gemstone to serve as the soul’s prison, but it takes longer, is fundamentally vile, and runs a great risk of backfiring on the ritual’s casters.
Soul Trap
Source Book of the Damned pg. 192
School necromancy [evil]; Level 9
Casting Time 90 minutes
Components V, S, F (a crystal lens worth at least half the value of the soul to be trapped), SC (up to 12)
Skill Checks Knowledge (planes) DC 31, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 31, 3 successes; Spellcraft DC 31, 3 successes
Range close
Target one living or recently dead creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates; SR no
Backlash The primary and secondary casters each gain 1 temporary negative level.
Failure The primary and secondary casters become staggered for 10 minutes. Unless the ritual was performed in an area that bars dimensional travel, this feedback draws the attention of a psychopomp or psychopomps of a total CR equal to the CR of the creature whose soul the casters were attempting to trap, and the magical feedback allows the psychopomps to manifest at the location of the ritual to punish the casters for meddling with souls.
Effect
The body of the creature whose soul is to be trapped must be within the ritual’s range for the duration. If the body is removed from this area before the ritual is completed, the ritual immediately fails (triggering the failure result detailed above). If the target creature is alive, it must be killed at some point during the ritual’s casting time; traditionally this occurs at the end of the ritual, so that if the victim resists having its soul trapped with a successful saving throw, the casters could potentially try to capture the soul a second time by immediately starting a second ritual. If the target creature was already dead, it must have been dead no longer than 1 minute before the soul trap ritual begins, and in this case, the creature’s soul can still attempt a Will save to resist the effects as if it were still alive.
If the ritual is a success, the creature’s soul is transformed into a glittering soul gem. This gem is a fragile Fine object that has hardness 2 and 1 hit point. In this state, the soul cannot be returned to life by any means; the soul gem must first be destroyed, at which point methods of restoring life to the creature function normally.
The Value of Souls
Trapped souls are one of the fundamental currencies throughout Abaddon, the Abyss, and Hell. Three key factors influence a soul's value in the soul trade: the strength of the soul's life force (which relates directly to the CR of the creature from which the soul was harvested), the soul's age (how long the soul has been cycled through reincarnation, which directly relates to the sapience of the creature from which the soul was harvested), and the soul's flavor (which is determined by factors that include the alignment, personality, and religion of the creature from which the soul was harvested). Of course, it's worth noting that while trading in souls may prove lucrative, the practice is undeniably evil and an affront to the natural order, and thus it is considered to be an evil act unless one is trading souls for an altruistic purpose (such as to smash purchased prisons and release the souls trapped within).
Life Force: A soul's life force sets its base gp value. This is equal to the CR of the creature from which the soul was harvested × 1,000. Thus, the base value of a CR 1 creature's soul is 1,000 gp, while the base value of a CR 20 creature's soul is 20,000 gp.
Age: A soul from a creature who in life had an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score of 2 or less (including the lack of a score at all in one of those categories, and regardless of how high the other ability scores were) is less refined and younger in age, and as such is worth half its base value. Thus, the soul of a CR 1 animal with an Intelligence of 1 is worth 500 gp, while the soul of a CR 20 vermin with no intelligence score at all would be worth 10,000 gp.
Flavor: As a general rule, a soul's flavor has no direct impact on its gp value for the purposes of functioning as a material component or raw materials for magic item creation, but in certain circumstances subject to the GM's discretion, the soul's flavor can halve or double its final value. For example, a paladin's soul might have double its normal value to a daemon who finds lawful good souls to be particularly delicious, while the soul of a devout worshiper of Desna might be worth only half as much when used to create a magic item designed to be particularly deadly when used against chaotic good creatures, since such a soul would inherently resist being used in such a way.
TRUE NAMES
As part of creation, each soul receives a unique and secret true name: an esoteric word or phrase that perfectly captures that soul’s destiny and truths. As a soul changes, so too does
its true name, such as throughout the journey from life as a mortal to death to afterlife as an outsider, or even as an outsider ascends in power and transforms from one creature into another.
For one who would conjure or traffic with fiends, knowledge of a fiend’s true name is one of the greatest weapons and defenses available, as a whose true name is known is easier to conjure and control. The difficulty comes not in using the true name, but in discovering it to begin with. In addition, using a true name makes successful completion of the fiendish conjuration ritual (see page 189) less dangerous. Rules for researching true names and their uses in conjuration effects can be found on pages 101–102 of Ultimate Magic.
The Book of the Damned contains many true names within its pages, yet not in as simple a way as to merely present them as words on a page. In a way, the Book of the Damned potentially contains within its pages the true names of all fiends, as long as the reader knows where to look. Successfully using the Book of the Damned to learn a fiend’s true name requires the use of the following ritual.
Manifest Manifestation
Source Book of the Damned pg. 193
School divination; Level 9
Casting Time 90 minutes
Components S, F (the complete Book of the Damned or the diabolic Book of the Damned)
Skill Checks Knowledge (planes) DC 33, 3 successes; Linguistics DC 33, 4 successes; Perception DC 33, 2 successes (these checks take a –4 penalty if the diabolic Book of the Damned is used as the ritual’s focus)
Range touch
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The caster becomes exhausted.
Failure The caster’s own true name appears somewhere in a random document in a library located somewhere on Abaddon, in the Abyss, or in Hell. Once per year, at a time chosen by the GM (invariably at a time that is inconvenient to the caster), there is a percent chance equal to the number of times the caster’s true name has appeared in such a document (1% per failed attempt to perform the manifest manifestation) that some other force discovers the caster’s true name and uses it. Typically, this results in the caster being conjured elsewhere via powerful magic to perform services—at the GM’s discretion, this could be played out, or the caster could simply return to his point of origin 4d6 hours later with 1d6 points of ability drain, 1d3 negative levels, a strange curse, or some other affliction but with no memories of how this affliction came to be. Removing one’s name from these locations can be accomplished only via a significant quest.
Effect
When the caster begins the manifest manifestation ritual, he must have in mind a specific type of fiend to learn the true name of. If he seeks to learn the true name of a specific individual fiend or unique fiend, the DC of the skill checks for manifest manifestation increase by 5, and if he seeks to learn the true name of a fiendish demigod or quasi deity, all skill checks for manifest manifestation increase by 10. (In the latter case, the fiendish demigod or quasi deity’s true name changes once the caster learns it, so this information is useful only once, and in the event of a failure, the demigod or quasi deity learns the caster’s true name instead.) Once a creature’s true name is divulged by the manifestation of the Book of the Damned’s list of true names, the caster can use that information how he sees fit, but abuse of the information will likely have repercussions. For example, a caster who gains a reputation for spreading a powerful fiend’s true name far and wide could find himself hunted by a wide range of powerful fiends, all eager to see the caster destroyed. Such reprisals rise not out of any sort of familial devotion to the inconvenienced fiend but purely from self-defense, for who is to say which fiend’s true name might next be publicized by such a careless caster?
侧边栏:
EXAMPLE TRUE NAME EVOLUTION
In a time before reckoning, Nhazaghente, the pit fiend scholar of ashes, raised three osyluth assistants from a leaking pit of pallid lemures, deep within the swamps of Stygia. One among these bone devils was called Ihazaaz and would serve its master for centuries to come, eventually revealing a conspiracy by its pit fiend master to undermine the machinations of a rival. Acknowledged for its revelation, the bone devil was buried amid the moldering libraries of Stygia for dozens of years, left for the eddies of the Styx to corrupt and transform. When finally the devil emerged, it did so as a contract devil, and its advancement was reflected with the added moniker Vhalnhazaghente Ihazaaz, meaning “Ihazaaz, the fall of Nhazaghente” in Infernal. Centuries more passed, and the devil worked numerous and varied blasphemies, capturing the soul of the dynast hierophant Yhaum, spiriting away the eldest of the nepenthean seer worms, and serving as seneschal to the cyclops diabolist prince Solos. Upon adding Solos’s soul to the tormented of Stygia, Ihazaaz was recognized by Geryon himself and cast into the ice of Cocytus. Five centuries later, Ihazaaz developed the full might of a heartless gelugon, and with its exaltation to a greater devil, its ever more complex true name gained the title “Deceiver of Yhaum” in the Cyclops language. In addition, seeking to disguise its past, the devil adopted the prestigious name Shalixakthoryn. Thus, though called Shalixakthoryn by minions and summoners, the feared gelugon hides a true name suggestive of a terrible history: Vhalnhazaghente Chovotayn-Yhaum Ihazaaz.