The miracles employed by the vagabond adventurer-priests of Kurtulmak, god of buried treasure, hidden danger and underdogs follows the same vein, just somewhat less invisibly. Kurtulmak's spells are kobolds, spirits of the deep places that take the form of canine or reptilian humanoids, of varying but typically diminutive stature and cunning of hand and eye.
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Powerful clerics of Kurtulmak are accompanied by a procession of kobolds who, while lacking angelic supernal invisibility, are at least good at hiding. When invoked, kobolds will appear from behind doors or blind corners, jump out of cupboards, peek from under the cleric's robes or even from secret doors that weren't there before, and can't be found again. They do have a tendency to be curious and watchful even when not invoked and casual observers are often unnerved by the furtive whispers and peeking eyes that follow in the wake of a Kurtulmak priest.
Clerics of Kurtulmak might be Magoi. If they are they might be skilled in gem cutting, wear robes of rusty orange and viridian, perform auguries by throwing knucklebones, carry cubit rods and wear red gold rings on every finger. Dungeoneering is not a means to an end for these strange souls, but a form of communion, a pilgrimage that reveals Kurtulmak's mysteries. Perilous, yes, but they are never alone.
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| This is your life now. |
A note on spell spirits: One of the things I most like about Magos-style spells is that by giving them a form and a personality they become as much allies as powers. In addition to their spell effect, consider allowing a the priest to spend an MD or two to have their kobolds do any mundane thing a small pack of stealthy, agile munchkins with knives could achieve. 1MD per kobold needed to get the job done is about right. Assume they have physical capabilities of a level 1 commoner or an unseen servant. You don't need a special kobold whose name means "Rope" in badly transliterated Icelandic to tie a rope around something at the top of a cliff and throw it down, they're all smart enough to do that, they just need your MD to manifest physically in the world. They can't carry physical objects through wherever it is they go when they disappear into cupboards or run into the trap doors only they can find - only Rán can do that, as her spell effect - but can otherwise teleport at will to wherever you need them to be. This is effectively a Kurtulmak priest's cantrips and perk rolled into one.
1. Blasidd (Bladed)
A verdigris-scaled drakobold, clad in spiked gladiatorial half-armour, bearing a different type of sword every time he is summoned. Disconcertingly terse, it's hard to have a conversation with him without feeling like he's waiting for an opening.
Will fight a specified opponent for [sum] rounds, appears next to them when called. Makes attacks with a [dice] bonus, dealing d8+[dice] damage on a hit, attempting to flee from him grants him an attack of opportunity. Has Defence as if wearing light armour. Hits scored against him take d6 rounds off his remaining summoning time. If his original target is killed within his summoning time, he can be commanded to attack another. If summoned with 2MD or more, he counts as wearing Medium armour, and Heavy armour at 4MD+.
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| Swolebold |
2. Hylari (Concealer)
A sable-coated dogkobold in a highwayman's mask and tricorn. Steps out of a shadow when summoned. Likes to imagine himself a dashing rogue but is too much of a wallflower to make much of an impression.
Renders [dice] people or equivalent volume of objects imperceptible as long as they remain immobile. Fidgeting and breathing is okay, as is being transported in a wagon or such like, but the spell is broken as soon as they move or are picked up. The priest who summoned Hylari can see through the concealment.
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A bronze drakobold, though hard to discern beneath the full plate armour and tower shield they carry. Alternately cringingly timid and filled with braggadocio.
Creates an ablative shield around the target, with [dice] hardness and [sum] HP. Any incoming damage is reduced by the shields' hardness, what remains, if any, is divided between the shield and the target. [sum] can be split between multiple targets, if desired.
4. Bruggari (Brewer)
A muscular hazel-brown dogkobold, carrying a firkin barrel on one shoulder, with a string of wooden and pewter tankards hanging by hooks from a rope belt and a wreath of braided hops around his neck. Thinks you need to relax more.
Can purify [sum] inventory slots worth of water of any diseases or toxins by transforming it into small beer or watered wine. If 2MD or more are spent, Bruggari can instead create strong ale or wine if desired. If 4MD are spent, he can instead transform the contents of a waterskin into the mythical Hesperidean Cider which can cure any mundane illness, allow a new save against a magical one, and cease the imbiber's aging process by D4-1 months. All these transformations last [dice] hours before reverting to their former state.
5. Rán (Robbery)
A tawny dogkobold in a nondescript brown hood and mask, easily mistaken for a child or halfling at first glance. Steps out from behind things, especially things that should be too narrow to hide them. She is suspicious of new things, but too curious to stay away from them for long.
Can move an object or objects of up to [dice] equipment slots up to [sum]+[dice] meters, ignoring intervening space. The cleric doesn't need to be able to see the affected objects, and can give Rán any instructions a sensible person could follow (e.g. "Go to room 23 of this hotel and if you see any papers bearing the Marquisa's sigil drop them out the window for me to catch"). Rán is light-fingered enough to pick pockets, victims save with a bonus or penalty equal to the difference between their HD and Rán's MD to notice and grab on to their stuff.
6. Varddeldur (Campfire)
A robust coal-black dogkobold with shockingly thick fur and a bedroll and travel pack upon his back. Talks in a yokel drawl, appears dopey at first but is highly perceptive.
Creates a roaring campfire in the space indicated by the priest. It is a real and solid fire, and able to burn and cook as normal. It will remain burning for 8 hours, and anyone resting in the circle of its light finds their wounds healing at an accelerated rate, multiplying their natural healing speed by [dice]+1. Furthermore, the fire keeps away hostile monsters, giving a [dice] or [sum]% bonus to whatever wandering monster system you're using to avoid ambushes in the night. If cast with 4MD, Varddeldur will physically manifest and wrestle any attacker for 1 round, barking loudly to alert any sleepers all the while.
7. Gildra (Trap)
A copper scaled drakobold laden down with leather toolbelts and bandoliers, appears from trapdoors that cannot be found before she is invoked or after she returns to whence she came. A consummate craftsman, who takes pride in her work.
Creates a trap on a lock or corridor space that deals either [sum] damage in a '10 area or [sum]+[dice] damage to a single target when triggered, save for half. Trap is concealed but possible to find if actively searched for. Choice of poison, piercing, slashing, fire or electricity damage, if it matters. In addition, Gildra can be called to inspect any specified target (a door, a hallway, an idol, etc.) for traps, with a [dice]*2 bonus to her roll.
8. Myrkva (Darken)
A black drakobold, androgyne and mysterious, often visible only by their eyes gleaming red in the shadows. Likes to make sinister pronouncements and chuckle malevolently.
Myrkva's breath extinguishes all flames and darkens all light sources in a [dice]*20' radius area. Myrkva can see in darkness and can tell the priest of events occurring within the gloom, if asked to. For 4MD Myrkva instead breathes forth True Darkness, which suppresses all magic within it like an antimagic field - opposing any magical effect with Myrkva's MD, and rendering even darkvision blind.
9. Grafa (Burrow)
A common drakobold in a miner's helmet with a pickaxe and shovel in hand. Comes with an entourage of subkobold miners he calls 'the lads'. Serious and no-nonsense, prone to giving hard back-pats and painful handshakes.
Grafa and the lads will dig through one '10×'10 cube of earth, clay, loose rocks and sand per MD spent, setting up buttresses and joists as they go to keep the tunnel stable. For 2MD or more they can do the same to brick and artificial stonework, for 3MD solid natural stone, for 4MD Grafa will get out the thermal lance to handle any normal metal that gets in the way. For a 1MD surcharge Grafa will collapse any tunnel they have created.
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A rusty red drakobold, with thick milk bottle glasses and laden down with tomes and scrolls. Fidgety and excitable.
Reveals [dice] traits about an object or location, in the following order; origins and history, major magical properties, minor magic properties, curses.
11. Diefissu (Dungeon)
A golden furred dogkobold, jolly and rotund, wearing rich raiment, coins and jewels positively drip from his pockets. Carries a wriggling sack over one shoulder and has a cunning, sinister gleam in his eye.
When invoked, Dieflissu appears and sweeps his sack over the target, which vanishes into its depths. If targeting unattended objects, this affects up to [sum] inventory slots. A living target whose HD exceeds the MD used to cast the spell can Save to struggle free before Dieflissu carries them off. Vanished targets are placed in an extradimensional dungeon complex by Diefissu, the layout of which is his to decide, though the priest may offer counsel. They can be summoned back into the material world with another casting, and can potentially free themselves or be freed by allies if they have any plane walking capability. On the priest's death, the extradimensional dungeon and all its contents is pushed into the physical world in a subterranean location. Thus it is ensured that there will always be dangers and treasures hidden beneath the earth.
12. Dreki (Dragon)
A regal red drakobold of almost mannish stature, arrayed like a queen in silk and gold, claw-tipped sceptre in hand. Haughty and imperious, treats priests like courtiers.
Projects a cone of fire 50' long and 30' wide at its end. Fire so hot and projected with such force it's almost solid. Stone walls shatter before they melt, foes are briefly transformed into blackened skeletons before those too are consumed. The priest who invokes this kobold takes [dice] damage, anything in the area takes [sum]*2, save for half. A 1 die casting will demolish a hut, a 3 die casting will gut a brick townhouse, a 5 die casting will bring down a castle wall.
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