Spirit, Stone

Stone spirits are lesser spirits of evil alignment who inhabit stone statues. They can animate their statues at will.

The spirits themselves have no physical substance; in effect, the statues they inhabit serve as their bodies. Stone spirits can inhabit any type of statue that represents a creature or person. The statue can be made of any type of stone, but they most commonly are marble, granite, sandstone, or limestone.

Of the three types of stone spirits, small stone spirits are most frequently encountered. Their most common shapes include frogs, birds, bats, small dogs and cats, and miniature humans. The amount of detail in the statue has no bearing on the stone spirit's abilities. For instance, a stone spirit can still see even if its statue has no eyes. However, the spirit cannot move unless the statue has legs or some other means of locomotion. If the statue has wings (about 30% of the time), the stone spirit can fly at a movement rate of 3 (with maneuverability class E). Only small stone spirits can fly.

All stone spirits can understand the languages common to the areas they inhabit, as well as the language of the type of creature represented by their statues. However, only 10% of stone spirits actually can speak, and even they seldom do.

Combat: Stone spirits serve as guardians and protectors of specific buildings, landmarks, or rooms, a duty they take quite seriously. Stone spirits may attack all trespassers, or they may only attack certain characters, such as those of a particular race, sex, or alignment. In any case, stone spirits defend their territories to the death.

All stone spirits attack by using their bodies as ramming weapons, dropping from above or bouncing across the floor to slam into their opponents. If a stone spirit is slain, the statue it inhabits is immediately reduced to dust.

All spells affect stone spirits, but earth-related spells are particularly troublesome. As the target of earth-related spells, stone spirits save with a -2 penalty; they also suffer +2 hit points per die of damage inflicted by these spells. The elemental burst spell heals stone spirits by 1-10 hit points.

Habitat/Society: A stone spirit may occupy any type of statue, but once it inhabits a particular statue, it never leaves. Some stone spirits answer the petitions of evil wu jen and shukenja to occupy specific statues, while others are drawn to especially ornate statues. A favorite location of small stone spirits are ornamental walls made of marble or other types of precious stones. These walls may be inside or outside of a building, but they are always beautifully carved with images of monsters and sorcerers in a long procession. Several small statues of bats, dogs, and cats sit atop such walls. If a pack of stone spirits takes a fancy to the artwork, they may occupy these statues.

Ecology: All stone spirits consume gems and coins. Generally, these treasure items are not digested, instead remaining inside the statue. If the stone spirit is destroyed, its treasure may be found amid the dust of its crumbled statue.

The dust of a small stone spirit's statue serves as a component for long-lasting cosmetics used by the concubines of royalty.

Medium Stone Spirits

Medium stone spirits are larger, slower, and more dangerous versions of small stone spirits. They most commonly inhabit statues of great cats, small horses, and boars, but are sometimes encountered as statues of servants, jugglers, and dancers. Medium stone spirits are often used to guard crypts and treasure caches. The dust of a medium stone spirit's statue serves as a base for a toothpowder that permanently prevents toothaches.

Large Stone Spirits

These are the most dangerous type of stone spirits. They inhabit statues of dragons, oni, and giant horses, but they most commonly inhabit statues of immense, faceless samurai. They are used to guard evil temples and monuments, and often are found guarding mountain passes. The dust of a large stone spirit's statue can serve as a component for a potion of invulnerability.