Crysmal [Earth Kin]

A crysmal looks like a squat pile of translucent crystal prisms. Each tends toward a single hue somewhere between pale amber, olive green and deep violet. Native to the plane of earth, it turns up on the material world only in underground places rich in the mineral formations it eats, especially carbon crystals, corundum, beryl and quartz, and it often attacks to get at them. A crysmal's body holds 4d8 undigested rough gems.

Its crystal body imposes -4 on attacks with edged and piercing weapons, gives it an effective AC 0 against blunt stone or metal weapons, and makes ordinary wooden weapons useless. That same structure makes it slow, stumping along jerkily on four to six faceted legs.

It fights with a sharp, spinning spike that juts from its top and deals 3d4 points of damage. When badly pressed it can fire this spike up to 60 feet for 1d8+8 points of damage, after which it must use a backup appendage that deals only 2d4.

Fire and cold spells have no effect on it, nor do poisons or gases. Electrical attacks deal it one-quarter damage or none, depending on its saving throw. Glassee blinds it for 1d4+1 rounds, and stone to flesh drops its AC to 6 against all weapons for one round. Like a xorn, it can pass through solid stone or earth after spending a round altering its molecular structure; a phase door cast on it during that shift kills it instantly.

Crysmals are psionic. Their metapsionic science is appraise, with the devotions psionic drain, receptacle and stasis field. In psychokinesis they have project force as a science and animate object, create sound and soften as devotions. Their telepathic sciences are mind wipe and probe, with contact, ego whip, ESP, mind thrust and mind wipe as devotions.

Crysmals travel in roving packs whose members have clearly assigned roles, though any individual may switch jobs at will. The strongest psionicists usually lead.

A crysmal absorbs stone and converts it into orderly living matter, mostly quartzlike crystal. Sages claim that crysmals fed precious stones become healthier, tougher and more psionically potent, though few can afford the handfuls of sapphires, diamonds and topazes one can eat in a day. Taken out of a silicate environment, a crysmal slowly starves, in extreme cases consuming other mineral creatures or its own body. It shrinks daily while keeping its shape, reaching paperweight size after a month and dying within another week.

Xorn prey on crysmals, so crysmals hate them. Some ally with the dao, enjoying rich food and safety, while the dao regard them simply as good, reliable slaves. Crysmals sometimes tame chaggrin with psionics and keep them as servants.