Ghost-Stone

Some powerful, evil people fear what awaits them after death more than they fear undeath. Such a person may arrange to have his spirit bound into a specially prepared stone when he dies. The stone is usually set beside the hoard he gathered in life, and the treasure may even be hidden inside it.

Because a ghost-stone looks like any other rock, it almost always gains surprise. The first warning comes when someone's shadow falls across it and the victim is caught automatically. If the party has a specific reason to distrust that stone, the DM should grant a save vs. wands.

A trapped character can still fight and cast spells but cannot move more than 10 feet from the stone. Through the shadow, the ghost drinks the victim's blood, automatically dealing 1d20 points of damage each round. Anyone who attacks the stone physically without first picking an angle that keeps their shadow off it may be caught as well, though each victim after the first gets a save vs. wands to avoid it. Only one captive is drained at a time; the rest are simply held. If the stone survives, it eventually bleeds every one of them dry.

A cleric turns the spirit with the same chance as turning a ghost. Success frees all captives, and the stone then stays quiet unless attacked or unless someone tries to carry off its treasure.

The stone can be destroyed by smashing it completely to pieces or by casting exorcism; either drives the spirit out to begin its long-postponed journey to the netherworld. It can also be calmed for good by anyone who knows its true name, with the command "[true name] be still, and at peace". This works even if the hoard is taken. The DM may let the party discover the name, perhaps through a riddle or puzzle.

The ghost-stone grew out of the worldwide belief that a person's shadow is bound to the soul. Many traditions held that wounding, trampling, or stealing a shadow harmed its owner, and that losing it meant death. Islanders in the South Pacific kept long stones said to house soul-eating ghosts that killed anyone whose shadow touched them, and used them to guard houses. Mourners at some funerals stepped back so their shadows would not be shut in the coffin or fall into the grave. Other tales told of a hill snail that drank cattle's blood through their shadows, and a hyena that struck a man mute and motionless by stepping on his.

In parts of southeastern Europe, builders once measured a passerby's shadow in secret and buried the measure beneath a foundation stone, expecting the man to die and his ghost to guard the walls. This replaced the far older custom of walling up a living person. Passersby at a building site might be warned to keep their shadows safe.