Golem V

The necrophidius and the scarecrow are true constructs, but their makers took magical shortcuts during creation, and both are weaker than the more famous golems as a result.

The necrophidius, or death worm, is a bleached giant snake skeleton crowned with a fanged human skull, its milky eyes forever spinning. The bones are warm. It is always in motion, eerily graceful, yet utterly silent even on dry leaves, and it has no scent.

No two scarecrows match, but each has a frame of rope-lashed wood, rags sometimes stuffed with straw or grass, and a carved hollow gourd for a head with fire glowing in the eyes. Its knees and elbows bend both ways and its head spins loose, so it is light but slow and jerky. It never speaks, only cackles madly as it attacks.

Each necrophidius is made for one job, such as guarding or assassination. It likes ambush, and its silence imposes -2 on opponents' surprise rolls. Unless surprised itself, it performs its Dance of Death, a weaving sway laced with minor magic; anyone watching must save vs. spell or be riveted, and intelligent viewers are held as by hypnotism while it strikes freely. Anyone it bites takes normal damage and must save vs. spell or drop senseless and paralyzed for 1d4 turns, a state that dispel magic ends but neutralize poison cannot.

It thinks at about the level of Intelligence 10, but its mind is artificial and immune to mind-affecting magic. Poison cannot harm it, it needs neither food nor rest, and since it is no undead thing, priests cannot turn it.

Each round a scarecrow can stare at one creature within 40 feet; an intelligent target must save vs. spell or stand limp and fascinated, hit automatically every round. The trance holds until the scarecrow dies or has been absent a full turn. Its 1d6 touch carries the same charm, save allowed. It keeps beating the first charmed victim until dead while gazing to snare others, and fights until destroyed or ordered to stop.

Fire is its weakness: fire attacks against it gain +1 to hit and +1 damage per die. The animating magic keeps its rags from rotting and makes it immune to cold.

A scarecrow is made by a priest and is mindless, but it obeys orders of one or two phrases with no thought for its own safety.

Most scarecrows fall to pieces when their maker dies, but 10% awaken instead, becoming evil and cunning with Intelligence 8-10. Now wanting to survive, they drop to elite morale (13-14). Daylight finds them hidden; darkness finds them doing evil, trekking toward colder lands since they fear fire and ignore cold, murdering everything they meet along the way. They despise every living thing and slay demihumans and humans whenever possible.