Wishing Imp

This imp spends its days posing as a small figurine of deep black, granite-like stone: bat wings, a slim barbed tail, pointed ears and little horns. Oddly, its face is lovely, like an innocent child's, with soft brown eyes and a gentle smile. Around strangers it holds perfectly still, its expression blank; only alone with its owner does it move or fly. It speaks telepathically, apparently to anyone regardless of language, but rarely to anyone but its owner.

It seldom fights. When it must, its tail barb deals 1-2 damage and forces a save vs. death magic; failure means a disease that proves fatal in 2d4 days unless magically healed.

No magic of any kind affects it, and only stone weapons can hit it: flint or obsidian arrowheads, sling stones, thrown rocks, stone-headed clubs, even blades wrenched from statues. Each hit deals at most 1d4. Reduced to zero hit points, it falls and shatters, then reforms within 24 hours and returns to its owner. It is truly destroyed only by a stone weapon a priest has blessed specifically for that purpose, and whoever lands the killing blow receives its dying spell, a lethal curse tailored to that person.

Each day the imp grants its owner one wish, under the usual limits of the wish spell, but every wish is perverted. Typically the owner loses something or someone precious even as the wish comes true, and the imp arranges the outcome so that more wishes seem needed, usually to undo damage done by earlier ones.

Giving it away or selling it is the only way to be rid of it, and the new owner cannot be tricked: he must be told plainly that it grants wishes at a terrible price. Plenty accept anyway, sure they can dodge the cost. Human greed seems to please and perhaps nourish it.

It is bound to the misty dread realm. If its owner somehow escapes, the imp stays behind but still belongs to him, and it will work tirelessly to lure him back. Escaping the realm, selling it or handing it to a willing taker are the only clean ways out.

Nobody knows where it came from. It surfaced in the misty dread realm centuries ago and has passed through every domain and island since, leaving only grief. Many theories try to explain why it cannot leave, but none has been proven.