Threads: 3 (ritual; see text)
Weaving Difficulty: 18/23
Casting Difficulty: 10
Range: Touch
Duration: 14 days
Area of Effect: 100-yard radius
Effect: Raises a legion of clay soldiers
Keywords: Earth. Ritual.
This ritual spell fashions and animates a legion of clay soldiers.
The ritual must be performed in an area with significant clay deposits, such as a typical field or forested area and the spellcaster fashions clay into small, humanoid soldier statuettes with their personal glyph on the forehead while weaving threads. The statuettes may be transported, but care must be taken when moving them. Each Thread Weaving test (or equivalent) takes eight hours; only one test can be made per day.
After weaving the final thread, the spellcaster breathes on the statuettes and makes a Spellcasting (10) test.
If successful, clay from the earth rises around each statuette, increasing them to the typical size of the appropriate Namegiver — this doesn’t affect their attributes. Every 25 clay soldiers are a group and this spell creates one group, but extra threads can create more groups.
The spellcaster can mentally command their clay soldiers within line of sight — this requires their concentration as a Standard action. If left uncontrolled, clay soldiers act on their most recent instructions. They must remain within the spell’s area, which follows the spellcaster, and become inert if they leave it, regaining animation if the spellcaster moves to include them. Clay soldiers are armed with whatever weapons they were fashioned with, or just their fists — the details are cosmetic and the results are the same. This is also true for armor. If a clay soldier is killed, it breaks into pottery shards.
Clay soldiers use the statistics listed below; they’re the same for all Namegivers. If a clay soldier suffers a Wound, one of the soldiers within is destroyed. Regardless of the number of members in the legion, they act as a group and receive only the listed actions. They suffer Wound penalties as normal, reflecting the legion’s losses.
Area spells can cause additional Wounds for each full multiple of the Wound Threshold inflicted on the clay soldiers. Abilities that inflict a penalty on a single target (e.g., Mind Dagger’s Physical Defense penalty) or abilities that provide a bonus against one opponent (e.g., Maneuver, Pack Tactics) cost an additional success against the clay soldiers. If the penalty is a “rider” on the damage (e.g., Earth Darts) and no extra success on the test, it inflicts damage but not the penalty.
The clay soldiers are considered a single target for abilities with a variable difficulty based on the number of targets (e.g., Battle Bellow). A knocked down soldier automatically stands up and has no penalty to their action(s).
The spellcaster can only have one active instance of this spell at a time.
Success Levels: Increase Duration (+7 days)
Extra Threads: Increase Duration (+7 days), Increase Effect (+1 group), Increase Area (+100 yards)
| DEX | 4 | Initiative | NA | Wounds | 21 |
| STR | 7 | Physical Defense | 6 | ||
| TOU | 7 | Mystic Defense | 6 | Wound Threshold | 13 |
| PER | 4 | Social Defense | 11 | Knockdown | 9 |
| WIL | 4 | Physical Armor | 5 | Recovery Tests | 0 |
| CHA | 3 | Mystic Armor | 5 | ||
| Movement: 12 | |||||
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Actions: 1
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