The TotemrixSource Pathfinder #29: Mother of Flies pg. 52
Aura strong necromancy CL 15th
Slot none; Price —; Weight 5 lbs.DescriptionThe Totemrix is the dark half of the Aohl, an artifact gifted to the lost Jaytirian Society of the Mwangi Expanse following a sacred truce between their two feuding gods. The Totemrix is a manifestation of power from the now-dead demon lord of shadows, Vyriavaxus. It’s a DC 30 Knowledge (religion) check to know this, but any evilaligned creature that touches the Totemrix immediately knows the name and how to use the artifact’s powers. The Totemrix constantly emits darkness, as per the spell of the same name, reducing illumination levels in a 20-foot radius by one step.
As long as the Totemrix is carried, the wielder’s demeanor and attitude become increasingly morbid. After a day of keeping the Totemrix in his possession, its owner becomes incredibly possessive of the artifact and will not voluntarily relinquish it—if the wielder loses possession of the Totemrix, he becomes obsessed with recovering it. Every day that the owner maintains possession of the Totemrix, he gains 1 “shadow point.” When the owner’s shadow point total equals his experience level, he must make a DC 25 Fortitude save. Regardless of the results of this save, the owner dies—if the Fortitude save is a success, though, he rises the next evening as a vampire. If a player character succumbs to this potent curse and becomes a vampire, you should assume control of that PC until the other characters can defeat him and, hopefully, resurrect him. The compulsion to maintain ownership of the Totemrix is a curse that functions at CL 15th.
A vampire created in this manner continues to covet the Totemrix, and indeed, if separated from its ownership (or unable to benefit from its power, as in the case of it being joined to the Morrowfall), suffers a –4 penalty on all skill checks, attack rolls, and saving throws until he recovers the artifact.
In the hands of a vampire, the Totemrix gains a potent new ability—when the vampire uses his children of the night ability, he may call upon shadow beasts. When he calls upon shadow beasts, he calls 2d6 shadowgarms (see Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #25), 1d4 shadow rat swarms (see page 37), 1d4+1 shadows, or 1d3 shadow mastiffs (see page 31). Although the vampire can only do so as often as he can use children of the night (once a day for most vampires), shadow beasts called in this manner persist in the area and follow the vampire’s last command until they are slain or banished. At any one time, a vampiric wielder of the Totemrix can maintain a number of shadow beasts equal to the amount of spawn he can control (up to 52 at a time for Ilnerik); attempts to call more shadow beasts while this total number is maxed still function, but the called shadow beasts persist for only up to 1 hour before vanishing.DestructionWhen the Totemrix is joined with its counterpart, the Morrowfall, its powers (as well as those of the Morrowfall) are suppressed. In this state, both it and the Morrowfall can be destroyed by anything capable of destroying a magic metal object of its size.
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