Will O'Shadow

The will o'shadow is a mesmerizing being that lures unsuspecting folk into entering the Shadow World. It appears in places where the curtain between Cerilia and the Shadow World is thin, and feeds on Cerilian life energy

Will o'shadows appear as glowing spheres of light that float and bounce through the night air. Their size, which ranges from 1 to 4 feet in diameter, varies depending on how soon a portal into the Shadow World is about to open: The larger the light, the sooner the event. Their size, however, can be deceiving, as they are typically viewed from a distance.

A will o'shadow can communicate with others of its kind by varying its pattern of movement. The complexity of this code renders it unfathomable to any but another will o'shadow.

The appearance of a will o'shadow in Cerilia presages the opening of a portal. Portals can (and do), however, open without will o'shadows present.

The evidence a will o'shadow leaves behind can provide clues to where a portal once opened and for how long (see “Ecology”)

Will o'shadows, a variation of the will o'wisp, are often mistaken for their more malevolent cousins.

Combat: Any time Cerilian characters are within a quarter-mile of a will o'shadow (knowingly or not), there is a 50% chance that the creature attempts to feed off of human/demihuman life energy instead of other plants and animals in the environment. In such an instance, the PCs must succeed at a saving throw vs. poison or suffer 2d6 points of damage. The victims feel strangely weaker (perhaps dizzy or fatigued) and—if they spotted the will o'shadow previous to failing the saving throw—might notice that the will o'shadow has grown brighter.

If Cerilian characters are on the Shadow World side of a portal that's about to open, they are especially vulnerable to the creature's feeding (provided a will o'shadow is present). Will o'shadows are invisible on this side of the portal; the characters, however, stand out as the only source of Cerilian life energy. In such circumstances the characters must roll saving throws vs. poison at a +1 penalty, suffering 2d6 points of damage for failure.

Will o'shadows generally avoid direct confrontation unless provoked. If attacked, however, they enter a feeding frenzy in an attempt to replace lost energy. Using their exceptional speed and maneuverability, will o'shadows dart and swoop at their attackers, trying to brush against them. The touch of a will o'shadow steals 2d8 hit points of life energy from its Cerilian victim. (Though these points feed the creature, they are not added to its own hit point total.) Will o'shadows are generally insatiable.

Non-Cerilian victims suffer a burn that inflicts 1d8 points of damage, but provides no sustenance to the will o'shadow.

Physical weapons inflict normal damage on will o'shadows; however, the creatures are immune to most magical attacks. Only detect invisibility and shadow magic are known to work against them. Magical light sources render will o'shadows invisible until the source is extinguished

A will o'shadow reduced to 5 or fewer hit points attempts to flee.

If characters succeed at their saving throws and do not attack the will o'shadow, they may well have a perfectly peaceful encounter. That is not to say, however, that an even worse creature won't greet them on the other side of the portal.

Will o'shadows have lesser Seeming. In combat, they may camouflage themselves with blur, color spray, dancing lights,or a hypnotic pattern.

Habitat/Society: One to three will o'shadows generally appear in a single sighting. They make their home in the Shadow World in places that border Cerilia; however, they are seldom seen there. The eternal twilight of that land usually renders them invisible to the naked eye.

When a portal is about to open, the boundary between the Shadow World and Cerilia becomes so thin that will o'shadows are able to pass through it before anything else can. This “head start” might last anywhere from one minute to three hours.

Once the portal opens, a strong force pulls the will o'shadow back into the Shadow World. The creature resists, leading to its bouncing, dancing movements in the air. It attempts to stay in Cerilia as long as possible, feeding off Cerilian life energy

Common folk believe that the compelling force which summons the will o'shadows back home is the creatures' master, a sapient being such as the Cold Rider or a member of the Lost. The most learned Cerilian sages, however, believe it merely to be the “pull” of the Shadow World itself.

Ecology: Will o'shadows feed off the life energy of Cerilia. That is why they are so reluctant to return to the Shadow World.

Once on the Cerilian side of a portal, they try to gather as much strength as possible, leaving the life around them weaker. Generally, the plant life near a recently closed portal (at which will o'shadows were present) looks wilted and brown for 1d4 days per round that the portal was open.

If animal life (including humanoids and player character races) is in the vicinity, will o'shadows might feed off of it instead of plant life. They don't do so maliciously; they merely seek the strongest source of energy. See “Combat and Other Encounters.”

Folk wisdom states that will o'shadows are Cerilian stars that became trapped in the Shadow World as a result of the cataclysm at Mount Deismaar. This, so the stories say, explains why they can be seen only on the Cerilian side of the border, and why they so desperately want to stay in our world.