Shield Maiden

Stumbling across the ruins of a forgotten empire, Sezrekan the Elder discovered a dolmen holding the remains of 50 warrior-maidens. Bending their fierce spirits to his will, he struck a pact with the ghosts permitting him to summon each spirit once. A shield maiden is utterly loyal, interceding on physical attacks against her master, taking damage in his place on any successful attack within 4 points of the caster’s target AC. Except as noted below, a maiden cannot attack and stand ready to defend her master in the same round. The death of any shield maiden causes the caster a loss of 1 point of Personality, and all arms and armor vanish upon a maiden’s death. In the totality of a campaign, no more than 50 shield maidens can be summoned. Attempting to summon more than a single maiden at the same time causes both to turn on the caster, attacking for 1d6 rounds before vanishing into mist.

Effect

1	Lost, failure, and patron taint.
2 - 11	Lost. Failure.
12 - 13	Failure, but spell is not lost.
14 - 15	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 1 warrior, 10 hp, and mundane equipment. The maiden serves for 1 hour before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
16 - 19	A shield-maiden appears with stats as a level 2 warrior, 15 hp, and mundane equipment. The maiden serves for 1 day before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
20 - 21	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 3 warrior, 20 hp, and mundane equipment. The maiden bears a kite shield, granting +1 to her master’s AC against ranged attacks and +1 to saves against physical damage. The maiden serves for 1 week before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
22 - 25	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 4 warrior, normal ability scores, 25 hp, and armed with a +1 spear. The maiden bears a great shield, granting +2 to her master’s AC, +3 vs. ranged attacks and +2 to saves against physical damage. The maiden serves for 1 month before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
26 - 29	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 4 warrior, one exceptional ability score, 25 hp, and armed with a +2 spear. The maiden bears a great shield, granting +2 to her master’s AC, +3 vs. ranged attacks and +2 to saves against physical damage. Any time a physical attack succeeds against her master, the shield maiden can make an immediate counterattack against foe that struck her master. The maiden serves for 1 year before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
30 - 31	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 5 warrior, two exceptional ability scores, 30 hp, and armed with a +2 spear. The maiden bears a great shield, granting +2 to her master’s AC, +3 vs. ranged attacks, and +2 to saves against physical damage. Any time a physical attack succeeds against her master, the shield maiden can make an immediate counterattack against foe that struck her master. The maiden serves for 1 year before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
32 - 33	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 6 warrior, three exceptional ability scores, 35 hp, armed with a +2 spear, astride a pegasus. The maiden bears a great shield, granting +2 to her master’s AC, +3 vs. ranged attacks, and +2 to saves against physical damage. Any time a physical attack succeeds against her master, the shield maiden can make an immediate counterattack against foe that struck her master. The maiden serves for 10 years before vanishing into mist, freed from her indenture.
34+	A shield maiden appears with stats as a level 7 warrior, four exceptional ability scores, 50 hp, and armed with a +2 spear, astride a pegasus. The maiden bears a +1 great shield, granting +3 to her master’s AC, +4 vs. ranged attacks, and +3 to saves against physical damage. Any time a physical attack succeeds against her master, the shield maiden can make an immediate counterattack against foe that struck her master. The maiden serves for the remainder of her master’s life. Upon the caster’s death, she vanishes into mist, freed from her indenture.

Manifestation

Roll 1d4: (1) a simple cloth doll grows to become a life sized shield maiden, replete with armor and wielding a spear; (2) a lock of blond hair is consumed in a burst of light, leaving a shield maiden standing in the dissipating smoke; (3) the caster draws a line across his palm with a dagger and a shield maiden emerges from the pooling blood; (4) the caster calls out to the sky and a shield maiden appears, stepping from between the rays of the dazzling sun.

Related Discipline

Sezrekan Patron

Effect Duration

Varies

Effect Casting Time

1 Round

Range

Self

Level

2