Devourer

The multi-armed devourer is an otherworldly denizen with one heck of an appetite!

This enchantment creates what some have dubbed the "devourer egg." When the egg is dropped a shadow will spill out and a multi-armed devourer will form in the area. The devourer will eat everything that is lying on the ground. Example: An opaque multi-armed devourer casually flips a tentacle around some wild corn and drags it into its maw. This 'eating pulse' starts at about once every minute and slows down the longer the devourer stays around. (I've seen a devourer that was pulsing at 1 'eat' every 4 minutes) The eating pulse will also speed up the larger the devourer gets. Devourers get larger by merging with other devourers in the room. The devourer will only eat 1 random item on each 'eating' pulse. If there are no items on the ground when the devourer tries to eat, it will move a random direction in search of something else to eat. You can also just GIVE <OBJECT> TO DEVOURER at any time and it will accept AND eat anything that you give it. So don't jokingly try and give it something you value, you WILL lose your item(s). Example: You offer your hulnik grass to the multi-armed devourer, which greedily devours it with a snapping of shadowy jaws. You can keep a devourer from eating something on the ground with the GUARD command, like so, GUARD <OBJECT>. This is what will happen when a devourer tries to eat a guarded object: An opaque multi-armed devourer stretches a shadowy tentacle towards a dark silver sraeth runestone, but you stop it with a quick swatting of hands.

Items required to make a Devourer Egg:

*1 Pearl (or an 'umbramagus talon')
*1 Enchanter's Burin (the better the magical quality, the easier it will be to make the devourer egg)
*A source for the Celestial sigil of Katamba 2x (you will need to memorize it at least twice)
*Shadows spell
*A spell capable of powering (activating) sigils. (Shadows will work , but you may also use Dazzle or Unleash)

Steps to creating:

1. 'Spell up' with Seer's Sense, Clear Vision, Piercing Gaze and Aura Sight. This step is optional of course. (Note: It is also believed by some that using Clarify Gem on your pearl first makes the entire process easier.)

2. STUDY Katamba, or a scroll with a Katamba sigil on it, until you memorize the sigil. If you fail when studying Katamba, wait 3 minutes and try again. Scrolls are more forgiving and you may repeatedly try until you get it.

3. SCRIBE your pearl with the Katamba sigil like so, SCRIBE MY PEARL. Remember to have the burin in your right hand. Go back to step 2 if you fail to scribe.

4. Charge the pearl. This enchantment is special in that you don't have to activate and bind the Katamba sigil at this point. Instead, by scribing Katamba's sigil on the pearl you have created a magical matrix in the pearl and you have to charge that matrix. This is done by repeatedly casting Shadows on the pearl. As you charge the pearl it will grow colder, then icy. When it pulses with deep ebony shadows, it is done. DO NOT charge it past this point. If you do, the pearl may explode! If this happens, you will take a vitality hit, lose your pearl, and have a bleeder on your hand.

5. STUDY Katamba, or a scroll with a Katamba sigil on it, until you memorize the sigil of Katamba. If you fail when studying Katamba, wait 3 minutes and try again. Scrolls are more forgiving, and you may repeatedly try until you get it.

6. SCRIBE your pearl with the Katamba sigil. Remember to have the burin in your right hand. If you fail to scribe the sigil, you must go back to step 5 and memorize it again.

7. Activate the sigil. This is done by casting either Shadows, Dazzle, or Unleash on the pearl. Shadows actually works better as an activator here than on any other enchantment, but Dazzle and Unleash still work better, accordingly. If you fail to activate the sigil before it fades away, you must go back to step 5.

8. Bind the sigil to the pearl. To permanently bind the sigil to the pearl, simply FOCUS MY PEARL. You will get a 12 second Round Time, and a little message telling you that you need to focus on the pearl again in order to permanently bind the sigil to the pearl. Keep FOCUSING on the pearl until you bind the sigil. If the sigil fades before you succeed, you must go back to step 5. If you do succeed at binding the sigil, then you are done. You have made a devourer egg.

Using a devourer egg:

In order to use a devourer egg, all you have to do is hold the pearl and DROP MY PEARL. When you do that you will be rewarded with the following message:

You thumb your black pearl and let it fall.
The pearl cracks open like an egg to disgorge a pool of thin shadows which quickly congeal into an opaque multi-armed devourer.

If you look at a multi-armed devourer, this is what you will see:

The multi-armed devourer looks somewhat like a fattened slug, but has no front nor back, nor readily identifiable sides. Hundreds of thin, shadowy tentacles stretch out from all sides of its center, blindly feeling its environment and occasionally grasping random items to shove into its gaping maw. It is these massive toothy jaws which are the epitome of this otherworldly thing; its sole purpose is to eat.

If you drop more than one pearl that has been made into a devourer egg, the two devourers will merge into a new, larger devourer. You can do this 12 times before something nasty happens. On the 13th time you drop a devourer egg, your devourer will either explode into nothing, or it will explode and a Shadow Master will form. Good luck fighting the Shadow Master, they have a wide array of powers, including summoning other creatures. They are also immune to normal weapons and most spells. Dazzle is effective on them, doing some small vitality damage, but giving no Round Time to them (unless it has been changed). I believe that Burn and Starlight Sphere also work. Shadows and Dinazen Olkar will actually HEAL them! You have been warned.

Multi-armed devourers can last a long time, possibly several hours. I believe that the duration is effected by the creators skill, and how many times you place a Katamba sigil on the pearl when you make it. For example, a Trine of Katamba would have the longest possible duration. You can injure, and eventually kill off a devourer by repeatedly casting Dazzle at it.

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