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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Kasesh

In the ancient days, before humanity dwelled on Golarion, the Vault Builders had need of something smaller in scale than the great vault seeds so they could finish their worlds as they liked. They took a small gem and wrote a word of power upon it. They gave it eyes so it could see and legs so it could walk, and made it wise. These creatures are known as kaseshi by scholars who have encountered them, though their true name—the one that brought them into being—is likely considerably more powerful.

Each kasesh bears a single word of power on their emerald body, from which they draw their mind and their magic. A kasesh with the word “Steel” or “Flame” is a single-minded creature, though it encompasses all possible permutations of meaning that the word possesses. A kasesh named “Home” or “Sorrow” has a far more complex psyche, and rumor claims that Elder Architect Oblosk of Nex bears the word “Memory.” Unsurprisingly, many scholars are highly interested in the words on the kaseshi; unlike Thassilonian rune magic, no one has managed to decode or make use of the language of the Vault Builders yet.

The kasesh in the stat block bears the word “Stone,” but other kaseshi will have their own magics. Some alternative examples, “Darkness” and “Intricacy,” follow below.

Darkness: This kasesh built the hidden places of the Vault Builders' worlds. The kasesh is 7th level, grants shadow blast and shadow walk to any gestalt they join, and has the following innate spells.
Primal Innate Spells 4th darkness (×2), enervation; 3rd blindness (×2), share lore; 1st mindlink; Cantrips (4th) detect magic, telekinetic projectile

Intricacy: This kasesh was a decorator and designer. They're 11th level, grant hallucinatory terrain and illusory scene to any gestalt they join, and have the following innate spells.
Primal Innate Spells 6th phantasmal calamity, phantasmal killer (×2); 5th cloak of colors, hallucination, share lore; 1st mindlink; Cantrips (6th) detect magic, telekinetic projectile

Recall Knowledge - Elemental (Arcana, Nature): DC 20
Unspecific Lore: DC 18
Specific Lore: DC 15

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Changes from being Elite are marked in red below.
NOTE: The +2 damage bonus to non-strike offensive abilities (+4 if the ability is limited, such as spells) is NOT factored in.

Elite KaseshCreature 4

Legacy Content

Uncommon LN Small Earth Elemental 
Source Impossible Lands pg. 330
Perception +12; darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 60 feet
Languages Common, Terran
Skills Arcana +13, Architectural Lore +15, Nature +12, Stealth +11
Str -1, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +4, Wis +3, Cha +2
AC 21; Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +12
HP 50; Immunities bleed, paralyzed, poison, sleep
Earth Block [reaction] Trigger The kasesh takes physical damage while adjacent to stone or earth Effect A rampart of stone or crystal emerges from a nearby surface, blocking the attack. The kasesh gains resistance physical 5 against the attack.
Speed 20 feet, burrow 20 feet; earth glide
Ranged [one-action] earthen shard +11 [+6/+1] (evocation, primal, range increment 60 feet, versatile B), Damage 1d10+2+2 piercingPrimal Innate Spells DC 22, attack +14 (+4 dmg); 2nd glitterdust, pummeling rubble (×2); 1st mindlink, share lore, shockwave (×2); Cantrips (2nd) detect magic, telekinetic projectile
Gestalt (mental, primal, transmutation) Two or more kaseshi can combine their scribed words to create something greater than either one alone. This has the effects of the Coven ability but no ritual is necessary, simply close proximity for 8 hours. All gestalts grant the following spells, which the gestalt can cast at any level up to 5th: creation, strange geometry, and telekinetic haul. Individual kaseshi also grant additional spells to any gestalt they join—this one grants meld into stone and shape stone.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Kasesh Gestalts

Much as words combine to form sentences, so too when three or more kaseshi meet, their magic—and with it their very identities—combines and coalesces into something new. Most kaseshi find this process no less disconcerting than a human would, although some forge lifelong bonds in such a way.

There's no limit to how large a gestalt might grow. What a gestalt of a dozen kaseshi can accomplish, only the Vault Builders knew.