Adebarin's Exoteric Binding Treatise

<img src='https://i.ibb.co/ZXbMmQH/Cover.jpg" alt="Cover" border="0"></a>' class='cover-image' />

<div class='cover-header'>Adebarin's exoteric
<br> binding treatise </div>

<div class='cover-footer'>Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition</div>

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# Table of Contents

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</div>

- ### <span></span><span>Introduction</span>
   3
- ### <span></span><span>Chapter 1: Vestige codex</span>
- - #### <span> Level </span><span> I</span>
- - #### <span> Level </span><span>II </span>
- - <span>4 </span><span>The green lady </span>
- - #### <span> Level </span><span> III</span>
- - <span>4 </span><span>Ahazu</span>
- - #### [<span> Level </span><span> IV</span>](#Welcome)
- - [<span>Agares..................................................................................</span><span>7 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)

- - [<span>Arete.....................................................................................</span><span>7 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)
- - [<span>Buer......................................................................................</span><span>8 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)
- - [<span>Cabiri....................................................................................</span><span>8 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)
- - #### [<span> Level </span><span>V</span>](#Welcome)
- - [<span>Astaroth................................................................................</span><span>9 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)
- - #### [<span> Level </span><span>VI</span>](#Welcome)
- - [<span>The Triad..................................................................................</span><span>10 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)
- - [<span>Vanus....................................................................................</span><span>10 
</span>](#The_Dragon_Age)
- - #### <span> Level </span><span> VIII</span>
- - <span>14 </span><span>Abysm </span>
- - #### <span> Level </span><span> VII</span>
- - <span>14 </span><span>Ashardalon </span>
- - #### <span> Level </span><span> IX</span>
- - <span>15 </span><span>Zcyrell </span>
- - #### <span> Level </span><span> X</span>
- ### <span></span><span>Chapter 2: Epic levels
- ### <span></span><span>Chapter 3: Feats</span>
- ### <span></span><span>Chapter 4: Awakened vestiges</span>

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# Chapter 0:  Introduction

Venturesome and laborious is the work of a binder bookworm. Always an obscure form of magic — sparsely cultivated by birds too rare and scattered across the globe to unite and organize in order to sprout the roots of a robust, well-known academic tradition, to branch thanks to scientific study and research from its scrupulous scholars and ramify as an ever-expanding community, to screen its practitioners, raptly gazing, in the shade, at the mysterious beauty of this art, from the malevolence of detractors and persecutors — pact magic is now not only frowned upon but also punished as blasphemy by the Order of Saeropenes, based on the thesis that pact magic is a threat to piety and pre-constituted order.

Since I was 32 — my glorious warrior days behind me — the few books about binding I could get my hands on, I'd devour: I recall, clear as as a bell, the first time I came across the term "binder", while lying in bed in a monastery on the mountains (destroyed by a fire years ago), my spine forever damaged in my last battle ever against an ice troll. I found comfort in reading what little I could find by Ipos, Dahlver-Nar, Syfal, Morden in a depressing time when my brothers thought of my situation with pity and my abbot with aloofness, preaching about how I should accept the burden the gods had imposed on my shoulders. I empathized with most of the vestiges' ill fortunes and I, forever trapped in a crippled body, ready to give anything just to walk on my legs and feel the earth and soft grass below my feet one day more, could relate all too well with a vestige's hunger to flee from the limbo it's trapped in and experience life just once more, albeit through somebody's else senses.
This book is the summation of a lifetime not only of study of moldy tomes, but of adventurous research, as well: I wasn't there with my companions in Sharn, down in the chilling crypts of Dimhaven's gracious church, I couldn't climb the stairs to Oceanburn's library's forbidden section; but my heart was always with them, throbbing with anticipation, pounding in my ribcage as I prayed they would return unscathed, close as I could be to them, helping however I could, gathering information, distracting, keeping the lookout...

To refrain from writing this book would feel like a betrayal of the extreme lengths they went to so that we could gather this inestimable knowledge. In here, readers will find notions most of the standard binding tomes lack: from exercise to develop new fringes of the pact magic art to new, mostly-unheard of vestiges. May this be my gift to the future generation of binders.
<br> 𝒜𝒹ℯ𝒷𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃 ℐ𝒶𝓏𝓍

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> ##### A letter from Tamsin Cutterbuck
> My dear friend,
<br> I hope this letter and the tome that contained it find you in good health. I asked Aflyn, who was to leave for Tunstead for a marriage cerimony, to make a small detour to reach you and give you this book.I hope he managed to catch you before you left, as he's the bearer of burdensome and sad news: Adebarin didn't make it, in the end; he died shortly after your departure, a couple days before his 78 ᵗʰ birthday. Remember how we used to joke about how ridiculous it was that we couldn't ever find a  decrepit, paraplegic librarian — who, on 364 days a year, you could've bet your right hand you'd find at his front desk, from 8 in the morning till dinner, sharp as a clock — on the day of his birthday? We found out where he went when we'd think he'd disappeared in thin air, during his birthdays. Tubrur ran into his body a couple miles before the woods north of the base, while he was out foraging: his sandals in his hands, brother Adebarin lay on the grass, the dawn sunshine grazing his bare feet. Brother Tubrur insisted that he looked so serene...Sensing his death was near, he probably anticipated what  — I would assume  — was an annuary traditional escapade. Tubrur could still perceive Buer's faint influence.
<br> A week or so before leaving us, brother Adebarin had come to me to subject this book to my attemption. Still distraught for that catastrophe at the Azmarin ruins, ridden with guild towards you, and towards our fallen confreres, even more, I rejected his project. For the safety of the entire organisation, I thought, these researches had to stop: we were reckless, cutting these adventures very close had sure been thrilling, and we were lucky, until we weren't anymore. I was angry at myself, really, but I took it upon Adebarin's work: I feared this book would prompt young, impressionable minds to follow in our footsteps, and wouldn't bare their blood on my hands. We headbutted and I abruptly ordered Adebarin not to mention this book or his damned researches again, which now I regret immensely.
<br> It pains me to open this book, but I should take it away from where curious hands might reach for it. Please, keep it, for now: I trust you completely and, besides, Adebarin would've wanted you to have it. Not even Aflyn knows what this book is about. Stay safe,
<br> 𝓣𝓪𝓶𝓼𝓲𝓷

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# Chapter 1: Vestige codex

Let us begin with a catalogue of new vestiges I have discovered over the course of many years. Worry not, as binding them undergoes the same rules as the better known ones you readers should already be familiar with: after memorizing the vestige's mark and completed all the due preparations, you trace the symbol and prepare to bargain with the entity you have just summoned. Do your homework and be mindful of the tone of your voice, the content of your message, your posture, when you communicate with a vestige, knowing that adjusting your behavior according to which vestige you are striking a deal with is key to success. As the caveat "an oath owns its maker" suggests, prudence should always be exerted, but do not be terrified either: most of human interactions, whether we are aware or not, no matter how mundane, are a matter of negotiation, and, as with any other civilized relationship, respect, some basic acts of courtesy go a long way when binding a vestige; in order to avoid any misstep, feel free to consult this manual for secrets and tips on how to perform a ritual or handle a pact with a specific vestige. 
## Level 2

### The green lady

**Pact DC:** 12
<br> The Green Lady is a relatively obscure vestige. She gives her summoners the ability to turn or rebuke undead, an enhancement to their Charisma, grants the use of many arcane magic items, allows you to utilize a first-level arcane spell of your choice as a spell-like ability, and the ability to recognize magic items for what they are.
**Legend:** Once a high priestess of Wee Jas, she was instrumental in carrying the faith of the Witch Goddess from the old Suel Imperium into the new world after the Rain of Colorless Fire.

She died in the Cairn Hills, and a small cult dedicated to her memory remains there today.

<br> **Special Requirement:** you must either draw the Green Lady's within sight of a graveyard or of any site sacred to Wee Jas.
<br> **Manifestation:** the Green Lady first appears as a beautiful Suel woman dressed in resplendent robes of the faith of Wee Jas.
<br> **Sign:** your eyes turn emerald green and glow faintly, and faint shimmers of green energy periodically ripple over your body.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Flaw.* Entitlement. Haughty and elitist, I expect anyone to defer to my decisions.
- *Personality.* Mysophobia. I avoid filth and decay. Before getting into close combat against rotting undead, I have to try to rebuke them.

<br> **Granted Abilities:** The Green Lady infuses you with mastery over magic and death, and enhances your natural ability to influence and control your subjects.
- *Turn Undead:* you can turn or rebuke undead as a cleric your effective binder level. At level 5, you benefit from the cleric's Destroy Undead ability for as long as you are bound to the Green lady. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again until you finish a short rest.

- *Green Lady's Beauty:* once per short rest, you can add half your proficiency bonus (rounded up) to a Charisma (Deception) / (Intimidation) / (Performace) check. This addition stacks with any proficiency you might already possess in these skills.

- *Arcane Knack:* once per long rest, your innate adeptness for spell trigger items allows you to activate them with less energy consumption. When using a wand or a rod, roll 1d4 and subtract this result from the number of charges you would have otherwise expended.

- *Gift of Magic:* the Green Lady grants you the use of one 1st-level wizard spell as a spell-like ability. You may use this spell-like ability at will, but once you have used it, you cannot do so again until you complete a short rest. You must pick your spell-like ability when you bind the Green Lady, after which you cannot later change your mind. Your caster level with this spell-like ability is equal to your equivalent binder level.

- *Lore of Magic:* you can use Intelligence (Arcana) to identify magic items. You must examine the item to be identified for one minute, after which you make a Intelligence (Arcana) check (DC 15 + the magic item's caster level). If you exceed the target DC by 10 or more, you also note any curses the magic item may bear. You cannot retry an attempt to identify a magic item.

## Level 3

### Ahazu, the seizer

**Pact DC:** 13
<br> Pact magic extracts power from powerful but dead being's spirits. Although not technically dead, neither is Ahazu the Seizer technically alive as long as he remains imprisoned in Shattered Night. This allows binders to use pact magic to draw power from his vestige.

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**Legend:** the seventy-third layer of the Abyss is known as the Wells of Darkness. A steely blue sun casts dim illumination down upon this barren realm, a vast badland of tortured stone through which winds a maze of flagstone pathways that connect dozens of plazas. Each plaza is dominated by a well that drops down to an inky black pool. The stony ground of this layer is interrupted here and there by jagged tors that roughly shield individual well sites from their neighbors. Marble paths connect the wells to one another, and planar lore holds that those who wander from this path risk incurring the wrath of the Abyss itself. The sun above is strangely dim, providing light equivalent to that on an overcast day. Its alien light does no harm to creatures normally impeded by sunlight or bright light (such as nightshades, vampires, bodaks, and varrangoins).

Although the Wells of Darkness is a finite layer of the Abyss, it lies amidst an endless void that encompasses its physical core. This void is known as Shattered Night, and it may be the primal chaos that exists outside of the Abyss itself. In ages past, the demon lord of night and abduction Ahazu the Seizer discovered that, by digging deep shafts in the terrain, he could reach thin spots of the membrane that encircles this layer, black windows into the gulfs of Shattered Night. After many years of digging wells in the seventy-third layer of the Abyss, Ahazu finally found a planar tear in the depths of a great tor in the heart of the layer and stepped through, never to return.

After Ahazu left the Abyss, his followers discovered he could be contacted through strange and secret magics, for Ahazu had become a vestige — a fragmentary echo of existence. In the years that followed, the Cult of Ahazu built a great fortress atop the tor that contained the planar tear that had consumed their master, and from there they could speak to him and receive his wisdom. The Seizer demanded regular offerings of prisoners, dead or alive, to join him in the void. He had his cult place these prisoners near the thin spots in the boundary's layer at the bottoms of the wells he himself had crafted. Once imprisoned, a prisoner could be contacted telepathically by those in close proximity, but could not otherwise escape.

Yet the Cult of Allazu eventually made a terrible error - they attempted to capture and imprison Orcus. Led by hubris and pride, their assault on Thanatos failed miserably, and in response, the Prince of Undead unleashed a horde of demons upon the Wells of Darkness. They quickly laid waste to the Cult of Ahazu, leaving their fortress of Overlook in ruins. The Seizer was left with no followers, for few inhabitants of the Abyss visit the Wells of Darkness and fewer still are skilled in pact magic.

Incalculable ages after Overlook's fall, a tribe of outcast varrangoins, batlike monstrous humanoids common in other parts of the Abyss, discovered the ruined fortress. Among their number was a trio of arcanists who had also dabbled in pact magic. The coven of varrangoin binders were delighted to discover Ahazu, and adopted the Seizer as their patron. At Ahazu's word, they resumed his cult's practice of imprisoning creatures in the Wells of Darkness. Yet the varrangoin were much craftier than their predecessors. They realized that the Wells of Darkness was a resource that the rest of the Abyss would pay dearly for, so instead of abducting victims on their own, the varrangoin coven offered to act as wardens for prisoners brought to them in exchange for magical power, knowledge, and respect. Demon lords, arch devils, and even the gods themselves took them up on their generous offer, and soon the Wells of Darkness came to host powerful prisoners indeed. The coven even managed to convince Ahazu to release prisoners on occasion, in exchange for the promise of a more powerful replacement. Such pacts require the liberators to pledge their bodies and their essences to eternal imprisonment if they failed to deliver. The coven also convinced Ahazu to offer great power to any demon foolish enough to pledge its body and essence to eternal imprisonnaent after death on another plane, sidestepping the normal reincarnation process demons undergo in such circumstances. Over the ages, only four have managed to escape - their wells have closed and the windows to Shattered Night are no longer available. Those known to have escaped the Wells of Darkness include Bayemon of the Unhealing Wound, the marilith queen Shaktari, Siragle the Ineffable, and vaunted Zzyczesiya.

Shattered Night is avoid beyond the finite boundaries of the Wells of Darkness, an infinite nothingness that may link to the void beyond other layers and other planes. Most of the Wells of Darkness are windows into Shattered Night, yet the Well of Ahazu below Overlook is in fact a form of portal known as a planar tear that permits passage through a layer's boundaries to the void beyond. A planar tear is an extremely rare phenomenon, believed to occur only in finite layers or planes; tears are not limited to the Abyss.

Thanks to the Cult of Ahazu and its master, Shattered Night now holds many Abyssal lords, godlings, and failed commanders of the Blood War. Each prisoner can be observed through a "window" at the bottom of his or her well. Most wells contain tragic, half-remembered villains so reprehensible that their fellow demons or followers committed them to Ahazu's void. Some wells contain a slain demon who accepted the Seizer's offer of power in the misguided belief they would someday be restored to life through the mysterious properties of Shattered Night.

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Living prisoners all hope to regain freedom and followers, and some may pledge service to those who visit them. Communication with an imprisoned being is possible by touching the window in the well, yet even then such comnumication is little more than empathic echoes and fragments of words - barely enough to prove that the creature imprisoned within ever existed at all. Dead prisoners feel the endless pull of the Abyss, which attempts to reincarnate them through the thin spots in the layer's boundary, but parasites in the service of Ahazu (mostly abyssal ghouls and chasme) feast on the slowly reincarnating flesh that seeps through the Abyssal boundary, indefinitely delaying most regenerations. Ahazu finds this development quite entertaing.

No mortal magic can reach Shattered Night, nor can it be used to release a prisoner from its grip. Spells such as commune, contact other plane, demand, and sending cannot be used to contact the denizens of Shattered Night, and divinations like discern location or locate creature fail to reveal anyone imprisoned within as well. Shattered Night is not truly a place - it is the absence of a place. As such, there is no environment to interact with, movement is not possible, and magic has no effect.

Ahazu has apparently discovered a means of escaping some of these strictures, but how much power he has over Shattered Night is a matter of some dispute since he himself seems unable to apply these methods of freedom to himself. In addition to imprisoning creatures sent through the planar tear, he can create a binding pact that whisks a creature into Shattered Night once certain conditions (such as death, the passage of time or failure to deliver another prisoner in an agreed upon time) are fulfilled. Likewise, he can expel a creature through a thin spot in the layer's boundaries (i.e. through the "window" at the bottom of the well of darkness through which they can be seen) if he so desires. Such "escapes" have occurred in the past, but these events are so rare that those who follow the history of the Abyss can name all known escapees from memory. In truth all such escapes were actually exchanges, in which the prisoner was exchanged for a more powerful creature.

Freeing a prisoner from one of the Wells of Darkness is a daunting task - such a thing has only occurred four times before, and each time the method used to free the prisoner was wildly different. Mortal magic has no effect on the wells, and cannot pierce its way to Shattered Night. The gods themselves might he able to open the gates to Shattered Night, but since Echidna attempted to unleash the prisoners eons ago to flood Asgard with the released monsters, only to become trapped herself when the Abyss itself rebelled against her, the gods have been wary about dabbling in the dangerous workings of this ancient realm.

<br> **Special Requirement:** on your first binding, you must draw Ahazu's seal on the surface of one of the Pools of Darkness, found at the bottom of the Wells of Darkness on the seventy-third layer of the Abyss.
<br> **Manifestation:** Ahazu's manifestation begins as a sphere of darkness that slowly expands in radius. In the depths of that sphere, Ahazu's form slowly takes shape, revealing a dark skinned, naked humanoid shape with bat-like wings, and elongated head, and arms akin to that of a bodak. His legs trail away into nothingness and his skin is smooth and devoid of obvious features. The Seizer's mouth, which is filled with hundreds of needle-sharp fangs, yawns under a pair of sunken eyes which have partially withdrawn into his skull.
<br> **Sign:** Your skin becomes cold to the touch and the inside of your mouth is cloaked in absolute darkness and periodically expels clouds of black smoke.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Flaw.* Avarice. An urge for kleptomania takes over me every time I see some unattended precious object. 
- *Flaw.* Enslaver. I rejoice in taking prisoners and frustration jeopardizes my social skills if any captive escapes.
<br> **Granted Abilities:** Ahazu grants you abilities that reflect his demonic origin, his exile in the void, and his obsession with abduction.

- *Ahazu's Abduction:* you can speak Ahazu's name to shunt a creature within 30 feet of you into the void between the planes. The target creature may resist the abduction by making a Wisdom saving throw (add just half your proficiency bonus, rounded up, to determine the saving throw DC). If the creature resists this abduction, you may not target him again with this power for 24 hours. Once a creature is abducted, it remains trapped in the void for 1 round, effectively losing it's action on that round of combat. You can use this ability at will.

- *Ahazu's Touch:* once per short rest, designate a non-evil target you can see, who becomes cloaked in a cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness; that target must make a Wisdom saving throw. If it is of good alignment, it takes 1d4 necrotic damage per two binder levels on a failed save (1d2 if it is of neutral alignment, 1d6 per 2 binder levels if it is a celestial), half as much on a successful save; additionally, if it fails the saving throw, it is poisoned for 1d4 rounds.

- *Blindsight:* you have blindsight (50 feet). If you already possess it, its range is increased by 50 feet.

- *Void Mind:* as reaction, you can withdraw your mind and soul into the void beyond the boundaries of the planes: you can make one saving throw against an enchantment or necromancy spell at advantage, or have your enemy make a spell attack against you from those two school at disadvantage. Once you use this ability, you must complete one long rest before using it again. Additionally, once per long rest you may cast the *thought shield* spell, targeting yourself, without expending a spell slot.

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## Level 4

### Agares, truth betrayed

**Pact DC:** 15
<br> Agares died at the hands of his allies for a wrong he did not commit. As a vestige, not only does he give binders the ability to weaken foes and knock them prone, but he also makes his summoner fearless and able to speak any tongue.
<br>**Legend:** in life, Agares ruled over vast armies on the Elemental Plane of Earth. He was the most powerful general the plane had yet seen and second in authority only to his genie emperor, a dao of great influence. Even though Agares was unalterably loyal, he nevertheless gave his emperor reason to fear betrayal. Agares became obsessed with a djinni commander who had thwarted his conquests on several occasions. His desire to meet this favored foe on the field of battle blinded him to other tactical options and deafened him to rumors that his esteem for his enemy had deepened into love. When at last Agares entrapped the djinni's forces, he girded himself for personal combat and set out to answer a challenge to duel his adversary. The summons was a trap laid by Agares's lieutenants, however; his allies slew him within sight of his greatest enemy.
<br> **Special Requirement:** you must draw Agares's seal upon either the earth or an expanse of unworked stone.
<br> **Manifestation:** the ground trembles briefly as the head of a great brown crocodile bursts from beneath Agares's seal. The crocodile's maw opens upward, unleashing a hooded black hawk that spreads its wings, forcing the jaws farther apart with the mere brush of its feathers. Two large, catlike eyes gleam on the hawk's breast. When Agares speaks, the hawk's beak moves, but the sound comes from the crocodile's rumbling throat.
<br> **Sign:** you gain a wracking cough that spews dust and small stones from your mouth. This coughing prevents you from casting any spells that have verbal components. While bound to Agares, you can resist the urge to cough for a number of rounds equal your Constitution score. Thereafter, you cough for a round and then can try to resist the urge again.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Ideal.* Honesty. I am always forthright and direct.

<br> **Granted Abilities:** Agares gives you the power to exalt yourself and your allies, to make the earth tremble beneath your feet, to render foes weak, and to speak the truth to all peoples.

- *Earth and Air Mastery:* Once per short rest, you can add half your Charisma modifier to your AC for one round as long as both you and your attackers are touching the ground or, alternatively, to one weapon attack roll towards an airborne creature.

- *Earthshaking Step:* as an action, you can stomp on the ground, causing every creature within 10 feet of you that is either standing or climbing on a surface connected with the ground to make a Dexterity save or fall prone. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again until you finish a short rest. You and your summoned earth elementals are never knocked prone by the use of this ability.

- *Elemental Companion:* once per long rest, you can cast the *conjure minor elemental* spell without expending a spell slot; from level 9th on, you may instead cast *conjure elemental*, as if using a slot equal to the highest level of vestige you can bind. The list is limited to the following creatures: xorn (normal or big), mephit (dust and mud), earth elemental (normal and myrmidon), gargoyle (normal and four-armed).

- *True Speech:* once per long rest, you can cast the spell *tongues* on yourself without using a spell slot. When speaking or writing in a language with which you are not familiar, you cannot lie.

### Arete, the first Elan

**Pact DC:** 15
<br> Arete, a powerful psion who sought immortality, created a new race but doomed himself to never-ending rebirths. His granted abilities provide binders with access to several qualities that toughen the body and mind.
<br> **Legend:** after a memorable battle with a powerful lich, Arete, a powerful psion, took the time to explore the path of lichdom. He pondered that if immortality can be achieved through "undeath," could it not also be achieved through "unlife" too? After decades of research, he had his answer, but unknown to him, he had made a small oversight. Life begins with birth and unlife would require rebirth.

He awoke from his ritual immortal and rejuvenated, but soon discovered he had lost a lifetime of knowledge and power. His own journals told him what he had once possessed and it became his obsession to regain that power. Unfortunately, every time he did the ritual again to get back what he had lost, he was reborn anew.

No one knows how many times he was reborn, but somewhere along the way, he became a vestige and some believe that every time his vestige is summoned, he is reborn yet again.
<br> **Special Requirement:** Arete does not like to be reminded that the elan are considered abominations by some, and he does not answer your summons if you are already bound to Chupoclops or Eurynome.
<br> **Manifestation:** A mirror rises from his seal, reflecting the binder who makes the summons. The summoner's reflection fades to be replaced by that of a young, male Elan with hair too red, eyes too blue, and skin too bronze. While he speaks, his physical moves mirror the summoner's every action.
<br> **Sign:** Your body's colors alter to become slightly off. Blonde hair becomes too golden, green eyes become too emerald green, and your skin becomes faultless and has no pores.

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**Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Trait.* Unlife. You are free from hunger pangs and drowsiness, although your body still suffers from lack of food, water or sleep.
- *Trait.* I always feel compelled to research lore about Arete and information about unlife, even at the cost of interrupting more pressing research.

**Granted Abilities:** While bound to Arete, you gain powers that Arete had at some point in his search for immortality.

- *Psionic Boon:* you gain a pool of 17 power points when you bind to Arete and access to the Psionic Restoration discipline from the Immortal Order. For the purpose of manifesting the powers therein comprised, consider yourself a Mystic of a level equal to your Binder's, except that the intuitive skillfulness with psionics Arete bestows upon you makes Charisma your psionic ability.

- *Resistance:* you roll your death saving throws at advantage.

- *Damage Reduction:* choose between slashing, piercing and bludgeoning; you become resistant to that type of damage.

- *Repletion:* you can use the *mend wounds*, *restore health* and *restore vigor* powers; after his disastrous results with tampering with life and death, though, Arete is reluctant to let you use the *restore life* power: before you can tap into it, you have to hit level 17 and establish a solid bond with Arete (appointing him as a trusted vestige). Once unlocked, you can use it once per week, immediately consuming all your daily power points.
 
### Buer, grandmother huntress

**Pact:** 15
<br> Buer grants binders superior healing as well as powers against poisons and diseases.
<br> **Legend:** Buer tells many different stories about how she came to be a vestige, so her true origins remain obscure. In various popular versions of the tales, she is a beautiful elf maiden who fell to evil satyrs, a virtuous human ranger killed by a chimera, or a green hag slain by a lammasu. It's likely that Buer herself cannot remember who she was in life or what brought her to her current state, and the stories she tells are cobbled together from the shreds of her memory that remain. Regardless of what her true form once was, most binders believe that she possessed great skill as a hunter and healer in life.
<br> **Special Requirement:** Buer requires that her seal be drawn outdoors.
<br> **Manifestation:** Buer's form is that of a five-branched star, or wheel, composed of satyr legs. She has two faces, one positioned on each side of her wheel-shaped body at the center point where the five legs meet. One face is that of a green hag, and the other is a raging, leonine visage with an unruly mane and beard.

Buer constantly moves within her seal, rolling from foot to foot as she traverses its circumference. She always keeps her raging face outward, but she speaks from her green hag face in a friendly manner with a gentle voice. When her body rolls in such a way that her hag face cannot see her summoner, Buer grows frustrated and begins yelling curses at her body.
<br> **Sign:** Your feet turn into satyr's hooves, giving you a curious tip-toeing gait. These hooves prevent you from wearing normal boots or shoes, but magic footwear reshapes to fit you.
<br> **Influence:** . Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Flaw*. Amnesia. I am plagued by momentary memory lapses, forgetting even familiar information.

- *Ideal.* Non-lethality. Unless I am hunting for prey, I choose to knock my opponents down instead of killing them.

**Granted Abilities:** Buer grants you healing powers, the ability to ignore toxins and ailments, and skills that help you navigate the natural world.

- *Buer's Survivalist Instinct:* once per short rest, you can make an Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) / Medicine check with advantage. You get one additional usage at level 11th and 17th. additionally, you can cast the *hunter's mark* and *wild cunning* spells once per long rest, without expending a spell slot.

- *Buer's Gift of Purity:* you can use the Lay on Hands ability as a paladin half your binder level. Additionally, once per long rest, you can cast the spell *lesser restoration* without expending a spell slot.

- *Fast Healing:* you gain the fast healing I, and the rate of healing increases with your effective binder level. You gain fast healing II at 10th level, fast healing III at 13th level, fast healing IV at 16th level, and fast healing V at 19th level.

### Cabiri, the watching master
**Pact DC:** 15
<br> One of the oldest obyriths in existence, Cabiri, the Watching Master, grants his summoners the ability to see in darkness or twilight, to observe others from afar, and to uncover potential foes.
<br> **Legend:** in ages past, when obyriths lorded the Abyss, the many-eyed tyrant known as Cabiri ruled a large swath of the layer now known as Pazunia, warring against rival lords such as Bechard, Pazuzu, and Ubother. The Watching Master kept careful eyes on his rivals but spent most of his energy scrying the relatively unknown deeper levels of the Abyss. Some record of Cabiri's observation must have survived in the ruins of his long abandoned keep, for the Fraternity of Order began its effort to catalog the layers of the Abyss following its exploration of the Watching Master's ruined stronghold.

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When the Queen of Chaos called the obyriths to war against the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, she turned to Cabiri for advice many times, drawing upon his ability to divine futures by utilizing resources in the depths of the Abyss unguessed at by most his kin. Near the end of the war, Cabiri foresaw the Queen's defeat, and fled the field of battle. This act may have ironically been the one that most crippled the Queen's forces and allowed for her subsequent defet. Cabiri fled to the depths of the Abyss and hid there for eons while he watched the obyriths suffer the humiliating defeat upon the fields of Pesh, and the subsequent eladrin incations that finished off so many of the survivors.

As Cabiri explored the depths of the Abyss, it is believed that his discovered some of the truth behind the creation of the obyrith race, a discover that compelled him to resurface and seek out the obscure fiends known as the Baernoloths. Whatever he confronted them with was enough for them to engineer his capture and subsequent imprisonment in the then-still-young Wells of Darkness. Yugoloths often visit Cabiri's well, more often than any other will in the layer, which suggests that his imprisonment remains of interest to these neutral evil fiends.
<br> **Special Requirement:** Cabiri requires that his seal be drawn with blood, outside at night or during a solar eclipse.

<br> **Manifestation:** one or more lights or areas of darkness in the sky above - the stars, the moon, or the solar eclipse - suddenly open, revealing a watching eye behind the lid of light. Under its baleful gaze, Cabiri's seal begins to dissolve into a puddle of blood. The puddle suddenly blinks, transforming the pooled blood into a ring of tiny eyes surrounding a single mouth that speaks with the sonorous voice of lost and distant souls.
<br> **Sign:** An additional eye appears on your forehead, equidistant from your other eyes.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Flaw.* Curiosity. I hunger to see everthing, no matter how horrifying or entrancing, even if it means risking my life.
<br> **Granted Abilities:** Cabiri grants you his ability to observe others from afar, to perceive threats, and to see unhindered in conditions of twilight or darkness.

- *Arcane Eye:* once per long rest, you can cast the *augury* spell without expending a spell slot. As soon as you choose this option, a small crack of broken pottery originates from your backpack or a pocket of one of your clothes: reaching inside of it, you find shards of a kylix you don't remember ever stashing in there, which you can use as material components for your divination. 
Alternatively, once per long rest, you can cast the spell *scrying* without using a spell slot, albeit at a potentially high price: right after you are done scrying, roll 1d4:

| d4  | Effect |
|:----:|:-----------:|
|  1  | You are safe |
|  2  |  Besides some phosphenes in your field of view and unexplicably sweaty palms, you are alright |
|  3  | At any single moment your DM deems opportune within the course of the next 24 hours, disorienting visions of things that should not exist suddenly plague your mind: images of your surroundings in their aboriginal prehistory and in an unfathomly distant future overlap before you; make an Intelligence saving throw: until you succeed, you are consider blinded; then you move as if through difficult terrain and attack enemies as if they benefited from half cover for one more round. |
|  4  | Same as 3, but, at DM's discretion, hidden within your fragmented visions, could lie a beneficial, if not vague, hint. |

- *Far-seeing Gaze:* the target of a *scrying* spell you cast must make his Wisdom saving throw at disadvantage. Additionally, you know the *guidance* cantrip and can cast it at will.

- *Seer in Darkness:* you gain darkvision to 60 feet and low-light vision. If you already have darkvision, add 60 feet to the range.

- *Visions of Terror:* you can cast *hypnotic pattern*, as per the spell, once per short rest: disturbing glimpses of the obyrith and Pazunia, readily swallowed by the blackness of the Wells of Darkness, dart across the affected targets' mind.

## Level 5
### Astaroth, diabolus of Baator

**Pact DC:** 15
<br> Astaroth, also known as Diabolus, has a deep and abiding hatred of devils, granting the ability to pass among fiends, bypass their diabolic defenses, and burn with Abyssal version of hellfire.
<br> **Legend:** this once-powerful demon lord who is said to have once rule a layer of the Abyss know as the Terminal Archives, with a gift for prophecy offered to fight alongside the Queen of Chaos during her war with the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, but was rejected. In the early days of the Blood War, Astaroth earned the name Diabolus by infiltrating the legions of Baator and rising to the rank of Treasurer of Hell. His true nature was eventually exposed by the arch-devil Gargauth, forcing Astaroth to flee the wrath of Asmodeus, but his spying caused incalculable harm to the devil's war effort and prevented the legions of hell from winning a clear and decisive victory against the hordes of the abyss.

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Upon his return to the Abyss, Astaroth retreated to a steam-filled layer filled with floating chunks of burning stone. In preparation for the inevitable retaliation of the Lords of Nine, Astaroth began cultivating mortal cults on countless worlds through the use of his prophetic powers, in hopes of transforming himself into a god. He must have succeeded in some fashion, although not enough to forestall his fate. Astaroth was eventually slain by Gargauth, at the command of Asmodeus. In addition to claiming his predecessor's name, the Tenth Lord of Nine is said to have seized the mantle of divinity from Astaroth as well.
<br> **Special Requirement:** Astaroth requires that his seal be drawn on an area of stone that has recently been burned and then doused with cold water.
<br> **Manifestation:** Astaroth's misty form rises up from his seal like a cloud of steam, slowly condensing into the form of a handsome human with draconic and feathered wings. His serpentine tongue flicks nervously as his body is slowly consumed with hellfire.
<br> **Sign:** you acquire the stench of brimstone and a cloudy film covers your eyes.

**Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Trait.* I am morose and fatalistic.
- *Bond.* Resentful towards devils, I attack them first, when possible.

**Granted Abilities:** Astaroth grants you the power to see the future, to burn with the flames of the Abyss, to pass among fiends and to strike creatures with protection from non-silver weapons (including many devils).

- *Blackflame:* half of the fire damage you deal, from any source, is actually considered necrotic. Additionally, you can cast the *fireball* once per long rest (twice from level 11, 3 times from level 17).

- *Divination:* exhaling, you puff a lingering, incense-scented ball of smoke; observing its wisps and wreaths, you gain the information from *divination* spell. Once used, you need to complete a long rest before reusing this ability.

- *Serpentine Tongue:* once per long rest, you can add, as a bonus action, your proficiency bonus on a Charisma (Deception) / (Intimidation) check.

- *Silvered Touch:* once per long rest, you can have your weapon attacks be considered magic for 1 minute.

## Level 6
### The triad

**Pact DC:** 18
<br> The Triad is a gestalt of three forgotten gods of a lost civilization of mystics. They give binders access to both martial abilities and lore-seeking traits.

**Legend:** once long ago, a civilization of psionic mystics may have been the genesis of much of the known psionic knowledge. Their legacy spanned multiple worlds and planes due to their "glittering portals" that allowed instantaneous travel from city to city and plane to plane. Unfortunately, the very gates that allowed them to rise to greatness also doomed them to darkness. The gates functioned by passing through the Plane of Shadow and, over time, the shadows leaked into the gate and then into the travelers. Eventually, darkness consumed the mystics' cities one by one, and many of the mystics themselves became shades. Even the gods of the mystics started to be consumed by shadow.

Gorn, the god of knowledge; Rujsha, the goddess of justice; and Mintar, the god of battle, were the last three gods of the mystics, and they found themselves losing all their worshipers to shadows. When the shadows started pulling at them, they decided they had only one way to save themselves. They combined their essence into one being, and while it saved them from the shadows, it condemned them to existence as a vestige.

**Special Requirement:** the Triad will not bind with someone with any connection to the Plane of Shadow, whether that's by feat, class abilities, or any other association.
<br> **Manifestation:** a glowing purple jade statue rises from the seal. As it rotates, it changes form from a young man with spectacles reading a book (Gorn), to a motherly woman with her eyes covered by bandages (Rujsha), to a man in armor holding his sword in a salute (Mintar). They continue each other's sentences, but the style of their speech does change with who is speaking (see Influence).
<br> **Sign:** your facial features alter slightly each hour you are bound to the Triad; they shift from a young man's inquisitive face to a woman's concerned features to a bearded masculine face and back again.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Personality.* Multiple personality. My mental aspect shifts to match the face that is currently my sign. As Gorn, I am inquisitive and verbose. As Rujsha, I am caring and motherly. As Mintar, I am honor-bound and slightly combative in manner. 
- *Bond.* I avoid any cooperation with folks influenced by shadow, or face them first if in combat.
<br> **Granted Abilities:** while bound to the Triad, you gain a range of abilities that represents the essence of their former separate beings.

- *Psionic Boon:* you gain 27 power points when you bind to the Triad. Your psionic ability is Charisma and, for the purpose of manifesting your powers, you are treated as a mystic of a level equal to your binder's.
 
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- *Gorn's Knowledge:* you can manifest the *wandering mind* and *item lore* powers from the nomad order's Nomadic Mind discipline. Alternatively, you can sacrifice your entire daily psi power pool to cast *legend lore* without expending a spell slot or expensive material components.

- *Rujsha's Righteousness:* you gain access to the *read moods* and *view aura* awakened's order Aura Sight discipline. Additionally, once per short rest you can try to vanquish the forces of evil, dueling with a foe whose malicious and violent intents you have sensed with your powers: make a weapon attack at disadvantage; if you hit, the target is subjected to the *bestow curse* spell (though any extra damage dealt thanks to this spell is radiant instead of necrotic).

- *Mintar's Honor:* choose whether you wish to embody Mintar's zeal on the battlefield (in which case you gain access to the powers from the avatar order's Mantle of Courage discipline) or if you would rather help him unveil dishonesty (in which case you can manifest powers from the awakened order's Psychic Inquisition discipline).

- *Bonus Proficiencies:* you gain proficiency with flails and glaives.

### Vanus, the reviled one

**Pact DC:** 18
<br> Hated out of proportion for his sins, the smiling Vanus remains an enigma to binders. Vanus provides binders with the ability to frighten and punish weaker foes, hear evil afoot with uncanny perception, and free allies from constraints.
<br> **Legend:** legend remembers Vanus by many epithets: the Betrayer, the Craven One, the Foul Prince, the Maggot, the Fearmonger, and even the Hellbringer. Binders simply call him the Reviled One. The hatred traditionally heaped upon Vanus seems out of proportion to his faults, a mystery that binders have yet to unravel.

The story of Vanus begins in a grand kingdom, a peaceful empire that existed long before the current age. Human legend ascribes the kingdom to dwarves, while the dwarven story of Vanus claims elves to be that realm's rulers. Elven mythology lays no claim to Vanus, relating instead that the kingdom belonged to a still more ancient race now largely gone from the world, similar to titans. Despite this difference and other variations, the basics of the tale remain the same.

The ancient kingdom prospered in peace for years because of the evil it kept trapped at it heart. Before the kingdom existed, the founders of that great nation fought a terrible battle against a powerful fiend (such as a balor or pit fiend). Although they could not kill their enemy, they did manage to trap it beneath the earth. To be certain they could keep their foe in check, they built a castle upon that unholy ground. That castle became the capitol of their kingdom.

While goodness flowed from that fortress, evil lingered there, ever watchful, always waiting. The leaders of the country posted a continual guard on the dungeon the fiend remained trapped within, wary of any attempt to escape. For centuries it remained thus, until the fateful night Vanus took over as guardian.

Vanus was a vain prince of the realm, selfish and obsessed with frivolity. To punish the prince for an embarrassment his petulance caused, the king commanded Vanus to serve with the guards of the dungeon during the party to celebrate the monarch's birthday. Deep in the dark and clammy halls, Vanus determined to ignore the chatter of the guards and strained to hear the noise of the celebration above. He could hear little, just the distant tones of music punctuated by laughter. As he listened, the sound of one voice became clearer. A deep and commanding speaker was saying something Vanus could not quite discern. As Vanus neared the door to the fiend's prison, the voice became even clearer, and Vanus thus moved past the guards and closed the distance to the ancient portal.

When Vanus put his ear to the door, he heard a voice unlike any other, and what it told him terrified him. Vanus ran from the dungeon screaming that the fiend was escaping. The guards, knowing they were not like the heroes of old, and seeing the prince of the realm in panic, also fled. The prince ran through the party, ranting about their coming doom, and soon the whole castle was being evacuated.

Panic spread across the countryside, and the people fought with one another in their haste to escape. Battles erupted between families and towns, and the citizen of that ancient kingdom left their lands a war-torn ruin. In the conflicts that followed, the people forgot their original cause for leaving and focused on their new enmity. The kingdom dissolved, the castle fell into ruin, and the fiend laughed in its prison.

Some legends say that the fiend then freed itself, and the gods cursed Vanus for his gullibility and cowardice. Others say that Vanus returned and freed the fiend, and the gods cursed him for this evil. Still other legends claim that Vanus became the fomenter of wars and breeder of terror, assuming the fiend's place in the cosmos, becoming imprisoned by his fears even as the fiend's evil spread beyond the walls of the dungeon.
<br> **Special Requirement:** Vanus will not appear before a binder if his seal is drawn within sight of a doorway or window of any kind. If such apertures can be hidden from view, Vanus submits to being summoned, but the moment Vanus sees a door or window, he shrieks and vanishes in a gout of blue flame. Should the binding attempt be aborted in this manner, Vanus will not appear before the binder for three days.

\pagebreakNum

<br> **Manifestation:** Vanus appears in his seal as though stepping down from a carriage not visible to the binder. He always takes the form of a handsome male member of the binder's race, dressed in fine clothing as a person of wealth and privilege. Vanus smiles and bows low to his summoner, but when he rises, his visage will have changed. Vanus then appears demonic, with six black horns growing from his face, and his skin covered in dark boils that swim with maggots. Blood wells up in his eyes like tears and pours down his smiling face to where he licks his lips. In this form, Vanus again bows. When he rises once more, he retains his demonic body and awaits his summoner's pleasure.
<br> **Sign:** when a binder makes a pact with the Reviled One, a boil appears on his body. Within the ruddy fluid in this boil swims a maggot. Should the boil be broken, the maggot slides swiftly across the binder's body, eluding any attempt to catch it, and digs again beneath the skin. Before the original boil can scab over, another grows and the maggot appears within. Only by ending the pact with Vanus can the binder be rid of the foul insect and the disgusting homes it makes for itself.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt these traits if you make a poor pact.
- *Personality.* Rioter. I take every opportunity to revel, by celebrating for the smaller victories, dragging my allies to parties or associating with cheerful people.
<br> **Granted Abilities:** Vanus grants you tremendous hearing, the ability to foment fear by your presence alone, skill at fighting foes weaker than yourself, and the power to free allies from imprisonment.

- *Fear Aura:* Enemies that you are aware of who come within 10 feet must succeed at a Wisdom save (DC 8 + 1/2 effective binder level + Charisma modifier) or else they are frightened until the start of your next turn. A creature that makes its save against this ability need not make another save for 24 hours.
- *Free Ally:* you may designate one ally within 5 feet per four binder levels to gain the benefits of the *freedom of movement* or the *gaseous form* spells until the beginning of your next turn. The ally may also immediately move up to its speed, as a reaction. You can instead use this ability to free a creature from an *imprisonment* spell or Halphax's imprison ability if you witnessed its imprisonment. You cannot use this ability on yourself and, once you have used it, you cannot do so again until you finish a short rest.

- *Noble Disdain:* When attacking a foe of fewer Hit Dice than yourself with a ranged or melee weapon, you deal +1d6 points of damage.

- *Vanus's Ears:* you gain temporary proficiency with the Wisdom (Perception) skill; furthermore, once per long rest, you can add your Charisma modifier to a Wisdom (Perception) / (Passive perception) check.

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## Level 7

### Desharis, the sprawling soul
**Pact DC:** 20

The first of the "city-born fey," represented today by such creatures as the zeitgeist and the gray jester, Desharis is a boon to those who work to spread civilization, and anathema to most fey and worshipers of the wild. He grants binders shelter against the dangers of the wild, and he provides powers to carve out their own niche against nature.

**Legend:** According to ancient myths, the earliest true community was a human village called Desh, or "shelter" in the old tongue. Here the people dwelt together for protection against predators, and they first constructed structures rather than use existing shelters for protection against the elements.

This legend itself is neither uncommon nor unknown today. What few realize, however, is how swiftly the natural and magical worlds adapt to changes within. Desh was not merely the first community, but it also birthed the first urban fey, a distant ancestor of what would become the mighty zeitgeist.

Desharis knew nothing of his own origins. He knew only that of his two conflicting urges - one to protect the sanctity of the natural world, the other to defend Desh and the people therein - the latter was by far the stronger. Invisibly, he worked to stave off attacks from predators; to keep the village free of plague; and to aid its inhabitants when other humanoids attempted to raid Desh for its supplies. While the people of Desh thanked the gods and spirits for their fortune, however, they never knew of Desharis himself. The other fey of the world, horrified at the notion of a spreading society that might supplant the natural order, counted Desharis a traitor. They worked to thwart his efforts and even destroy him. Though he was, in effect, the very embodiment of community, Desharis was ever alone.

Desharis grew bitter at the disdain of the other fey, and some suggest that he inspired the spread of civilization as vengeance against them. Whatever the case, Desharis spread as the notion of community did, growing ever more diffuse, ever larger. Though he gained in size and influence, he gained nothing in the way of power; smaller villages added nothing to his abilities, and larger communities frequently birthed their own urban fey. Eventually, the spirit of community was too diffuse and spread out to exist as a being at all — and yet, as the embodiment of civilization, now a permanent part of the world, he could not entirely fade away.

**Special Requirement:** If you have gone more than a day without binding Desharis, you may only draw his seal in a village or larger city. Attempts to do so elsewhere fail outright. You can, however, "carry" Desharis into the wild; this is why you may continue to summon him, even outside the urban environment, if you have not allowed more than a day to lapse since you last did so.

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**Manifestation:** Desharis appears with the sound of a hundred distant voices talking and shouting, though specific words remain completely unintelligible. A veritable mob of individuals appears as from a great distance, as though the air above his seal had become a window to some other place. As the mob approaches, these bare silhouettes meld together even as they take on greater details, eventually combining to form a single humanoid shape standing 10 feet in height. Though the silhouettes look human, Desharis himself appears made of equal amounts of stone, wood, metal, and glass.

**Sign:** while hosting Desharis, your eyes turn to glass. Anyone meeting your gaze sees the movement of multiple silhouettes behind them, as though looking through a window at a busy street.

**Influence:** Adopt this trait if you make a poor pact.
- *Personality.* Gregariousness. I cannot stand to be alone, and the more people I have around me, the better.

**Granted Abilities:** Desharis grants abilities that reflect his desire to protect the civilized peoples of the world, plus provides a few that show his anger at the fey and other creatures of nature.

- *City-Dweller:* while hosting Desharis, crowds do not count as difficult terrain for you. In addition, you make Intelligence (Investigation) checks to gather information about town, cities and their inhabitants at advantage.
- *Infinite Doors:* once per long rest, you can pass through an exterior doorway (one that leads from inside a building to outside), and appear through another exterior doorway within 3,000 yards. The two doors must both be set in buildings made of similar materials; for instance, you could pass from a wooden building to another wooden building, or a stone building to another stone building. You can either select a specific door with which you are familiar as the destination, or simply declare that you are appearing through the closest appropriate door to a given distance. (If no appropriate portal exists within range or in the direction you wish to travel, the effect does not function.) This is a teleportation effect.

- *Language of the City:* once per long rest, you can speak with any humanoid, as per the *tongues* spell.

- *Spirits of the City:* You can *animate objects*, as the spell, once per long rest. Additionally, you can cast the *guiding hand*, once per long rest, to reach a monument, town, or any sort of human settlement or man-made structure of some relevance. Instead of a hand, a rat, a pidgeon or another urban critter, or a flaming handcart outlined in faerie fire (if powerful fey are hidden near your destination) guide you.

- *Banish Natural Soul:* Torn by Desharis inconciliable resolutions, you falter when facing beasts, elementals, fey and plants, thus making attack rolls against them at disadvantage. Additionally, once you bind to Desharis, he imposes you a delicate choice: you must choose one of the two following paths, and stick to it as long as you remain bound to Desharis. 
<br> Any time you neutralize a beast, elemental, fey or plant, you gain a certain, temporary, amount of sorcery points (fractions add up):
<br> n. points = monster's CR ÷ (n. your party members × your character level ×2).
<br> You can use these points to obtain some effects from the boons or spend 10 points to cast *commune with the city*.

<div class='descriptive'>
<br>
    
- **Urban vigilante:** there is only so many life forms you can value: you will let the anthropic spread of Desh crush the natural world's skull under its boot, if it means securing its inhabitants safety.
<br> *Tenets:* protect the villagers you have sworn to defend. Slay any beast, elemental, fey or plant creature you judge could pose a threat towards your herd.
<br> *Boon:* you can cast the spells *locate animal* and *locate plant* once per short rest without expending a spell slot. Additionaly, for every 2 sorcery points you spend, you can cast *animate objects* as if using a one-level higher spell slot.  
 - **Border keeper:** you try to mantain a fragile balance between natural and artificial world.
 <br> *Tenets:* protect villagers. Refrain from killing beast, elemental, fey or plant creatures (knock them down or charm them).
<br> *Boon:* spending 1 sorcery point, you can invest the spell with a portion of the city's spirit, drawing dirt, gravel, nails, and other nearby detritus into it: half of its damage comes from the city itself and bypasses any damage reduction. To apply this metamagic effect, you must be in an urban setting or in a dungeon. Additionally, you can cast the *puppet* and *sleep* spells once per short rest on a creature of the beast, elemental, fey or plant type, without expending a spell slot.
 </div>

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## Level 8

### Abysm, the schismed

**Pact DC**: 22
<br> Abysm, the Schismed, is a living vestige of a psionic mythal. As a vestige, Abysm gives its host access to several psionic effects.
<br> **Legend:** little is known about the origin of the vestige that is Abysm, but some have learned that a strange group of psionic users once visited the great city of Myth Drannor on Faerûn. These visitors wished to learn more about mythals and spent much time in research while in the great elven city. Scholars theorize that they then created a psionic mythal around a secret city of psychics and called it Abysm.

Imagine a city of psions, all interconnected by their psicrystals and a great mythal of psionic energy. Now imagine all of them dying overnight. No one knows what disaster visited the city, but it killed every living thing. Some believe that due to the inhabitants' direct connection to the mythal by way of their psicrystals, their souls did not depart as they should have. Instead they got caught in the weave of psionic energies, and the resulting combination of energies was simply too much for the crystals to hold - all psicrystals shattered at once and gave birth to the vestige that is Abysm.

Some researchers and lore-seekers say that Abysm has only recently became sane enough to maintain a safe binding for more than a few seconds. Many old tales relate how binders found themselves being nearly driven insane just by contacting it, but now it does respond and answer the call of those who seek it.
<br> **Manifestation:** crystals grow from the seal into a prismatic tree that suddenly cracks and shatters into dust. The dust swirls into a shimmering, rainbow-laden cyclone that forms an indistinct face. A discordant voice speaks to the binder, saying, "We, Abysm."
<br> **Sign:** your fingernails and toenails become crystal, and you "sweat" gem dust like a maenad does.
<br> **Influence:** Adopt this trait if you make a poor pact.
- *Personality.* Dissociated identity. My speech pattern becomes disconnected, as if many voices are trying to speak through me. My mannerisms also continuosly and randomly change.

<br> **Granted Abilities:** while bound to Abysm, you gain powers that various city inhabitants had at some point in their lifetimes.

- *Psionic Boon:* you gain 45 power points when you bind to Abysm. Your psionic ability is Charisma and, for the purpose of manifesting your powers, you are treated as a mystic of a level equal to your binder's.

- *Overpower:* you gain access to the powers from the awakened order's Intellect Fortress and the wu jen's Mastery of Force disciplines. You also temporary gain the benefits from the Mind Thrust psionic talent.

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### Ashardalon, pyre of the unborn

**Pact DC:** 22
<br> A seeker of pure power and wealth, the fiendish red dragon Ashardalon was among the toughest creatures of his era. Having escaped death more then once, he grants binders some of his powers as a dragon and fiend, as well as a portion of his great resilience.
<br> **Legend:** Ashardalon was a red dragon of unusual greed and power. He sought to control a vast stretch of land, and ravaged it in cruel hunts for food, sport, and power. So great was Ashardalon's power that many cults grew to revere him as a deity and followed him into what they believed were holy wars. In time, however, an alliance of rangers and elves managed to defeat Ashardalon's armies. Shortly thereafter, the dragon faced a powerful druid who had risen to defend the land, and was nearly slain.

As a near god, however, Ashardalon was a force to be reckoned with, even in defeat. He hid on the Outer Planes for millennia and, through complex machinations, managed to replace his heart with that of a Balor, becoming a creature of even greater supernatural evil. Renewed, the dragon made an assault on the Bastion of Souls in an effort to destroy all living creatures. There, Ashardalon faced a distant descendant of a druid who had vanquished him once before and was truly killed.

Still, his death at the birthplace of all souls (combined with his nearly deific status) allowed him to resist a permanent resting place. His essence lacked the power to become a true immortal, leaving him only the nebulous existence of a vestige.
<br> **Manifestation:** Ashardalon tears open the ground with his long black talons and hauls his massive body up from a flaming pit. The red dragon is wreathed in flames and has a burning hole where his heart should be. He bellows in anger before turning to the binder and demanding to know why he has been disturbed.
<br> **Sign:** a patch of skin over your heart is marked by a deep-hued crimson sigil of a curled red dragon.

Influence: Adopt this trait if you make a poor pact.
- *Personality.* Vengefulness. I take every opportunity to strike a foe who has taunted or harmed me, even if it is a tactical mistake.

<br> **Granted Abilities:** Ashardalon grants you some of the vast power he collected during his life as a dragon and a fiendish creature.

- *Ashardalon's Greed:* once per long rest, you can ask Ashardalon to appraise one object. You can also sniff out precious items, as per the *locate object* spell.

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- *Ashardalon's Presence:* You can strike fear into the hearts of your foes, as if they were subjected by a dragon's fearful presence ability. You can activate it with an action and mantain it for 1 minute. The Wisdom save DC equals your vestige's. Once you have used this ability, the aspect's sign shows through any armor or clothing you wear for 1 round, burning like a fiery brand (though it doesn't actually deal damage or start a fire) and you must complete a long rest before reusing it.

- *Ashardalon's Vigor:* Ashardalon grants you some of the vast resilience he enjoyed in life. Once per long rest, you can cast the *fire shield* spell (warm shield option only), without expending a spell slot. Moreover, if you are bound both to Ashardalon and Aym, you can choose to activate the golden halo ability and temporarily forgo its benefits in order to cast the *armor of Agatys* spell as a warlock of your binder's level, once per long rest. Any potential damage an enemy takes while hitting you is fire type instead of cold type. On the round following the one in which you consume your last temporary Hit Points, you can resume using the golden halo ability normally.

- *Ashardalon's Heart:* you share some of the defensive benefits of a Balor once bound to Ashardalon's body. You gain resistance to cold and fire damage; if you were already resistant to these damage types through other means, once per long rest you can render yourself immune for 4 rounds, as a reaction; after these 4 rounds elapse, you revert to simply being resistant to cold and fire damage.

### Zceryll, the star spawn

**Pact DC: 22**
<br>Zceryll was a mortal sorceress who communed with alien powers from the far realm. She became obsessed with immortality, seeking out the alien beings in the hopes of learning their eternal secrets. When she died, she became a hideously twisted vestige, forever seeking to re-enter the Realms via numerous artifacts she dispersed across the world. Zceryll grants you the ability to transform your body and mind into an alien form, granting you telepathy, resistance to effects related to insanity, the ability to summon pseudonatural creatures, and the power to unleash bolts of pure madness.

<br> **Legend:** thousands of years ago, an alienist sorceress known as Zceryll learned bizarre powers in a fight to defend herself against oppression. She was promised untold power by strange, alien beings known as starspawn from beyond the world. All she had to do was to create portals to summon them.

Zceryll created the portals and summoned the star spawn to her aid. She fought back against her oppressors, finding a newfound purpose in her life. She traveled the world, creating many portals for her masters and items of her own devising.

Zceryll was unaware of the slow corruptive effect the star spawn had on her. By the time she realized something was wrong, it was too late to change. Eventually, her body became so suffused with alien power that she became one of them. When her life came to an end, she was a twisted and bitter old hag. She felt she had accomplished nothing and became obsessed with youth. When her time was up, her soul vanished into the far realms, and she became a vestige.

As a vestige, Zceryll, now a phantom twisted alien entity, seeks to exert as much influence over the Realms as possible. She has whispered clues to those who bind her in an effort to guide them to the location of artifacts and items she created, such as the bone scepter of Zceryll (in the Well of Dragons), the star-spawn scepter, the aberrant spheres, the black blood kaleidoscope, and the rod of Taupanga.
<br> **Manifestation:** the area in and around the seal fills with thousands of tiny circular mirrors. A beautiful human woman is reflected in all of the mirrors, yet something is off about her features. After a few seconds, a scream is carried on the air and the image of the woman changes into a hideous mass of writhing tentacles. The mirrors then shatter, covering the floor with beautiful but alien patterns of glass that hurt the mind and cause the nose, mouth, eyes, and orifices to bleed black blood.
<br> **Sign:** your eyes appear as circular mirrors. In your peripheral vision, all other living creatures appear twisted, covered in tentacles, extra eyes, and vestigial organs.
<br> **Influence:** adopt this trait if you make a poor pact.

- *Personality.* Lone wolf. I would never admit that I need help or that I'm weaker than anyone else. Those that are weaker than me deserve all my scorn and contempt, especially young women and spontaneous spellcasters.

<br> **Granted Abilities:** While bound to Zceryll, your body and mind become alien, allowing you to channel the power of the star spawn in a variety of ways.

- *Alien form:* while bound to Zceryll, you bear the pseudonatural template.

- *Alien Mind:* you gain immunity to the *phantasmal killer*, *weird* and *confusion* spells; additionally, you can add ¼ of your binder level when determining the effects of the Adamant Mind ability.

- *Bolts of Madness:* once per short rest, as an action, you can fire a dazing ray at a creature within 100 ft. The target makes a Wisdom save and, if it fails it, is stunned for 1d3 rounds.

- *Summon Alien:* once per short rest, you can summon a creature as per the *summon beast*, although the conjured monster, an alien version of a normal animal, is considered an aberration and bears the pseudonatural template. You can cast this spell as if using a spell slot one level lower than the one of the highest-level vestige you can bind.

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> #### Pseudonatural template
> - Type: aberration.
> - Resistance to poison and electricity damage.
> - Spell resistance: advantage on saving throws against spells.
> - True strike: advantage on the first attack of the day.
> - Abhorrent deflagration: upon dropping to 0 Hit Points, the creature disintegrates in a tentacle mass, which affects nearby creatures as per the *entangle* spell (a binder reaching this form rolls their death saving throws at disadvantage).

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Reference
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Most of the vestiges presented in this document are a conversion to the 5th edition of preexisting concepts.
* [The green lady](https://forgotten-realmsd20.obsidianportal.com/wikis/the-green-lady "title"): James Jacobs.
* Ahazu: Eric L. Boyd ("Wells of darkness", DM #148).
* Agares, Buer: Matthew Sernett, Ari Mamelll, David Noonan & Robert J. Schwalb (ToM).
* [Abysm, Arete & Triad](http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070119a "title"): Dark Psion & Mark A. Jindra.
* Astaroth & Cabiri: Eric L. Boyd ("Gazing into the abyss", DrM #357).
* [Vanus](http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060407a "title"): Matthew Sernett.
* [Desharis](http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060407a "title"): Matthew Sernett.
* [Zceryll](http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070718 "title"): Eytan Bernstein.
* Ashardalon: Owen C. K. Stephens & Rodney Thompson (DM).

<br> Also, this installment is intended as subsidiary to Middle Finger of Vecna's "[Book of binding](https://mfov.magehandpress.com/2016/06/book-of-binding.html "title")" and/or "[The complete binder](https://store.magehandpress.com/products/complete-binder-pdf "title")", in which the class is introduced.

<br> Front Cover: [Zdzisław Beksiński](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zdzis%C5%82aw_Beksi%C5%84ski "title")
<br> Back Cover: [Skiorh](https://skiorh.deviantart.com/art/Old-wizard-475018762)
 
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 [WWW.GMBINDER.COM](https://www.gmbinder.com)
 
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 ##### Additional thanks
<div style="color:white"> L. Pinna, for helping me with the document layout.</div>

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