In the entry on ourdivars, Bestiary 6 states:
Ourdivars are
spontaneously formed when called forth via spells like lesser planar ally.
They toil at the behest of their conjurer creators, acting as tools of
chaos across the planes.
This is suuuuuper
interesting to me. The
creature-spontaneously-created-in-the-act-of-conjuration is a common trope of
fantasy fiction. But in fantasy gaming,
we tend to assume all outsiders come from
a specific somewhere—after all, our characters can visit those planes. Even summoners, who call into being conjured
creatures the way most people conjure up chili fries, supposedly get the
spirits they call from…someplace. That
makes an outsider brought into existence purely in the moment of conjuration an
interesting beast indeed.
Now give it the body of a crystal lamia, with a weapon hand
that can morph from spear to saber to morning star with just an effort of will
(as if they were Junkions in Act 2 of The
Transformers: The Movie!)…well, that’s a monster worth conjuring/creating.
But once they're created, how do they react? As living embodiments of chaos, following
orders to the letter isn't going to be a strong suit, even in the service of a
chaotic caster. Are they thrilled at
their sudden coming-into-being, or do they seek to return to the Maelstrom, à
la Mr. Meeseeks (“Existence is pain!”)?
That leaves a lot of room to play for an inventive GM and a chaos-loving
conjurer.
The enemies of Mortis
Minelus have all wound up dead. But
each time, the method has been different—beaten to death, bludgeoned, pierced,
slashed, even warped by some form of raw magic.
Minelus himself wears the purple and blue robes of the pacifist Morning
Glory sect, having sworn “to raise no weapon, nor fire a spell in anger”—and
spells testing his veracity have returned nothing incriminating. The truth is that Mortis Minelus is an
accomplished conjurer, using called ourdivars to do his wicked work.
Debtors know they can
always find refuge in the Abbey of Alms.
First, the land the abbey sits upon is properly part of the March of
Lady Weatherall, and thus not within the jurisdiction of the Lord-Mayor or his
Dunners. Second and more importantly, the
constantly shifting stained glass window in the ramshackle abbey calls
ourdivars to fend off any scion of law—be they archons, devils, paladins, or
even humble local watchmen trying to fulfill a writ of collection.
Lamias and spirit
nagas sometimes summon ourdivars for coitus, not combat. The resulting entropic creatures are
inventively deadly and hate the trappings of humanoid civilization even more
than their serpentine mothers.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 6
213
Do I get to say I’m the authority on nagas? Yeah, I’m gonna say it.
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