FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 14"
HIT DICE: 2 + 4
% IN LAIR: 25%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 claws or 1 weapon
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4 or by weapon type (-1)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Control magic items
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 70%
INTELLIGENCE: High
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral
SIZE: M (4' high at shoulder)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: IV/160 + 3/hp

    The calygraunt, or "feystag," is often
whispered of in taverns where adventurers
and miners gather, for it is found only in the
deepest woods, caverns and delvings, and is
a fearsome opponent.

    A calygraunt can sense the dweomer
emanating from enchanted items and can
identify the type, specific functions, and
strength (number of charges or spells
remaining) of an item. This power has a 90%
chance of success, modified as follows:
-20% if a spell of any type has been cast
upon the feystag; -60% if a confusion or
feeblemind has taken effect on the feystag;
or -40% if the creature is under psionic
attack (these debits are not cumulative;
choose the greatest loss in any multiple-attack
situation), and +25% if the calygraunt
has observed any magical power or
function of the item under study in use. A
calygraunt may study only 1 item per
round, but it may do so in addition to other
physical, mental, and magical activity. A
feystag free of confusion or feeblemind will
instantly be able to detect all dweomers
within a 6" radius and rank them according
to strength (energy or charges stored or held
ready), seeing them as auras of differing
luminosity.

    A calygraunt may learn enough from
studying a magical item to be able to operate
it. If the item is activated by command
word only, the calygraunt will speak that
word. If use of the item or power requires
somatic gestures, a calygraunt cannot use it,
but if an item can be activated by will or
mental command, a calygraunt within 2"
may activate it. There is a 40% chance that
any item can be activated (providing the
calygraunt has successfully identified it);
this chance is modified in the same manner
as the chance of identification.

    Unless the creature gains physical possession
of an item, it will not be able to control
the direction of the effects, but often the
manner in which an item (such as a wand
or ring) is worn or carried will cause it to
harm the bearer or those nearby when
"turned on" (e.g., a ring of shooting stars
could shoot at the wearer's foot).

    A calygraunt cannot activate or control
an item it has not identified, nor can it
attempt to identify a specific item more than
once in any day (assuming the first attempt
fails). The bearer of an item can wrest
control from a feystag operating it from afar
if the control method is physical (such as the
studs upon a rod of lordly might), or by
speaking the proper command words, but if
the item is customarily controlled by mental
force, the bearer's combined intelligence
and wisdom must be more than 32 to seize
control. If the opponent's combined intelligence
and wisdom scores are less than 29,
then he must save vs. spells or be confused
for 1-6 rounds. A calygraunt can never
charm or force its will upon another
through this sort of mental contest.

    A calygraunt can activate only one item
once per round, although items such as a
sword of dancing or certain Quaal's feather
tokens that operate continuously for more
than a round will do so even after the calygraunt,
after activation, has turned its will
to the control of something else. A feystag
will not activate items without deliberate
intent; its mere presence does nothing to
awaken magical power.

    A calygraunt may repeatedly activate any
item that is not designed to operate only
once. One is known to have guarded its lair
with a wand of frost wedged between two
rocks so as to command the approach to its
treasure, and activated the item repeatedly
to slay or drive off intruders. Calygraunts
hoard magical items and delight in excercising
control over them. They are (of course)
interested in acquiring more. (Note: some
artifacts and relics defy identification, or
lack a dweomer of sufficient strength to
allow a calygraunt to successfully learn their
powers.)

    The calygraunt gets its nickname from
the staglike, frond-branched horns which
adorn its catlike head. It has a coat of dusty
brown hair, and has two clawed forearms
which can awkwardly (-1 to hit and on
damage) wield one-handed weapons. A
calygraunt can speak its alignment language,
the common tongue, and the languages
of creatures nearby. Rarely will
feystags well among men; those who do
often bargain with or sell information they
learn from studying items brought to them.
In the wild, feystags are solitary but occasionally
a mated pair will be encountered.
Calygraunts are omnivorous, but prefer to
eat plants, particularly mint and mistletoe.
 

    by Ed Greenwood