LHIANNAN SHEE
by Roger E. Moore
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 5
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: Q (x5), T (x5), X
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 claws
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-2/1-2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Draining kiss
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Selective invisibil-
ity, spell immunities
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 90%
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/XI. VALUE: V/365 + 5/hp
Rare in the extreme, the lhiannan shee
(LAN-an SHE) is a vampiric spirit with an
affinity for persons of high charisma and
strong poetic ability ? in other words,
bards. The lhiannan shee is feminine
in
appearance and looks like an extraordinar-
ily beautiful human, elven, or half-elven
woman.
However, she is visible only to her in-
tended victim; she possesses the power of
selective invisibility and can become visible
or invisible to the victim at will without
being detected by any other persons nearby.
Anyone using a detect invisibility spell or
power to locate such a being has a 5%
chance per level of the person searching of
detecting the lhiannan shee, per turn of
searching (e.g., a 7th-level magic-user has a
35% chance of detecting the presence of a
lhiannan shee in one turn). Note that the
usual chances to detect invisible creatures
that beings with high intelligence or hit dice
have do not apply against these creatures.
As previously stated, this creature prefers
bards and almost never attacks anyone else.
A bard above 10th level has a 1% chance
per month of encountering a lhiannan shee.
She will seek out the bard (invariably male;
female bards are not bothered by lhiannan
shee) when he is alone and no one else is
around to confirm or deny her presence.
She will use every wile at her command,
from ?subtle flattery to blatant proposition-
ing, assuming every role from dignified
musical student to charmed trollop. A
lhiannan shee usually observes her victims
invisibly for a month before making her
presence known. Her knowledge of the
victim, combined with her intelligence and
cunning, make her methods very powerful
indeed.
The bard must make a saving throw vs.
magic at -2 upon seeing a lhiannan shee or
he will not be able to resist the lhiannan
shee?s desires, as if he were charmed. It is
95% likely that each time this creature
meets the bard she will want him to kiss her.
This act automatically drains 1 hp perma-
nently from the bard and transfers it to the
lhiannan shee?s hit point total (up to her
maximum total of 40). Hit points so lost
cannot be recovered except by wishes (1 hp
per wish). The bard may not initially notice
this life drain, there being only a 1%
chance per day per hit point drained of the
bard noticing it. Until then, the victim will
resist all suggestions that his ?lover? is
anyone other than what she really is. The
charm placed upon the bard is broken only
by a wish, a dispel magic from a 10th-level
or greater magic-user, or remove curse from
a cleric of 10th-level or greater, unless the
bard discovers the life drain (breaking the
charm immediately).
While the bard is sharing the company of
the lhiannan shee, she will manifest her
power to teach the bard to improve his
musical talents. While the lhiannan shee is
evil, she also appreciates fine arts, music
and poetry in particular. If the bard suc-
cumbs to her charms, she will give him the
following powers for as long as he continues
to visit her:
1) The bard adds 10% to his charm
percentage when he plays a stringed
instrument;
2) The bard will increase the morale of
associated creatures when he plays by an
additional 10%;
3) The bard can cause all listening crea-
tures to save at an additional penalty of -2
vs all relevant magical effects when playing
a musically based magical item (e.g., drums
of panic, pipes of the sewers, etc.).
The lhiannan shee is immune to all magi-
cal attacks from magical musical instru-
ments (drums of panic, horn of blasting,
etc.). It is affected by magical items giving
protection from undead (such as scrolls) and
can be turned away by a cleric as a vam-
pire. Holy water does not affect it. Only
weapons of +1 enchantment or greater
may damage it, though silver weapons and
cold iron weapons cannot.
A lhiannan shee is thought to be the
undead spirit of a woman who killed herself
for unrequited love (generally for some
particular bard). It will share the company
of a bard until driven off by a cleric or slain.
Note that unless the bard realizes what is
happening, he will resist any attacks made
upon his ?beloved.? This being is, like most
undead, immune to all charm, hold, and
paralysis spells.