FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 15”
HIT DICE: 6
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-15 (+2)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Creeping paralysis
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 30% (see below)
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: L (6’ high at shoulder)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
The only deity that gnolls worship
(save for a few renegades who follow
other demon princes) is Yeenoghu,
the
demon prince of gnolls. Yeenoghu long
ago developed a specialized form of demonic
undead for use as an intermediary
between him and his shaman and witch
doctors, and as a guardian for himself
and those followers of exceptional merit.
The creatures are called shoosuvas; their
name means “returners” in the gnoll
tongue, a reference to the belief that
shoosuvas are the incarnations of the
spirits of the greatest of Yeenoghu’s
shamans. Shoosuvas are feared greatly
(for good reason) by gnolls, who will
obey their every command, even over
the orders of other gnoll leaders or
shamans.
A shoosuva is only encountered singly,
and usually in only one of two ways on
the Prime Material plane (they are less
rare in frequency on Yeenoghu’s home
plane in the Abyss). Exceptionally powerful
gnoll shamans or witch doctors,
those attaining the 5th level of clerical
ability and having more than 20 hit points,
are often given instructions for creating
a special talisman that will summon a
shoosuva when the talisman is cast to
the ground and Yeenoghu’s name is
pronounced. Such a talisman is a miniature
carving of a hyena’s skull, made
from the bones of a gnoll shaman or
witch doctor. The shoosuva will be gated
in by Yeenoghu after a one-round delay,
and will immediately attack all enemies
of the summoning gnoll priest. The
shoosuva will remain until it is slain
(whereupon its spirit is sent back to
the
Abyss) or after one hour, at which time
it
will fade away (to the Abyss).
During the time it is present on the
Prime Material plane, the shoosuva is
able to call upon any gnoll within hearing
distance (120 feet), and such “summoned” gnolls will obey the shoosuva’s
every command to the death.
A shoosuva appears as a huge, emaciated
hyenodon, glowing with a phosphorescent yellow light, similar in intensity
to the clerical Lightspell. It attacks
by biting, and those bitten must save
vs.
paralyzation or else be inflicted with
creeping paralysis. Victims so affected
will suffer a -1 penalty “to hit” and
a 1”
reduction in movement rate per round
— cumulative — as the result of a slowacting
paralysis. Only living creatures
are affected by the paralysis, and not
other undead, demons, and the like;
however, these latter creatures can be
damaged by the bite itself. A victim’s
base movement rate (from which the reduction
is taken) is always considered to
be that which applied when the character
was bitten; in other words, a charac
ter cannot increase mobility by divesting
oneself of encumbrance and/or armor
after the paralysis has set in.
When the movement rate of a paralyzed
victim falls to 0”, the character
cannot hit anything, speak, cast spells,
or perform any other physical activity.
Only the most basic life functions (respiration
and heartbeat, primarily) will continue. If the victim survives that long,
the
paralysis will wear off 3-6 turns after
the
victim is immobilized. Shoosuvas usually
try to paralyze as many persons as
they can in melee, and then kill their
victims after they are unable to move.
Since a shoosuva must be fed carrion
as a reward for its services (or else
one
will never return to help the summoning
shaman again), Yeenoghu’s priests who
are able to summon a shoosuva will nearly
always have the first-level cleric spell
Putrefy Food and Drink on hand and will
cast it on one of the shoosuva’s dead
victims, with predictable results.
Aside from encountering such specially
summoned shoosuvas, any gnoll
shaman or witch doctor may call upon
Yeenoghu for assistance or advice, and
thereby summon a shoosuva intermediary,
at a base chance for success of 2%
per level of clerical ability. The shoosuva
will only remain for a short time (1 round
per level of clerical ability of the shaman)
and will require a “free lunch” the same
as one summoned by a talisman. It will
provide the caller with whatever advice
Yeenoghu is able and willing to provide.
If the summoning shaman is attacked
while speaking with the shoosuva intermediary,
the creature will immediately
seek to attack and slay all of the summoner’s
opponents.
A shoosuva is immune to all psionic
attacks or psionic-like effects, and Iikewise
immune to all will-force magics (including enchantment and charm spells).
The creatures have a specialized magic
resistance, being 30% resistant to all
cold, heat, electrical, and poison-gas
spells. If they fail their resistance
throws
against such magical attacks, they will
take only half damage if they fail the
subsequent saving throw, and one-fourth
damage if the saving throw against the
particular attack mode is made. Death
spells, of course, will not affect them
at
all, and they cannot be hit by any weapons
except silvered or magical ones.
Clerics may turn them (or command
them into service) at the same chance
for
success as for special creatures like
minor demons. Holy water damages these
monsters for 2-8 points per vial used.
| Dragon | Monsters | Humanoids | Best of Dragon, Vol. V | Dragon 63 |