Aerial Servant

Sentient giant floating hands specialized in abductions. A large air elemental.

Imagine a floating hand made of smoke and wind. Its movements are precise yet forceful. It is very expressive. They are most often bound to gods, wizards or fey princesses, and resentfully do their bidding.

Impatient monomaniac, precise brute, resentful servant.


 
HD: 4 Armor: none
Hit it: normal Dodge it: normal
Move: fly fast  

It is immune to electricity, mundane weapons, and being grappled or petrified (because it’s gaseous). It resists all other damage (because it’s an elemental). It can know the location of any creature it knows the true name of, and fit into any small hole. Also, it recovers 1D6 HP every round spent only flying. However, it takes 1D6 damage each round spent not moving, and wind can damage it.

Attacks (2/round)

Crush. The aerial servant makes a melee attack (1D6).

Ethereal Shift. The servant shifts between the ethereal and physical worlds. It is visible in either, but can’t affect or be affected by anything in the plane it isn’t.

Smother. The servant attempts to grapple an adjacent target. If grappled, a creature cannot breathe. Only one creature can be grappled at a time.

Push. The servant pushes a creature. If the target fails a strength save, it is blown away nearby, falls prone, and takes damage (1D6) on impact.



Random Encounter
  1. Monster: 1 aerial servant.
  2. Lair: The floating throne of a local spirit (1: Fey, 2: Elemental, 3: Petty God, 4: Wizard). 25% chance that the lord is here. 75% chance it is slumbering.
      OR
    Omen: The wind shifts and howls.
  3. Spoor: A summoner, asphyxiated.
  4. Tracks: Interpreted in the movement of the clouds.
  5. Trace: [rumor] A person has been strangled by the wind.
  6. Trace: Clouds drifting into the ether.
D6 What the Monster Wants
  1. Kill its summoner, and everybody in its way.
  2. Capture a (1) lover, (2) slave, (3) rival, (4) apprentice for its summoner.
  3. Move geological features to shift the direction of the winds.
  4. Clear a path for the upcoming visit of a petty god in 1D6 (1) days, (2) months, (3) years, (4) centuries.
  5. Retrieve a specific breeze to serve at a god’s banquet.
  6. Kill all intruders, but secretly desires the release of death.
Binding the Elemental

You gain a Spell Dice, one Doom Point and …

  1. … your lungs are crushed, giving you a permanent level of fatigue.
  2. … you are transported into the ether.
  3. … all air elementals suddenly know your exact location.
  4. … you can see the ethereal border.
  5. … you hover.
  6. … the spell word Capture.

If you roll a catastrophe, the elemental is released.

Conjuring the Elemental

If you know the spell Conjure, you can alter it in such a way for a minimum of 4 Spell Dice:

Conjure Aerial Servant
R: 20’ D: [dice] days

The summon has one task only: retrieve the person or object you want dead or alive after which it is banished back to the plane of air. It is bound to complete this task as fast as possible, but will try to kill you along the way if it doesn’t slow it down.


DM Notes

Elementals can be so boring design-wise. As printed in the AD&D 2e Monster Manual, the aerial servant is simply a buffed-up air elemental with the added abilities of the invisible stalker, which is incidentally a type of air elemental. Even its appearance is identical to the air elemental’s. What I did here was remove the most glaring overlaps with the stalker and focused on the abduction aspect. Also I gave it an appearance that matches its low intelligence and its function as a servant. Not everything needs to be humanoid! — SaltyGoo

Written on November 14, 2020