Ahkhat

The materials of the building stretch and pull as if elastic, taking on the form of an earthen humanoid with thick stony arms.

ECOLOGY

Environment warm urban
Organization solitary
Treasure none

An ahkhat is an elemental entity that dwells within a single building or structure, such as a monument, temple, or manor. The floors and walls of this structure are the ahkhat’s veins and arteries, and the doors and windows of the building are the creature’s fingers and toes. An ahkhat exists solely to maintain and protect its attuned structure. Far from a mere house servant or magical butler, an ahkhat is its structure’s consciousness incarnate.

Ahkhats are bound to their structures via a special keystone that’s intrinsically attuned to the ahkhat, and they cannot leave the premises of their own volition. Furthermore, ahkhats cannot move through or manipulate structurally damaged parts of their attuned buildings, so they have a vested interest in maintaining the integrity of their demesnes.

When an ahkhat manifests, most often it emerges from a wall as a humanoid-like head, arms, and a torso that jut out. While ahkhats can manifest full bodies as well, since they cannot move away from their attuned structures, they rarely have cause to.

Since an ahkhat’s body is one with the structure it embodies, it has no weight or size in and of itself. However, most ahkhats can extend up to 3 feet away from their resident structures; when emerging from the structure, its physical form weighs about 100 pounds, though this weight has no adverse effect on the structure itself.

Ecology

Ahkhats are a product of ancient magic long lost to time. Since the means of creating an ahkhat seem to have been closely guarded secrets and the cost was likely extravagant. Archeologists have discovered ahkhats in desert temples and lavish crypts, but most agree that common homes and other mundane structures likely did not house such beings. It’s known that ahkhats are the result of severe and powerful magical alterations to earth elementals, though by what means and under what circumstances these modifications occurred remains unknown. The magic that caused such a metamorphosis must have been mighty indeed to transform an elemental into a native outsider, and is likely on par with the legendary deeds of the god-kings themselves.

Like elementals, ahkhats need not breathe, eat, or sleep. While not designed for combat, when pressed, ahkhats attack with their powerful limbs, and can reach up through the floor and out of the walls to trip and grab opponents. They’re also adept at snatching nearby objects and hurling them at range.

Habitat & Society

Ahkhats are solitary creatures without exception. Whatever modifications were made to those earth elementals that would become ahkhats stripped them of both their ability and desire to interact with other creatures, even with other members of their own kind. Ahkhats pay earth elementals as much heed as any other creature. Earth elementals, for their part, recoil at the sight of ahkhats; on some occasions, elementals have been known to rage uncontrollably upon witnessing what they no doubt perceive as an abomination and mockery of their kind.

Only one ahkhat keystone can be attuned to a particular structure or building at a time. Attempting to install a second ahkhat keystone into an already-occupied structure results in a series of violent tremors that pulse throughout the building and rock the structure to its very foundation. During this time, the keystones crack and fall apart, and both crumble into useless piles of rubble unless one is removed within 3 rounds.

Ahkhat Keystones

Every ahkhat is tied to its own keystone, which is usually a stone block that weighs hundreds of pounds. The keystone must be included as part of a structure’s foundation or cornerstone, or must be exchanged for a mundane keystone as part of a permanent alteration effected by a skilled artisan. Ahkhat keystones are usually difficult to locate, and are sometimes protected by a locked or secret door, devious traps, or magical protections. The outward appearance is typically a carved icon of a humanoid figure, beneath which is written the ahkhat’s name in an ancient language.

Anyone who speaks the ahkhat’s name while touching its keystone can attempt to charm the elemental (as charm monster, CL 15th, Will DC 17 negates), and may even do so while the ahkhat is elsewhere in the structure. If an ahkhat is under the control of two or more creatures at the same time, it tries to obey both to the best of its ability. If it receives conflicting orders simultaneously, the competing controllers must make opposed Charisma checks to determine which one the ahkhat obeys. An ahkhat cannot approach within 10 feet of its keystone unless granted permission by someone who has successfully used the keystone. Once tamed by use of the keystone, the ahkhat typically assumes a passive or subservient attitude toward the creature that activated it, even after the duration of the charm effect has expired. The ahkhat perceives this creature as the master of the house.

By use of its keystone, an ahkhat can be ordered to enter its keystone and remain there. The stone can then be removed and built into a different building as part of a major construction undertaking or even used in constructing a new building. This is the only way to transplant an ahkhat without destroying it. Details on how to create an ahkhat keystone have faded with time; the knowledge is lost along with the magic that created the first ahkhats.