Petty Gods - Maharb'aal

Here is another entry for the Petty God project. This Lovecraftian deity was inspired by Jean Paul Sartre's Flies. 

Maharb'aal

The One Who Buzzles in the Dark,
The Ten Thousand Faces

Petty god of remorse

Name: Maharb'aal
Symbol: A dilated pupil.
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120'
Armor Class: 10
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 100 hp (25 HD)
Attacks: Special
Damage: Special
Save: None
Morale: 12

Far beneath the surface, in the depths of the earth, in the midst of scorching miasmic vapors, hums a huge swarm of flies. Here is the Maharb'aal's realm, The One Who Buzzles in the Dark. This semi-conscious entity is the hive mind of the insect cloud, and only pays attention in its apathy to the remorse from above. He feeds on these thoughts of harming themselves, theses thoughts of guilt which are a pleasant balm for its demented and incomprehensive mind. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that Maharb'aal is not satiated. It then releases a pestilential breath from its underground caverns to stride the land and provide for its wicked wants. This cloud of flies haloed in an atmosphere of decay prowls in search of innocent humans. Few are those who try to worship such an abomination: these fools are in fact the first targets of the little grateful monstrosity.

The swarm attacks unfortunates who cross his path, surrounding them, as if they were swallowed by the cloud of flies. The ever-changing creature takes various forms, but all disturbing for the viewer : gaping maw, crabbed hand... Once the victim is thus surrounded (after a successful hit – one hit per opponent per round - ), he must make a saving throw every round to avoid becoming deeply melancholic and ruminating thoughts so dark that she no longer pays attention to his surroundings, allowing flies penetrate into his body through his mouth and her nose, and he slowly suffocates (death occurs three rounds later). The swarm can surround one person per ten of its remaining hit points (at the beginning, the swarm can surround ten people). Once the victim is killed, his body disintegrates into numerous flies that strengthen the ranks of the swarm. The flies of the swarm are not normal : they have the faces of the previous victims (although they retain the faceted eyes of flies).

Weapons, even magic can do nothing against the cloud of flies. Only lawful clerical spells and vade retro (treat as the god the swarm as a lich) can affect it.

Maharb'aal Reaction Table (Do not use any Modifier)
Roll (2d6)	Result
2-7	Hostile: Attack the PCs.
8-11	Indifferent: Does not take care of the PCs, but attacks a nearby settlement
12	Neutral: The god is satiated, the swarm vanishes.