Better known more succinctly by seekers and practitioners as the Oizarch Heresies, these four grimoires contain the theoretical and semi-autobiographical writings of Oizarch, detailing a variety of biomantic rituals and spells. While certainly not the founder of the school of biomancy, Oizarch's influence on the practice is unmatched.
Despite the clear effectiveness of the rituals and spells they developed, Oizarch has been much condemned and bedeviled both in their life and the following centuries for the radical heresies proposed and theories they developed as well as the variety of cults their work inspired. The practices of Oizarch Cults vary from region to region, but generally are characterized by a host of moral and ethical crimes, rampant repulsive experimentation, kidnapping, poaching, grave robbing, etc.
Index arcanuS
ON THE MALLEABILITY OF THE FLESH
"... and after the sixteenth trial the subject was able to manipulate the trunk freely, showing no signs of rot, delay, or undue discomfort. And it is thus that we showed that flesh, as part of the whole, can be cleanly divided and considered in and of itself its own whole. The flesh seeks the flesh, and when free of aspect it becomes as malleable as clay to the practitioner..."
By using this grimoire as a manual, a practitioner can cleanly remove a part of a creature and graft it onto another creature. For each HD of creature involved, the ritual requires one hour and one pound of salt. This can be used even with deceased donors, with an hours-since-death in six chance of failure.
The grimoire also teaches:
FUSE WITH FLESH
R: touch. T: limb, body-part, object D: [dice] x 10 minutes
Unwilling creatures must save otherwise you can fuse touched flesh with anything else that is touching the flesh e.g. fresh limbs, a wall, the creature's other arm, etc. If [sum] is greater than 9, you can make the fusion permanent.
ROILING POLYMORPH [credit: Skerples]
R: 10' T: willing creature, or unwilling creature of [dice]x2 HD or less D: [sum] rounds
For the next [sum] rounds, target creature transforms through a wide variety of shapes. Save once at the start of the spell to negate. Roll on the list below at the start of each round: 1-2: no change from current form, 3: small mammal, 4: small amphibian, 5: small bird, 6: small crustacean, 7: medium mammal, 8: medium bird, 9: creature of the same size and species as the target, but of different appearance, 10: creature of the same size as the target, but different species and appearance. The creature's Stats and HP are quartered when transformed into a small creature and halved when transformed into a medium creature. When the spell's effect ends, the creature is stunned for 1d6 rounds.
CORPOREALIZATION OF THE SPIRIT AND GENERAL PRACTICE OF BIOMANCY
"...because here we must grasp the two-part self wherein the body is composed of three aspects: flesh, and spirit. All flesh recognizes its sibling as they are from the same mother, it is the spirit that both fills the vessel, and in doing so constrains and changes it- but it is folly to think the relationship is solely guided by the spirit. Just as the flesh is filled with and changed by the spirit, the spirit is caged and forced into shape by the flesh..."
This grimoire instructs the practitioner on the extraction and distillation of spirit. With daily maintenance an appropriately restrained creatures has its spirit distilled and expelled from their body for use as an alchemical reagent. For each HD of the creature, the process requires one day and 50s in reagents to complete and produces HD/4 vials of spirit. Spirit can be used in a variety of ways, but the most well known use is as a spell reagent, with the expenditure of one vial of spirit a practitioner can add an MD to a roll or can control the result of one of their own MD.
This grimoire confers:
MUTATE [also Skerples]
R: touch T: creature D: permanent
Save negates. Save once per
mutation. Target gains [dice] random mutations. If the creature chooses
to fail its Save, roll double the number of mutations, and the caster
chooses which half are gained.
OIZARCH'S IMPERFECT METAMORPHOSIS
R: touch T: creature D: [sum] minutes
The target's body changes into the (im)perfect form for its spirit. For the duration, gain [dice] mutations of the target's choice. If [sum] is greater than 13 the target may choose to retain one of these mutations.
OR: TO LIVE AND DIE AS BEASTS
"...of course the two require one another, despite their desperate battle. They poison and bind each the other as betrayed and fated lovers. Still, with careful attention, we were able to bind the spirit to a portion of the flesh, allowing an unprecedented opportunity for experimentation..."
Using this grimoire, a practitioner learns the subtle art of shaping the flesh of a creature (or even themselves) down to the cellular level, allowing changes to appearance, gender, voice, shape, etc. as fits the will of the shaper. This does not correlate to any new abilities or changes in base creature statistics.
The shaping takes [HD]d6 hours to complete and requires the sacrifice of an equivalent HD of living creatures.
Also within this grimoire:
BANISH SPIRIT
R: 20ft T: creature D: [sum] rounds
Target creature must save with a bonus equal to its HD. On failure, their spirit is banished from their body for the duration. The target takes [sum] damage. Roll 1d6. The target:
1-2: Is provoked into a berserking rage gaining +1 in all stats and +1 HD.
3-4: Breaks down wailing uncontrollably and is completely unresponsive.
5-6: Flees all other creatures at maximum speed.
EXPLODE BONE
R: 60ft T: bone D: 0
Explodes an exposed bone into shrapnel dealing [sum] damage in a 15ft radius, creatures affected may Save for half damage. For each additional die invested, an additional bone can be targeted.
THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL DISCOVERY OF SELF-ACTUALIZATION
"...it is in the roiling conflict of spirit and flesh that the enigma of self finds its roost as consequence of forces external. Ever on the back foot, the self is both resultant of spirit and flesh as well as the missing third piece of the tripartite body- intimately knowable and at the same time not expressed in aspect..."
The last grimoire in Oizarch's Heresies instructs the practitioner on the process of chimerization, merging two creatures into one. This process requires two restrained or willing creatures and seamlessly melds their minds. The resultant chimera has the abilities of both creatures and the highest stats and HD of the two creatures. Chimerization requires [final HD]d6 gold and [final HD] hours to complete.
This grimoire contains the spell:
ENDLESS FLESH
R: touch T: creature D: 0
The touched creature takes [dice]d6 damage as the touched spot begins to explode outwards with horrific fleshy growth. Each round afterwards, the creature is permitted a Save and on failure suffers another [dice]d6 damage as the growth continues.
TRANSFER INJURY
R: touch T: creature D:0
The target creature is allowed a Save. On failure, the practitioner deals their current missing HP in damage to the target, and for each additional die invested may transfer a wound, scar, or other ailment. If another creature is touched at the same time, the practitioner may act as a conduit moving injuries from one to the other.
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These grimoires, as with many, have been copied dozens and dozens of time by eager students and adherents, so roll below to see what form your discovery takes:
1: A dull, dusty, leatherbound textbook by all appearances. At night it grows legs along its spine like a centipede and enjoys crawling under beds, into sleeping bags, and onto chandeliers.
2: Carefully bound sheets of vellum, this grimoire appears to have grown into place on the inner layer of skin of a certain variety of notoriously brutal waste panther.
3: A raw, bloody liver that can unfold to reveal the runes inscribed within. Must be fed weekly or begins to rot.
4: An illustrated manuscript with lovingly detailed notes and diagrams in the margins from an expert practitioner. Enhances any ritual or spell contained within.
5: Coin Operated. A marketing method gone mad, this tome is entombed in a magical apparatus that only opens when fed 10c and closes if left open for more than an hour.
6: Censored! This grimoire has been bound in very obvious ritual censure tape. Breaking the tape summons 1d6 Censors.
2 HD: Censor
Appearance: a flowing robe filled with shadows and bloodshot eyes
Wants: to punish whoever is trying to read censored material
Armor: as leather
Move: 2x normal
Damage: 1d6 mallet or Censure
Constructs of the divine and other over-controlling entities, censors are used to ward off those seeking material deemed dangerous to read but not dangerous enough to destroy. They attack with floating mallets, or they can force a creature that attacked them to make a Save. On failure, the target is censured and unable to attack with the same weapon/spell for an hour.
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With all four grimoires, a practitioner may decode Oizarch's last spell.
OIZARCH'S PERFECT METAMORPHOSIS
R: touch T: creature/self D: [sum] minutes
The target's body changes into the perfect form for its spirit. For the duration, the target may assume the shape and abilities of any creature they wish and gain any mutation they wish. If [sum] is greater than 12 the target may choose to retain one of these mutations. If a doom is rolled, the practitioner must make a Save. On failure, they die and their body becomes something much stranger.
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