Insect Host (Priest Spell)

When this spell is cast, cloud upon cloud of flying, biting insects swarm to the priest to serve him or her. Unlike the insect plague spell, these insects are magically created; the spell can be cast where no natural insects exist. Each insect is small, barely the size of a pea, but by the thou­sands or even millions they cause horrendous destruction.
During preparation, the priest clearly pictures the insects to be conjured and the type of destruc­tion they will inflict. This requires secluded con­centration for the entire period.
When cast, the spell calls one cloud of insects per caster level above 15th. Each cloud is roughly a sphere of 1 S-foot radius that contains many thou­sands of individual insects. Each cloud has a move­ment rate of 24 and is completely under the priest's control. Each can perform a different task, provided it remains within range of the caster.
Creatures caught in a cloud can see no more than 5 feet away. Spellcasting is impossible. Each creature suffers 5 points of damage each round in the cloud, regardless of Armor Class (invisibility is no protection). All creatures with 4 Hit Dice or less, flee and scatter, those with less than 8 Hit Dice must make a successful morale check or flee as well. The priest cannot choose to affect only selected individuals within a cloud.
A cloud descending on crops devours its volume per turn, wiping out whole fields in a few hours. In a city or village, the townspeople panic while the insects destroy all unprotected foodstuffs and all wooden and tarp construction. Several clouds can easily surround a group or block a road.
The insect host can be dissipated by a success­ful dispel magic. It can also be blown back by a powerful, magical wind, dispersed for a time by an air elemental, or temporarily held off with smoke, thought the last will only work for a few rounds. Area-effect magic such as fireball can destroy large numbers of the magical insects, but individual attacks have very little effect.
The material component is a blown glass model of a locust or some other insect, filled with gem dust (100 gp minimum).
Notes: Granted to air elementals, common.
Category:Psionic Enchancements
Category:Priest Spells
Category:Psionic Enchancements from Dragon Kings
Category:Spells from Dragon Kings
Category:Spells from Priest's Spell Compendium
Category:Spells