Skeletal Bride

This spell creates a skeletal form of the same height and proportions as the caster. The form has a smooth, flesh-hued, featureless globe for a head with whatever type and length of hair the caster wills, but the rest of the body is always skeletal.

This skeletal form is not undead and cannot be turned or influenced by spells acting specifically on undead. It moves with the same gait and mannerisms as the caster, but only moves at the caster's mental urging. It collapses into dust, ending the spell, if it ever passes out of spell range.

The caster can dress the skeletal bride in clothing to make it appear to be herself or a companion, and can control its actions from afar, so long as the caster and the bride remain within range of each other. Skeletal brides often take ambushes or stealthy night attacks meant for their casters, or dupe others into thinking the caster has friends to aid her. Inventive Harpers have used this spell to create diversions (by making other folk think they see an intruder or known rival), to guide folk in places where the Harper cannot safely go, and to fool foes into thinking they have killed the Harper. The most common use of the spell is simple to scare folk. Female Harpers often use this spell to scare away over amorous men on the road, who are usually startled indeed to find that under a bride's clothing are only bones!

Skeletal brides can carry or support a total weight of only 20 lbs. or less, such as clothes and a light weapon. Overloading them causes them to collapse into dust. They are AC 7 and can withstand 19 points of damage before collapsing, though single attacks dealing more than 10 points of damage at a time crush or sever individual limbs, the head, etc. This sort of damage does not end the spell or impair the functioning of what is left of the skeletal form, although the loss of a leg may slow its mobility. (The animating magic can hold a bride that is carrying or wearing 10 pounds or less of material upright)

Skeletal brides cannot speak, but magic mouth, ventriloquism, and similar spells can be cast on one to make it appear to speak.

The material component of this spell is a human bone.