Shamir

Long ago, during the reign of King Solomon, the Israelite people were tasked with building the great First Temple in the holy city of Jerusalem. Since this temple was to be a symbol of peace, King Solomon felt that it would be inappropriate to use tools in its construction that could also be used in times of war. Therefore, he had the difficult task of finding a way to cut and shape stone without the use of cutting tools.

A Fiendish Ally. According to legend, help came in the form of the conniving and manipulative demon, Ashmedai. Ashmedai is the only creature in the history who seems to know how to locate and capture the elusive Shamir, a mysterious worm-like creature with the innate ability to cut, disintegrate, and shape stone. In some versions of the legend, Ashmedai is captured as forced into revealing the location of the Shamir, while in others, Ashmedai simply appears and gives the Shamir to King Solomon as a gift (although this was, no doubt, part of a larger scheme on Ashmedai’s part).

Lost to History. After the destruction of the First Temple and during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the whereabouts of both the Shamir and Ashmedai were lost to history, along with other important artifacts such as the Ark of the Covenant. The Shamir in Solomon’s time was said to be quite small, but that was thousands of years ago, and one must wonder how large the Shamir would be now, if indeed it has survived in the comfort of Ashmedai’s lair?

Shamir in the Bible?

The Shamir comes from stories in the Talmud which describe it either as a worm whose gaze can disintegrate stone, or sometimes as a type of greenish stone itself. In this adventure, the Shamir exists as both a monster (the Shamir) and magic item (the staff of the shamir), to reflect both versions of the story in the Talmud.

Shamir

Gargantuan Monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class: 18 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 247 (16d20 + 112)

Speed: 40 ft., Burrow 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
28 (+9)	7 (+3)	25 (+7)	1 (-5)	11 (+0)	4 (-3)

Saving Throws: Con +11, Cha +2

Senses: blindsight 30 ft., tremorsense 120 ft., passive perception 10.

Challenge: 16 (15,000 XP) Proficiency: +5

Features

Magic Resistance: The Shamir has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Siege Monster: The Shamir deals double damage to objects and structures.

Stone Glide: The Shamir can burrow through nonmagical earth, stone, concrete, iron and even diamond. While doing so, the Shamir does not disturb the material it moves through, and leaves no tunnel in its wake. Lead is immune to this trait, and the Shamir is unable to pass through a lead barrier of any thickness.

Actions

Disintegrating Gaze (Recharge 5-6): The Shamir’s eyes flash with blue-green light as they fix on a target the Shamir can see within 120 feet. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 75 (10d6 + 40) force damage. A creature takes no damage on a successful save; an object or structure automatically fails this save. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, it becomes a pile of fine, gray dust.

Manipulate Stone: The Shamir focuses on the stones in an area no larger than a 30-foot-cube within 120 feet. Any rock or stone in this area rearranges itself in a manner chosen by the Shamir. How this effect takes place is entirely up to GM, but any of the following are valid options.

The stone arranges itself into a barrier as though by the

wall of stone spell (no concentration required).

The stone takes on a specific shape or creates a

structure, as though by the stone shape spell.

A building collapses, raining down rubble in a 30-foot-

cube. Each creature underneath the falling building must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or it takes 55 (10d10) bludgeoning damage and is restrained (escape DC 16) underneath debris. On a successful saving throw a creature takes half as much damage and is not restrained.

Azrael's Guide to the Apocalypse, printed page 221.