One Lord who has attended every Bleak Congress over the past seven centuries is Ethon Panjilcuttra, a rakshasa artificer who maintains the Drain Works (see below) and produces dust-stuffed creatures for the use of his fellow Lords.
A ramp lined with columns carved in the shape of succubi leads to an underground vault housing two rows of thirteen macabre, transparent sarcophagi. Ethon Panjilcuttra keeps these hideous wondrous items in functioning order, although only one or two are usually active at a time. When a helpless living creature is placed into one of the clear sarcophagi, numerous eldritch suction cones, siphons, and bore tubes attach to its flesh. They hum and chug as they drain the creature’s soul. A creature so trapped must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save each day or gain two negative levels.
When the creature gains negative levels equal to or greater than its Hit Dice, its viscera have been completely sucked out, and it becomes a hollow shell. The suction cones and siphons detach, while the bore tubes pause then begin pumping instead of draining. Within 10 minutes, they stuff the husk of the victim with dust, giving the creature the duststuffed template.
The Lords of Dust enjoy corrupting powerful former enemies and keeping them as loyal dust-stuffed lieutenants. Dust-stuffed also make extraordinary spies, and the Lords use them as covert agents for intelligencegathering activities across Khorvaire.
A dust-stuffed creature is typically fitted with one or more stirring rods whose winding keys sprout from the creature’s neck, rib-cage, or eye sockets (typically dust-stuffed creatures with eye-socket winding keys wear cowls, dark spectacles, or bandages to conceal the fact; their vision is unimpaired). When a dust-stuffed creature winds its key, it stirs its inner dust into a frenzy and gains the effects of a haste spell (caster level equal to the Hit Dice of the dust-stuffed). It can use this ability once per day per 4 HD. Each use takes a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.