Scarecrow

A ramshackle collection of materials in a human shape, the scarecrow construct is indistinguishable from a normal scarecrow until it slowly creaks to life. As it animates, its carved pumpkin or sackcloth face bursts into eldritch flame, sending fear creeping into the air around it. Each scarecrow is handcrafted and unique in its appearance, though most are 5 to 6 feet tall and constructed of a combination of wood, cloth, rope, straw, sawdust, discarded husks and cobs, and similar materials, all dressed in ragged pastoral garments. This rudimentary construction makes a scarecrow somewhat fragile, prone to snapping limbs in the crush of battle. Yet its structure is adaptable, allowing it to reshape another piece of itself into a clawed limb or grip a severed portion of itself to swat at its foes.

When a scarecrow is created, it must be anointed with a drop of its creator's blood into each of its eyes. This blood soaks into the material and siphons a tiny sliver of the creator's soul away—not enough to harm the creator, but more than enough to imbue the scarecrow with an instinctive intellect that allows it to follow commands as eagerly as a well-trained (if ill-tempered) guard dog. When a scarecrow is destroyed, the blood leaks back out from its eyes, but the portion of the creator's soul never returns.