Monstrous Mondays: The Five Spirits of the Grimorium Verum

I have been on a months-long Occult D&D research project, looking for ways to add more occultism and ritual magic to my OSR/AD&D games. One thing that came up in my research was the Grimorium Verum^[1][2], or the True Grimoire. Within were five demons, or spirits, that were associated with malefic witchcraft. There are a lot more of these (18 in total), but these are the five I am focusing on now.

Now, seeing how I have a lot of demons already, I thought it might be interesting to try and make this pentad into something else.

The Five Spirits of the Grimorium Verum

Surgat, Frimost, Silcharde, Bechard, and Guland

In the Grimorium Verum, these spirits are not “princes of Hell” but operational tutelary spirits, meaning they are summoned for specific types of magical work. They have jobs to do. They form a functional unit often referred to by occultists as the Five Servitors. They are not demons or devils, and fall outside of the hierarchies and power struggles of the creatures of the lower planes.  

Each can act as a witch's or warlock's patron, but most often they are used in conjunction with the others. Even witches and warlocks with other patrons can summon these spirits.

Summoning these spirits is not an evil act in itself. However, the knowledge and power gained are often used for evil purposes; aka Maleficia.

Their common traits:

• All five are primarily invoked in witchcraft rituals, not theological demonology.
• Their powers correspond to typical maleficia: seduction, storms, deception, disease, and unbinding.
• They act as tutelary spirits, entities who “teach a witch how to do” the thing they themselves embody.
• They are not rivals; they form a loose cohort, each governing one sphere of maleficia.
• In folklore, they sometimes appear as a witch’s familiars in spirit form, each taking animal shapes (goat, wolf, owl, rat, or snake).

Surgat

Title: The Opener of All Locks

Sphere: Unlocking, unbinding, access, paths

Witchcraft Role: Patron of spell-breaking, opening portals, bypassing barriers

Typical Animal Form: Owl

Surgat is invoked when a witch needs to:

• Open a locked door (physical or magical)
• Break an enchantment
• Cross a boundary normally forbidden
• Find a hidden path or secret entrance

In folklore he is “the spirit who removes obstacles,” but at a price. Symbolically, Surgat represents the act of transgression, and witches petition him when attempting forbidden travel, escape, or the violation of taboo spaces.

Relationship to the others:

He begins the process. Surgat opens the way so the others may act.

Frimost

Title: The Seducer and Subduer

Sphere: Love philtres, lust, domination

Witchcraft Role: Glamours, charms, influence, the bending of hearts

Typical Animal Form: Goat

Frimost is associated with:

• Causing love, lust, obsession
• Enthralling a target
• Empowering erotic magic
• Creating magical bonds between partners (consensual or not in medieval texts)

Witches call on Frimost when they wish to bend or sway another’s will through desire. He is also linked to glamour magic in some French folk traditions.

Relationship to the others:

He acts within the opening created by Surgat, influencing those who stand in the witch’s path.

Silcharde

Title: The Fraudulent Spirit

Sphere: Trickery, lies, deception, invisibility

Witchcraft Role: Glamours, illusions, shape-altering, persuasive lies

Typical Animal Form: Snake

Silcharde teaches witches:

• How to deceive others
• How to lie convincingly
• How to cloak their activities
• How to create false images, ghostly lights, or illusions

He is the classic witch-trickster spirit and the likely origin of the folklore that witches could “bewitch sight.”

Relationship to the others:

He ensures the witch’s actions remain concealed, while Frimost affects minds and Surgat opens doors.

Bechard

Title: The Lord of Storms and Tempests

Sphere: Weather magic, thunder, whirlwinds, destructive forces of nature

Witchcraft Role: Storm-raising, blighting crops, harvest magic

Typical Animal Form: Wolf

Bechard rules:

• Tempests and whirlwinds
• Thunder and lightning
• Weather harmful to crops
• Illness brought by bad winds

He is central to early-modern accusations of witches causing hailstorms and destroying harvests.

Relationship to the others:

Bechard is invoked when the witch wants direct malefic harm done after the others have prepared the way.

Guland

Title: The Bringer of Disease

Sphere: Sickness, fever, wasting illness

Witchcraft Role: Malediction, curses, bodily harm

Typical Animal Form: Rat

Guland is invoked to:

• Cast wasting diseases
• Aggravate fevers
• Harm livestock
• Create curses that manifest physically

He is the most feared of the five, and his powers are the source for the old belief that witches could “blight by touch.”

Relationship to the others:

Guland is the finishing blow, the result of the process begun by Surgat and supported by the other three.

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In my notes, I wrote "like the Cult of Skaro" from Doctor Who. Five elite demons/tutelary spirits/cthonic spirits that exsist outside of the hierarchies of demons/devils and yet serve and are served by all. They are evil, I would like to think of them as demonized gods or spirits. 

I thought about doing stats for them, and even began Surgat's, but ultimately I decided not to do them. Why? Well, these are not combat creatures; they are forces. Given their command of magic, I can see each having multiple ways to kill characters instantly and even more ways just to avoid combat altogether. So, combat stats seem rather pointless to be honest. 

If you must, then they should be between 22 and 25 HD at the very least. 

Now to work them into regular rotation in my games.