In Storm kings thunder, there is a part where
the PCs are in Zephyros' (a cloud giant) tower and some howling hatred cultists come and visit asking for his help.
One of the people has a "smiling bag" which is actually a bag of holding that contains an Invisible Stalker.
What I'm trying to figure out is how the Invisible Stalker's summoning and command mechanics work. In the encounter, during the cultists' first turn of combat he "releases the stalker and commands it to attack the cult's enemies"
Now, if the person holding the bag (who we assume is the one who summoned the stalker) was unable to command it, would the stalker simply be inert since it has no given commands? The page on invisible stalkers says the following-
Directed Hunter When an invisible stalker is created, it stays at its summoner's side until it is given a task to perform.
So if it had no task, would it simply not do anything? I know that if the summoner died AFTER the command was given, the stalker would still carry out the command but I'm very uncertain about what happens if no command is given but the stalker is released from the bag – could someone other than the summoner give the stalker commands?
Also since the bag containing the stalker is a bag of holding, if the bag were pierced or destroyed in someway, would the stalker die? Or would it just pop out of the bag? Do the mechanics of a bag of holding allow things inside to push outwards, making it visible (from outside) that something is in the bag?
Best Answer
Yes the book implies that the cultist is the summoner because Invisible Stalkers cannot take orders other than finding object or hunting down someone without vanishing afterwards (MM 192). This would make chaining command impossible. The description of the Stalker in the monster manual states that he is bound and follows the summoner and is otherwise dormant until commanded. The Stalker would be inert until he is pulled out and commanded.
The only reason I can assume this is a problem is if the summoner was killed beforehand. In this case refer to the Monster Manual: "If the summoner dies in the interim, the invisible stalker vanishes after completing it's task." Having no task to complete it would just vanish.
As to how the creature actually got in the bag, I assume it was pushed in without a command, because if it was ordered it would vanish after completing the order.