Lesser planar ally

Lesser planar ally was a conjuration spell that allowed the caster to bargain with a creature sent by a deity.

Effects
Lesser planar ally was a plea to send an elemental or outsider to the deity the caster served. The deity then sent a creature of its choice, though the caster could be more specific about what he or she wanted to be sent by saying the name of the creature as part of the casting, but the choice ultimately lay with the deity. If the caster happened to not serve a deity, then a creature with the same philosophical orientation as the caster arrived instead.

When this creature arrived, bargaining started. This bargain could be resolved by paying services, goods, money, or just about anything. The creature received the payment and then conducted a task they negotiated before the payment was done. The more powerful a caster was, the more time the task in question could encompass. The value of the payment changed according to how long the task was, how strong the creature was, and how dangerous the task was. As a general rule, a task that took a time counted in minutes cost one hundred to six hundred gp, while tasks that took time counted in hours took five hundred to three thousand gp, while tasks that took time counted in days took one thousand to six thousand gp. If the task represented no danger for the creature, it was usual to halve the payment, while dangerous tasks usually required even greater payments than the norm.

Suicidal tasks were rarely accepted while tasks that contradicted the creature's philosophical orientation were never accepted. On the other hand, if the task was one in alignment with said philosophical orientation, it was not unknown for the payment to be waived.

After the bargained working time, the creature returned to its home plane.

Followers of deities could call favored monsters of the deities, instead of elementals or outsiders.

Components
Lesser planar ally required not only somatic and verbal components, but also a divine focus, and it sapped the essence of the caster.