#outsider

[thecreaturecodex]

These are all fucking fantastic.

A Collection of Fiendish Demigods

(pic source)

A Duke of Hell and two Daemon Harbingers for fun. As always, there's more lore than what I put in their little blurbs; the Duke of Hell especially is one I came up with years ago but never had the opportunity to put into any practice. I actually considered it for the position of Demon Lord for the longest time, but its focus on back-breaking labor and law--plus my dearth of Lawful Evil fiends in general--made me reconsider.

The Harbingers are also two niches I've noticed have yet to be filled. In a world full of unfair deaths, I can think of few miserable ends more unfair than death through allergies, an affliction which the people of Golarion understand but not have the means to treat. With it, I'm also introducing the concept of the Phylaxidaemons, plant-insect creatures who shed thick layers of choking pollen and whose poisonous touch causes horrific swelling in its victims which can lead to them choking to death as their throat closes up. The Phylaxidaemons themselves will be another post.

The second is a much more recent creation, representing death through medical malpractice and through trusting care providers who don't have your interests at heart. And with him, the introduction of the placebodaemon and iatrodaemon. CR 4 and 12, representing death by false cures and harmful "cures," respective.

Reminder that Infernal Dukes grant a spell-like of levels 3, 7, and 9 as Boons which are usable 1/day, and Daemon Harbingers grant spell-likes of levels 2, 4, and 6 usable 2/day.

Father Dermosi, Duke of the Endless Rows Lawful Evil Infernal Duke of Labor, Sacrifice, and Farming

One would not expect a devil to be a holy man, but in his life before his infernal transformation, the figure that would become Father Dermosi was a follower of Erastil. A passionate preacher, hard worker, skilled farmer, and firm believer in the cleansing power of difficult labor, Dermosi is a textbook showing of what too much fervor can do to one's mind, as he believed (and preached) a corrupt form of Old Deadeye's teachings in which backbreaking labor and sacrifice of one's own health for the good of the community were the only true sacrifices which Erastil would appreciate.

In his own words, he believed that a soul had to be "beaten into a shape that could fit through Heaven's gates," and the only way to achieve this 'shape' was to grind away at every edge and angle of one's personality until all that was left was a desire to work. Physical abuse to drive people further became more and more common, and when people began to die from him constantly pushing them to do more, many snapped to their senses and realized that he had strayed from Erastil's guidance, that this could not possibly be what the god wanted... but any who spoke up were harshly punished, exiled, or even executed by the rest of the flock, out of either fear or fervor. It was only when Erastil himself sent a few of his chosen to the town to try and fix what happening that many of Dermosi's naysayers found the bravery to stand up alongside one another, and the corrupt Father found himself facing execution or exile. He chose execution, believing he would be judged worthy of Heaven.

As one can likely tell, he didn't even see the gates before he was thrown into the fires of Hell.

Rather than turn inwards and reflect on his own wicked beliefs, Father Dermosi concluded that Heaven denying him was an error on their part, that Erastil had betrayed him rather than the other way around. As his soul became corrupted by hellfire, he concluded that Erastil's teachings were far too 'light-handed' and that Heaven didn't deserve someone with his strength of will and desire to improve himself and others, at which point he embraced his transformation into a devil and rose swiftly through Hell's hierarchy.

Father Dermosi now lays claim to the Sinner's Till, an area of Avernus where endless fields of strange and unearthly crops are nourished by and tended to by hapless petitioners and enslaved Outsiders, each one subject to the sermons and sadism of the Duke of the Endless Rows as they ceaselessly work until their souls begin to break down, allowing him to--literally and figuratively--beat them into entirely new shapes in service to the Archdevils.

Domains: Community, Evil, Law, Plant Subdomains: Devil, Sovereignty, Growth, Toil* Favored Weapon: Scythe Symbol: A bundle of corn wrapped in white or gold thread. Sacred Animals: Farm animals, particularly chickens Sacred Colors: Gold, green *Followers of Dermosi may alter any of his Domains with the Toil Subdomain, replacing the second power of each Domain and the spells granted at the appropriate levels. They may only alter one Domain in this way, and cannot alter a Domain that has already been altered by a Subdomain.

Obedience: Perform one hour of strenuous manual labor, or force another to do so with threats of pain if they do not comply. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus to saves against any effect which would fatigue or exhaust you.

Boon 1: Spike Growth Boon 2: Waves of Exhaustion Boon 3: Dominate Monster

-----

Tazhimea, the Baleful Bouquet Neutral Evil Daemon Harbinger of Allergens, Stinging Insects, and Weeds

Somewhere in the dismal plane of Abaddon, there is a land where a false sun shines over a gorgeous landscape filled with a veritable rainbow of strange plants bearing an equally alien yet delicious bounty. As one may expect, this is not a place of mercy or respite, as even a single breath of its sickly sweet air can spell a miserable, choking end for most mortals. Even other daemons tend to steer clear of this place lest they, too, fall victim to the machinations of the Phylaxidaemons and their beautiful progenitor, Tazhimea.

Tazhimea appears to be some anthropomorphic butterfly or moth woven of beautiful and otherworldly plants, their wings shimmering with a myriad of colors rarely seen in nature, but standing anywhere close enough to examine the details is almost certain death; the moment one is able to smell the daemon's powerfully cloying perfume is the moment one has breathed their last, their nose overrunning with thick mucus as their throat begins to close up, all to keep out the scent. Tazhimea is Harbinger of Allergens, and thus has a unique approach to the problem of how to bring death to the masses, namely by twisting the body's own immune response against itself with puffs of spores and pollen, powerful perfumes, or the stings and bites of insects that hide within the body of the Harbinger and of its servitors. The Harbinger's garden is their laboratory as they breed together flora and fauna from all over the Great Beyond to birth creations whose effluvium triggers violent reactions in any creature that inhales or touches them, with the fiend's ultimate goal to form an allergen that can affect even them, at which point they know their work has become perfect.

Because Tazhimea's creations turn the victims' own immune system against it, there is little one can do to protect themselves from it. Living creatures that are immune to disease or poison are ironically more vulnerable to the Harbinger's foul magic as their powerful immunity goes berserk in response to a sniff of a foul but ultimately harmless perfume or a painful and debilitating but nonfatal sting, turning an attack that could have been survived into a life-threatening affliction for which there is no cure. For all the terror they bring to the living, though, they have a distinct disadvantage when combating creatures such as Elementals, Constructs, and Undead, a disadvantage which prevents them from truly seeking the throne of the Horseman of Plague.

Domains: Animal, Evil, Death, Plant Subdomains: Insect, Daemon, Growth, Venom* Favored Weapon: Rapier Symbol: A beautiful flower with a bee sitting in the center Sacred Animals: Bees and ants Sacred Colors: Green and red *followers of Tazhimea may modify the Animal Domain with the Venom Subdomain.

Obedience: Sow the seeds of plants which provoke allergic reactions. If you cannot, invoke an allergic reaction in yourself, then suffer through it for at least 1 hour before attempting to cure or alleviate it. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus to saving throws against disease and poison effects.

Boon 1: Garden of Peril Boon 2: Cape of Wasps Boon 3: Greater Insect Spies

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Qaicol, the Honest Doctor Neutral Evil Daemon Harbinger of Placebos, False Cures, and Malpractice

A foul and recent fiend, Qaicol was once a snake-oil salesman whose silver tongue and seemingly miraculous mixtures ended numerous lives. Whether it was a balm that soothed pain but prompted hemorrhagic bleeding or some 'incredible' surgery to replace a failing organ which went tragically awry, Qaicol was at the forefront of inventing countless ways to harm others with fabricated cures and poisonous medicines, and was always a change of name and facial hair away from doing it again in the next settlement he preyed upon.

Far beyond any rational or explainable motive, Qaicol would dissect or even vivisect others to better understand the border between panacea and poison upon the body's various systems, and how the two could be blended together to provoke the most destructive reactions. Were he benevolent he could have been an incredible doctor, but as it was, he was a serial killer with a particularly sadistic modus operandi, one that involved giving another hope for a cure only to have their symptoms become worse, then terminal. His actions were not even for the purpose of becoming rich--though he did make a tidy profit off stealing and selling the belongings and even the bodies of the deceased--but from outright sadism and a wicked desire to sow public distrust towards actual, well-meaning practitioners.

Such a foul soul could only ever be condemned to Abaddon, but Qaicol's vicious drive persisted even after death. For all his power in life, though, he spent many years as a plaything in the courts of Apollyon before finally gaining the strength needed to betray and slay a pair of Harbingers--one which held dominion over surgeries, and one which delighted in spreading sickness in places of healing--and take their power for himself. He now commands squadrons of Placebodaemons and Iatrodaemons representing, respectively, those who die from false cures and those who die from medical complications, as the greatest of their numbers, and works to hock his poisonous snake oil to every corner of the Great Beyond and erode the bonds between communities and the apothecaries and doctors striving to help them.

Domains: Artifice, Evil, Healing, Trickery Subdomains: Alchemy, Daemon, Medicine, Espionage Favored Weapon: Estoc Symbol: A medicine bottle of unknown liquid with a fanciful label Sacred Animals: Snake Sacred Colors: Blue, brown

Obedience: Work to cure injuries and ailments in other creatures for one hour in whatever fashion you can. Alternately, create and/or sell false medicines. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus to Bluff and Heal checks.

Boon 1: Fester Boon 2: Poisonous Balm Boon 3: Phantasmal Putrefaction

[splashtqil]

and the most tragic warrior cat award goes to

[endrae]

the ocean eyes, bearing the grief of time and space

I'm once again vibing dh, don't mind me

[ponomar23]

[gonzophotography]

[longreads]

Ron’s Place

“Although the flat is cold and musty, it’s a dreamlike place where time slips away. The experience is all-encompassing and leaves me feeling disoriented.”

A man's death reveals the bizarre secrets of his home. The battle to save it then questions how we define what is art. Read this fascinating Longreads story here.  

[daxnorman]

Daniel Johnston portrait

[lorandesore]

Oh, it was a very sudden idea x) I adore Disco Elysium and Dishonored - and these games are just opposite to each other and at the same time look like brothers (and don't tell me they're about something else, etc.) And I also admire the concepts for the games. They are like an ideal visualization of an introvert and an extrovert. I was drinking coffee calmly at work, and then a brilliant idea came to my mind: what happens if I swap them? As a result, I got art-joke and two new "games" - Disho Elysium and Disconored. It's been a long time since I got so hyped from the process, to be honest)

[daddysharktus]

What if Outsider and Kitty met each other??

1 day! Second part will be tomorrow 🐈🐈‍⬛

I don't know how Outsider got into Kitty's world, but I think through a portal to the past. He was given a mission to prevent the extinction of humanity and save the earth. And then met Kitty.

[thecreaturecodex]

Nascent Demon Lord, Carchanore

Image © @chimeride

[Sponsored by @crazytrain48, from Arduin. Carchanone is one of the Arduin demons with the wildest appearances, but relatively little flavor text. Which inspired me to go off in my own direction, tying into some of my favorite topics in Pathfinder, such as the economy of souls and belief, the qlippoth/demon cold war and the machinations of divinities. The mouths in the claws are borrowed from another Arduin archfiend, Gorog-Nor the Hungry One.]

Carchanore The Death Mole, The Burrower Between CE nascent demon lord of burrows, portals and paranoia Domains Chaos, Earth, Evil, Travel Subdomains Cave, Demon, Fear, Portal Worshipers evil molekin, miners, planar travelers, doomsday preppers Minions katpaskir demons, earth elementals, skymetal reavers Unholy Symbol a molehill with a spiked ball protruding from the top Favored Weapon heavy flail Devotion spend one hour digging. At the end of the hour, while standing inside the hole or tunnel, kill a living creature and consume some or all of it. Gain a +4 racial bonus to saving throws against paralysis and petrifaction. Boons 1st—stone call 2/day; 2nd—stoneskin 2/day; 3rd—plane shift 2/day (as 6th level spell)

Nascent Demon Lord, Carchanore CR 25 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This creature is the size of a wagon, a cross between a mole and a lobster covered in stony armor and spikes. It has eight elephantine legs each ending in sharp claws, and a long tail tipped with a spiked ball. Its arms are long and have crab-like pinchers. It has a circular whirling maw set in its eyeless face, and similar orifices open up in the corners of its claws.

Carchanore is a monster caught between worlds. Once, the Death Mole was a qlippoth lord who lived as a simple predator, albeit of the great wrackworms that crawl between the planes. His gift at digging is such that he can bore through planar boundaries in pursuit of his prey, and his knowledge of earth and stone made him occasionally revered by subterranean humanoids such as molekin or troglodytes. Deskari, Lord of the Locust Host, considered him a nuisance and a possible competitor to the portfolio of portals, and Yamasoth resented their shared domain of Earth. After Deskari was killed in the Material Plane, the severed faith of his remaining worshipers was cast into the multiverse, and the Burrower Between happened to be its recipient. The exposure to faith and sin warped Carchanore into a nascent demon lord. It made him rather more powerful, but also more vulnerable; without a domain to call his own, Carchanore cannot rejuvenate, and now is terrified that either old enemies or new will slay him. So he roams, digging his way from plane to plane and stopping only to rest.

Carchanore is a straightforward combatant. He prefers to fight with his natural weapons than with his earth magic, although he appreciates his newly gained ability to summon demons. Carchanore’s hide is stony hard and covered with sharp spikes, and weak creatures striking him may shred themselves on his spines before he even lays a claw on the. Carchanore is a juggernaut, trampling earthbound foes before grinding them to pieces with his diamond teeth. Carchanore has three mouths—one in the normal place and a secondary one at the joint of each of his crustacean claws—and any creature killed with these weapons is ground into mincemeat. If creatures keep their distance, Carchanore has a nasty surprise—he can fire the spines on his shell like a barrage of ballista bolts. In his previous life as a qlippoth lord, Carchanore gleefully fought to the death, but now he is quick to flee as he has a newly acquired fear of permanent destruction.

Although the bulk of Carchanore’s cult is made up of survivors of Deskari’s minions, not all of them are. The Burrower Between’s survivalist paranoia makes him popular among others who believe that the end is nigh, and some of his followers are converted from Groetus or other apocalyptic religions. After all, multiple apocalyptic events have been narrowly averted on Golarion, so sooner or later one of them is bound to come to its fulfillment. Such followers are noted for their endless digging, creating vast sprawling bunker complexes for themselves and filling them with provisions and traps. "Dig forever" is a common saying among the Burrower Between's worshipers. Amoral wizards interested in planar travel and mass summoning occasionally call on Carchanore to open gates for them, but doing so is fraught with danger, as the Death Mole views them as challenging prey as often as he does as supplicants.

Carchanore in the Great Game In the Age of Monsters plotline, Carchanore has received his demonic nature as an experiment. Pale Night, who straddles the line between qlippoth and demon herself, brokered a deal with a coalition of powerful katpaskir demons to turn the attentions of the fragmented cult of Deskari to a qlippoth lord, and the Burrower Between was the “lucky” recipient. Pale Night is now observing the Death Mole very closely, to see if he can fight his way into the ranks of true demon lords, or if he will die trying. Pale Night is keeping her reasons for this trial secret even from her allies.

Carchanore CR 25 XP 1,640,000 CE Huge outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +9; Senses blind, blindsight 120 ft., Perception +44, tremorsense 300 ft. Aura unholy (DC 25)

Defense AC 42, touch 18, touch 34 (-2 size, +9 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +20 natural) hp 546(28d10+392); fast healing 10 Fort +27, Ref +31, Will +29 DR 20/good and adamantine; Immune charm and compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, paralysis, petrifaction, poison, visual spells and effects; Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30; SR 36 Defensive Abilities shatter weapons, spiny defense

Offense Speed 40 ft., burrow 60 ft. Melee 2 claws +40 (1d8+14 plus grab), bite +40 (2d6+14 plus grind), tail slap +38 (2d6+21) Ranged 8 stalagmite shots +35 (2d8+14) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks adamant attacks, gatecrasher (7/day), powerful blows (tail slap), rake (2 bites +40, 2d6+14 plus grind), trample (DC 38, 2d8+21) Spell-like Abilities CL 25th, concentration +32 Constant—unholy aura (self only, DC 25) At will—chaos hammer (DC 21), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), spike stones (DC 21), stone shape, stone tell 3/day—flesh to stone (DC 23), transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, wall of stone, word of chaos (DC 24) 1/day—clashing rocks (DC 26), earthquake (DC 25), repel metal or stone, stone to flesh, summon (9th level, CR 20 or less demon)

Statistics Str 38, Dex 29, Con 38, Int 17, Wis 28, Cha 25 Base Atk +28; CMB +44 (+48 grapple); CMD 68 (80 vs trip) Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Deadly Aim, Dodge, Improved Critical (claw, stalagmite shot), Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical Skills Climb +45,Intimidate +38, Knowledge (engineering, geography) +31, Knowledge (planes) +34,Perception +44, Sense Motive +44, Stealth +32, Survival +40 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Terran, Undercommon, telepathy 300 ft. SQ nascent demon lord traits, no breath, sprint, stone stride, thagomizer, tunneler

Ecology Environment underground (the Abyss) Organization unique Treasure none

Special Abilities Adamant Attacks (Ex) Carchanore’s natural weapons count as adamantine for the purposes of ignoring damage reduction and hardness. Gatecrasher (Su) As a standard action, Carchanore can tear a hole in reality between 5 to 20 feet wide in an area within his reach. This functions as a gate spell for the purposes of planar travel except that creatures can travel in either direction through it, and remains open for 1 minute or until Carchanore chooses to close it as another standard action. This can even function in the area of a dimensional lock or similar effect, as long as Carchanore succeeds at a caster level check against the caster level of the spell. Grind (Ex) A creature struck by Carchanore’s bite attack must succeed a DC 38 Fortitude save or take 1d4+1 points of Strength and Constitution drain from having its flesh ground. A creature struck by multiple bites a round does not take additional damage, but suffers a -2 penalty to its saving throw for each additional bite. A creature reduced to 0 Strength or Constitution through this effect is slain and cannot be raised from the dead by any spell or effect that requires an intact body. The save DC is Strength based. Shatter Weapons (Ex) Any manufactured weapon that strikes Carchanore takes 4d6 points of damage. Weapons that take any amount of damage above their hardness gain the broken quality. Spiny Defense (Ex) Any creature striking Carchanore with a melee weapon, unarmed strike, natural weapon or touch attack takes 1d8+14 points of piercing damage. Weapons with the reach property do not endanger their wielders in such a way. Sprint (Ex) Once per hour, Carchanore can move 10 times his speed when making a run or charge action. Stalagmite Shot (Ex) Once every 1d4 rounds, Carchanore can fire off eight of his spines as a standard action. Treat these as ranged attacks with a range of 120 feet and no range increment. Carchanore can fire these at the same or different targets. Creatures struck take 2d8+14 points of piercing damage, Carchanore regrows spines effectively immediately, and never runs out of ammunition. Stone Stride (Su) Carchanore ignores difficult terrain and damage from natural, worked or magically altered earth, mud and stone. Thagomizer (Ex) Carchanore’s tail slap deals bludgeoning and piercing damage. Tunneler (Ex) Carchanore can move through solid rock at half his burrow speed, leaving a 15 foot square tunnel as he moves.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Monsterhunt: Lixivioth, that which Bleeds from Beyond

Artsource

It starts as a ripple in the air, a churning beneath the skin of reality, then a silvery limb breaks the boundary before melting back into unexistance. Like a drowning soul thrashing in the sea, a body breaches the 'surface' full of a wild and desperate impulse to survive, a willingness to drag anything down if it meant keeping their head above water a little longer.

This is Lixivioth, a celestial who's time in the outer void has so deeply warped it that nothing remains but a cataclysmic desire to return no matter the cost. Once an explorer and collector of knowledge, Lixivioth's curiosity tragically drew it not just to the unknown but past the boundary of what could be known, beyond which laid nothing but dissolution.

Adventure Hooks:

Seeking forbidden knowledge, a devotee of Vecna has summoned and bound Lixivioth to a magic mirror, tormenting the spirit with glimpses of a reality it cannot touch. While infiltrating the villain's lair, the party come across the mirror and have the opportunity to ask it questions that might give them an edge against their foe. There is a magical procedure they must follow though, as every question that does not ascribe to the proper magical formalities puts a hairline crack in the glass, weakening the celestial bindings and giving it a chance to break free.

Days before needing to perform an important spell for the safety/prosperity of the realm, a great wizard was found dead in his study bleeding mercury form every hole in his skull, a tome of celestial learning in his hands. His body cannot be moved and the flow has yet to cease, slowly flooding his tower as his apprentices (and local authorities) scramble for answers. Lixivioth is using the wizard's body and magic to manifest in the material plane, and by the time the party are called to help it will be a matter of hours before the eldritch angel crawls it's way up his throat. To win the day they'll need to piece together the components of a binding spell from the mage's libraries while fending off quicksilver elementals and the tower's malfunctioning defences.

Beyond the borders of the party's homeland, an order of elven oracles were once rumored to seek wisdom of the distant future and past in the ripples of a silver spring, at least until a marauding band of centaurs overran their glade acting on their mystic's visions. Generations of ensuing seers, all mad as haters through imbibing magical mercury, have led the herd to become stronger and more violent all while unwittingly doing Lixivioth's bidding. A renegade has broken free, seeking aid from the people her herd has spent lifetimes raiding in the hopes of stopping an upcoming ritual.

[splashtqil]

animator friendly and animator hostile versions included

[endrae]

hmm

[tordis-vandrer]

This place is the end of all things. And the beginning. All of time is meaningless here. Neither seconds nor centuries.