Nalfeshnee

Nalfeshnee

Species	chthonic
No. Appearing	1
Behaviour	malevolent
Range	Abyss, subterranean
Size	10 ft. 6 in. tall
Weight	1,400 lbs.
Intelligence	11–12
Armour Class	-1
Hit Dice	11
Action Points	7
Max. Stride	{{{stride}}}
THAC0	14
Hp/Die	d12
Attack Forms	3: two claws; fangs
Damage	2–12/2–12, 4–24
Special Attacks	darkness, detect magic, dispel magic, fear, gate, immunities, levitation, magic resistance, phantasmal figure, magic to hit, polymorph, possession, symbol, telekinesis, teleport, ultravision

These enormous demons are enormous beast-like creatures, with the snout, hooves and ears of a swine, the black glossy hair and body of an ape. In temperament these creatures are rapacious, cruel and arbitrary, receiving enormous pleasure from catching souls on the cliffs of the Abyss and rending them to pieces and devouring them, knowing the souls will incorporate themselves into manes — beginning the hunt once again, uncounted times.

The origin of these creatures is believed to have begun with demonic possession of creatures on the Prime Material plane. For two thousand years, shamans and clerics carried forth a practice of casting demons out into animals, particularly swine, who were then ritually killed by driving them into pits or otherwise sacrificed. This returned many thousands of demons into the depths, whose bodies were contorted and reshaped into polluted manifestations of the original form.

As a result, there are many nalfeshnee with profound shapes and characteristics, including antlers, mandibles, back plates and ridges, eyes on stalks, tentacles, humped backs, spines, spikes and tails of various forms. Nalfeshnee possess larger wings with a span of at least a dozen feet, though the creatures are too heavy to fly.

Advantages

Nalfeshnee are immune to sleep and charm magic, whatever the source, as well as attacks from cold, fire, electricity or gas of any sort. They are able to teleport. They are able to be hit only by weapons with a bonus of +1 or greater. They possess a natural ultravision. If pressed, they have a 60% chance of gating another nalfeshnee to their location or 2–7 manes demons automatically. They are able to produce darkness at will, encircling their selves with a 20 ft. radius of inky blackness, which can be dispelled only with dispel magic. The nalfeshnee is also protected by a magic resistance of 65%.

They are also able to cause fear, levitate, detect magic, dispel magic, polymorph self or use a symbol of hopelessness or pain. Once per day they may perform telekinesis or create a phantasmal figure once per day that will be indistinguishable from the original.

All these abilities can be performed at will, requiring only 1 action point to perform. However, no more than one such power may be performed per round. Most may be performed from round to round, but a given power can’t be put into place if already present.

Nalfeshnee may not possess creatures who are aware of what they are facing; however, an unconscious creature may be possessed and used as an outer shell to protect the demon. The act of possession requires one full round of the nalfeshnee’s movement.

Dweomercraft

Due to the exorcism ritual that exiled them to the Abyss, sometimes centuries ago, nalfeshnee make excellent and willing servants for wizards seeking revenge upon a certain culture or people. If summoned and thus enabled to act, nalfeshnee are quite willing to perform any service, so long as it requires no more than a week to complete. The freedom to do as it pleases, after the given service, will always be the condition the nalfeshnee demands in exchange.

After a week, whether the service is performed or not, the nalfeshnee’s need to seek revenge on those who exorcised it to the Abyss (or their descendants) will get the better of the demon. It will abandon its promises and teleport to where it can begin the revenge it has nurtured. Nalfeshnee prefer to possess a body, then murder its victims secretly, causing as much anguish as possible to one poor creature at a time, for as long as it can remain at large.

See Bestiary