Sahkil, EsipilThis creature’s stout canine torso tops a slimy mass resembling an
earthworm. Disgusting veins dangle from its face.Esipil CR 2Source Bestiary 5 pg. 213
XP 600
NE Tiny outsider (evil, extraplanar, sahkil)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7DefenseAC 16, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 natural, +2 size)
hp 19 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +4
DR 5/good; Immune death effects, disease, fear effects,
poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, sonic 10OffenseSpeed 30 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d4–1 plus grab), 2 claws +4 (1d3–1)
Special Attacks bewildering assault, grab (Small), look of fear
(30 ft., DC 14), spirit touch
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +4)
At will—cause fear (DC 14), mage hand
3/day—mirror image
1/week—contact other planeStatisticsStr 8, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Intimidate)
Skills Acrobatics +9, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (planes) +5,
Perception +7, Stealth +17
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal; telepathy
(touch)
SQ change shape (tiny cat or dog; beast shape II) easy
to call, emotional focusEcologyEnvironment any (Ethereal Plane)
Organization solitary or pack (2–12)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesBewildering Assault (Su) If an esipil makes a
successful critical hit with one of its natural
attacks, the target is confused for 1 round.
Look of Fear (Su) A creature affected by an
esipil’s gaze is shaken for 1 round.DescriptionEsipils prey upon the unease that comes from
living among beasts. The civilized world has
domesticated animals, but those creatures are just a
step away from wild animals, and esipils make sure
that humanoids who live around them remember that.
They ingratiate themselves with humanoids (particularly
neutral evil spellcasters who might take them on as
familiars) by acting like loving pets. They then delight in
aggressive episodes, barking and snapping until called
down by their masters. They return to a fawning obedience
for a time—until the next inevitable outburst.
Instead of gnashing jaws, an esipil’s bite involves a
lashing mass of fleshy veins and viscera that can grasp at its
opponent. Esipils use this attack to distract their opponents,
savaging entangled victims with their vicious claw attacks
until their masters pull them away.
Although an esipil’s ability to frighten its victims is
potent, it relies on its cause fear spell-like ability only when
grossly outnumbered, outmatched, or greatly injured.
Esipils like to fight and scrap with nearly anything, and
prefer that their victims not simply flee in terror, as they
wish to savor the fear. Esipils use their telepathic abilities
to harass would-be opponents into attacking them first,
flinging mental taunts that are vulgar and disconcerting.
Once they engage, they are resilient and dogged fighters.
An esipil stands 1 foot tall at the shoulder, and its thin,
wormlike body stretches nearly 3 feet long. An esipil weighs
around 13 pounds.
Though they make unruly companions, esipils actually
enjoy serving those mightier than themselves, taking pride
in their masters’ power, even if they continue to snap and
snarl when given commands.
A neutral evil spellcaster
of at least 7th level who
takes the Improved
Familiar feat can
select an esipil as
a familiar.Creatures in "Sahkil" CategorySource Bestiary 5 pg. 212
Psychopomps oversee one of the most fundamental functions of the multiverse: the progress of mortal souls. Through this infinite cycle of lives, deaths, and rebirths, the forces of the planes calibrate and evolve. Psychopomps serve as caretakers of this process, yet no matter their might or influence, they all know their place, their duty, and a shared secret: that the order of the planes is not perfect, and that one distant day it will end. For most psychopomps, this burdensome truth reinforces the great need for their diligence in fending off the decay of all things. For others, it is an onrushing nihilistic destiny. And for the most brazen, selfish psychopomps, it is a reason to rebel.
Those psychopomps that dissent are known as sahkils. Not content to serve as clerks in an endlessly deteriorating cycle of meaningless lives, these former psychopomps abandoned their duties. Escaping the strictures of their previous brethren, they flee to the empty places of reality—most congregating in the misty Ethereal Plane. There, where the great procession of newly departed souls endlessly marches toward judgment, death’s rebels remake themselves. Embracing the dread with which mortals already view them, they restyle themselves as tyrants of terror. No longer servants to souls, they would become their terrifying masters. Reality’s days might be numbered, but for those finite eons, sahkils resolve to rule.
Sahkils bear little resemblance to the psychopomps they once were. Although some embrace the morbidity of their former brethren, most sahkil forms are inspired by common or particularly potent mortal fears. Unnatural fusions, insectile limbs, and bloody phantasmagorias abound among sahkil shapes, each designed and destined to terrify. The least sahkils have the most recognizable forms—familiar limbs seemingly twisted by unimaginable excruciations. The greatest of their kind, though, are near-indescribable horrors, obscene in both shape and proportions. Yet sahkils share the single drive to give all creatures reason to fear.
From the Ethereal Plane, sahkils watch. They slip tenuous tendrils into the dark and abandoned places of the world, infusing the mundane with dread and giving fangs to mortal imaginings. When they trespass upon the Material Plane, most sahkils prefer to remain veiled, corrupting nature and turning people into monsters. They revel in the awe associated with terror and hear praises in every scream. When finally their victims have been sapped, drained of their capacities to hope and to fear, the sahkil feed. Not willing to let their playthings escape to feed the cycle they once served, sahkils delight in nothing more than tearing mortal souls apart or giving rise to blasphemous undead.
The most dangerous sahkils rise to dominate their brethren as nightmare warlords. These sahkil tormentors form vast, sanity-bending realms from which only tortured sounds escape. Unique in form and objectives, these demigods gather legions of sahkil servitors, uniting them in campaigns targeting vulnerable souls, entire mortal worlds, or even rival tormentors. Regardless of their goals, sahkil tormentors are the most secretive members of the race, cloaking themselves to preserve the terror of their true faces, or sometimes to hide the beings they once were.
As sahkils viciously impede the multiverse’s workings, these gluttons of fear are widely loathed. Nearly every celestial and lawful race opposes their selfish desires, hunting them as dangerous beasts and metaphysical brigands. Psychopomps most actively oppose sahkil interference with the progress of souls, yet rarely display racial malice against the traitors. Additionally, manasaputras violently resent sahkil schemes, as sahkil predation actively impedes the development of mortal souls. This often results in dutiful manasaputras or their agents defending vulnerable spirits or leading quests to liberate worthy souls before they’re destroyed.
The sahkil are not without allies, though. Divs, in their campaigns to spread misfortune and ruin among mortals, respect the motivations of sahkils and sometimes work with them to spread fear. Equally nihilistic, the end-seeking daemons delight in sahkil destruction of mortal souls and their hastening of the end times. Kytons, too, have a distant admiration for the avant-garde masterpieces of insanity and terror that sahkils work upon mortal minds.
Sahkil TormentorsA fractious group of godlike warlords dominate vast numbers of sahkil. They have been the most effective in the goals of their race, amassing power and worship through terror. From their nether-realms upon the Ethereal Plane, these sahkil tormentors sow new horrors among mortal worlds and minds. Some of the most dreadful tormentors include the following. - Ananshea, The Skin That Walks on Teeth
- Chamiaholom, Skull Staff
- Charg, The Typhon Wheel
- Dachzerul, The Darkness Behind You
- Iggeret, She Who Was Lost
- Hataam, River Eater
- Nameless, Upon an Empty Throne
- Ozranvial, Despair’s Smile
- Shawnari, The One Out of Place
- Velgaas, Minds in the Dark
- The Vermillion Mother
- Xiquiripat, Flying Scab
- Zipacna, The Mountain Below
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