Kyton, AugurA single eye peers from behind the armor plates and keen-edged blades that compose the cage-like exterior of this tiny flying orb.Augur CR 2Source Bestiary 3 pg. 171
XP 600
LE Tiny outsider (evil, extraplanar, kyton, lawful)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., deathwatch; Perception +7DefenseAC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +2 size)
hp 19 (3d10+3); regeneration 2 (good weapons and spells, silver weapons)
Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +4
DR 5/good or silver; Immune coldOffenseSpeed 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee gore +4 (1d4–1 plus bleed)
Space 2-1/2 ft., Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks bleed (1d2), unnerving gaze (30 ft., DC 9)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +4)
Constant—deathwatch
At will—bleed (DC 8), mage hand, open/close
3/day—inflict light wounds (DC 9)
1/week—commune (CL 12th, 6 questions)StatisticsStr 8, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 13 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Bluff +4, Escape Artist +9, Fly +15, Intimidate +4, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +17
Languages Common, Infernal (cannot speak)EcologyEnvironment any (Plane of Shadow)
Organization solitary, pair, pack (3–5), or squad (6–8)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesUnnerving Gaze (Ex) A creature that succumbs to an augur’s unnerving gaze becomes shaken for 1 round.DescriptionGory sentinels with a lust for flesh and the myriad bodily fluids contained within, augurs number among the most common—as well as most despicable—kytons on the Plane of Shadow. Having given up their humanoid bodies in favor of the more stealthy and wretched guise of a singular large eye armored in bloodied metal plates, augurs act as spies and sycophants for more powerful kytons. Their miniscule size, sturdy exterior, and unnerving gazes make them ideally equipped for dangerous reconnaissance missions to the Material Plane, where the augurs are able to scout out potential raiding locations or spot vulnerable, lone travelers before their more powerful kyton brethren cross the planes to attack.
While their usefulness in tasks of stealth and guile makes augurs deadly companions, their insatiable lust for blood often proves their ultimate downfall. Augurs, like most kytons, find themselves in a heightened state of arousal when witness to the destruction of flesh, but the extent to which these muscular orbs find pleasure in blood is far more treacherous than their more disciplined peers. Many augurs cannot help but indulge themselves when exposed to gore—rolling within and dipping their blades into freshly spilled pools—an unfortunate trait which has led many careless augurs to their capture or doom.
An augur’s gruesome appearance is not always self-inflicted. They are sometimes constructed by other kytons who seek to impose an everlasting punishment upon a particularly unwilling mortal sacrifice; the defiant individual’s body is cast aside for scraps as its mind and soul are transferred into the monocular shell, producing an augur when the ritual is complete. Augurs are the least pragmatic type of all kytons, and thus the least respected among their peers. The condemnation of an individual’s spirit to the cage-like body of a kyton augur is the precedent for a truly agonizing and lonely existence.
A lawful evil spellcaster can gain an augur as a familiar at 7th level by taking the Improved Familiar feat.
A typical augur kyton is 1 foot in diameter and weighs 30 pounds.Creatures in "Kyton" CategorySource Bestiary 3 pg. 170
Despicably cruel and equally horrible to gaze upon, kytons are evil fiends who feed on the fear and suffering of mortals through painful supernatural means. Their monstrous appearances vary, but their stoic and amoral dispositions are universal, for no kyton cares anything for the plights typical of the creatures they prey upon. They are beings wholly dedicated to metamorphosis achieved through horrific trials of self-mutilation and the mystical power provided them by their sapping of mortal anguish.
Despite being often categorized by mortals as shadow-dwelling devils, kytons calmly refute such claims, seeing themselves as above the principles of Hell's denizens. Instead, kytons seek ecstasy through pain in the form of deliberate and violent self-transformation, adhering to the belief that by altering the physical and spiritual matter that makes up their form, they can reach a state of perfect being. Removing aspects of themselves and replacing them with more desirable or powerful pieces one at a time, kytons believe that experiences of heightened emotion and sensation (typically in the forms of terror and pain) lead to greater states of awareness and existence. The dedication with which they practice this belief places them on the level of zealots, their fanatical commitment made all the more disturbing by their eerie composedness and unnaturally cool dispositions.
The original kytons were born of the first truly selfish and depraved thoughts conceived by mortals. These creatures surprised and horrified the early gods with their power and hideous nature, and so the gods chained them in a remote part of Hell. The kytons embraced their chains and, seeking to fulfill their unnatural hunger for pain, escaped to the Plane of Shadow, which lay much closer to their mortal prey. Now, kytons are born of mortal souls that were spiritually and physically tortured in life, victims of their own masochism, sacrifices to gods of suffering, or those promised to the fiends either by their own will or by sadistic cultists. Obscure rituals force the sacrificed souls to bypass the normal judgments of the afterlife and instead become mired in the Plane of Shadow. Over an excruciating and lengthy span of time, these souls are warped and twisted until they emerge as frail new kytons. A kyton's first willing act must be to cut away part of its own flesh, proving it is worthy of its kyton nature—the first step in an immortal lifetime of replacing its own substance with the stronger parts of other creatures. By drawing strength from its new grafts, a kyton grows and becomes both stronger and more terrible to behold. Thus, weaker kytons resemble the mortal creatures they once were, whereas older ones are horrifying patchworks of transplanted material that rarely look like their original forms. Many kytons still proudly wear the chains that bound them (either to Hell or to the torture devices that created them), trophies of their power to defy the gods or mortal fate.
Kytons' need to replace parts of themselves with those of stronger mortals puts them in perpetual danger of attacking creatures that are too powerful for them to kill. For this reason, kytons are pragmatic and ruthless in their battles, scrutinizing all potential outcomes of a situation before taking action. Seeing strength in numbers, kytons often attack or trap a mortal victim as a team, hauling the unfortunate soul to the Plane of Shadow, converting their prey into a new kyton or dividing its body and soul among them for grafting and nourishment.
The kytons of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary are a specific type of kyton (other kytons call them “evangelists”); they have all the traits listed in the kyton subtype (see page 306). The kytons listed here are but a few of the other known types—many more exist on the Plane of Shadow. Kyton Demagogues The powerful kyton rulers called demagogues possess strength hardly fathomable by mortals. They exist within a power structure similar to that of archdevils. Lesser kytons view these overseers as horrid sovereigns among their kind, and though there are many outlying areas on the Plane of Shadow not controlled by demagogues, kytons who find themselves wandering through a demagogue's territory know to show respect for these lords of suffering.
Demagogues are so advanced in their metamorphosis of self-mutilation and augmentation that no two look alike. Some are strangely beautiful, some are horrors beyond sane description. A demagogue's powers are vaster than even many of their kyton brethren dare consider—they construct enormous cities out of the countless bodies of their victims, weaving entire networks of veins and spiritual energy to create breathing, pulsating metropolises. Demagogues seek to control as much of the realm around their organic superstructures as they can, a feat that proves forever challenging in the dark, shifting corners of the Plane of Shadow. Though one rarely finds reason to leave the confines of its home plane, a demagogue's influence is far-reaching, and kytons who value their lives do as they are commanded, lest they incite the awful and calculating rage of a mighty overlord. The following are some of the most powerful kyton demagogues that reside in the Plane of Shadow, watching over their pulsating kingdoms in massive, gory towers. - Barravoclair, Lady of the Final Gasp
- Fharaas, the Seer in Skin
- Inkariax, the White Death
- Morrobahn, the Parasite Seed
- Raetorgash, the Skull-Hoarder
- Sugroz, the Voice in Screams
- Vevelor of the Broken Dream
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