Avernus RazorbackThe coarse, ebon fur of this massive boar is mottled with patches of crimson. Its eyes are blood red and its jagged tusks seem more like obsidian than bone.Avernus Razorback CR 9Source Pathfinder #106: For Queen and Empire pg. 84
XP 6,400
LE Large outsider (evil, extraplanar, fire, lawful)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +21DefenseAC 21, touch 8, flat-footed 21 (–1 Dex, +13 natural, –1 size)
hp 137 (11d10+77)
Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +6
Defensive Abilities infernal ferocity; Immune disease, fire
Weaknesses vulnerable to coldOffenseSpeed 40 ft.
Melee gore +16 (2d10+6/19–20 plus bleed), bite +16 (1d8+6)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks bleed (1d8), devour body and essence, trample (2d10+9, DC 21)StatisticsStr 23, Dex 8, Con 22, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 9
Base Atk +11; CMB +18; CMD 27
Feats Improved Critical (gore), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness
Skills Perception +21, Survival +15
Languages Infernal (can’t speak)EcologyEnvironment any (Hell)
Organization solitary, pair, herd (3–20), plague (21–100)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesDevour Body and Essence (Su) When an Avernus razorback eats a fresh corpse, it devours every single part of the body, even the hardest bones. When an Avernus razorback devours a body that has been dead for no more than 24 hours, it also consumes the soul or spirit of the creature. The creature can’t be brought back to life by any means short of a miracle or wish spell. It takes a single Avernus razorback 10 minutes to devour a Medium or smaller creature plus an additional 10 minutes for every size category above Medium the creature is. The feeding time can be reduced by 10 minutes for each additional Avernus razorback joining in the feast (minimum 10 minutes).
Infernal Ferocity (Su) An Avernus razorback remains conscious and continues to fight even when reduced to 0 or fewer hit points. The razorback is staggered, but instead of losing 1 hit point per round, it gains regeneration 5 (cold) until it has 1 or more hit point. An Avernus razorback loses this ability if it has not eaten at least one Small or larger fresh corpse in the past month. It regains the ability as soon as it finishes consuming such a corpse that has died within 24 hours.DescriptionInfernal scholars have long debated the origin of the Avernus razorback. Some claim the beasts came into being fully formed as a manifestation of the malice and hate birthed by the unforgiving landscape of Hell’s first layer. Others theorize an infernal duke or archdevil once led a massive herd of daeodons to Avernus from the Material Plane to drink from the River Styx and feed on the foul reeds growing amid the waters of Eridanos; over countless generations, these fell influences infused the survivors with the essence of Hell.
Whatever the genesis of these beasts, they now roam Avernus in huge packs that even most devils avoid. Powerful and fierce, they are territorial animals with a ravenous hunger for both plant and animal life. Their strange Hell-empowered digestion not only devours the body, but also obliterates the soul, ripping a creature’s very life essence out of the multiverse entirely—a fate that scares even the denizens of Hell.EcologyAvernus razorbacks are the most versatile of omnivores, and will eat all manner of grasses, scrubs, and meat, no matter the condition they’re in. The beasts prefer the fresh corpses of living creatures (sentient beings most of all), as it not only nourishes their bodies but also empowers their magical nature. Razorbacks that don’t eat a fresh corpse on a regular basis lose their infernal ferocity ability. But these aggressive creatures don’t wait to happen upon a corpse; they actively hunt their prey, with a viciousness more akin to that of wolves than swine.
Mating within a herd or a plague happens nearly constantly on Avernus and the other layers of Hell, and gestation is a mere 4 months. The spawn, once birthed, have to fend for themselves, though mature females try to protect the young creatures from males in the grouping, which are quick to scoop up the babies as a quick but unsatisfying snack. Thus do only the strongest and meanest of young razorbacks survive their first year of life. While boars and daeodons nurse their young, female Avernus razorbacks lack the anatomy to do so. In order for spawn to grow up strong and fierce, they must hunt and feed upon fresh corpses. This magical energy sustains the spawn like mother’s milk would a terrestrial mammal, and without it, the spawn weakens and is abandoned, trampled, or devoured by the adult males.Habitat and SocietyOnce native to Avernus alone, the razorbacks have expanded their territories to the other layers of Hell, though not as deep as Nessus, due in part to Asmodeus’s strategic use of Nessian warhounds to guard his borders, as the Prince of Lies sees razorbacks as a blight and refuses to let them linger for long in his domain. Strangely, razorbacks typically do not fare well outside of Hell. While they can survive for a time elsewhere, their prodigious breeding activity is greatly diminished when they are away from Hell’s infernal energies. The Pit’s greatest minds postulate the razorbacks need the waters of either the marshy ocean of Eridanos or the lethargic run of the River Styx to trigger their breeding cycle, though a handful of breeders on other planes have cast some doubt on such a theory, claiming an alchemical formula can replicate the catalyst throughout the multiverse.
Razorback groupings are ruled by the largest and meanest female. She has to be strong enough to cow the other females into obedience, and to keep the far more aggressive but typically smaller males in check. The females of a group wage a constant war for dominance, with older, weaker females quickly supplanted by younger, stronger candidates for leadership. On the rare occasions when a male claims dominance over a group, its days are inevitably numbered—a male alpha will eventually tear the group apart through its own aggressive nature and unthinking hunger.
Domesticated Avernus razorbacks are sparse outside of Avernus itself, in part because the savage boars often turn on their masters. In Cheliax and other mortal realms where people are used to treating with the forces of Hell, some brave or foolhardy souls keep Avernus razorbacks to assist them in getting rid of their political enemies without leaving any physical evidence or chance of resurrection in their wakes.
Among those who know about these secret razorback farms, rumors circulate that some of the infernal livestock have escaped and begun breeding in the Chelish wilderness. Skilled hunters have attempted to track the beasts to verify the rumors and hopefully end the threat they pose, but no evidence of razorback plagues in the wild has yet come to light. That the beasts’ victims have no corpses to discover leads many to believe no evidence is to be found.ByproductsThe strange gastric peculiarities of Avernus razorbacks aside, these animals are coveted for a number of byproducts particular to the species. The blood, meat, and tusks can all be harvested for special use, as detailed below.
Avernus Razorback Blood: The fresh blood of the Avernus razorback seems to keep some of the strange soul energies of the digested for a period of time. As long as a razorback has feasted on a sentient creature within the last month, it can be slaughtered and its blood harvested in place of a blood sacrifice of a sentient and even innocent creature, for up to 1 week after the slaughter occurs.
Avernus Razorback Meat: Though it may seem strange given the beasts’ diverse, often disgusting, and sometimes morbid eating habits, the meat of the Avernus razorback is a delicacy craved throughout Cheliax, especially in Egorian. Connoisseurs of the infernal flesh say that you can taste the hate of the beast, which adds to its delectable flavor. Not only that, the meat acts as a mild narcotic. See page 236 of the Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide for complete rules on drugs and addiction. Avernus Razorback Meat Type ingested; Addiction minor, Fortitude DC 18
Price 100 gp
Effects 1 hour; +1 alchemical bonus to Strength and Constitution
Damage 1d4 Wisdom damage
Avernus Razorback Tusks: The tusks of the largest razorback can be fashioned into vicious daggers, and count as 151 gp worth of raw materials needed in the creation of a masterwork dagger. A successful DC 26 Craft (weapons) check and 1d3 days of work are required to create a masterwork dagger from such a tusk.
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