Div, Druj NasuA sickly smell of feral musk, rotting flesh, and acrid sweat surrounds this fly-like creature. Its wings fill the air with a dreadful drone even when the creature is still.Druj Nasu CR 8Source Pathfinder #113: What Grows Within pg. 84
XP 4,800
NE Medium outsider (div, evil, extraplanar)
Init +10; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness, detect good, detect magic; Perception +21DefenseAC 24, touch 16, flat-footed 18 (+6 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 105 (10d10+50)
Fort +8, Ref +13, Will +11
DR 10/cold iron and good; Immune fire, poison; Resist acid 10, electricity 10; SR 19OffenseSpeed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee bite +16 (1d6+4 plus disease), 2 claws +16 (1d4+4 plus distraction)
Special Attacks disease, distraction (DC 20), droning
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +16)
Constant—detect good, detect magic
At will—invisibility (self only), putrefy food and drink, see invisibility, summon swarm
3/day—bestow curse (DC 20), command undead (DC 18), enervation
1/day—animate dead, insect plague, summon (level 6, 1 pairaka [Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 88] or 1d6 fiendish giant flies [Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 292, 124] 50%)StatisticsStr 18, Dex 23, Con 20, Int 12, Wis 19, Cha 23
Base Atk +10; CMB +14; CMD 30
Feats Alertness, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +19, Fly +22, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +21, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +19
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ swarmwalking, untouched by flameEcologyEnvironment any (Abaddon)
Organization solitary
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesDisease (Su) Bite or claw—injury; save Fortitude DC 20; onset 1 hour; frequency 1 day; effect 1d3 Constitution damage plus sickened and shaken; cure 2 consecutive saves.
Droning (Su) As a standard action, a druj nasu can beat its wings in such a way that the sound they make resembles the droning of millions of buzzing flies. This sonic effect extends out to a 30-foot radius, though a creature can still hear the cacophony from a distance without being affected. Creatures in the area take a –4 penalty on Perception checks involving hearing, and all creatures in the area have a 25% chance each round of being nauseated for 1 round. Any creature subject to the nauseating effect of this ability can negate the nausea with a successful DC 20 Fortitude saving throw. In addition, any creature casting a spell in the area must succeed at a concentration check (DC = 15 + the level of the spell being cast) or lose the spell. After initiating this effect, a druj nasu can maintain the effect each round as a free action and can dismiss it as a move action.
Swarmwalking (Su) A druj nasu is immune to damage or distraction effects caused by swarms.
Untouched By Flame (Su) Any undead animated by a druj nasu or any swarm summoned by this div gains the druj nasu’s immunity to fire.DescriptionFoul corruptors of the dead, druj nasus are divs that haunt funeral pyres, mausoleums, and burial sites to steal corpses. They represent the uncleanness of the body and corrupting forces that can prevent a creature’s proper passage into the afterlife. Some scholars claim that in ancient times these creatures’ interference caused numerous cultures to alter their practices regarding burial.
When a druj nasu was found near a body that was to be buried, the body would be considered unclean. An unclean body couldn’t be buried and the sacred flames of a funeral pyre would only spread the taint to the winds, so some ancient people would then carry the corpse up the side of a cliff or mountain and have the birds and other animals clean the flesh from the bones before the deceased could be interred with the necessary rites to ensure a proper passage into the Great Beyond.
Unlike other corpse thieves, druj nasus don’t take the bodies of the deceased in order to feast upon the rotting flesh. The divs do this to spite the survivors and bring greater grief and sorrow to the family and loved ones of the dead. After pilfering the bodies, the divs watch from afar as the grieving family sinks deeper into sadness. They then animate the stolen remains and, since they have no innate ability to influence these creations, use their command undead spell-like ability to send the shambling corpse back to prey upon its former loved ones. In this way, druj nasus disrupt polite society and commit one of the ultimate cultural taboos.
Because druj nasus, like all divs, are a scourge on humanity’s accomplishments, these foul fiends are a constant target of good faiths. They are particularly hated by followers of Pharasma because of their treatment of corpses and proclivity for animating the remains they steal. Druj nasus generally ignore Pharasmins, however, and instead focus on their own mockery of the living. Because of an unknown, ancient conflict in Kelesh, druj nasus have a strong hatred for Sarenrae and her worshipers, going so far as to single them out in combat and steal away the bodies of the clergy and faithful. Sarenrae’s devoted find combating these divs frustrating due to their immunity to fire.
A druj nasu stands roughly 6 feet tall and weighs a slight 100 pounds.EcologyAll divs have some manner of esoteric weakness, and druj nasus have a strange negative reaction to common dogs. The divs flee from them in flight or ignore all other creatures and threats in order to kill them. Strangely, this reaction doesn’t apply to supernatural doglike creatures like hell hounds or cerberi (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 51), but they are particularly hateful toward or frightened of hound archons. Morticians and priests who are aware of the predations of these divs often keep dogs around to help ward off the fiends. Though druj nasus have no weakness against the sun, these divs tend to do their hunting at night when there are fewer watchful eyes.
In combat, druj nasus use their droning ability to weaken and incapacitate their enemies, and then summon swarms of biting insects to wash over them, often doing so under the protection of invisibility. Once their foes are subjected to the distracting nature of the swarms, the div closes into melee range, taking full advantage of its swarmwalking ability. Against enemies that outnumber them or are more powerful, the divs make great use of flyby attacks, often paired with invisibility, to keep out of reach.Habitat and SocietyDruj nasus make their home in Abaddon, but, like most divs, they visit the Material Plane whenever they have the chance so that they can wreck the accomplishments and creations of humankind. These divs are most plentiful in Katapesh, Kelesh, Qadira, and Thuvia, but they can be found anywhere in the world. Druj nasus favor desert climates, but they don’t spend much time in the open deserts, choosing instead to stick to places where people throng and plenty of dead bodies can be found and corrupted. These divs tend to stick to the outskirts of larger settlements, typically where the burial sites are located.
In regions where a druj nasu takes up residence, undead are a particular problem. These uncontrolled undead roam the countryside causing strife and danger to the area’s inhabitants. These cruels divs also haunt nearby communities. They hide using their invisibility spell-like ability and spoil people’s stores of food and communal water wells using their putrefy food and drink spell-like ability. For communities with large stores of food and drink, divs continuously return until the settlements are on the verge of starvation. Druj nasus also use this ability to taint holy water fonts found in temples and shrines. These divs delight in sending plagues of insects to swarm through fields and towns to harass those living nearby.
Typically, druj nasus are loners, but they sometimes work in small groups to achieve a task before disbanding and going their respective ways. They are not particularly opposed to working with other divs, but when they do so they get along the best with pairakas, with whom they share a desire to spread disease and personal strife.
On the Material Plane, ghuls (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 125) frequently inhabit the same kinds of spaces that druj nasus haunt. This leads the two creatures to compete over the theft of corpses; more often than not, such conflicts are won by the divs. Since divs can tolerate the burning rays of the sun better than ghuls, these divs gain a greater advantage in successfully stealing corpses.Creatures in "Div" CategorySource Bestiary 3 pg. 82
While demons exist to destroy, devils yearn to corrupt and control, and daemons seek the death of all things, the foul beings known as divs strive to ruin and despoil all things created by mortals. Spawned from corrupted genies exiled to the accursed depths of Abaddon, divs harbor an ancient hatred against all mortalkind, doing all in their power not simply to destroy but also to torment all that lives. Patient and vicious, divs seek to spoil all things beautiful and joyous, dooming their victims to existences full of frustration and suffering before succumbing to lengthy, painful deaths.
The most ancient of myths claim that divs were the aides and architects of numerous magical and forgotten mortal empires in an age of wondrous and mysterious antiquity. During this unfathomably ancient time these masters of creation served as helpful genies, allied to thankful and gracious masters. However, this bond with mortals soon frayed, as generations of the shorter-lived races ebbed and flowed like ripples in a puddle, forgetting the oaths and respect their forbearers gave divs; some began to abuse and neglect their otherworldly allies, while others merely turned away from genies to rely upon and extol the creations of mortalkind. As the contributions of geniekind were ignored and the deities celebrated the rise of their mortal creations across the worlds, many of the ancient architects rose in rebellion against mortals and the ancient deities who shepherded them. In turning from the paths of inspiration and creation, these genie rebels fell under the sway of a power of destruction known as Ahriman, who granted them not only the vicious might to avenge themselves against mortalkind, but also twisted forms marking them as paragons of depredation, havoc, and ruin. Thus did first divs come into being.
Ever since, divs have arisen from the spirits of the most nefarious and spiteful evil genies. Rather than returning to the Elemental Planes upon their destruction, these foul genies find their way into the claws of Ahriman, a spirit of annihilation who has haunted geniekind since the earliest days of creation. Having forged a realm upon the ruined hinterlands of the foul plane of Abaddon, Ahriman uses the innate corruption of that realm along with his own immortal evil to inspire wickedness in the souls drawn to him, warping such profane spirits into div servitors of a variety of terrible forms. Indifferent to the genie race from which the soul hailed, the Lord of the Divs sees only the evil within and grants it an abhorrent shape particular to the vices that brought the genie to his domain. What emerges from Ahriman’s grip is a dreadful new fiend, an enemy of mortalkind and the deities of good, a hateful spirit given a form with which to wreak its revenge. The dark god’s touch leaves behind nothing of the individual genie that once was—only hatred, entitlement, and vengeance remain.
Although as varied in form as any of the more pervasive fiendish races, divs often demonstrate the pride, affectations, and tastes of geniekind, drawing them toward desert realms, ancient sites, and opulent displays of power. Yet for all their varied powers, most divs prefer using mortals to foster the dooms they envision, manipulating those they hate to become the masters of their own destruction. Nothing pleases a div as much as seeing a powerful mortal squander everything she’s built to end up poor, faithless, and resentful. Divs also treat genies with spite and hatred, eagerly slaying them or working them into their degenerate plans.
As a flaw of their spiritual reshaping, each type of div has a strange weakness that compels it to act in a certain way, such as always attacking the most beautiful opponent, bargaining to learn a secret, or avoiding the color red. Although the wisest know and tell of these weaknesses, every div is aware of its compulsions and avoids being entrapped by them while also plotting ways to exploit opponents who think it vulnerable. Ahriman Ahriman appears as a bestial fiend, his hands clawed like those of a tiger and feet taloned like those of a vulture. Oily snakes worm through his scarred black flesh, riddling their host and all near him with deadly venoms. Horns etched with ancient curses crown the tigerlike face of Ahriman, and beyond a great maw filled with soul-rending fangs lies a gate to a realm of darkness rivaled only by oblivion.
An ancient evil, Ahriman sprung from the creation of the first genies. Scholars say when the act of creation that brought genies to life occurred, a shadow of destruction followed. This shadow cast itself across the world, countering light and creation where it fell. Over countless millennia, this spirit of annihilation came to be known as Ahriman.
Ahriman's ultimate goal is oblivion. To aid him in his immortal plots he has spawned innumerable blasphemies over countless ages, but the corrupted genie spirts known as divs are his most numerous slaves. Ahriman and his minions delight in influencing mortals toward destructive decisions and the abandonment of wisdom. As ageless and patient as he is vicious, this force of ancient evil seeks to ease the world toward dissolution one failure at a time.
A conniving demigod, Ahriman accepts the worship of evil mortals despite his and his minions' loathing of such beings. Clerics of Ahriman are either nihilists or deluded cultists who work to corrupt others, sow misfortune, and tear down the works of geniekind. Ahriman grants access to the domains of Darkness, Death, Destruction, and Evil. Ahriman's symbol is a black circle with a thin sliver of light overtaken by darkness, and his favored weapon is the whip.
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