Angel, KuribuThe skin of this halfling-sized, winged humanoid is as smooth as polished marble. It wields a bow and carries a quiver full of arrows on its back.Kuribu CR 3Source Pathfinder #103: The Hellfire Compact pg. 82
XP 800
NG Small outsider (angel, extraplanar, good)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, detect evil; Perception +8
Aura lesser protective auraDefenseAC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 26 (4d10+4)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +5; +4 vs. poison, +4 resistance vs. evil
DR 5/cold iron or evil; Immune acid, cold, petrification; Resist electricity 10, fire 10OffenseSpeed 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Ranged mwk longbow +9 (1d6/×3)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +3)
Constant—detect evil
At will—light, resistance
3/day—blessStatisticsStr 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +4; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Skills Acrobatics +10 (+6 when jumping), Fly +16, Knowledge (planes) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +8, Stealth +14
Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
SQ blessed aspectEcologyEnvironment any good-aligned plane
Organization solitary, pair, or flight (3–6)
Treasure standard (mwk longbow, other treasure)Special AbilitiesBlessed Aspect (Su) A kuribu has four true holy countenances, three of which are hidden at any time. As a swift action, the kuribu can present a different countenance and gain its benefits, losing the benefits of the countenance the angel has just hidden.
Eagle: The kuribu’s face and voice become more birdlike. Once every 1d4 rounds, the kuribu can let out an ear-piercing screech as a standard action. All creatures in a 15-foot cone take 1d6 points of sonic damage (Fortitude DC 13 half). Creatures with 4 Hit Dice or fewer that fail their saving throws are dazed for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Human: The kuribu’s face becomes like a mask, and the angel gains the freeze extraordinary ability, allowing the kuribu to take 20 on Stealth checks to hide in plain sight as a marble statue of a kuribu. The kuribu can appear as a statue indefinitely. Most kuribus first present this face when dealing with mortals, changing to one of their other faces only if combat begins.
Lion: The kuribu develops a fearsome set of jaws capable of making bite attacks. This is a primary natural attack (with a +5 attack bonus) that deals 1d4 points of damage.
Ox: The kuribu’s face grows sterner and body grows sturdier. The angel gains a +4 resistance bonus on Fortitude saving throws and a +4 to CMD against bull rush and trip combat maneuvers.
Lesser Protective Aura (Su) A kuribu has a lesser form of the protective aura possessed by more powerful angels. This protective aura grants the kuribu a +2 deflection bonus to AC against evil foes, and a +2 resistance bonus on all saving throws made against evil effects or spells cast by evil creatures (this does not stack with the resistance bonus from the kuribu’s ox countenance). This aura extends to a radius of 5 feet, but can benefit only two additional creatures other than the kuribu at any one time. A kuribu’s protective aura is fragile, and as soon as an evil creature successfully strikes the angel, or as soon as the kuribu fails a saving throw against an evil source, the protective aura fades away and is no longer applicable. The kuribu can reactivate the protective aura by spending 1 minute concentrating upon the task.DescriptionThough one of the least powerful kinds of angels, kuribus are trusted with the protection of sacred places such as churches and blessed bowers. Their ability to stay as still as statues allows them to stand sentinel over their charges for decades, or even centuries. When their guarded locations are invaded, kuribus take flight and pepper their foes with arrows, altering their countenances as the situation requires. If outmatched or outnumbered, the majority of a flight of kuribus sacrifice themselves, while a lone kuribu retreats to fetch reinforcements, be it angels from a higher choir or a nearby hero.
Kuribus look like small, round-cheeked humanoids, and have pale, flawless skin that is actually as tough as stone. This both aids them in disguising themselves as statues and affords them protection. Their child-like forms lend them an air of purity and innocence. A kuribu has two sets of wings, with the smaller pair at the base of the spine allowing a greater amount of control when flying. A typical kuribu stands 3 feet tall but weighs 60 pounds as a result of the angel’s dense, stonelike flesh.EcologyKuribus are fashioned from the souls of good mortals who died protecting a treasured place or ideal. As these spirits traverse the River of Souls, they undergo several metamorphoses, gaining the qualities that eventually become their blessed aspects. The majority of kuribus can take on the countenances of eagles, lions, and oxen, but a few variant kuribus possessing the aspects of different animals do exist. However, all kuribus can blend in with the architecture of a church, appearing as innocent-looking statues with wide eyes and plump cheeks.
Kuribus have a remarkable amount of patience and tolerance for boredom, as they may be assigned to watch over particular locations for years. Mortal generations pass swiftly for kuribus, with years blurring in much the same way days might for mortals. However, their senses are always alert, and the slightest destructive act against their charges can cause them to spring into action. While this self-defensiveness certainly extends to vandals and evil beasts, kuribus have boundless patience for the birds and small mammals that sometimes make homes upon their bodies or shelter beneath their wings. While kuribus would never let a terrible crime transpire before their eyes just to protect a pigeon’s comfort, there have been instances of these angels revealing themselves only after their avian residents have migrated away for the season. This has more to do with kuribus’ otherworldly sense of urgency and time than any particular affinity for animals.Habitat and SocietyAs kuribus protect sacred areas, they are witness to, but rarely interact with, many different types of good-aligned outsiders. Unless these outsiders seek to cause harm, the kuribus see no reason to interrupt them on their business. As such, other angels tend to consider kuribus to be more decoration than fellow animate beings. Kuribus think nothing of this prejudice, as they are confident in the importance of their duties.
Occasionally, an angel important enough to employ a flight of kuribus to safeguard their own sanctum will develop a certain fondness for the smaller outsiders. The overseer angel speaks pleasantly with the kuribus, keeping them informed of the important events of the Outer Sphere, not expecting responses. In turn, the kuribus grow fiercely loyal to the more powerful angel. Eventually, this relationship blossoms into something more familial and playful, the kuribus trying to move from their positions without the other angel noticing. In times of crisis, however, this whimsy is immediately dropped in favor of the defense of the holy sanctum.
On the other hand, kuribus rarely form close relationships with other kuribus. When part of a flight that protects a single location, kuribus work together well, but solely as professional associates and nothing more. If, for some reason, a single kuribu has different ideas than the rest of the flight about the best way to defend their charge, that angel quickly falls in line with the others. Kuribus hold their duties above their pride.
In rare cases, kuribus might find themselves lingering in areas that were once holy but have been abandoned or despoiled. In such cases, a kuribu often stoically waits for goodly folk to return, whether as a congregation restoring the site or heroes who might help cast out a lingering evil.Calling a KuribuThe payment requested by a kuribu called with lesser planar ally is often a donation that helps to rebuild or refurbish a church or other holy site. As a kuribu considers these places to be very important to the appropriate deity, the angel will halve any payment required if asked to guard such a location. A few kuribus even accept long-term, open-ended requests to protect a piece of sacred ground from a worthy caller. A small number of cathedrals on the Material Plane are home to kuribus selected for such a service decades ago, and whose original callers have long since passed away.Creatures in "Angel" CategorySource Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 10
Angels are a race of celestials, beings who live on the good-aligned outer planes.
Angels can be of any good alignment. Lawful angels hail from Heaven, neutral angels from Nirvana, and chaotic angels from Elysium, though the majority serve one good deity or another and call their patron's realm their home. Most mortals assume that angels never lie, cheat, or steal, are impeccably honorable in all their dealings, and are the most trustworthy and diplomatic of all the celestials; while this is generally true, there are exceptions, especially as some angels serve good-aligned trickster gods and other chaotic entities.
The original and most powerful angels predate the mortal races. They were among the first creations of the gods of good, and those that survive to this day are among the more powerful non-divine beings in the multiverse. While new angels are still periodically created by the gods, most modern angels were once good mortals, their souls transforming into something greater upon reaching their destination in the planes. Often an angel's true form is reminiscent of its mortal self, only taller, brighter, and more powerful. The relationship between good mortal soul and angel is common knowledge, and many mortal religions assume that all members of the faith in good standing become angels of some type in the afterlife. Others confuse the issue by conflating famous mortals (such as saints and martyrs) with preexisting angels that have similar names, or suggesting that angels take human form to perform great deeds as mortals, returning to the heavens when their duties are over.
All angels are blessed with extraordinary beauty, though their actual appearances vary widely. Their natural shapechanging ability means they may appear to mortals as male or female, depending on their personal preference or the will of their deity. As they are spiritual creatures given a physical form rather than creatures of flesh born of other creatures, their gender is mutable; some angels always use a male form, some strictly a female one, and others use either or both, or prefer an androgynous or sexless shape.
Technically, the word “angel” refers to several types of humanoid angels—solars, planetars, and devas (of which the astral deva is the most common; other types exist as well)—though many mortals use the term loosely and apply it to any celestial, whether an angel, one of the guardian archons, fey-like azatas, beast-like agathions, or any other creature of the good planes. The angels do not take affront at this, as they have more important things to deal with than mortal nomenclature.
Angels speak Celestial, Draconic, and Infernal, though they can communicate with almost any creature because of their truespeech ability. All angels possess a number of similar traits. Most angels also have additional powers beyond these traits, depending on the role their deity assigns them. For example, an angelic guardian of volcanoes might have the fire subtype, or the protector of a sunken city might be aquatic, amphibious, and able to use her wings to swim. Fallen Angels Many religions include stories of angels rebelling against a creator or becoming corrupt and evil. Sadly, this is indeed possible, though thankfully rare, and only the proudest or weakest-willed angels succumb to this fate. Fallen angels are exiles of the good realms, hunted by their former brethren and easy targets for fiends as well. The fallen lose some of the grace and light of their untainted kin, though many are said to still be tragically beautiful. Rarer still are those fallen angels strong and clever enough to join the legions of Hell, and who are often transformed into some type of devil, or those who become demons of the Abyss and carve out a niche in that horrible realm or come to serve a greater demon. Angelic Choirs Whereas there are evil and cruel counterparts for all the other good races, the legions of fiends do not possess a clear analogue for the race of angels. Many scholars have debated the reasons for this strange lack of symmetry among the good and evil outsiders, and while most have come to believe that this is simply an example of good's inherent willingness to rise above specific alignments for everyone's benefit, the exact reason may never be known.
Since angels can be of any good alignment, they represent the needs and desires of all three major good outsider races. While some angels devote their energies to all three, most have a particular favorite among the races in keeping with that angel's particular alignment. While their true forms never vary between alignments, angels will often use their change shape ability to appear more like an archon, agathion, or azata as the situation and the angel's personality demands.
Angels are further subdivided into their own specific hierarchy known as the Triad of Choirs. The bulk of the angel race consists of the devas—these are the most common angels, and numerous different specialties exist, with the astral deva presented here merely the best known. Devas of the third choir have two wings. The second choir consists solely of the four-winged planetars, while the rulers of the angelic race are the six-winged solars. These are the mightiest of all angels, and the most powerful of them can directly oppose even the will of a demigod if the situation calls for it. Angel Subtype Angels are a race of celestials, or good outsiders, native to the good-aligned outer planes. An angel possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry). - Darkvision 60 feet and low-light vision.
- Immunity to acid, cold, and petrification.
- Resistance to electricity 10 and fire 10.
- +4 racial bonus on saves against poison.
- Protective Aura (Su) Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel. Otherwise, it functions as a magic circle against evil effect and a lesser globe of invulnerability, both with a radius of 20 feet (caster level equals angel's HD). The defensive benefits from the circle are not included in an angel's statistics block.
- Truespeech (Su) All angels can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level equal to angel's Hit Dice). This ability is always active.
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