TyphilipedeThis hideous creature has a jet-black segmented body, four beady eyes, batlike wings, and a pair of oversized mandibles that glisten with green ichor.Typhilipede CR 2Source Pathfinder #103: The Hellfire Compact pg. 88
XP 600
LE Tiny outsider (evil, extraplanar, lawful)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 120 ft., see in darkness; Perception +7
Aura shadow (10 ft.)DefenseAC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 19 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +2
Immune fire, poison
Weaknesses light blindnessOffenseSpeed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (poor)
Melee bite +7 (1d3+1 plus poison)
Space 2-1/2 ft., Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks poisonStatisticsStr 12, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 14 (18 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Fly +8, Perception +7, Stealth +16
Languages Infernal (can’t speak)
SQ lumivoreEcologyEnvironment any underground (Hell)
Organization solitary, mass (2–9), or colony (10–30)
Treasure noneSpecial AbilitiesAura of Shadow (Su) A typhilipede can create a region of twisting, shadowy darkness within a 10-foot radius around it. Creatures in the area, including the typhilipede, have concealment against attackers that don’t have lowlight vision or darkvision. The typhilipede can suppress or reactivate this aura at will as a swift action. This is a darkness effect.
Lumivore (Ex) A typhilipede can consume light through a process of energy absorption. As a standard action, a typhilipede can snuff out all mundane light sources in a 15-foot radius around it (magical light sources are not affected). Torches, lamps, campfires, and similar light sources are immediately extinguished (and don’t produce smoke or other normal effects of being snuffed out). For each mundane light source it consumes in this way, a typhilipede gains 1 temporary hit point, to a maximum of 10 temporary hit points. These temporary hit points last for 1 hour. The typhilipede loses these temporary hit points first when damaged.
Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Con; cure 2 consecutive saves.DescriptionNot all the creatures of Hell are devils. Descended from vermin that came to be trapped in Hell, typhilipedes embody the corruptive might and terrible hungers that brood in the dark. Usually encountered as wriggling, clacking masses of insectoid legs and flapping wings, these creatures strike fear in the weaker souls that trespass within the Pit. Typhilipedes possess night-black, segmented bodies with dozens of scraping, skittering legs. Two pairs of batlike wings sprout from between body segments closer to the creature’s head, which bears two pairs of eyes and oversized mandibles glistening with sickly ichor.
A typhilipede typically measures 2 to 3 feet in length and rises no more than 8 inches from the ground, though its 3-foot wingspan can lift it off the ground with only minor difficulty. A single typhilipede weighs about 10 pounds.EcologyTyphilipedes have a legendary reputation in Erebus, where it’s said they hail from a place called the Wax Tower. Supposedly, this particular vault is a vast echo chamber, alive with the deafening drone of an impossibly large typhilipede swarm. At the vast space’s center rises an organic-looking tower of incredible height. Millions of typhilipedes burrow into the tower’s callouslike exterior, creating a network of tunnels and caverns where primordial, endlessly fecund typhilipede progenitors are said to dwell. At the tower’s endlessly rising summit burns a tiny, unquenchable flame. Supposedly the entire tower was once just a single candle that an innocent mortal begged the gods to keep burning eternally. The gods granted the request, but as the candle burned, its wax dripped endlessly. In the aftermath of the resulting disaster, Asmodeus volunteered to deal with the candle. The taper that would become the Wax Tower was installed in Erebus, along with a few unfortunate gnats that had become trapped in the wax. Over ages of exposure to the darkness of Erebus and the corruption of Hell, those crawling things transformed into the first typhilipedes.
Now, typhilipedes are native to Erebus, though small colonies occasionally slip into the tunnels of the Darklands. In both places, they are considered pests, akin to otherworldly forms of giant rats or monstrous spiders. Typhilipedes most often hunt the lightless depths of Erebus for unwary souls and creatures of flesh. While capable of hunting on their own, typhilipedes usually hunt in teeming masses, swarming over whatever prey they encounter and devouring it. Despite the zeal with which they tear other creatures apart, typhilipedes prefer to consume the raw energy of light. This makes their presence convenient to the other inhabitants in the cavernous vaults of Erebus, where vast treasures lie cloaked in darkness like nothing known on the Material Plane. As the denizens of Erebus rarely have any need for light—and suffer its presence with displeasure— typhilipedes can easily distinguish their prey, spotting even a candle’s flicker from miles away and pursuing it relentlessly. One typhilipede spotting a source of light and winging toward it is often enough to set an entire swarm on the hunt.
Especially in secluded corners of the Darklands, where droves of typhilipedes occasionally flourish, these creatures are often known as “eye biters.” While the name might reference their tendency to plunge their victims into darkness before eating them, the nickname just as likely derives from the effects of the venom they produce. Survivors of typhilipede poison report feeling as though their eyes were on fire. Many also claim their experience with color changed dramatically as a result, with warm shades seeming to catch fire, becoming almost painfully vivid and certainly uncomfortable to look at. While these optical effects don’t inhibit the victim’s visual acuity, many survivors claim to be wary of bright lights and colors for weeks after shaking off the venom’s effects.
While typhilipede venom is not usually deadly on its own, it is valued for its rarity. A single dose often sells for 1,500 gp or more in nefarious markets around the Inner Sea. Some Darklands alchemists believe that mixing typhilipede venom with the blood of goodaligned outsiders can make the poison much more debilitating—though the exact process by which this is possible remains elusive.Habitat and SocietyBeyond Erebus, typhilipedes are occasionally found in the Darklands realms of Orv and Sekamina, but they rarely venture closer to the surface than that. Given their ability to gain nourishment from light, many assume that typhilipedes flourish in areas of bright sunlight. In fact, overwhelming sources of bright light— especially sunlight—repel the creatures, forcing them into regions of absolute darkness.
Typhilipedes don’t form communities or social bonds as more intelligent beings do. Instead, they tend to clump together, forming colonies akin to those of cockroaches. When hunting, they behave in a manner similar to a swarm, utilizing knowledge of the terrain to intercept prey and separate individuals from larger groups. Once they have surrounded a target, they attack en masse. Upon bringing down their prey, typhilipedes eat as a group. Typhilipede young and pregnant individuals eat first, as the hunters instinctively prioritize the groups’ long-term survival over that of any individual. Hunters eat next, with the sickly and wounded eating last. Typically, typhilipedes that are debilitated in battle try to sacrifice themselves for the good of the group. Those that face excessive wounds but still survive, though, often try to slink away into the darkness to quietly die. Few have the chance to indulge such a fate, though, as typhilipedes have an innate understanding of their own bodies and what they can survive. If no enemies are present and it becomes clear that one of their number bears a wound that will never heal, a typhilipede swarm quickly turns on the individual, enthusiastically cannibalizing it. Peculiarly, after consuming one of their own kind, typhilipedes typically stack the remains in a neat heap with the gnawed skull deliberately placed on top.
A typhilipede can be summoned as a familiar by a 7th-level spellcaster with an alignment up to one step away from lawful evil who has the Improved Familiar feat. Duergar spellcasters in particular favor typhilipede familiars, and many view possessing one—especially an overweight specimen—as a symbol of status.
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