Daemon, Anisydaemon

This fiend has pitch-black, rubbery skin pulled taut over an immense frame. Arms tipped with glistening claws hang past the creature’s knees, and two constantly whispering mouths rest on its eyeless face.

Anisydaemon CR 13

XP 25,600
NE Large outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +8; Senses arcane sight, blindsight 60 ft., detect good; Perception +21
Aura worry (30 ft., DC 22)

DEFENSE

AC 28, touch 13, flat-footed 24 (+15 natural, +4 Dex, –1 size)
hp 172 (15d10+90)
Fort +15, Ref +11, Will +14
DR 10/good and silver; Immune acid, death effects, disease, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10
Weaknesses sunlight weakness

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +23 (1d8+9), 2 bites +23 (2d6+9 plus bleed)
Special Attacks bleed (1d4 Wisdom), devour soul, shadow possession
Psychic Magic (CL 15th; concentration +20)

10 PE—babble (3 PE, DC 18), ego whip V (7 PE, DC 22), mental block (2 PE, DC 17), murderous command (1 PE, DC 16), psychic crush III (7 PE, DC 22)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +20)

Constantarcane sight, detect good, tongues
At willdetect thoughts (DC 17), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), invisibility
3/daycrushing despair (DC 19), deeper darkness, nightmare (DC 20), suggestion (DC 18)
1/dayeyebite (DC 22), summon (level 4, 2d4 ceustodaemons 80% or 1 anisydaemon 35%)

STATISTICS

Str 28, Dex 19, Con 22, Int 17, Wis 16, Cha 21
Base Atk +15; CMB +25; CMD 39
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Stealthy, Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills Acrobatics +22, Bluff +23, Intimidate +32, Knowledge (planes) +21, Knowledge (religion) +21, Perception +21, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +32
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft., tongues
SQ compression, hide in plain sight

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aura of Worry (Su)

Anisydaemons project a 30-foot aura of anxiety and insecurity. Each creature within 30 feet of the daemon must succeed at a DC 22 Will save or be affected by crushing despair for as long as it remains within the aura. Creatures that fail their save remain affected by the aura for 1d4+1 rounds after leaving the radius. The anisydaemon gains fast healing 5 for as long as at least one creature is affected by its aura. Additionally, creatures that fail their save cannot sleep or receive any benefits of rest while under the effects of the aura. An anisydaemon can activate or deactivate this ability as a free action. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Devour Soul (Ex)

Any creature that dies while affected by one of the anisydaemon’s mind-affecting abilities—including its aura of worry—has its soul devoured by the fiend’s second mouth. That creature cannot be resurrected by any effect short of miracle, wish, or direct intervention from a deity while the anisydaemon lives. Creatures whose souls have been devoured by an anisydaemon can be resurrected normally if the anisydaemon is slain.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex)

An anisydaemon can use the Stealth skill even while being observed. As long as it’s standing in an area of at least dim light or shadow, an anisydaemon can hide itself from view without actually hiding behind anything. This ability has no effect if the anisydaemon is not in an area of at least dim light or in an area of shadow of at least Medium size.

Shadow Possession (Ex)

As a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity if the target is aware of the daemon, an anisydaemon can enter the shadow of any creature to which it is currently adjacent. While within a shadow, the anisydaemon is considered to be sharing its target’s space, though while the daemon is within a shadow, neither creature takes any penalties from squeezing. The anisydaemon can still affect creatures within 30 feet of itself with its aura of worry, though the daemon can target only the shadow’s owner with its psychic magic or spell-like abilities. While within a shadow, an anisydaemon is considered incorporeal and takes half damage from spells and magic weapons. Ghost touch weapons affect it normally. An anisydaemon that dies while possessing a creature’s shadow is immediately ejected to a random empty space adjacent to the creature.

An anisydaemon can leave a shadow it is possessing as a move action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If it does so, it is ejected into a free space of its choice adjacent to the creature whose shadow it was possessing. When an anisydaemon is possessing a creature’s shadow, that creature cannot benefit from morale bonuses of any kind. An anisydaemon can use its Stealth skill to hide while within a shadow.

Sunlight Weakness (Ex)

An anisydaemon exposed to natural sunlight is unable to use any of its psychic magic or spell-like abilities and cannot project its aura of worry. An anisydaemon possessing a creature’s shadow does not count as being in direct sunlight, even if the creature whose shadow it’s possessing is.

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Abaddon)
Organization solitary, pair, or lurk (3–7)
Treasure standard

Anisydaemons, or “worry daemons,” represent death by stress and anxiety. Their work can be seen in the artisan who drives herself to death because she fears her work will never be good enough, or through the husband making himself sick wondering if his partner secretly has a lover and analyzing every detail of every interaction until his mind can no longer take the strain.

Anisydaemons average around 14 feet tall and weigh about 1 ton. Occasionally, some anisydaemons reach truly monstrous sizes after coaxing countless victims to their deaths. These fiends often grow additional mouths on other parts of their bodies, such as their hands or torsos, which magnify the power of their psychic whispers.

Despite their bulk, those attempting to escape an anisydaemon discover the fiends can squeeze into impossibly small spaces in pursuit.

Anisydaemons are most often found in slave cities, stalking the mortal populace and keeping their minds too worn down to foster hope and too distracted by the problems their own minds produce to consider rebellion. However, they sometimes take sabbaticals on the Material Plane to find fresh souls to torment and devour.

The fiends have smooth, hairless, almost rubbery black skin. They’re bipedal, with arms and legs that end in claws as sharp as a surgeon’s blade. But by far, their most disturbing feature is their eyeless faces adorned with two wide maws. From the top maw comes a constant susurrus of whispers that seems to access any listeners’ deepest worries and insecurities, while the bottom mouth waits to snatch the souls of the creature’s victims.

Habitat and Society

While they originate in Abaddon and are most often found there, anisydaemons can be found in any location with large amounts of people. They typically do their work alone, and they see others of their kind or of a comparable strength more as rivals for the same resources than as allies. Anisydaemons have been known to work in groups of up to seven of their own kind, but only when commanded to do so by a summoner or a daemon even more powerful than the group of them together.

Anisydaemons can be found working in the interests of any of the Horsemen. For the Horseman of War, they often help drive up levels of anxiety and paranoia between different groups, eventually culminating in each group believing that their best hope for survival is to eliminate the others.

For the Horseman of Famine, anisydaemons often target the wealthy in times of scarcity and press upon their worries of starvation, leading them to hoard what little food is available and allowing countless poor to starve.

The Horseman of Pestilence uses these daemons during outbreaks of sickness to convince the healthy their only hope of survival is to eliminate the sick, as such violence often ends up helping sickness spread anyway. Under the Horseman of Death, these fiends whisper of the horrible fates that await mortals after death and watch as the subsequent worry leads mortals to commit heinous acts to lengthen their life spans.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Adventure Path #142: Gardens of Gallowspire © 2019, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Crystal Frasier, with Ron Lundeen, Andrew Mullen, Emily Parks, Rhett Skubis, and Christopher Wasko.

scroll to top