Inevitable, Kastamut

This squat figure seems to be a clockwork approximation of a dwarf, crafted from dark bronze or a strange steel alloy. Its eyes glow with a piercing white light.

Kastamut CR 6

XP 2,400
LN Medium outsider (extraplanar, inevitable, lawful)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+3 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 80 (8d10+36); regeneration 3 (chaotic)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +9
Defensive Abilities armor of will, constructed; DR 5/chaotic; SR 17

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 warhammer +14/+9 (1d8+7/×3)
Special Attacks compulsive orthodoxy
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +10)

At willbane (DC 13), command (DC 13), forbid action (DC 13), litany of sloth (DC 13)
5/daylitany of weakness (DC 13) 3/day—divine favor, enthrall (DC 14), litany of entanglement (DC 15), protection from chaos (DC 13), zone of truth (DC 14)
1/daybestow curse (DC 15), litany of vengeance (DC 17), terrible remorse (DC 16)
1/weekplane shift (self only)

STATISTICS

Str 18, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 14
Base Atk +8; CMB +12; CMD 24
Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Persuasive, Weapon Focus (warhammer)
Skills Diplomacy +13, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (history, religion) +6, Knowledge (planes) +9, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Survival +12
Languages truespeech
SQ discern heritage, slow and steady

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Armor of Will (Su)

A kastamut’s powerful will generates a protective field of force that grants it an armor bonus equal to the kastamut’s Wisdom modifier.

Compulsive Orthodoxy (Su)

Once per week as a full-round action, a kastamut can place a geas-like curse upon a single target. If the target creature fails a DC 16 Will save, it must conform unerringly to specific cultural traditions or customs chosen by the kastamut. Each time the cursed creature fails to perform a customary ritual or tries to commit a prohibited act, it must attempt a new Will save at the same DC. If it fails, it is forced to conform to the culture’s accepted mores. If it succeeds, its actions are not restricted, but it immediately takes 2d6 points of nonlethal damage and gains the sickened condition until it resumes following the chosen customs. This curse remains in effect for 1 year or until the afflicted creature benefits from a break enchantment or remove curse spell (use the kastamut’s caster level for associated caster level checks). This is a mind-affecting, compulsion effect.

The save DC is Charisma-based.

Discern Heritage (Su)

As a swift action, a kastamut can determine the cultural heritage of a single creature it can see. The kastamut learns the target’s racial background, clan affiliation, and any other pertinent information that can help it determine the customs and traditions most appropriate to that creature’s bloodline and upbringing.

A target can resist this effect with a successful DC 16 Will saving throw. A creature that succeeds at the save cannot be affected by that kastamut’s discern heritage ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Slow and Steady (Ex)

A kastamut’s speed of 20 feet is never modified by armor or encumbrance.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or council (3–5)
Treasure standard (+1 warhammer, other treasure)

Many know how the axiomites, entities of pure law who dwell in the Eternal City of Axis, forged the first and greatest of the inevitables—living constructs to wage war against the proteans and the unbridled chaos of the Maelstrom. Yet, even as the laws governing the multiverse have been altered over time, so too has the role of the inevitables changed. Beyond defending Axis’s borders, inevitables were tasked with seeking out threats to the order of all things. To fulfill these missions, the axiomites created many more types of inevitables. Among the lesser known are the kastamuts, charged with protecting the traditions of cultures spread across the Great Beyond.

Like kolyaruts, kastamuts are humanoid in shape. However, kastamuts are shorter and stockier, giving the appearance of a dwarf—or an artistic impression of a dwarf—crafted in flowing curves and planes from dark bronze or gold-tinged steel. Unlike kolyaruts, kastamuts make no effort to disguise their identities when dealing with mortals. Depending on how long a kastamut has been in service, dents or cracks may mar its metallic shell, evidence of past battles against rebels and renegades.

A typical kastamut stands about 5 feet tall and weighs approximately 250 pounds.

Kastamuts represent the powerfully conservative forces of tradition and custom at the core of most well-defined civilizations. They oppose sudden, radical changes in the course of a culture’s traditions, and work to prevent the destruction of established belief systems, rites, and social customs. While some kastamuts carry out this task by protecting a society’s heritage sites, most work directly against agents of change—internal or external—that threaten a civilization.

Kastamuts do not waste time or energy on small infractions against tradition. A petulant child resisting his parent’s teachings draws no attention from Axis. Even fundamental shifts in the beliefs shared by a large group of people are allowed, so long as they progress along the lines of a normal cultural development. What kastamuts do work against are immediate, substantial changes, such as when a new ruler outlaws a nation’s long-standing religion and seeks to wipe out all practice of the old faith in favor of a new one, especially if the new religion has no precedent. Turning slowly from old ways to new ones can be part of the natural order, but violently rebelling against traditional practices in favor of untested systems gives rise to chaos, which the powers of Axis cannot abide.

Some scholars speculate that a kastamut’s appearance reflects the level of importance tradition has within dwarven society. It would be easy to assume the similarity is mere coincidence, except for the fact that, in Axis, actual coincidences are rare, and almost everything has a logical explanation behind it.

Habitat and Society

Kastamuts are constructs crafted from the pure essence of law, so their culture is strictly defined by laws. No kastamut has rank or authority above any another kastamut.

Dwarves are the most likely to have dealings with kastamuts, as they take their traditions much more seriously than most other races. Dwarves’ long lifespans mean that any changes in custom that do take place usually happen very slowly, but they are more prone to violent upheavals than elves, increasing the chances that a kastamut will get involved in order to prevent things from changing too much at once.

Kastamuts find human civilization vexing. Humans’ comparatively short lifespans and their tendency toward individualism create countless variations of culture and tradition and introduce the high probability of sudden and radical change.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Adventure Path #118: Siege of Stone © 2017, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Thurston Hillman, with Paris Crenshaw, Crystal Frasier, Patchen Mortimer, and Kalervo Oikarinen.

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