Qlippoth, Deinochos

A fleshy pseudopod tipped with a jawless mouth and ringed by dozens of eyes emerges from a spiny shell along with several hooked legs.

Deinochos CR 5

XP 1,600
CE Small outsider (aquatic, chaotic, evil, extraplanar, qlippoth)
Init +4; Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., detect chaos, detect evil, scent; Perception +10

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+7 natural, +1 size)
hp 51 (6d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +6
Defensive Abilities shell; DR 5/cold iron or lawful; Immune cold, mind-affecting effects, poison; Resist acid 10, electricity 10, fire 10

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee bite +10 (1d6+2 plus grab), 3 talons +9 (1d3+2)
Special Attacks gnaw, horrific appearance, tenacious grab
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +7)

Constant—detect chaos, detect evil
At will—bleed (DC 11)
1/day—invisibility

STATISTICS

Str 15, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +7; CMD 17 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Climb +19, Perception +10, Stealth +13, Swim +19
Languages Abyssal; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ amphibious

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Gnaw (Ex)

When a deinochos grappling a creature succeeds at a combat maneuver check to continue the grapple and deal damage, it deals twice its normal bite damage (2d6+4) and the gnawed foe is sickened for 1d4 rounds.

Horrific Appearance (Su)

A creature that succumbs to a deinochos’s horrific appearance endures a strange form of mental numbness that halves all of its speeds for 1d4 rounds.

Shell (Ex)

As a swift action, a deinochos can withdraw into its shell. If it does so when it is grappling a creature, it remains affixed to the creature. While it remains in this state, it cannot move, activate its horrific appearance, or attack except to continue grappling a creature, but its armor bonus from natural armor increases by 4 as long as it maintains its retraction. Emerging from its shell is a move action.

Tenacious Grab (Ex)

A deinochos can use its grab ability against a target of any size. A Medium or smaller creature grappled in this way gains the grappled condition, whereas a Large or larger target does not gain the grappled condition.

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Abyss)
Organization solitary, pair, or brood (3–8)
Treasure incidental

Deinochoses cling like eager remoras to larger qlippoth, traveling across the Abyss and beyond—all the while telepathically goading their host onward. When their ride leaves behind a fresh carcass, one or more deinochoses drop off, feast, and gestate a new generation. The greater the corpse’s mass, the stronger the offspring, and carcasses of powerful creatures can give rise to dozens of the creatures. When there is insufficient food and no free ride, the fiends burrow into the soil and wait for new prey, turning from scavengers into ambush predators. They rarely demonstrate subtlety beyond turning invisible and sneaking close enough to launch a surprise attack. Prey that escapes the qlippoth often leaves a trail of blood and fear that the Abyssal scavengers can track by scent, so as to launch another ambush later.

A deinochos’s shell is about 3 feet across, and the entire creature weighs about 120 pounds.