Astradaemon

Astradaemon
(Creature)
Common NE Large Daemon Fiend Level 16 Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Images of astradaemons Source: Bestiary, pg(s). 73 Type Outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) CR 16 Environment Any (Abaddon or Astral Plane) Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Images of astradaemons Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 63

Astradaemons (pronounced AH-strah-day-mons), commonly known as void daemons, are daemons who swim through the River of Souls like aberrant sharks to snatch unlucky souls for their evil masters. They personify death from negative energy and leech the life essence from their victims.

Appearance

Astradaemons are unnaturally thin, translucent humanoids with spindly clawed limbs, a random number of twitching tentacles extending from their upper backs, and a long tail. They have a skeletal head like a fiendish gulper eel with two pairs of jaws.

History

Astradaemons were created in the depths of time by the Oinodaemon. Suspicious of the deacons created by his servants, the Apocalypse Riders, the Oinodaemon meshed together hundreds of mortal souls and the essences of lesser daemons to create the first astradaemons. The astradaemons served as the Oinodaemon's own race of deacons, harvesting souls from the Astral Plane to feed his undying hunger. It was the creation of the astradaemons, a clear sign of distrust from their leader, that planted the seed of resentment in the minds of the Riders and led to the Oinodaemon's downfall. The majority of the astradaemons were slaughtered and the survivors enslaved by the Riders, who took the secret of their creation for themselves.

Abilities

As the perpetually ravenous servitors of Abaddon's Apocalypse Riders, the astradaemons' touch is corruptive and damaging to the spiritual material of souls. Their touch and especially their bite can cause horrific damage, akin to that of a wraith, to anything they attack. Most feared, however, is their ability to utterly consume the souls of those killed in their proximity, feeding off of their essence or dragging it back to their fiendish overlords.

Ecology

An astradaemon passes through a portal.

Astradaemons hunt the souls of deceased mortals in the Astral Plane and drag them back to Abaddon before they can be properly judged. They fly through the astral medium in loose packs, dutifully following orders from the Apocalypse Riders but caring little for others of their own kind; rival packs of astradaemons have been known to tear each other to pieces. Astradaemons tend to subtly mimic the habits of their patron Rider's deacons. For this reason, astradaemons are particularly despised by psychopomps.

In addition to stealing souls from the Astral, astradaemons also often serve more powerful daemons as assassins and executioners. They may be summoned by mortal spellcasters for the same purposes, but afterwards, summoned astradaemons seek out their former masters for revenge - either in this life or the next.

Binding an astradaemon

Astradaemons are best bound to a spellcaster's will with bribes of souls or the promise of spreading death.