Herexen
Herexens are former faithful clerics in life who lost their faith at some point before or during their death, causing in them a wish to commit blasphemy, vengeance, and heresy against the deity they once served.123 This desire for sacrilege during death, binds their souls to their flesh.2
Herexens believe that faith is the greatest lie2 and are driven to besmirch, discredit, deface, destroy, and slaughter worshipers, items, and locations relating to their former deity13 with some even plotting direct attacks against their former divine power.2
Variants
Powerful clerics that turn or long-lived herexen may become the stronger greater herexen variant.13
Other variants include the fallen champion, who were marshal-minded champions of their god in life and are straightforward in their actions to fight against their former deity, treating their campaigns as a grand divine war;4 or the faithless ecclesiarchs who were religious leaders like archpriests, hierarchs, or oracles, or were personally blessed by the deity in life, who are particularly good at corrupting pious people. Faithless ecclesiarchs have a divine aura that inspires other herexens, often making them leaders of the group.2
Habitat and ecology
Despite rebelling against their deity, herexens still possess their former divinely granted magic power, now corrupted by undeath. They use their former deity's favored weapons, but they can now smite people and creatures of faith. When destroyed, a herexen will explode with negative energy as a last act of blasphemy.13
Herexens are often found in towns or regions to subvert their population, hiding in tombs, ruins, or hidden basements. Meanwhile, stronger herexens will reside in temples that were and will be further defiled by them.13
Herexens tend to gather other undead and death cultists to help them with their vengeful mission. A group of herexens can come together as a derisive pretence of a congregation to perform rituals of blasphemy against their shared former deity; these events grant near euphoria to the undead. Such groups are usually assembled from a cult that committed heresy together while alive or died together, each returning as a herexen. However, unrelated herexens who worshipped the same former god may also gather together.132 The enemies of a herexen's former god may become its staunch allies.4
Many events that could result in the faithful becoming either a herexen or a deathless acolyte are determined by whether they renounced their faith upon death or not, respectively.45 If they are from the same faith, herexens and deathless acolytes are often hostile towards each other and would seldom team up.4
On Golarion
Known herexens on Golarion include:
References
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 . “Monsters A-Z” in Bestiary 3, 134. Paizo Inc., 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 . “3: The Grim Crypt” in Book of the Dead, 112. Paizo Inc., 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 . “Herexen” in Monster Core, 195. Paizo Inc., 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 . “3: The Grim Crypt” in Book of the Dead, 113. Paizo Inc., 2022
- ↑ . “3: The Grim Crypt” in Book of the Dead, 88. Paizo Inc., 2022
- ↑ . Crown of the Kobold King, 105. Paizo Inc., 2007