Nightripper

From PathfinderWiki
The Nightripper
(Quasi deity)

Titles
Riktus Scroon (former name),
The Promise of Pain
Realm
Oppara (as a mortal);
The dungeons of Lamashtu's palace, Kurnugia, Outer Rifts
Alignment
Areas of Concern
Botched executions
Pits
Follower Alignments (1E)
Domains (1E)
Chaos, Darkness, Evil, Strength
Subdomains (1E)
Demon, Ferocity, Loss, Murder
Favored Weapon
Symbol
Knife-fingered bone hand wrapped in a black cloth strap
Sacred Animal
Sacred Colors
Black, red
Source: Lords of Chaos, pg(s). 38
The Nightripper
(Creature)

Type
Outsider
(chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)
CR
24
Environment
Any (Kurnugia)
Alignment
Source: Inner Sea Bestiary, pg(s). 34
Riktus Scroon
(Person)

Gender
Male
Organization
Source: Inner Sea Bestiary, pg(s). 35

The Nightripper is a nascent demon lord and the demon goddess Lamashtu's favorite torturer and assassin. Prior to his ascension, he was a mortal named Riktus Scroon,12 a mass murderer considered by researcher Rifza Dilatru to be Avistan's most notorious pattern killer.2

History

Riktus Scroon was once a member of the now-defunct Graven Guard mercenary company. His job took him to countless cities, where he hunted.3 He preferred young victims whose deaths would cause the most grief, especially those freshly in love. Victims were abducted with astonishing skill, tortured for hours with Scroon's knives, and finally thrown into a specifically prepared pit far from town, where they would bleed to death.32

Scroon was arrested eventually by the Sarenite priestess Cesandra Dayne in the slums of Almas; Dayne had lost her father and fiancée to him. The fight between them forced Dayne to revoke her teachings and resulted in the deaths of a dozen innocents. After Dayne turned him in to the authorities in Oppara,3 he gleefully bragged of having murdered 953 victims (among which only 46 had previously been confirmed) and provided exacting details regarding where he had buried them. As his directions led to graves, Scroon was sentenced to death by hanging.32

The first twelve attempts to execute Scroon all failed: headsmen were scared to death, guillotines broke, magic failed. After the thirteenth execution, he finally died and his soul made its way to the Outer Rifts. There he maintained the memories of his former life, possibly because his natural inclinations were already so close to the ethos of the plane to which he arrived, and these memories are written in the Book of the Damned. His retention of his memories attracted Lamashtu's attention, who transformed him from larva to a nascent demon lord.1342

Home

The Nightripper makes his home in the dungeons of Lamashtu's palace on the Abyssal realm of Kurnugia.1

Appearance

The Nightripper still appears in human form, but as a hideously twisted and burnt human with bloody, black bandages wrapped around the wounds. He is armed with a bastard sword sharpened like a razor.1

Relationships

The Nightripper dutifully serves as Lamashtu's torturer and assassin in order to repay his debt to her. He still harbours a strong desire for revenge, and it is said that once his debt is fully paid, he will come back to Golarion and bury entire cities.3

Cult and worshipers

The Nightripper has a dedicated following of deranged orcs who seek to emulate his bloody rampage across the Inner Sea region. Each of these worshippers is a loner who seeks to gain the attention of their demonic patron by attempting to outdo his appallingly high murder count. So far, not one of these psychotic followers has even come close to achieving this, but amongst the orcs there is a rumour of a terrible ascension awaiting the first orc to succeed. This rumour serves to draw more worshippers from amongst the power hungry and bloodthirsty orcs.5

Religious symbol

The Nightripper's religious symbol is a skeletal hand with knives instead of fingers, often wrapped in black cloth.1

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 James Jacobs. “Demonkind” in Lords of Chaos, Book of the Damned Volume 2, 38. Paizo Inc., 2010
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Thurston Hillman, et al. “The Pattern of Killers” in Horror Realms, 3. Paizo Inc., 2016
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Jim Groves, et al. Inner Sea Bestiary, 35. Paizo Inc., 2012
  4. James Jacobs. “The Demonic Horde” in Lords of Chaos, Book of the Damned Volume 2, 52. Paizo Inc., 2010
  5. Benjamin Bruck, et al. “Chapter 2: Uncommon Races” in Inner Sea Races, 151. Paizo Inc., 2015