Nixudaemon
Nixudaemons, also called toil daemons, personify death by overwork and exploitation.1
Appearance
The nixudaemon is a four-armed creature with blue-green skin covered in white scars. Its two upper arms end in long, barbed whips of callused flesh. Most nixudaemons stand ten feet tall and weigh 600 pounds. They grow larger and stronger as they age, absorbing the weariness of their victims over centuries. The greatest nixudaemons are said to tower over younger ones, growing additional whip-arms.1
Ecology
Nixudaemons roam the shores of the River Styx and capture new souls as soon as they arrive in Abaddon, hauling them into slave pens or selling them. They frequently visit the Universe, where they are paid well by despots in exchange for additional labour.1
Rituals designed to call nixudaemons must be conducted while an intelligent mortal labours physically, and their preferred sacrifice is working that creature to death as part of the ritual. They despise laziness and work their subjects to death as suits their needs. They view other creatures as weak or slothful, challenging even other daemons they perceive as less than diligent.1
Society
A nixudaemon slowly whips the life out of its subjects. If it serves its purposes or if time allows, a nixudaemon will revive its subject for another round of torture. Typically, a nixudaemon uses this ability to incite a band of slaves to work harder: it dominates the weakest ones to temporarily bolster them, then saps their last ounce of strength before discarding them.1
Nixudaemons occupy the role of merchants in daemonic society. They buy and sell the hunted shades when not outright capturing or stealing them. Powerful mortal slavers sometimes hire a nixudaemon as a slave driver for their skill for squeezing the last bit of energy from slaves, but such arrangements still benefit Abaddon in the end by earning money and souls for the Apocalypse Riders.1
Nixudaemons beat those who grow weary in their work and spread despair among the oppressed. More discerning nixudaemons assail mortal merchants, driving entire firms to competitive climates until the stress deteriorates their health or pushing lone inventors to complete theories with their dying breaths. Because soft, wealthy mortals are rarely tempted to work themselves to death, some nixudaemons have been known to engineer their sale, enjoying their nightly sobbing and rapidly developing sores.1
Nixudaemons understand the value of teamwork and work tirelessly together to great effect, having driven hordes of slaves to erect legendary monuments. They revel in the misery they cause and the crack of their whips.1
Most nixudaemons serve Szuriel, Trelmarixian, or the harbingers under them. Szuriel uses them as morale officers and overseers of special units of indentured prisoners, always breaking her promise to send them home. Trelmarixian offers mere crumbs for sustenance to his soldiers and slaves. He delights in using nixudaemons to drive his legions past their limits, accelerating their spiritual and physical starvation.1
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