Phasmadaemon

Phasmadaemon
Terror daemon

(Creature)

Uncommon

NE

Large

Daemon

Fiend

Level

17

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: Worst of All Possible Worlds, pg(s). 81

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

Phasmadaemons, also known as terror daemons, are very powerful daemons who use fear as a weapon.

Appearance

A phasmadaemon has a black, rubbery, sinuous serpentine body, twisted ram horns, and mantis-like claws. The only feature on its ivory face is a gaping caiman-like snout. It lacks a skeleton (except for a bony tail), weighs 1,000 pounds, and measures 25 feet long. It can stretch its body to half again that length or twist its body like a contortionist due to its elasticity. Phasmadaemons rarely show their true form, preferring to cloak it under illusions.

Ecology

Phasmadaemons form from souls that either inflicted extreme fear in their mortal life, or learnt to exult in the terror they felt in Abaddon as a shade while a daemon hunted them.

When hunting for souls, phasmadaemons patiently watch their prey from a distance. While capable combatants, phasmadaemons prefer to torment their prey first before striking. They craft elaborate illusions, customised to each victim's greatest fears, so terrifying that they actually leech life from the victim. As the victim suffers from fear-inflicted diseases, the phasmadaemon finally shows up, constricting the victim to death while watching the fear on its face.

Phasmadaemons revel in the thrill of the hunt and do not seek easy prey. They are morbidly fascinated by the connection between fear and mortality, and continually mix fears into more and more horrific combinations.

Habitat

Phasmadaemons skirt the fringes of societies both in and out of Abaddon, preying upon lone travellers or hermits. They rarely serve a single Apocalypse Rider.

Society

Phasmadaemons are solitary hunters. They find pleasure primarily in the effects of fear that their victim feels before its final gasp, and constantly seek new ways to inflict fear. Phasmadaemons exchange fears like in a market, buying and selling new imaginings between each other. Sometimes, they travel in groups, creating kaleidoscopes of illusions to terrorise whole crowds at once.

When bound, phasmadaemons are effective but imprecise killers, and are dangerous to retain for long, as they like to inflict fear even outside of assignments.

Phasmadaemons rarely have contact with sahkils, due to the distance between Abaddon and Xibalba, but in the rare cases where their two paths cross, they usually find kinship in their shared interest in sowing terror, and form a temporary but productive alliance in this goal.

References

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