Sturzstromer

Sturzstromer
(Creature)
Uncommon N Huge Aberration Earth Swarm Level 19 Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Source: Bestiary 3, pg(s). 52 Type Outsider (earth, elemental, extraplanar, swarm) CR 19 Environment Any mountains (Plane of Earth) Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Source: Rise of New Thassilon, pg(s). 92

Sturzstromers are elemental creatures personifying the earth in motion.

Appearance

A sturzstromer consists of hundreds of stones of different shape, each roughly a foot in diameter and weighing around 80 pounds. All of the stones constituting a single sturzstromer are all of the same type, matching the sturzstromer's habitat. Some observers can spot faces in the texture and colour of the stones. When at rest, the stones form into a pile reaching five feet high. They are capable of independently moving, and roll and churn as they do so, creating an avalanche. In total, a sturzstromer weighs approximately 12 tons.

Ecology

It is unclear to some if a sturzstromer is a swarm of tiny elementals working in unison, or a single elemental controlling countless bodies. It is then speculated that when a powerful earth elemental is destroyed, its shattered remains become a sturzstromer. Sturzstromers that lose constituent stones can replace them with stones from its environment. Actually, older, more massive cobbleswarms become sturzstromers and can be mistaken for moderate landslides. Sturzstromers have been known to cause terrible earthquakes through some sort of connection to primal magic.

Habitat

Sturzstromers live in the largest caverns in the Plane of Earth, where they spend decades to centuries raising mountains, then breaking them in moments, with devastating consequences to those who took up residence in these mountains. Sturzstromers are unlikely to come to the Material Plane; all those on Golarion were conjured with powerful magic. Cults of Ayrzul, Groetus, and Rovagug sometimes attempt to conjure or dominate sturzstromers to wreak havoc, but usually end up destroyed by the angered sturzstromer.

Society

Sturzstromers view themselves as artists and see beauty in the rise and (especially) fall of mountains. They do not seek companions, but are sometimes joined by other earth elementals in their work of 'art'. Some monastic oreads and jabalis view the sturzstromer's actions as the symbol of sublimation and catharsis.

Variants

Pyroclastic sturzstromers live near the border between the Plane of Earth and Plane of Fire, and retain the heat from the igneous rock of which they consist. On the Material Plane, they are only seen near active volcanoes.

Glacial sturzstromers, which hail from the border between the Plane of Air and Plane of Water, are made from frozen water. They can only be conjured to the Material Plane on the coldest summits.