Chyzaedu

From PathfinderWiki
Chyzaedu
(Creature)

Chyzaedu1 are giant wormlike creatures which compose the priestly caste of the Dominion of the Black,2 and are responsible for carrying out the biennial ritual known as the Banquet, in which tens of thousands of sentient sacrifices are hurled into black holes.3

Appearance

Chyzaedu are massive, alien creatures are the shape and color of earthworms, save that they have a vicious beak at one end and a thicket of tentacles at the other. An average adult chyzaedu measures 60 feet in length and weighs approximately 5,000 pounds.3

Abilities

Chyzaedu are considerable physical threats due to their size, but are also adept divine spellcasters. They are also powerful telepaths, and due to this combined with their single-minded focus on acts of ingestion, the weak-willed are often driven to mindlessly consume all they can while in the presence of a chyzaedu.3

Society

Though chyzaedu are social creatures, they are rarely found in groups. Instead, they often lead the lesser races of the Dominion in bizarre religious activities or advise other more powerful beings. Only when enacting a major ceremony, such as the Banquet, do many chyzaedu work together.

The chyzaedu have an enduring fascination with purple worms of Golarion, and in particular share a mythology with the people of Casmaron regarding the legendary Star-Worm. While some chyzaedu regard purple worms as enlightened brutes and beings of pure destruction, others see them merely as potential mates with whom they can create a hybrid that shares the strengths of both species.3

History

Thousands of years ago, the chyzaedu empire stretched across several distant worlds. The insatiable appetites of the chyzaedu stripped each in turn of life, with the exception of their home planet, whose lifeforms they revered as sacred.3

The empire of the chyzaedu came to an end only when, through the manipulations of the Dominion of the Black, a black hole swallowed their home planet and all those beings they held sacred. As their cherished home was obliterated, it is said a strange exhalation, like alien laughter, could be heard.34

The remaining chyzaedu embraced the hungry void as central to their faith, and came to understand the sanctity of destruction. When these zealots encountered the Dominion of the Black, they were quickly ensconced as priests and leaders, and appear to be one of the few races who have survived contact with the Dominion mostly intact.3

References

  1. The singular and plural of chyzaedu were the same in 1E but 'chyzaedus' is used in 2E.
  2. Mike Shel. Dominion of the Black” in Valley of the Brain Collectors, 66. Paizo Inc., 2014
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Josh Colon, et al. Occult Bestiary, 14–15. Paizo Inc., 2015
  4. Paizo Inc., et al. “Monsters A-Z” in Bestiary 3, 45. Paizo Inc., 2021