Demon Lord, Deskari
Larger than an elephant, this towering insectile nightmare wields a scythe made of bone. Its wings are swarms of biting flies, and its inhuman eyes glitter with cruel intelligence.
DESKARI CR 29
XP 6,553,600
CE Gargantuan outsider (chaotic, demon, earth, evil, extraplanar)
Init +14; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, detect law, swarmsight, true seeing; Perception +54
Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 36), unholy aura (DC 28)
DEFENSE
AC 47, touch 32, flat-footed 37 (+4 deflection, +10 Dex,+15 natural, +12 profane, –4 size)
hp 742 (33d10+561); regeneration 30 (epic and good or deific)
Fort +31, Ref +32, Will +32
Defensive Abilities Abyssal resurrection, all-around vision,freedom of movement, rasping armor; DR 20/cold iron, epic,and good; Immune ability damage and drain, charm and compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, energy drain, petrification, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30; SR 40
OFFENSE
Speed 60 ft., climb 60 ft., fly 90 ft. (good)
Melee Riftcarver +51/+46/+41/+36 (4d6+30/19–20/×4 plus poison), bite +41 (2d8+8 plus poison), sting +41 (2d6+8 plus poison)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon, enhanced venom, infestation, poison, swarm master
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 29th; concentration +39)
Constant—detect good, detect law, freedom of movement, true seeing, unholy aura (DC 28)
At will—astral projection, blasphemy (DC 27), control winds, desecrate, greater dispel magic, greater teleport, hungry pitAPG (DC 25), insect plague, shapechange, telekinesis (DC 25), unhallow, unholy blight (DC 24)
3/day—control weather, creeping doom, reverse gravity, summon demons, symbol of weakness (DC 27)
1/day—imprisonment (DC 29), earthquake, time stop
STATISTICS
Str 44, Dex 30, Con 42, Int 29, Wis 31, Cha 31
Base Atk +33; CMB +54 (+56 bull rush, +58 sunder); CMD 92 (94 vs. bull rush, 94 vs. sunder, 100 vs. trip)
Feats Awesome Blow, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Critical Focus, Flyby Attack, Greater Sunder, Hover, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (scythe), Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics +46 (+58 when jumping), Bluff +46, Climb +74, Disable Device +46, Fly +44, Intimidate +43, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, engineering, planes) +42, Perception +54, Sense Motive +46, Spellcraft +45, Stealth +34, Use Magic Device +46; Racial Modifiers +16 Climb, +8 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Terran,Undercommon; telepathy 300 ft.
SQ wall crawler
ECOLOGY
Environment any (Abyss)
Organization solitary (unique)
Treasure triple (Riftcarver, other treasure)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Breath Weapon (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds as a swift action, Deskari can spit out a line of noxious black slime in a 120-foot line that creates a 20-foot-radius-spread puddle of the stuff on the ground where the line terminates. Any creature caught in this area of effect takes 20d10 points of acid damage and is subject to the effects of Deskari’s poison.
A successful DC 42 Reflex save halves the damage, but does not mitigate the poison’s effects. The line and puddle created by this attack remain as active acid on the ground for 1d4 rounds, affecting any creatures that move through an affected area. Damage caused by this breath weapon does not persist into additional rounds, but on the round a creature takes this damage, it is considered to be taking continuous damage for the purposes of spellcasting and concentration checks. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Enhanced Venom (Su) Any poisons created by Deskari (or even those used by him) become enhanced, and can affect creatures normally immune to poison. If an affected creature is mythic and is normally immune to poison, it instead receives a +4 bonus on its saving throw against Deskari’s poison effects.
Infestation (Su) Whenever a creature becomes poisoned by Deskari, it also becomes infested with thousands of microscopic demonic eggs that quickly multiply and spread throughout the victim’s bloodstream and flesh alike. Once infested, a creature remains infested even after the poison’s effects end or are cured. A creature that has been infested by Deskari is recognized by all mindless swarms as a host, and such swarms never deal damage to the creature unless influenced and compelled to do so by an outside influence.
An infested creature takes a –4 penalty on all saving throws made against Deskari’s attacks or spells cast by his clerics. As a swift action, Deskari may command a creature’s infestation to accelerate; this deals 20d6 points of damage and stuns the target for 1 round (a successful DC 42 Fortitude save halves the damage and negates the stun effect) as the eggs hatch and a fiendish locust swarm (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4 183) bursts out of the creature’s body (ending the infestation). Infestation is a disease effect, and the save DC is Constitution-based.
Poison (Ex) Bite, breath weapon, sting, or Riftcarver—injury; save Fort DC 42; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Constitution drain plus infestation; cure 3 consecutive saves.The save DC is Constitution-based.
Rasping Armor (Su) The armor plates that protect Deskari’s body rasp together whenever he is damaged by a physical attack, creating a discordant shrieking and grinding sound. Every time a creature strikes Deskari with an attack that deals bludgeoning, force, piercing, or slashing damage, all creatures within 10 feet of Deskari must succeed at a DC 42 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1d6 rounds. A sickened creature that fails this save becomes staggered for 1 round. A staggered creature that fails this save becomes nauseated for 1 round. Finally, a nauseated creature that fails this save becomes stunned for 1d6 rounds. This is a mind-affecting sonic effect that does not affect demons. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Swarm Master (Su) Deskari is immune to swarm damage and other swarm effects (such as distraction). As a swift action, he can direct the movement of any swarm within 30 feet. An intelligent swarm can resist this compulsion by succeeding at a DC 36 Will save. Any swarm created by or conjured by Deskari deals +3d6 points of swarm damage, and the damage caused by such a swarm is treated as chaotic, epic, and evil for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Swarmsight (Su) Deskari can see through the eyes of any swarm he commands or controls, including the swarm of biting flies that makes up his wings (this swarm, incidentally, grants him all-around vision).
Wall Crawler (Su) Deskari can climb any vertical surface with ease and never has to attempt Climb checks to avoid falling as a result of taking damage. This grants him a +16 racial bonus on Climb checks.
Known as the Lord of the Locust Host and the Usher of the Apocalypse, Deskari has long plagued the region of Sarkoris, ever since he discovered a strange thinness between that nation and his own Abyssal realm. His first attempt to capitalize upon this strange feature ended with his defeat at Aroden’s hands, but after the god’s death at the outset of the Age of Lost Omens, Deskari and his cult wasted no time in opening the Worldwound to allow the demon lord’s plans for Golarion to continue.
Deskari carved his realm from the raw matter of the Abyss using a great scythe called Riftcarver (see page 63), a weapon he crafted from the remains of the strange creature his father, Pazuzu, mated with tens of thousands of years ago. Today, Pazuzu and Deskari have what passes as a cordial relationship—the two demon lords do not work together, but neither do they oppose each other’s goals on the Material Plane and beyond.
Deskari’s Cult
Deskari is worshiped primarily by the denizens of the Worldwound on Golarion—by tief lings, fallen crusaders, demons, half-fiends, and all manner of other vile creatures that dwell within that devastated land. Deskari’s symbol is a pair of crossed locust wings dripping with blood. His favored weapon is the scythe, in honor of his devastating weapon of choice, Riftcarver, but his worshipers sometimes prefer to use smaller weapons, especially when they must move unnoticed among enemies. Deskari grants access to the domains of Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and War, and to the subdomains of Blood, Catastrophe, Demons, and Tactics.
RIFTCARVER MAJOR
ARTIFACT
SLOT weapon CL 20th WEIGHT 80 lbs.
AURA strong conjuration and evocation [earth]
Riftcarver is an immense weapon carved from exoskeleton plates pried from the body of the now-long-forgotten monstrosity that birthed Deskari into the Abyss. The demon lord emerged fully formed, and the crafting of this weapon was among the first of his acts—Riftcarver aided the demon lord tremendously in those first few thousand centuries of his life, and was the primary tool he used to dig the Rasping Rifts.
Riftcarver is a Gargantuan +5 defending unholy wounding scythe. As part of its first successful hit against a target in any one round, Riftcarver can infest the creature hit with rot grubs (Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide 245). Once per minute as a standard action by striking at the ground, Riftcarver can create an earthquake centered on the target’s location. Riftcarver’s wielder never suffers any ill effects from earthquakes created by the scythe. Once per day, the scythe can be swept through the air as a standard action to rip a hole between worlds that serves as a 20-foot-diameter gate—this gate can be used only for planar travel, not for calling creatures. Riftcarver is made of the chitin of an Abyssal monster, yet it is treated as adamantine for the purposes of damaging objects and penetrating hardness.
Smaller versions of this artifact, built to be used by Medium cultists, also exist. Called rotcarvers, the majority of these weapons have been captured and destroyed by the crusaders by the Fifth Crusade. A rotcarver is a +3 scythe that can infest those it strikes with rot grubs, or can transform its user into a rot grub swarm. Rotcarvers are detailed on page 51 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Kingdoms.
DESTRUCTION
If the remains of its ancient, forgotten source can be located and restored to life, Riftcarver can be destroyed by using it to deliver a coup de grace against that creature. If the attack slays the resurrected horror, Riftcarver crumbles to dust.