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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Iapholi (NPC)

In the early days of Iblydan culture and earliest generations of myth-spoken hero-gods, Iblydos was home to an even greater concentration of bizarre beasts and terrifying monsters. Most of these early hero-gods earned their power by slaying these entities, building their legends on the corpses of hydras, griffons, and even intelligent species such as sthenos and minotaurs. This continued for an age, until the fearsome beasts were all extinct or chased to the wilderness, rarely daring to approach the growing city-states.

Though relegated to the periphery, these creatures nevertheless called Iblydos home. Thus, when an army from Pol-Sylirica invaded its southern neighbor, Pol-Dhuraxilis, an army of monsters led by the harpy Ekriathe emerged from the latter's forests and hills to help fight off the intruders. Though shocked by the unexpected assistance—and raised to view monsters with mistrust—the people of Dhuraxilis were thankful. In the aftermath, the government overhauled its laws, and its people wrestled with their prejudices, resulting in a city-state that welcomed and represented monsters. For her leadership, Ekriathe received every honor, including a myth-speaking that led to her ascension to hero-god status.

In the millennia since, Ekriathe has been reborn numerous times in different bodies, her different incarnations often separated by many generations. The cult of Ekriathe Revivalism watches for and raises these rare reincarnations, known as Children of the Bloodstone. After centuries without, in 4202 ar Pol-Dhuraxilis at last welcomed Ekriathe's seventh incarnation, a nephilim named Iapholi. As is tradition for Ekriathe's successors, Iapholi is a representative of and champion for monsters across Iblydos.

The nephilim Iapholi was named Child of the Bloodstone by the Revivalists as an infant in 4202 ar, assessing the Mother of Monsters' favor based both on Iapholi's eclectic animal features as well as myriad omens that accompanied her birth. She began presiding over rituals and ceremonies by age 6 and began issuing decrees of her own design by age 10. Under her stewardship, Pol-Dhuraxilis has gained not only peace, but respect among other city-states, rising above the base assumption of it being a chaotic hovel of monsters.

Her efforts to maintain stability and growth without bloodshed might have impressed the outside world, but they've rankled the more aggressive oligarchs in Dhuraxilis. After all, they reason, Ekriathe's successors are supposed to herald an age of monstrous strength, ferocity, raiding, and Lamashtu-fueled revelry. Yet this incarnation promotes peaceful confidence and coexistence! Many question whether the Ekriathe Revivalists interpreted the omens correctly, hinting perhaps that Iapholi isn't Ekriathe's successor at all. Even so, enough citizens believe in Iapholi and her policies that the bitter traditionalists lack the strength to revolt.

Iapholi is far from helpless, despite having peaceful hopes. In 4221 ar, she led a vicious defense of Dhuraxilis's exterior settlements against a bold incursion from Pol-Ungkore's bounty hunters. Believing the polis easy pickings for a source of rare creatures, an ambitious mercenary outfit raided nearby farms and killed a couple families of centaurs in the process. Iapholi responded by raining curses down upon them from the back of a mythic griffon while Dhuraxilis's militia of terrifying creatures ran through the camp. Iapholi sent back the heads and other choice remains to Pol-Ungkore as a warning. The polis later passed a ban on hunting within a twenty mile radius of Dhuaxilis's territory, which has been strictly enforced by both cities.

The events of the Godsrain and Sangeh's shifts within her deep slumber have robbed Iapholi of the trust her previous victories once afforded her. When world-shaking events leave their scars on Golarion, the incumbent powers often look weak in response. Pulses of mythic energy have hit Dhuraxilis hard, given its proximity to the titan and the already volatile nature of its inhabitants. Mutations gone awry have led to small riots and unsolved murders—most of which would have felt almost normal a decade ago before Iapholi stabilized the city. Seizing this opportunity to disrupt her leadership are power-hungry groups such as Encymion's hardliners and the Rivals. Without some dedicated outside help, stewardship of Dhuraxilis will fall into bloodier hands, renewing it as a den of monsters that strike out at the other cities in the region and paint the coast red.

Campaign Role

Aerekostes leads the party to Iapholi's door to seek help in narrowing down the location of Sangeh, somewhere deep in the mountains of the island that houses Dhuraxilis. While Iapholi is more than willing to help, she's in a protracted political struggle for control of her city and cannot offer significant aid at first. As the party explores the city-state's ongoing events, they help Iapholi, subsequently freeing up her resources and allowing her to act more boldly. She gathers leads on the sleeping titan and useful supplies for their journey inland.

Though the continued rule of Iapholi is integral to the stability of Kardaji Bay, the more immediate concern for the party is to not lose their best ally in the city. If Dhuraxilis falls to the likes of Encymion, the hero-gods will be moving inland with a growing force of riled up monsters at their backs, leaving no safe place to retreat if their journey goes awry.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 33
Unspecific Lore: DC 31
Specific Lore: DC 28

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Proficiency without Level

Iapholi (NPC)Creature 7

Unique Medium Human Humanoid Mythic Nephilim 
Source Pathfinder #218: Titanbane pg. 89
Perception +15; darkvision
Languages Common, Iblydosi; beastspeech
Skills Acrobatics +15, Diplomacy +20, Nature +18, Occultism +18, Survival +18
Str +2, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +3, Wis +2, Cha +6
Beastspeech Iapholi can understand and be understood by all creatures that have the aberration, beast, dragon, or giant trait, as if they shared a language.
Items +1 striking flail
AC 24; Fort +15, Ref +13, Will +17
HP 126; Resistances fire 5, poison 10
Wild Calm (aura, divine) 30 feet. Iapholi exudes a comforting sense of peace, even when chaos abounds. Allies within the aura gain a +1 circumstance bonus on saves against effects with the emotion trait.
Speed 30 feet
Melee [one-action] flail +16 [+11/+6] (disarm, sweep, trip), Damage 2d8+6 bludgeoningMelee [one-action] tail +16 [+11/+6] (backswing), Damage 2d6+6 bludgeoning plus 1d6 fireDivine Innate Spells DC 29, attack +21; 4th divine wrath, heal, vampiric maiden; 3rd blindness, heroism, message; 2nd blood vendetta, calm, sudden blight; 1st bane, heal, protection; Cantrips (4th) bullhorn, divine lance, shield, void warp
Focus Spells 3 Focus Points, DC 29, attack +21; 4th soothing words, unity
Ekriathe's Breath [two-actions] Iapholi breathes a gout of energy powered by one of her past lives. She chooses whether this affects a 60-foot line or a 30-foot cone. She also chooses one of the following damage types that the breath deals, which also affects the type of DC 25 basic saving throw affected creatures attempt to reduce the damage: bludgeoning (Fortitude), electricity (Reflex), fire (Reflex), poison (Fortitude), sonic (Fortitude), or spirit (Will). The breath deals 8d6 damage. Ekriathe's Breath gains the trait associated with the chosen damage type. Iapholi can't use Ekriathe's Breath again for 1d4 rounds.Mythic Power 3 Mythic Points
  • Mythic Skill [free-action] Cost 1 Mythic Point; Effect Iapholi attempts her next Diplomacy check with a +4 bonus and is considered to have mythic proficiency for that check.
  • Recharge Spell [one-action] (concentrate) Cost 1 Mythic Point; Effect Iapholi regains one spell.