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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Ijda (Forgetful Nindoru)

Ijdas are creatures of forgetfulness. Born from souls who were once enlightened but then renounced it and their role in the cycle of reincarnation, they curse the futility of their existence and find pleasure in leading others to the same fate.

Ijdas appear as towering humanoids, their bodies bloated and constantly bursting with small red butterflies that flitter away before melting into mist. Their arms are overly long and so broken as to writhe more like tentacles, affording them an unsettling combat style with greater reach than most large creatures enjoy. They wear clothing and capes made of moldy straw and wield broken swords whose shattered blades still float roughly in place. Their most unsettling features are their complete lack of heads; instead, where a head should be sits a wicker cage filled with a writhing cloud of butterflies. Yet still, they see, hear, and speak without issue, as if their heads remained in place.

Formed without heads or even brains, an idja's mind is shared among the flocks of butterflies in their head cages or bursting from their bodies, and as each of these insects escapes and fades away, these forgetful fiends lose another potential thought. Unable to learn new things, any actions they take stem from memories etched into their souls or directives they blindly follow from other nindorus or creatures they've come to accept as superiors. Their movements, words, and reactions are all conducted via a type of muscle memory based on how their souls believe they should respond to their external stimuli. As a result, most now serve as brutal guardians, since their forgetfulness also prevents them from being able to sleep.

Recall Knowledge - Fiend (Religion): DC 22
Unspecific Lore: DC 20
Specific Lore: DC 17

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

IjdaCreature 6

Legacy Content

CE Large Fiend Nindoru 
Source Pathfinder #197: Let the Leaves Fall pg. 89
Perception +15; darkvisiondarkvision
Languages Aklo, Common, Necril
Skills Athletics +16
Str +6, Dex +2, Con +5, Int -2, Wis +2, Cha +0
Items broken katana
AC 23; Fort +15, Ref +13, Will +12
HP 100; Immunities death effects, emotion effects, fatigue, sleep; Resistances mental 5, negative 5; Weaknesses silver 5
Aura of Forgetfulness (aura, enchantment, mental, occult) 30 feet. A creature who begins its turn in the aura must attempt a DC 21 Will save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected and is temporarily immune to Aura of Forgetfulness for 24 hours.
Success The creature is unaffected.
Failure The creature is slowed 1 until the end of its next turn, as it has trouble remembering what it intended to do.
Critical Failure As failure, but slowed 2.Soul Shred Creatures killed by a Ijda are difficult to bring back to life or animate as undead. The Ijda automatically attempts to counteract any attempt to resurrect or animate any creature that it has killed (counteract modifier +14, counteract level 3). If the Ijda who slew the creature is itself slain, the creature can be brought back from death or become undead normally.
Speed 30 feet
Melee [one-action] broken katana +17 [+12/+7] (deadly d8, reach 15 feet, two-hand d10, versatile P), Damage 2d6+8 slashing plus 1d6 mentalOccult Innate Spells DC 24, attack +16; 3rd phantom pain, shatter; 2nd item facade, touch of idiocy; 1st true strike; Cantrips (3rd) daze
Manifest False Memories [two-actions] (aura, concentrate, emotion, enchantment, mental, occult) The ijda releases a cloud of red butterflies from its body, each of which carries a false memory that infects those they brush against. All non-nindoru creatures within 10 feet of the ijda must attempt a DC 21 Will save. The ijda can't Manifest False Memories for 1d4 rounds.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature is stupefied 1 until the end of its next turn.
Failure The creature is stupefied 1 and confused until the end of its next turn.
Critical Failure The creature is stupefied 1 and confused for 1 minute. It can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns to end the effects.

All Monsters in "Nindoru"

NameLevel
Akashti (Sobbing Nindoru)10
Argyrzei (Headless Nindoru)13
Guhdggi (Wandering Nindoru)5
Ijda (Forgetful Nindoru)6
Kagekuma (Lurking Nindoru)8
Meokdan (Hungry Nindoru)2
Shisagishin (Crooked Nindoru)12
Sojiruh (Shrieking Nindoru)4

Nindoru

Source Pathfinder #197: Let the Leaves Fall pg. 84
When an evil mortal soul that has been reincarnated multiple times is wrenched from the cycle of souls and corrupted, it can undergo a horrific transformation into a fiend known as a nindoru. A force for entropy and the breaking of cycles, nindorus are hideous creatures whose bodies often appear distorted, who wield weapons that have been shattered yet still function, and whose true face is often hidden from view. They display traits one might expect to see in an undead creature, such as decaying flesh or exposed bones, yet a nindoru is very much still alive.

Each nindoru epitomizes the fracture of a specific cycle, be it one from the natural world or from societal traditions. To the nindoru, nothing is more delicious than the consumption of a creature who has reincarnated multiple times, with those who are theoretically about to ascend to true enlightenment presenting the tastiest meal. Those slain by a nindoru are themselves torn from the cycle—the lucky ones move on to the Boneyard for judgment, but many are instead corrupted to form more of these horrific fiends.

Followers of Sangpotshi find nindoru to be particularly abhorrent and count them among the greatest threats imaginable. Most commonly found in regions of the world where the reincarnation cycle is strongest, nindorus are, like rakshasas and oni, associated most strongly with the Material Plane.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Nindoru Butterflies

One of the strangest shared traits of the various types of nindoru are the blood-red butterflies that seem to follow them around, nest on their bodies, or periodically emerge from their wounds. These unnerving insects are physical manifestations of the nindorus' thoughts and symbolize the countless past lives they once lived but turned their backs on. Nindoru butterflies never last long once they flutter more than a few feet from their source, fading away into smoke that quickly dissipates into the air.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Nindoru Demigods

The most powerful nindorus are demigods, although their cults are quite rare. Prone to reincarnation after death, nindoru demigods like Kugaptee are more properly known as “nindoru ascetics.”

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Nindoru Trait

Nindorus are chaotic evil fiends that rise from corruptions to the cycle of reincarnating souls and live on the Material Plane. Although they often have elements in their appearance that make them seem undead, they're actually living beings. Most nindorus have darkvision, are immune to death effects, have weakness to silver, and possess the power to manifest objects or creatures from their thoughts.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Nindoru Traitors

While most nindorus are purely chaotic evil in nature, legends tell of exceptionally rare nindorus who manage to escape their own nature and ascend, reincarnating after death into kami or other more benevolent spirits and shedding the nindoru trait as they do so. Of course, these “traitors” are regarded as the most delicious meals imaginable by the nindorus left behind.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Other Nindorus

Many other types of nindorus exist beyond the four presented on these pages. Others include the corpse- copying akashtis (sobbing nindorus), infiltrators of society known as kagekumas (lurking nindorus), the dead defiling shisagishins (crooked nindorus), and the powerful and brutal argyrzeis (headless nindorus).

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Reincarnated Souls

In some cases, you’ll know if a creature a nindoru attacks has a reincarnated soul. Ancestries like samsarans are always reincarnated souls, and a PC’s backstory or even their background can often indicate the presence of a previous life. All of the PCs in Season of Ghosts qualify as reincarnated souls, as they’ve relived their lives over and over for decades. If you ever need to determine if a creature’s soul is reincarnated for the purpose of adjudicating a nindoru’s ability, attempt a DC 11 flat check—on a success, it has a reincarnated soul.