All Monsters in "Sahkil"
Source Bestiary 3 pg. 218Ages ago, when this cycle of the multiverse was still adolescent, a cabal of
psychopomps who already felt bored and restrained in their role of ushering souls to their ultimate resting place rebelled against their station. It was this corruption of the cycle of souls that spawned the first sahkils.
Ambivalent to the prescribed order of the multiverse and spiteful of mortals, sahkils delight in spreading fear and unease to all beings, clogging up the metaphysical cycle with anxiety-ridden mortals too scared to achieve their potential. These fiends have drastically changed from their dedicated psychopomp predecessors. They are creatures of spite and torment, fear and disgust. They exploit the most common and rare fears for their own perverse satisfaction, and they want nothing more than to frighten mortals and make them question their reason for existence.
Most sahkils lurk on the
Ethereal Plane, but they frequently invade the
Material Plane to torment mortals and spread terror. They use their innate ability to slip between the veils of the Ethereal and Material effortlessly, often stalking their targets for days or weeks before enacting their devious plots.
At Home in Cities
Both
penquals and
nenchuujes are at home in large cities, but for different reasons. Penquals like slipping in among throngs of people, where they can inflict their terrors upon the lost or disoriented. Nenchuujes stalk magic academies, universities, or other places where spellcasters learn their craft, preying upon spellcasters' imposter syndrome.
Check with Friends
Sahkils are creatures of fear and terror. Roleplaying encounters with sahkils could be troubling to some players, and delving deep into the kinds of traumas sahkils relish in unleashing could have unintentional effects on your game and your friends. Before introducing sahkils into your game, talk with your players to learn about any particular phobias or limits to determine what content you bring to the table, and consider that on your own behalf as well. Some specific elements to be aware of are the
ximtal's abilities around sensory deprivation and social isolation, as well as the
kimenhul's trauma-related abilities and themes.
Coatls and Sahkils
Legends in Arcadia say that
coatls and
sahkils rose to prominence as the first mortals walked on Golarion. Each saw unique potential in the mortals; coatls saw hope and the capacity to rise to achieve great feats, while sahkils saw the potential to foster fear. Fearful mortals would never accomplish anything, becoming useless piles of flesh whose souls would languish. These withered souls would be unable to properly travel the River of Souls, disrupting the delicate balance of the afterlife. To this day, coatls work to inspire mortals and push them toward greater achievements all while striving to keep the sahkils’ terror at bay.
Couatls and Sahkils
Legends in Arcadia say that couatls and
sahkils both rose to prominence as the first mortals walked on Golarion. Each saw unique potential in the mortals; couatls saw hope and the potential to rise to achieve great feats, while sahkils saw the potential for fear. Fearful mortals would never accomplish anything, becoming useless piles of flesh whose souls would languish. These withered souls would be unable to properly travel the River of Souls, disrupting the delicate balance of the afterlife. To this day, couatls work to inspire mortals and push them toward greater tasks while striving to keep the sahkils' terror at bay
Embodiments of Fear
All sahkils have horrifying appearances, and each type specializes in exacerbating a specific fear in mortals.
Penquals embody not only a fear of crowds, but also of confined spaces and of being lost within a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Nenchuujes embody both the fear of magic's horrifying side effects as well as the fear that one's own magic might be twisted to an unexpected or tragic end.
Feeding on Fear
Sahkils are immortal planar beings and don't require material sustenance, but they do seem to gain some semblance of nourishment from the fear they spread. Whether this is psychological or biological remains to be seen, but their obsession with frightening other creatures is clear. Sahkils recognize that they are already feared, so it may be that they are simply fulfilling what they believe is their ultimate purpose.
Planar Relations
Sahkils collaborate with
divs to corrupt and corrode mortals.
Velstracs, who appreciate sahkils' depredations, sometimes work with these fiends to enact terrible horror on their victims. Nihilistic and disaffected,
daemons tolerate sahkils but tend to view them as useless provocateurs.
Sahkil Tormentors
The most powerful among sahkils are the sahkil tormentors. These deific beings rule over sahkils as a whole, and many personally direct the actions of their lesser cousins. Others fall into ambivalent routines, focusing more on their own personal acts of torment rather than launching widespread, ambitious depredations upon unsuspecting mortals.
War Against Hope
Sahkils and
couatls are eternal enemies. The creatures each vie for the hearts of mortals, but from different sides of a single ideological coin. Sahkils wish to instill only fear into mortal hearts, trying to reduce them into useless piles of flesh who accomplish little. Couatls work to light the fires of hope, inspiring mortals to rise up and achieve their potential.
Xibalba
Within the ghostly realm of the
Ethereal Plane, sahkils inhabit a terrifying realm known as Xibalba. The Land of Dread is a realm of nightmares made manifest. At the center of this demiplane is a tiered pyramid known as the Black Pyramid, where the sahkil tormentors rule their brethren and sow fear through the mortal realm.
