 Achaekek, the Mantis God
It is almost too enormous to comprehend: a titan nightmare clad in blood-red armor, a typhoon of grasping claws and toxic stings. Its legs are shuddering pylons, trees whose trunks bear bark of polished chitin. Its eyes are faceted crystal domes, lit from within by angry volcanic fire. Yet when the behemoth walks, its body moves with a silence made all the more horrific by the impossibility of its size.Achaekek, the Mantis God CR 30Source Pathfinder #9: Escape from Old Korvosa pg. 80
LE Colossal outsider (lawful, evil, extraplanar)
Init +21; Senses darkvision 240 ft., deathwatch, true seeing; Listen +44, Spot +44
Aura unweaving auraDefenseAC 45, touch 15, flat-footed 32 (+13 Dex, +30 natural, -8 size)
hp 765 (34d8+612); regeneration 40
Fort +37, Ref +32, Will +28
Defensive Abilities freedom of movement, improved evasion; DR 20/epic; Immune ability damage, ability drain, blindness, death effects, energy drain, fire, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison; Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20; SR 42OffenseSpeed 180 ft., climb 80 ft., fly 180 ft. (average)
Melee 4 claws +42 (2d8+16/15-20) and bite +40 (4d6+8/15-20) and sting +40 (2d8+6/15-20 plus poison)
Ranged 2 spikes +39 (2d8+16/18-20 plus poison)
Space 60 ft., Reach 60 ft.
Special Attacks create gate, rend 4d8+24StatisticsStr 43, Dex 36, Con 46, Int 6, Wis 24, Cha 20
Base Atk +34; Grapple +66
Feats Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Hover, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (claw, bite, sting), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Wingover
Skills Climb +61, Hide +34, Listen +44, Move Silently +50, Spot +44, Tumble +50
Languages Infernal
SQ savage criticalsEcologyEnvironment any
Organization unique
Treasure none
Advancement 35+ HD (Colossal)Special AbilitiesCreate Gate (Su) Once per minute, as a move action, the Mantis God can create a portal between planes by raking one of its claws through the air. This duplicates the effects of a gate spell used for planar travel. The gate remains open as long as Achaekek concentrates.
Deathwatch (Su) The mantis god can sense life and death, as if under the effects of a deathwatch spell at all times.
Freedom of Movement (Su) Achaekek is constantly protected by freedom of movement, as per the spell.
Improved Evasion (Ex) This ability works like the rogue special ability of the same name.
Poison (Su) Injury, Fortitude DC 45, initial and secondary damage 1d4 negative levels. Creatures that are immune to poison can still be affected by this supernatural venom’s secondary damage (not its initial damage), although they gain a +10 circumstance bonus on their saving throw to resist the toxin. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Regeneration (Su) Only damage dealt by a creature of demigod or greater status deals lethal damage to the Mantis God. Achaekek regenerates even if it fails a saving throw against a disintegrate spell or a death effect. If the Mantis God fails its save against a spell or effect that would kill it instantly, the effect instead deals nonlethal damage equal to the Mantis God’s full normal hit point total +10 (normally 775 points of damage). The mantis god is also immune to effects that produce incurable or bleeding wounds (such as a clay golem’s cursed wound or a wounding weapon). There are rumors of specific weapons or legendary monsters capable of dealing lethal damage to the Mantis God as well.
Rend (Ex) If the Mantis God hits a creature with two or more claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an extra 4d8+24 points of damage.
Savage Criticals (Ex) All of Achaekek’s natural weapons threaten a critical hit on a roll of 18–20 (and with its Improved Critical feats, these attacks threaten on a 15–20). Any creature the Mantis God strikes with a critical hit must make a DC 43 Fortitude save to avoid being stunned for 1 round from the force of the blow. The save DC is Strength-based.
Tail Spike (Ex) As a standard action, the Mantis God can hurl two poisoned spikes from its stinger. Spikes hurled are replenished immediately. This ranged attack has a range increment of 100 feet.
True Seeing (Su) Achaekek continuously uses this ability, as the spell.
Unweaving Aura (Su) Achaekek is surrounded by an invisible aura of abjuration energy to a radius of 360 feet. Each round, a creature in this area must make a DC 32 Will save. Failure indicates that a random ongoing magical effect on that creature is dispelled, as if by a successful dispel magic effect. If the creature has no applicable magic auras to be dispelled, it takes 2 points of Charisma drain instead on a failed save. The save DC is Charisma-based.DescriptionAchaekek is known to only a very few by its name—most know of this legendary assassin by its more common (although somewhat misleading) name of He Who Walks in Blood, or the Mantis God. Yet Achaekek is not a true god, but rather one of the first creatures given life by the gods. Even early on, long before mortal life came to dominate the Material Plane, some of the gods realized they would need an agent to carry out their divine justice, an agent they could send without compromising their own standing among the divine or dirtying their hands tending to immortals and demigods who could someday, if left alive, rise in power to a point to challenge them. Achaekek was created to be an assassin, a creature the gods could use against nascent enemies. Yet the gods did not wish to create a creature capable of being used against them, and thus created the Mantis God with the fundamental inability to act against the gods themselves—it can only slay those of demigod status or lower.
The faiths of Golarion disagree upon which of the gods created Achaekek. The churches of Asmodeus, Zon-Kuthon, Norgorber, Lamashtu, Rovagug, Gorum, Pharasma, and Calistria all have compelling arguments that point to their patrons as the source of the Mantis God. Others believe that it was not one god but a convocation of gods who gave the divine assassin its life. Still others believe that the gods who created Achaekek are themselves now dead, in some cases victims of their own murderous creation after their powers caused them to lose enough of their divinity to merely become immortals. One thing seems certain, though—although not all of Golarion’s deities approve of the Mantis God, none have yet stepped in to unmake it. And to date, none have openly admitted to ever issuing a kill order to the Mantis God. It’s almost as if Achaekek knows instinctually who or what must be slain, or perhaps is receiving its orders from a source beyond that of the pantheon itself. He Who Walks in Blood strikes only rarely, and its victims seem strange and inconsequential at times.
|