Psychopomp Usher, BarzahkFeathered arms emerge from the shoulders of this hunched raven, clutching a key of bone.Barzahk CR 28Source Pathfinder #143: Borne by the Sun's Grace pg. 90
XP 4,915,200
N Medium outsider (extraplanar, psychopomp, shapechanger)
Init +20; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect thoughts, detect undead, low-light vision, spiritsense, true seeing; Perception +47
Aura frightful presence (120 ft., DC 37), loneliness unbroken (100 ft.)DefenseAC 46, touch 26, flat-footed 35 (+4 armor, +5 deflection, +10 Dex, +1 dodge, +16 natural)
hp 676 (33d10+495); regeneration 30 (deific or mythic)
Fort +33, Ref +23, Will +31
Defensive Abilities freedom of movement, improved evasion, ominous bird of yore, uncertain rustling, usher traits, walk with death; DR 20/adamantine and epic; Immune ability damage, ability drain, acid, charm, compulsion, death effects, disease, energy drain, necromancy effects, petrification, poison; Resist cold 30, electricity 30; SR 39OffenseSpeed 60 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee Surcease of Sorrows +43/+38/+33/+28 (2d6+15), bite +43 (2d6+5)
Special Attacks toss thee here ashore
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 33rd; concentration +44)
Constant—detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect thoughts (DC 23), detect undead, freedom of movement, mage armor, true seeing
At will—beguiling gift (DC 23), calm spirit (DC 23), dimension doorM, dimensional anchor, greater dispel magic, greater teleport, mage’s magnificent mansion, major image (DC 24), mirage arcana (DC 26), mirror imageM
3/day—banishment (DC 28), empowered circle of death (DC 28), dimensional lock, interplanetary teleport (DC 30), quickened maze, empowered undeath to death (DC 28)
1/day—freedom, phase doorStatisticsStr 30, Dex 31, Con 40, Int 31, Wis 32, Cha 33
Base Atk +33; CMB +43 (+47 disarm); CMD 69 (71 vs. disarm)
Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Empower Spell-Like Ability (circle of death), Empower Spell-Like Ability (undeath to death), Greater Disarm, Improved Disarm, Improved Iron Will, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (maze), Spring Attack, Stand Still, Wind Stance, Sidestep
Skills Craft (mapmaking) +46, Diplomacy +47, Fly +54, Knowledge (arcana) +46, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +46, Knowledge (geography) +46, Knowledge (history) +43, Knowledge (local) +43, Knowledge (planes) +46, Linguistics +43, Perception +47, Sense Motive +57, Spellcraft +43, Stealth +46, Survival +44, Use Magic Device +44
Languages all; telepathy 300 ft.
SQ change shape (humanoid or bird, polymorph), entreating entrance, spirit touchSpecial AbilitiesEntreating Entrance (Su) While in the Boneyard, the Dead Roads, or the Material Plane, Barzahk can open new routes through the Dead Roads up to three times per day. This functions as if they had cast teleportation circle, but this new route lasts for only 1 hour unless Barzahk appoints a master for the route. A master can be any willing humanoid, monstrous humanoid, fey, or outsider with at least one neutral component to its alignment, who must thereafter reside permanently along that length of the Dead Roads. A master gains Barzahk’s toss thee here ashore ability while in her domain, and creatures must gain a stamp of approval from the master to use that length of the Dead Roads. A length of the Dead Roads vanishes if its master dies or is absent for more than 1 hour.
Loneliness Unbroken (Su) As a master of ways and lost things, Barzahk can decide when and if creatures leave their presence. Creatures that approach within 100 feet of Barzahk cannot leave that radius unless the usher wills it, always looping back if they flee and returning to a random point within 100 feet.
Ominous Bird of Yore (Ex) If slain within their domain, Barzahk immediately re-forms—growing from a random bird somewhere along the Dead Roads—with full hit points. They cannot use this ability for 1 month afterward.
Toss Thee Here Ashore (Su) While on the Dead Roads, Barzahk can cast banishment at will, treating all creatures as if they had the extraplanar subtype. Creatures successfully banished are sent either to the Material Plane or the Boneyard, at Barzahk’s discretion.
Uncertain Rustling (Su) Barzahk never stands exactly where they seem to, their mastery of travel slightly displacing them even when at rest. They gain a +5 deflection bonus to AC, and all attacks targeting them have a 20% miss chance. True seeing and similar effects negate this miss chance, but not the deflection bonus to AC.DescriptionBarzahk the Passage is among the youngest of Pharasma’s ushers, having been born alongside (or, some suggest, as) the transitive Dead Roads that psychopomps use to travel the planes. Despite this relative youth, they still number among the oldest beings in creation, predating many archdevils, demon lords, empyreal lords, and even gods. Barzahk sees little new in this world, and a powerful boredom drives them to find wonder in small and personal things—the blooming of a flower, the rattle of a last breath, the tears of love that fall at a funeral. Whimsical and distracted, the usher rarely attends to their appointed duties for long and instead takes to wandering the planes to find new small wonders they can experience.
Even with their disregard for duty, the Passage is obsessively protective of their domain, the Dead Roads, and most of their wanderings use this realm as a path. Barzahk’s awareness extends along the length and breadth of these extraplanar routes, and the usher can cast trespassers from their realm as easily as a dog shakes off water—and often with the same dispassion.
Enigmatic and distracted, Barzahk seems to have trouble recognizing individual servants and worshippers. It is appropriate that the usher of lost travelers and vigils for missing things likewise seems so lost at all times. With their master prone to long wanderings, those psychopomps who serve under the Passage enjoy an unprecedented level of freedom in how they carry out their duties, with many even establishing their own small domains like more powerful outsiders.
In addition to the usual army of attendant psychopomps, Barzahk commands a unique resource: the way stations and their masters that pin the Dead Roads in space and time. As such, Barzahk can call upon a strange menagerie of outsiders, fey, and experts for specialized tasks. While the various entities Barzahk appoints have no compulsion to obey the Passage, the usher can easily retract the authority they grant, denying these servants an isolated, secure home and relative power.
Barzahk normally wanders the Dead Roads among the faceless flocks of ravens, jays, vultures, and whippoorwills that infest the Dead Roads, but they sometimes assume a larger, more humanoid form. In this form, they stand just over 5 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds.Creatures in "Psychopomp Usher" CategoryFeathered arms emerge from the shoulders of this hunched raven, clutching a key of bone.
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