Agathion, ChelonidalThis creature resembles a cross between a humanoid and a sea turtle, with flipper-like hands and a heavy shell covering its back.Chelonidal CR 7Source Pathfinder #121: The Lost Outpost pg. 80
XP 3,200
NG Medium outsider (agathion, aquatic, extraplanar, good)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, see invisibility; Perception +14DefenseAC 22, touch 22, flat-footed 20 (+2 Dex, +10 natural)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +10; +4 vs. movement effects and poison
Defensive Abilities protective shell, underwater movility; DR 10/evil and silver; Immune cold, electricity, petrification; Resist sonic 10; SR 18OffenseSpeed 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee +2 cold iron trident +13/+8 (1d8+5), bite +9 (1d6+3) or bite +14 (1d6+5)
Ranged +2 cold iron trident +13 (1d8+4)
Special Attacks none shall pass
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +12)
Constant—see invisibility, speak with animals
At will—create water, dimension door, hydraulic torrent
3/day—dimensional anchor, shield otherStatisticsStr 15, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 23
Feats Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Diplomacy +15, Heal +14, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (nature, planes) +13, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Swim +10
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; speak with animals; truespeech
SQ amphibious, bulwark, celestial soldier, lay on hands (4d6, 7/day), mercies (exhausted, fatigued)EcologyEnvironment any land or water (Nirvana)
Organization solitary, pair, phalanx (4–12 chelonidals), or legion (10–20 chelonidals plus 1–2 avoral lieutenants and 1 cervinal commander)
Treasure standard (+2 cold iron trident, other gear)Special AbilitiesBulwark (Ex) Chelonidals drill to defend important sites, and they inspire others to do the same. The chelonidal and allies adjacent to it gain a morale bonus equal to the chelonidal’s Constitution bonus on saving throws against effects that would cause them to move from their current square, as well as to their CMD against such effects. When an adjacent ally would be reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, the chelonidal can use its lay on hands ability to help that ally as an immediate action; the chelonidal is then staggered for 1 round.
Celestial Soldier (Sp) A chelonidal’s natural weapons, as well as any manufactured weapons it wields, are under the constant effects of greater magic fang or greater magic weapon (as appropriate). The caster level of these effects is equal to the chelonidal’s Hit Dice, including Hit Dice gained from class levels or other effects.
Lay on Hands (Su) A chelonidal can use lay on hands as per a 9th-level paladin. This ability cures fatigue and exhaustion in addition to damage, as though the chelonidal had the appropriate mercies.
None Shall Pass (Ex) When making attacks of opportunity provoked by movement, a chelonidal adds its Charisma bonus to the attack roll. On a hit, the target immediately stops moving in its current square and can’t move until the start of its next turn.
Protective Shell (Su) A chelonidal’s fortified shell protects it from many threats. A chelonidal can’t be flanked, and attacks that would benefit from flanking deal only half their normal damage to the chelonidal. In addition, the chelonidal’s touch AC is modified by its natural armor bonus. As a standard action, a chelonidal can create total cover along one edge of its space, as though using a tower shield; this total cover applies to others as well as the chelonidal.
Underwater Mobility (Ex) While completely submerged in water, a chelonidal gains the benefits of Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack.DescriptionChelonidal agathions are the foot soldiers and guards of Nirvana. While the realm’s inhabitants prize enlightenment over militarism, the agathions recognize that vigilant guardians are necessary to the preservation of peace. Chelonidals form from the souls of those who willingly gave their lives in defense of a person or place, or who protected the sea from terrestrial threats.
Like all agathions, chelonidals are capable of speaking with any linguistically gifted creature. Their voices generally have a gravelly quality that reminds most listeners of a grizzled veteran soldier. This idea is reinforced by the chelonidals’ habitual good-natured cantankerousness, as well as their fondness for war stories.
Chelonidals and dwarves often get along well, despite the latter race’s dislike for the sea; the agathions share dwarves’ resolve, as well as their traditional military tactics. Trudd, dwarven deity of strength and defense, has arrangements with several legions of chelonidals, and he occasionally sends them in response to planar ally spells.
A typical chelonidal is 6 feet tall and weighs 400 pounds. EcologyA chelonidal’s body is well suited to its role. While its hands resemble a sea turtle’s flippers more than they do the hands of terrestrial humanoids, it has no difficulty performing tasks that require manual dexterity. A chelonidal’s turtle-like head grants it a powerful bite attack, while its bright eyes can pierce invisibility with ease. Potent magic permeates its shell, diffusing magical attacks and firearm strikes and protecting it from treacherous backstabbing. Additionally, in times of need, a chelonidal can turn its back to its enemies, using its shell as an impenetrable shield that halts all attacks.
Like other outsiders, chelonidals have no need to eat or sleep. A chelonidal can maintain its post with unceasing vigilance for years or even centuries, if need be. Chelonidals don’t normally reproduce sexually, being directly formed from the petitioners of Nirvana. However, given their tendency to protect locations for long periods, those on the Material Plane occasionally fall in love with mortals. If such a relationship results in children, the chelonidal parent remains until its offspring come of age, departing only if a great need arises; the lords of Nirvana understand that the duty to protect must be counterbalanced with duty to family. Such children are usually idyllkin aasimar rather than more powerful half-celestials. Habitat and SocietyChelonidals guard the peaceable plane of Nirvana. Whether guarding the celestial realm’s sites or marching in formation along its roads, chelonidals stand ever vigilant to repel assault. As their appearance suggests, they are also at home in the water; while their normal phalanx tactics are of less use in three-dimensional underwater combat, they make up for it with additional mobility in aquatic environs.
On Nirvana, most chelonidals serve more potent agathions without complaint. The empyreal lords Dalenydra and Ylimancha, in particular, often associate with chelonidals. Every so often a chelonidal feels the urge to wander; while it never leaves a post without securing a replacement, once one is found, the agathion wanders for a time before settling down again. Some find their way to the Material Plane during this period. Without a specific task, a chelonidal on the Material Plane often finds a secluded but vulnerable location, such as a remote fishing village or shrine, and defends it until protectors can be found or trained.
While chelonidals defend those who cannot defend themselves, they are at their strongest when they stand alongside those with the strength and will to fight. A single chelonidal can bolster a mortal legion, keeping the troops fighting until reinforcements arrive. In greater numbers, chelonidals form a phalanx, trusting in allies to clean up any foe that makes it past their guard. On those rare occasions when the agathions must march to war, chelonidals form the core of their armies. Led by cervinal knights and supported by soaring avorals, a chelonidal legion is a force potent enough to make any fiendish combatants think twice.Creatures in "Agathion" CategorySource Bestiary 2 pg. 15
Agathions are a race of beast-aspect outsiders native to the plane of Nirvana, a realm of pure good unconcerned with the dogma of law (represented by Heaven) or chaos (represented by Elysium). Though Nirvana is a place of rest where blessed souls seek enlightenment, agathions are aggressive and interventionist in the mortal world when it comes to dealing with evil. Created from the souls of good mortals who have managed to achieve the enlightenment they sought in life (or in some cases, after death), agathions embody the principles of a peaceable kingdom while marshaling their strength to defend that kingdom from any who would despoil it. Because they strike an ethical balance between the chaotic, fey-like azatas and the lawful, rigid process of the archons, agathions are often liaisons between the celestial races, soothing hot tempers and working toward mutual goals of vanquishing evil and protecting good.
All agathions have an animal-like aspect. Some are more humanoid in appearance, while others spend their entire existence in a form nearly identical to that of a true animal. Each type of agathion serves a particular role in Nirvana, and their duties on other planes echo these responsibilities: leonals watch over Nirvana's portals and have a guardian-like aspect in other worlds, draconals carry the wisdom of the ages and observe and guide exceptional mortals, vulpinals are bards and messengers and bear important news to celestial generals and mortal heroes, and so on. Agathions are proud of their feral aspects and don't take kindly to the suggestion that they are cursed folk like lycanthropes or nothing more than magical talking beasts. Every agathion was once a mortal who aspired to goodness and was rewarded in the afterlife with a form suiting her talents and personality; suggesting that an agathion's form is a kind of punishment is a terrible insult.
The following pages describe only a few of the best-known kinds of agathions, but other types exist, corresponding to other conventional animals (bears, dinosaurs, fish, wolves, and so on), with a few having shapes that resemble insects (particularly beetles, butterflies, and mantises); a handful resemble stranger creatures (such as basilisks and owlbears) or unique “animals” native to extreme environments on distant worlds. Certain animals, particularly those associated with scavenging activities (such as hyenas, buzzards, or jackals) or parasitism (like lampreys or ticks) specifically do not have agathions associated with them—these animals are not intrinsically evil, but their habits and ecological niches are far from the noble and proud traditions that most of the souls who seek enlightenment upon Nirvana would associate with themselves.
Individual agathions may be male or female, but they do not reproduce among their own kind—every agathion is a unique individual made from the soul of a good mortal. This does not prevent them from falling in love or having affairs with mortals, and a few aasimar and celestial sorcerer bloodlines derive from past contact with agathions, particularly among communities not averse to anthropomorphic humanoids. Indeed, many mythologies tie numerous races of this kind to the inevitable result of human tribes forming strong emotional attachments to visiting agathions.
Agathions speak Celestial, Draconic, and Infernal, though they can communicate with any intelligent creature because of their truespeech ability. They can also communicate with animals using a similar, silent ability. Even the weakest agathion is able to heal itself or others using a power similar to a paladin's ability to lay on hands. All agathions have a number of similar traits, as detailed in Appendix 3 of this book.
Agathions serving a particular deity or empyreal lord may have additional abilities depending on the role their deity assigns them. For example, a cetaceal serving a goddess of volcanic islands may be able to change shape into a more human-like form to walk on land, and may be immune to fire to tolerate and tend to the life-rich thermal vents at the ocean floor.
Agathion Leaders
Though agathions lack an organized hierarchy, each type of agathion has a few individuals invested with power by the gods of Nirvana or the plane itself. Common agathions look to these exceptional examples for leadership, wisdom, and inspiration; these enlightened folk do not openly claim any responsibilities or rank over their fellows, but welcome the obligations this added power places upon them and do not deny their status or shirk their duties. Part of a category of powerful outsiders known collectively as empyreal lords, these leaders are often significantly larger than common agathions (up to double the normal size, in some cases), and have unusual coloration (such as iron-gray fur) or unique sensory manifestations associated with their presence (such as illusory birds, a constant melody, the scent of oranges, or a calming aura). No agathion fails to recognize their presence when not disguised. Agathion leaders can serve as heralds for deities, although they tend not to encourage religions based on their teachings. The following is but a selection of notable agathion leaders.
Chavod Broken-Spear (cetaceal)
Kelumarion the King Over the Mountain (leonal)
Korada of the Dream Lotus (avoral)
Lady Taramyth the Singing Flame (vulpinal)
Sixlife the Violet Fury (silvanshee)
Walks with Golden Stars (draconal)
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