Herald, Great Elder IuuThis ancient stone giant towers over others of his kind and has a crown of crystalline growths sprouting from his head. He holds a warhammer made of meteoric stone pierced by natural deposits of glinting metallic ore.Great Elder Iuu CR 15Source Pathfinder #93: Forge of the Giant God pg. 86
XP 51,200
LE Large outsider (evil, giant, heraldISG, lawful)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision; Perception +21
Aura courage (20 ft.)DefenseAC 30, touch 13, flat-footed 26 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +17 natural, –1 size)
hp 216 (16d10+128)
Fort +18, Ref +8, Will +15
Defensive Abilities improved rock catching; DR 10/adamantine; Immune fearOffenseSpeed 30 ft.
Melee +3 adamantine corrosive warhammer +27/+22/+17/+12 (2d6+12/×3 plus 1d6 acid)
Ranged adamantine rock +19/+14/+9/+4 (1d8+9)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks rock throwing (200 ft.)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +19)
At will—meld into stone, stone shape
5/day—bull’s strength, cure serious wounds (DC 16), invisibility purge, levitate
3/day—dimension door, dispel magic, fly, gravel vortex (see page 74), neutralize poison, order’s wrath (DC 17), spike stones (DC 17)
1/day—breath of life, fabricate, stone tell, stoneskin, wall of stoneStatisticsStr 29, Dex 17, Con 27, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 16
Base Atk +16; CMB +26; CMD 40
Feats Blind-Fight, Cleave, Dodge, Iron Will, Point-Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw
Skills Climb +15, Craft (stonemasonry, weapons) +15, Diplomacy +15, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history, planes, religion) +12, Perception +21, Perform (sing) +12, Sense Motive +16, Stealth +17 (+25 in rocky terrain); Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth in rocky terrain
Languages Common, Giant, Infernal
SQ stone giant blood, summon bouldersEcologyEnvironment temperate mountains (Hell)
Organization solitary or council (Great Elder Iuu plus 3d6 stone giants or fiendish stone giants)
Treasure standard (+3 adamantine corrosive warhammer, other treasure)Special AbilitiesAura of Courage (Su) Great Elder Iuu is immune to fear. His allies within 20 feet gain a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions only while he’s conscious, not if he’s unconscious or dead.
Improved Rock Catching (Ex) Great Elder Iuu gains a +4 racial bonus on his Reflex save when attempting to catch a thrown rock with rock catching. This ability otherwise works as the rock catching ability.
Stone Giant Blood (Ex) Great Elder Iuu counts as a stone giant for any effect related to race.
Summon Boulders (Su) Great Elder Iuu can summon three adamantine throwing rocks as a swift action. If thrown, the rocks disappear at the end of his turn. Any rocks leaving his grasp otherwise disappear immediately.DescriptionGreat Elder Iuu is one of the first stone giants ever to set foot upon the mountains of Golarion, and one of the stone giants’ first tribal elders. After he died at the age of 888, Minderhal brought him to Stonepeak for a century of paradise and crafting, then elevated him to serve as the god’s herald. Minderhal sends Iuu to the mortal world in times of great trouble or change for the stone giant people, or to put an end to conflicts between tribes.
Iuu looks like an exceptionally tall, handsome, and wise elder stone giant with crystals sprouting from his head like a crown and a cloak of heavy moss. His weapon is Anfaru (meaning “Mountain from the Sky”), an adamantine-laden stone meteorite he carved over the course of 100 years into a hammer shape. Iuu has a deep, booming voice that can shatter mortar when he’s angry. His crystal crown and unusual weapon have sometimes led ignorant members of lesser races to mistake him for a stone giant king.
Iuu uses his magical abilities to enhance, protect, and support himself and his mortal allies. Having been in countless battles against various creatures, he is a competent tactician; he quickly reacts to specific threats or enemy abilities and determines how to best use the available terrain and resources to overcome threats. When he gives orders, he expects other giants to obey immediately and without question. He believes in the inherent strength of his people, and although he is evil, he’s unwilling to sacrifice their lives in risky gambits unless the survival of all the stone giants is at stake. He thinks little of smaller races and is indifferent to the “degenerate” giant races (which, according to some stone giant lore, includes all other races of giants).EcologyIuu was born a mortal giant, and although he doesn’t have to eat, he still has a strong attachment to the traditional foods and beverages of his people. When summoned to the Material Plane by those with means, he expects a great feast to be prepared for him, and he honors his hosts by participating. If those who call him are impoverished, he treats whatever meager food they offer as if it were a fine meal, and limits what he eats so others don’t go hungry.
Iuu does not need to sleep, and although he needs to breathe, that becomes an issue only if he is forced underwater or buried alive—in which case he can use magic such as dimension door or meld into stone to escape or compensate for the hazard.
As with mortal stone giants, Iuu’s flesh appears to be made of rock, but he is a creature of flesh and blood. His flesh is much harder than normal stone, but when injured, he bleeds red. Having already lived a full mortal life once, he doesn’t fear death, especially if his dying better serves Minderhal or the stone giant race as a whole. At worst, he would experience regret that he would not share another song or teach another student about the traditional ways of giantkind.Habitat & SocietyGreat Elder Iuu spends decades at a time in a catatonic slumber deep within Minderhal’s realm, and nearly as much time crafting weapons for the god’s other servitors and building architecture for the realm itself. After one of his deep sleeps, it’s customary for new petitioners and servitors of the god to seek him out and gain his blessing. Many in Stonepeak determine their seniority by how many cycles of Iuu’s waking and sleeping they have been present for.
Iuu enjoys teaching others—whether mortals, petitioners, or outsiders—about crafting and the early history of the giant race, using ancient songs to convey these tales to eager ears. He is pleased when a student learns the songs he teaches, but becomes stern if his pupil accidentally or intentionally alters the words or cadence of the song. If he hears an altered version of a song or tale from another, he interrupts, insisting the raconteur tell it the right way and honor its proper, orthodox form.
Iuu is respectful toward shrines and priests of Estig (the stone giants’ name for Erastil), Fandarra, and spirits of ancestors and stone. He doesn’t allow followers of Urazra to speak in his presence—the first offense merits a verbal rebuke; the second, a beating; and the third, a beating followed by tribal exile.
Many mortal giants are related to Iuu through the countless generations extending back to the origin of their race. Stone giants of all tribes award him great respect as a powerful, wise, and noteworthy hero-ancestor—even those of tribes that don’t worship Minderhal or that disagree with the herald’s beliefs. When a stone giant exemplifies many of the god’s ideal traits, members of the tribe often consider that giant a spiritual incarnation of Iuu, as if the herald granted the leader a portion of his own spirit at birth, destining that child for greatness.
When he visits the mortal world, Iuu typically travels with other stone giants; it’s very rare that he’s encountered alone. Usually, his companions are members of the tribe he came to the Material Plane to help. However, in rare cases, the giants who accompany him are his “proud children”—worthy petitioners temporarily given mortal bodies in the form of fiendish stone giants. These companions give Iuu many hands to accomplish tasks that, even with his great strength and knowledge, would be difficult to handle alone.Creatures in "Herald" CategorySource Inner Sea Gods pg. 274
Heralds are a special class of unique, godly servants. With few exceptions, each of Golarion’s deities has its own herald, a favored minion that serves as a messenger and emissary throughout the planes. Creatures of myth, the heralds’ interventions on the Material Plane mark lives and are events of legend.
Heralds are unique outsiders of approximately CR 15 with 18 or fewer Hit Dice, making them available for summons via greater planar ally. Only a deity’s worshipers can summon its herald; thus, even the most powerful worshiper of Sarenrae can never summon the herald of Iomedae. In addition, only divine spellcasters can summon heralds, preventing arcane casters and spells like planar binding from effectively calling upon such beings. Even if a character proves powerful enough to call out to a herald, a deity has the final say in whether or not its emissary answers a worshiper’s summons, granting its herald’s service only to followers in the most extreme need or whose acts directly further its will.
Herald Subtype: Heralds are unique representatives of their respective gods and sometimes have a specific outsider subtype such as “devil” or “psychopomp” that grants it additional abilities. A herald has the following traits. - Always Armed (Su) Heralds can summon their signature weapon as a standard action. If its herald doesn’t have a signature weapon, it can summon any nonmagical weapon as a standard action (including adamantine, etc.); the weapon disappears if it leaves the herald’s grasp.
- Emissary (Ex) Heralds can always be summoned by the faithful using greater planar ally or gate, regardless of limitations of that spell, even if it’s not an outsider.
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