Ayperoboses, sometimes referred to plurally as the ayperobos, are diminutive baatezu devils that work in swarms to take down larger foes. Having realized their individually low chances of survival they gathered as one, and learned they were stronger together than apart.[1]
Description[]
An individual ayperobos resembles a fat humanoid about 6 inches tall and eight ounces in weight. Their ruddy, crimson skin is covered in coarse black hair, making them appear as a cloud of bloody mist when swarming at a distance. They flutter on sparrow wings, have small, black horns sprouting from their heads, and each has a disproportionately large maw filled with needle-sharp teeth.[1]
Personality[]
Ayperoboses are lawful evil, yet relatively unintelligent, fickle, capricious creatures of malice.[1]
Abilities[]
As individuals, ayperoboses are effectively powerless, unable to do harm by themselves. They are utterly pathetic in terms of physical strength, horribly slow (when walking, they are actually incredibly fast and extremely well-controlled flyers) and not even diseased enough to threaten constitutions on their own. What makes them dangerous is their ability to function as a cohesive unit by staying in constant telepathic communication.[1]
Once united as a swarm they can infect their enemies with a terrible case of devil chills, and leave creatures vulnerable to swarming nauseated and distracted. Even more horrifying, creatures whose patience and concentration they disrupt were vulnerable to having their bodies physically controlled. Once the entirety of the swarm burrowed into the flesh of their victims, they could puppeteer them as if they had used a dominate monster spell.[1]
Besides this ability, ayperoboses have a strong sense of smell, and one of their swarms can summon another swarm with an approximate 3/4tths success rate.[1]
Combat[]
Once gathered into a swarm, ayperoboses are tenacious foes. They immediately attempt to cover as many opponents as possible and rend their flesh with their tiny teeth. If they manage to distract a target they burrow into their flesh and make them into a plaything, forcing them to attack their comrades or just look ridiculous, although they might just choose to keep feasting on the flesh and leave a mist of blood and gore in their wake.[1]
Society[]
Ayperboses exist outside the typical infernal hierarchy, having no station or position within it.[2][3] On some layers of Hell they are considered delicacies by larger fiends and are popular for their squeals and the sudden rush of blood that came from crushing them between the teeth. It was the need to survive that drove them to form into colonies, groups of thousands bound by a rigid, internal social order, and found other fiends much less likely to prey on them when so united. They harbor a grudge against other devils for the ignominous deaths so many of their kind suffered at the hands of their larger brethren and intend to get their revenge by stalking devils that enter their territory and showing them how it feels to be helpless before something stronger than yourself.[1]
Ayperobos swarms care not for treasure, but simply prowl the misty reaches of Maladomini (which they rarely left) in search of victims. They prey on anything less powerful than their collective selves, whether devil or not, but show a particular fondness for tearing apart lemures and nupperibos and a preference for mortal victims. Ironically, individual swarms were only encountered separately.[1] Despite their utter hostility, they were known to be placed and used as elements of traps, their capacity for being mistaken as insects exploited to make them look innocuous as victims moved towards something seemingly valuable amidst the trash of Maladomini.[4]
Ecology[]
Ayperoboses are the bizarre products of the archdevil Baalzebul's foul imagination, and originate from his layer of Hell, Maladomini. They are formed from lemures, and their swarms are akin to those of mosquitoes found in the swamps of the Material Plane.[2][5][1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006), p.115-117.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006), p.11.
- ↑ Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006), p.158.
- ↑ Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006), p.68.
- ↑ Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006), p.65.