#araton

YEAH ????????

“Desert Devil” by Wayne England, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at the Sandstorm Art Gallery here

[The desert devil, or araton, is not a monster I ever used. But check out that rad Wayne England art! In Pathfinder parlance, a humanoid that has been flayed and has its skin constantly worn away is better suited for the “kyton” umbrella.]

Kyton, Araton CR 7 LE Outsider (extraplanar) This humanoid figure is dimly visible from beneath a halo of swirling, stinging sand. It appears mostly human, but completely flayed, and a few irregular horns grow from the base of its skull.

Aratons are sometimes referred to as “flayed kytons” or “desert kytons”. Their artistic specialization is flaying—their own skins have been worn away at their creation from their stinging haloes of sand. On the rare occasions where an araton deactivates its sandy aura, small patches of skin may regrow, but never fully connect together, adding to its grisly appearance. 

Aratons prefer to wield scimitars in combat, as their keen edges are adept at separating flesh from muscle. They are not creative combatants, preferring merely to charge into the center of melee in order to wound as many enemies as possible with their auras. They do target healers and good aligned spellcasters, enjoying the suffering caused when their bleeding wounds disrupt a vital spell from being used. Creatures that succumb to an araton’s gaze feel as if their skin is being tugged off, a preview of coming horrors should the aratons be victorious in battle.

Aratons are most common in the deserts of the Plane of Shadow, bizarre places where the sun never fully rises or sets but the temperature still varies wildly and painfully. They maintain citadels dotting kyton territory, and are vigilant in pursuing other planar denizens that dare to intrude. These forts are slowly ground away by the araton’s own stinging haloes, and the creatures toil forever in repairing and replacing items that succumb to erosion. Aratons view this cycle of creation and destruction philosophically, calling it “the peeling” and drawing connections to the River of Souls, the fabric of the planes and other large scale phenomena.

there r actually 2 of them !! Araton (Dominion) and Zedekiel (Seraphim) (yes none of those names are accurate shut up I'll cry)

I only never really show Zed much because I have no idea how to design him for the life of me, which spoiler alert I still can't

MY TIIIIIME TO SHINE

I don't have much of a lore for each of them yet, mostly just concepts

WILL INFODUMP ANYWAY DOE

needless to say I am inspired the Bible, but not completely! I put /a lot/ of my own spin in it it's basically my own universe

edit: more additions

- Most angels are True Neutral, so fuck you be afraid

- Personal guardian angels are still a thing in this setting, in that all angels mentioned can look at a person and go "I like that dude, he'll be safe"