#nindoru

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[I'm going double time with sponsored posts for a few weeks; I have a lot of people who want monsters, and my production schedule still finds 3/week the most comfortable. First up, another nindoru retro-conversion for @justicegundam82. I assume the name rhymes with "budgie". The guhdggi is dramatic evidence of Paizo's philosophy of higher numbers in PF2e than PF1e. I removed the extra damage dealt by its weapons of ruin, and it still has the damage output of a CR 8 monster at a CR 5. I assume the terrible speed is supposed to help mitigate that; I also lowered the AC below CR standard, the same way PF1e does for a lot of animals with high damage outputs. Of all the nindoru, the guhdggi has probably my favorite design; it's so delightfully, creatively wretched.

If you'd like to join @justicegundam82 in sponsoring your own monsters, or just want to help a girl out, consider joining the Creature Codex Patreon here]

Nindoru, Guhdggi CR 5 CE Outsider (native) This horrific creature looks something like a bipedal frog the size of an ogre, with milky eyes and spindly arms. It carries two broken spears which it uses as hiking poles, and a tangled cage made of wicker hangs on its back. Tendrils of black hair dangle from the sides of its mouth, and when it opens its mouth, the thing reveals a humanoid head peering from inside the thing’s throat, nestled amid tangled hair and blood red butterflies.

The guhdggis are the nindoru that represent the cycle of journeys. No journey ever truly begins or ends; a person travels throughout their life both physically and mentally. Guhdggis form from the corrupted souls of pilgrims, those who went on the same journey through multiple lifetimes and eventually became disgusted with the outcome. As if to punish them for rejecting the serenity of travel, guhdggis have twisted legs and walk very slowly, trusting to poles to keep them upright and moving forward.

Because of their shambling gait, guhdggis are envious of those who can travel more freely, and often set up ambushes along roads or near the sites of pilgrimage. The second head inside their mouth can spew a cone of soul butterflies with razor sharp wings, and the hair that grows from it is disturbingly prehensile. A guhdggi usually opens combat by grabbing a weak-looking opponent with their hair and then traps it in the wicker cage they wear on their back. Inside the cage, a creature’s mind is torn apart as the guhdggi reviews the places it’s been, a psychic presentation that ends with the trapped creature’s death or escape. Guhdggis use their walking sticks as spears to impale stronger foes, and use their spell-like abilities to bring enemies down to their lurching speed.

Most guhdggis are filled with wanderlust, and so rarely remain in one place for too long. Their perambulations are faster than their slow gaits would suggest, as they have the magical ability to pick out trails and carve their way through the wilderness. Other nindoru often accompany them on these journeys, looking for new victims to kill and places to despoil. Tangles of cords affix broken tools, items and souvenirs to a guhdggi’s body; a guhdggi can use its ties to ruin to conjure just the right item if they need one. As they are always on the move, guhdggis have little interest in large showy treasure, but they do collect small tokens of the victims they slay.

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Sponsored by @justicegundam82. This entry comes with a bonus vocab word! If you've ever wondered what those fountains that make the little "donk" sound are that show up in Japanese media, wonder no more!

If you'd like to be like @justicegundam82 and sponsor your own monsters, or just chip in a few bucks to help an unemployed author keep the lights on, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here]

Nindoru, Sojiruh CR 4 CE Outsider (native) This creature resembles a desiccated humanoid corpse, its arms overly long and broken in multiple places. Its head is shrunken in on itself, lips stitched shut with strands of its own hair. Its ribcage is open, and a swarm of red butterflies flutters inside it.

Sojiruh are the most common of the nindoru, outsiders that come about through the corruption of reincarnation and natural cycles. Sojiruh represent the corruption of the cycle of reincarnation itself. The first sojiruh were created when people who had already passed through several cycles of reincarnation turned their back on the goal of enlightenment, but many sojiruh are created from souls wrenched out of place by being killed by other nindoru. Those who follow philosophies of reincarnation and enlightenment view sojiruh as abominations; sojiruh find those who follow such philosophies to be tempting targets.

Sojiruhs can sniff out victims with reincarnated souls and target them first and foremost. Their broken blades deal damage with mental anguish as much as they do with actual sharpened steel. A sojiruh can scream with the voice of its victim, harmonizing with their cries of anguish as it feeds on their fear and life force alike. Sojiruh consider the pairing of fear with life similarly to how mortal gourmets treat a wine paired with a meal, and when they are not actively hunting mortals, may compare tasting notes.

Despite their sewn shut mouth, sojiruh can speak freely with hollow-sounding voices. They stretch their mouths open only to scream. When they do scream, the butterflies in their chest beat their wings frantically, as if to fan the flames of the nindoru’s hunger. Sojiruh and meokdan get along reasonably well, with the weaker meokdan flocking to a sojiruh’s side to scavenge on its victims. Sojiruh are interested in unusual sounds, and their lairs are often decorated with chimes, sōzu fountains, and other noisemakers. They use these in conjunction with their own abilities, using ghost sound and ventriloquism spells to confuse and disorient intruders.

Image © Paizo Publishing

[Sponsored by @justicegundam82. The nindoru are one of Pathfinder 2e's new outsider categories, coming from the Season of Ghosts adventure path. I like them. They're strongly themed and spooky, and they tie into Pathfinder's cosmology of what happens to and with souls, which is one of my favorite things about the setting.

Like what I do? Want to sponsor your own monsters? Check out the Creature Codex Patreon here]

Nindoru When a soul is wrenched from the cycle of reincarnation, particularly if that soul belonged to an evil creature, it can be reborn as a nindoru. Nindoru represent the breaking of cycles, and the cycle of reincarnation is the one they all seek to break. Nindoru can sniff out reincarnated souls, and target them above other victims. A creature slain by a nindoru is itself torn from the cycle of reincarnation, and the unlucky souls become new nindoru themselves. Nindoru are sometimes mistaken for the undead—their flesh may be rotting and many have exposed bones—but they are very much alive. Perhaps the strangest feature that unites nindoru are the blood-red butterflies that hover around them, sometimes nesting in their bodies or emerging from their orifices or wounds. These are visual symbols of the past lives that nindoru have rejected in their transformation into monsters, and fade away into smoke if they move more than a few feet from the nindoru that spawned them.

“Nindoru” is a subtype of chaotic evil native outsiders with the following traits

Immune to death effects and energy drain

Resist negative energy 10

Damage reduction overcome by silver and/or good weapons

Soul Shred (Su): Any attempt to return a creature slain by a nindoru from the dead, or animate it as an undead, must succeed a caster level check equal to 15 plus the nindoru’s CR. If the nindoru that killed that creature is itself slain, this effect no longer functions.

Nindoru speak Aklo, Common and Necril

Nindoru, Meokdan CR 2 CE Outsider (native) This creature resembles an emaciated human, with its head emerging straight between its shoulders. Thick tangled hair hides its face, save for its gaping maw. Its limbs are disproportionately long and thin, and are pockmarked with open sores.

Meokdans are among the lowliest of the nindoru, as they cannot gain sustenance from the act of disrupting the cycle of souls. Instead, they devour almost anything they can find, from fresh food to animal droppings to sticks and stones. Meokdans are emaciated and act as if they are starving no matter how much they eat, and an infestation of these creatures is as destructive to stored food as much as it is dangerous to people. Meokdans represent the nutrient cycle, as plants feed animals and animals feed each other, up to the microbes that claim it all in the end.

Meokdans often take humanoid guise, allowing them to move freely and determine when and who to attack rather than being immediately recognized as monstrous. Their primary weapons are semi-real bones pulled from their gullets, which shatter and go from clubs to knives in their grasp before finally crumbling away into red butterflies and smoke. If meokdans concentrate on their consumption, they can heal damage (or become so frustrated by not eating real food that it bestows them a little kick of furious energy). Being so motivated by hunger, most meokdans flee from a losing combat in order to eat another day. This can be turned against them, as a particularly tempting meal (such as a favored delicacy from one of their mortal lives) can be used as bait to lure them out.