#protean

"Typhon, Father of Beasts" © deviantArt user MisterFeelgood, accessed at his gallery here

[More like Mother of Beasts in this particular iteration. When I was talking to @strawberry-crocodile several years ago and sharing with her my ideas for the Age of Monsters, she told me about one of her cosmological Pathfinder ideas. And the idea of Typhon reborn as a trans woman fighting against the forces of Hell was so compelling I immediately adopted it into my personal canon. So this is Strawb's baby, and these statistics have been a long time coming. Hints have been seeded in a number of the Age of Monsters posts in the past. Strawb also wrote the divine obedience rules I'm including here. Check out @soylent-crocodile for more of her Pathfinder writing. Also, huge thanks to @monstersdownthepath for telling me about the canonical fate of Typhon in PF2e, one that I incorporated into this entry because they're not actually contradictory, and for the inspiration on the hollow SQ]

Protean Lord, Etna CR 23 CN Outsider (extraplanar) This serpentine creature has a billowing cloud of smoke rising from its head, luminous eyes and great draconic wings. Its body is comprised of dozens of smaller snakes entwined together, leaving it something like a hollow shell of writhing flesh and embers encasing a powerful inner fire.

CN Protean Lord of revolution, divine and mortal succession, volcanoes Domains Chaos, Fire, Weather, War Subdomains Protean, Smoke, Storms, Revolution* (Revolution applies to the War domain) Favored Weapon Sling Glove Holy Symbol A serpent emerging from a volcano Worshippers Enemies of Asmodeus, iconoclasts, revolutionaries Minions gegenees, magma dragons, magmin, renegwe proteans Obedience: Spend an hour screaming curses and revilement towards any mortal authority that has held for more than a single human lifetime, or against a god or archdevil. Alternately, ritually defeat and kill a representative of any such authority. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against fire effects. First Boon: Foe of the Sky God- Magic Stone 3/day, Pyrotechnics 2/day, Lightning Bolt 1/day Second Boon: Shatter the Heavens- As a full-round action once per day you may reach your fist into the sky and break open the heavens above. All creatures flying above a 100ft circle centered on you must make a fortitude save with DC equal to 10+½ your character level+your charisma modifier or fall from the sky. Such creatures take 1d8 damage for every 10ft fallen rather than the typical 1d6 damage. Third Boon: Bow To None- You gain an immunity to charm and compulsion effects and cannot be knocked prone.

In mythological time, Typhon was the greatest of the asuras and one of the first Lords of Hell. He was slain by Asmodeus for the crime of fathering children with Lamashtu, a lie spread by Geryon, conflating Lamashtu with her great enemy, and Typhon’s true lover, Mormo (then called Echidna). For this supposed cosmic crime of uniting devil and demon, Typhon was shredded, and his pieces cast into the Great Beyond to wither and die. But not all of them did. A few managed to regenerate, and perhaps the strangest of those self-begotten fragments is Etna. For Etna is a protean lord, a being of pure chaos who was once of pure law.

Etna was born of a large piece of Typhon’s skin, which was cast into the Maelstrom and slowly regrew as if in imitation of that plane’s residents, the proteans. Ashamed and disgusted by the patriarchy of Hell, she reformed herself into a woman, and was embraced by the izfiitar choristers as a testament to the transformative power of chaos. Etna feels that any authority that lasts long enough becomes moribund and must be replaced, no authority more than the divine and no divinities more so than Asmodeus and the lords of Hell. There is no outcome she would love to see more than Asmodeus humbled and dethroned, but she knows that she is no physical match for the hosts of Hell alone. So she is patient, mixing occasional outbursts of volcanic destruction with coalition building and more subtle undermining of diabolical schemes. Etna and Mormo are currently unaware of their mutual rebirths, but would likely become allied again once that knowledge is obtained.

Etna delights in combat, and she spends much of her time in combat in order to vent her rage. Her natural weapons are deeply destructive, and her serpentine nature manifests in her ability and fondness for swallowing her smaller victims. Her interior burns with volcanic heat, and she can let loose in an explosion of lava and smoke, essentially turning herself into a short-lived volcano. For those that (wisely) keep their distance, Etna hurls rocks like lava bombs, charging them with thunder and lightning as she does so, or uses her spell-like abilities to rain destruction on her foes. Etna does not know if she can be reborn again, and so flees when badly injured, although her memory is long and her wrath can be vented in other ways.

As a former devil, Etna fits somewhat awkwardly into the society of proteans. Many proteans see her acceptance of the existence of any hierarchy as shamefully lawful and distrust her ultimate intentions. But Ssila’Meshnik the Colorless Lord views her as confirmation of the glorious paradoxes of the planes, and accepts her as an ally. Etna’s favor shines on the renegwe proteans, who act as her sparring partners and elite agents. The mortal cult of Etna is still very small, but it is slowly filling its power in areas controlled by the Church of Asmodeus, waiting for a time to erupt into glorious revolutionary violence.

The smaller snakes that make up Etna's body bear stunted forelimbs, crested heads, and other protean-like features. They shed scales into her interior which char and aggregate into boluses like igneous rocks, which Etna can collect and throw at will. Etna's length varies with her shifting form, but she usually is between 20 and 25 feet long.

Seeing an amazing anthro lemur on my feed reminded me that last year I drew Aurik if he had Protean - and could turn into the only creature possible for a sad wet beast like himself. Behold the truly terrifying aye-aye lemur nos. Grrrr. Arrrrg.

there are many benefits to dating an elder gangrel