Ehrimun

Ghoul

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Description

Male ghoul necromancer 14

Before Combat: Ehrimun summons a minion and casts stoneskin, cat’s grace, and protection from good.

During Combat: Ehrimun leads with circle of death to eliminate many foes, then uses area spells to eliminate survivors.

Morale: Ehrimun relies on his contingency to save him from destruction.

Arcane Bond Ehrimun’s staff is a unique magic item, capped with the skulls of several halflings and a rune-etched nightmare’s skull. It allows the use of the following spells: magic missile (1 charge), ray of enfeeblement (1 charge), ray of exhaustion (2 charges), dimension door (3 charges), and enervation (3 charges).

Contingency If Ehrimun is reduced to 20 or fewer hit points, a dimension door spell activates and removes him from battle. Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Horrors Revisited When the boats have been drawn up on shore, and the day’s catch has been hung in the smoking shed, the fisherfolk light their pipes and gather close round the fire, whispering tales of the witch who dwells in the flooded sea cave. “She’ll call up storms and dash your boat to splinters ’gainst the rocks,” one old-timer tells a young man just back from his first outing. “Aye, and she’ll drag ye down ’neath the waves and have her way with ye before ye drown,” another adds. A woman mending her husband’s nets tells her child to be good, “or the witch’ll come in the night and take ye from your bed, throw ye into her stew and make a shawl from your skin,” leaving the poor girl awake long into the night, staring wide-eyed and fearful into the dark. And for good reason—for in children’s stories lie truths that adult minds dare not acknowledge.

—From Folk Tales of the Lost Coast Chapter Six Hag Hag I f dryads, nymphs, and sprites represent the grace and beauty of unspoiled nature, then surely the annis hag, green hag, and sea hag embody its savage, destructive side. Though not fey themselves, hags appear to be somehow tied to nature, even if no more than as a distorted reflection of it. Hags are foul, wicked creatures, warped with cruelty and evil. Uniformly female and invariably repulsive, these misshapen crones plot dark deeds over bubbling cauldrons, either singly or in sinister triads known as covens.

Hags have appeared in tales dating back to the earliest ages of history, leading many sages to speculate that hags may have come from the First World long ago. The famed Taldan scholar Nikephoros of Oppara even went so far as to claim that hags were once beautiful, benevolent fey themselves, who were cursed for their vanity and fell from grace, becoming the twisted crones they are today, but his claims are widely discredited. Although the actual specifics of their origin are unknown, no one can deny that some hags are ancient beyond reckoning. Cunning and devious, they are the remnants of an earlier age, possessed of powers that few now understand and that most people fear. Bitter and resentful that the world has passed them by, hags seek revenge on all living things, but focus their rage especially on those of great beauty or purity. Annis hags, also known as black hags or iron hags, are the most physically powerful of their kind. Annis tend to disdain the malevolent machinations of their sister hags, preferring to revel in more visceral pleasures such as torture and murder. Their warty skin proves resistant to damage and their iron claws are capable of shredding those unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. Annis are able to cloak themselves in cloying mists or illusion, appearing as harmless children, damsels in distress, or delicate fey creatures to lure their unsuspecting prey to their dooms.

Although weaker than their annis sisters, green hags command a variety of magic powers. They are stealthy and deceptive, preferring to manipulate from the shadows, their insidious whispers and uncanny mimicry driving men to madness and the pure of heart to blasphemy. More than any of the hags, green hags hate things of beauty and work tirelessly to destroy or despoil them. While they prefer to strike from hiding, green hags are capable of holding their own in combat, and their claws sap the strength of anyone they touch. Sea hags are the most hideous members of the hag sisterhood—just gazing upon their horrific appearance can bring a strong man to his knees. While they don’t have the spell-like abilities of the other hags, the evil eye of a sea hag is powerful enough to kill. Sea hags are aquatic, and are known to destroy ships and drown sailors, causing suffering to those poor folk living near the water’s edge.

Source: Classic Horrors Revisited, p. 34