Nindoru, Meokdan
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.
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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.