Tanar'ri, Maurezhi

Strength 5x

Agility 3x

Intellect 4x

Willpower 4x

Hand Size: Edge:

3 (17) 1

Origin:

Maurezhi are members of the demonic race of tanar'ri, fell creatures who inhabit the Abyss - but wish to expand their territory. The maurezhi themselves possess considerable supernatural powers, both physical and spiritual, with which to perpetrate their evils.

Powers:

Tanar'ri Physique: though physically less powerful than the armanites before them, maurezhi are possessed of much more dangerous powers of the spirit. While they resemble ghouls, the maurezhi are in fact demonic life forms, and possess these tanar'ric capabilities:

* Darkness (a): all tanar'ri have the ability to share the inherent darkness of their very souls with the world at large. This rudimentary power functions at but at intensity 4, but basically 'blacks out' everything within near missile distance of the maurezhi.

* Dimensional Transit (i): in addition to being able to teleport, tanar'ri can transition between planes of existence. They may do so with intensity 5 ability, though on a failed action dimensionally transiting tanar'ri may be subject to error, per a failed teleport. *

* Infravision (w): many of the Abyss' countless layers are dark beyond mortal ken, and have never seen the light (physically or otherwise). As such, all tanar'ri have evolved the ability to see by heat as well as by visible light, and can do so with intensity 5 skill.

* Invulnerability to Fire, Electricity, Heat, and Poison (s): the tanar'ri are hardy creatures - they have to be to survive at all in the endless, horrific wastes of the Abyss. Their forms have evolved over time to give them complete immunity to fire, electricity, heat, and poison.

* Portal Sense (w): planar beings all, maurezhi have the ability to perceive the various rifts that dot the planescape of the multiverse. Most of these doorways are invisible to the naked eye, but all maurezhi can spy them with ease, doing so with intensity 8 ability.

* Resistance to Cold (s): though they are not immune to the effects of cold attacks, tanar'ri are considerably resistant to such. When exposed to any form of cold in their environment, a tanar'ri may resist such as if their Strength were +2 higher (intensity 8).

* Resistance to Magic (s): furthermore, most tanar'ri possess some degree of resistance to magical attacks, whether they come in the form of environmental effects, spells, or even magic items. Maurezhi possess intensity 12 (+3) protection against all forms of mystic assault.

* Telepathy (w): the maurezhi are able to communicate directly from mind to mind - an important skill, considering they lack the ability to speak in their normal form. They can broadcast and receive thoughts with intensity 5 skill, which beats their usual wheezing and screeching.

* Teleportation (i): chaotic creatures all, the tanar'ri can bend space itself to their will. All tanar'ri possess the power to teleport with intensity 10 ability, and can avoid teleportation's usual side effects while transporting themselves within the same plane of existence. *

Blending (a): maurezhi have the power to wrap their bodies in a minor illusion. This skill lets them literally blur their bodies, making them appear indistinct compared to the background. Others suffer an increased difficulty when trying to detect maurezhi in their vicinity visually.

Body Armor (s): the maurezhi are rather tough despite their grisly, somewhat decayed appearance. Each maurezhi possesses intensity 4 (+1) protection against mundane attack, above and beyond their considerable supernatural defenses to other attack forms.

Claws (s): the fingers of a maurezhi end in long, sickly talons. They may use these talons to inflict their Strength +2 in slashing damage in melee, though more often than not they'll wield one of their special touch powers against a foe instead.

Disguise (a): the maurezhi gain this power as they consume the bodies and souls of their victims. They may assume the form of those they have absorbed perfectly (intensity 12 ability), though they nonetheless carry the scent of death and decay about them constantly.

Eldritch Palm (i): instead of slashing a foe with their claws, a maurezhi can instead deliver a jolt of deathly, negative energy on touch. This energy inflicts only intensity 6 damage, but also lowers its target's Strength by -1 for an aura duration.

Emotion Control / Fear (w): ordinary maurezhi can instill great fear into those they touch with intensity 8 ability, as a contingent action, with an easy difficulty Fear (willpower) action. Fully developed maurezhi can also coat all within near missile distance in fear three times per day.

Fangs (s): while they often avoid using their claws directly, maurezhi are more than happy to wield their fangs against foes - they eat anyone they can defeat, after all. Like their claws, the fangs of a maurezhi inflict their Strength +2 in slashing damage with each bite.

Invisibility (i): fully developed maurezhi have the power of invisibility! They may use this skill at will, masking themselves from visual detection with intensity 9 ability. Of course, this power cannot mask the smell of death and decay that surrounds maurezhi at all times.

Paralysis (w): complementing their fear powers, maurezhi can also paralyze a single foe with intensity 10 ability, per the spell of the same name. Standard maurezhi can use this ability three times a day, while fully developed fiends can wield it at will.

Reanimation (i): one of the many powers over the dead that fully developed maurezhi have is their ability to actually reanimate dead bodies. This is no resurrection, but allows them to build zombies or skeletons out of corpses, which they can do with intensity 10 skill.

Spectral Vampirism (i): like the armanites before them, maurezhi consume those they slay if they can get away with it - both body and soul. They can do this with intensity 10 ability, though the process of consuming its foe takes a maurezhi a full ten minutes.

Every entity a maurezhi consumes may make it more powerful. If any of its victim's ability scores are greater than its own, a maurezhi will see one such ability raised by +1 - permanently. It gains the benefit of this ability a total of eight times, at which point the maurezhi is fully developed.

Furthermore, a maurezhi gains all the knowledge that its victim held - every last dark secret. While it cannot wield talent-equivalents like spells or psi powers through this process, a maurezhi can acquire new skills for 'free' in this fashion, from weapon skills to obscure sciences.

Summoning (i): the maurezhi can attempt two different types of summoning, each once per day. They can summon forth up to four ghouls with intensity 10 ability; an easy difficulty action draws forth one, while each increase in difficulty adds another ghoul to a summoning.

Similarly, a maurezhi can also try to bring forth a small horde of manes. They can only do this at intensity 2, but there is no upper limit to the amount of manes a maurezhi may summon; each increase in difficulty adds another manes, as high as one can produce with card play.

Super Jumping (a): despite their decrepit appearance, maurezhi are rather fleet of foot, often bounding about excitedly. They can apply themselves to perform a spectacular super leap with intensity 10 ability, moving anywhere within near missile distance in any direction.

Hindrances / Augmentations:

Monstrous: it should go without saying, but maurezhi are monstrous entities. Thanks to their ghoulish aspect, a maurezhi is at Willpower 0 to prevent Edge 0 humans from fleeing at the mere sight of them - assuming it has not assumed a more pleasing form.

Susceptibility: like all tanar'ri, maurezhi are weak against the use of cold-wrought iron weapons, as well as holy water and weapons. Their supernatural defenses are ineffective against such assaults, which inflict at least a quarter of their maximum Health in damage.

Equipment:

(none)

Skills:

None initially. Maurezhi don't start out with any particular talents, but can pick up any number of skills once they get their hands on some victims. Unlike most other tanar'ri, maurezhi can have skills of any variety once they get going, from sciences to martial arts.

Calling:

Greed: nothing motivates the maurezhi more than the promise of personal power - they constantly seek out mortals to feed on, to grow their own knowledge and might. They will toe the line if forced, but most of their energies are focused on the consumption of others.

Characteristics:

The maurezhi live only to escape from the Abyss to consume mortals, to expand both their knowledge and power. They actively seek out the flesh of mortals to consume, whether or not it can increase their power, for they crave it whether or not it can benefit them.

Appearance:

Maurezhi look like undead creatures of some sort. They are tall and gaunt, having gray, leathery skin. They often wear tattered clothing, and usually stand hunched over when not capering about excitedly. They have pointed, cat-like ears, needle-like teeth and long talons on their hands.

Ecological Niche:

Maurezhi are not born. Tanar'ri of lesser stations ascend to the maurezhi form as they grow in power - or are somehow manipulated into adopting this shape by Abyssal Lords on occasion. Some can 'move along' to further forms without fully developing, but this is uncommon.

Maurezhi seem almost evolved to consume mortals, though they rarely get the chance to do so. Most often they are pressed into service in the Blood War, and never get to live up to their full potential - they have powerful abilities but aren't ideal front-line combatants.

If not used to consume baatezu or other enemies of the tanar'ri to steal their secrets, maurezhi often make their way out of the Abyss to seek mortal victims... or attempt to waylay adventurers foolish (or insane) enough to enter the Abyss for some reason or another.

Notes:

* Depending on which version of the Planescape lore you wish to use, the maurezhi (along with the rest of the tanar'ri) may not have access to these powers any longer, having lost them due to yugoloth meddling. Their presence is at the discretion of the individual Narrator.

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