Psychopomp, Fulgati
Habitat: Underlands, Prime
Alignment: Neutral
Challenge Rating: 18
Few creatures from the Underlands are as terrifying as the fulgati. Envision a colossal, muscular entity, towering at an astonishing 80 feet, her form a daunting spectacle of primal power. This titanic being, resembling a massive female minotaur, boasts eight stout arms, four serving as her legs, her movement creating earthquakes in itself. The fulgati, clad not in fabric but in a skin of worked metal and stone, intricately carved, appears as if donning magnificent armour, her presence a testament to unstoppable force.
Fulgati are the harbingers of the end of civilisations, not mere reapers of individual souls. They are called forth when a culture, a nation, or even an entire species has reached its twilight, and is destined to be wiped clean for new growth to emerge from its demise. Their arrival is the final note in the symphony of a civilisation’s history, the closing of an epoch.
Mortals, in their instinctive aversion to death, often erase any memory of encounters with fulgatis, attributing the aftermath of their passage to natural disasters or unfathomable accidents. Thus, their existence remains largely unknown, a subject of nightmares and obscure legends, leaving scholars to speculate on the frequency and reality of their deployment.-
Unlike their psychopomp brethren, fulgatis lack compassion, their minds simple yet unerringly focused on their dire purpose. They do not shepherd souls to the afterlife but instead brutally rend them free, leaving the task of guidance to their lesser kin. What they harvest is the essence of life itself, the quintessence of the beings they extinguish. This vital force is then invested into the surrounding rubble, animating earth and stone into minions that assist in their path of destruction.
The creations of the fulgati, these animated soldiers, can persist for decades, even centuries, continuing the work of erasure long after the psychopomp has departed, ensuring that no remnant of the fallen civilisation can ever rise again.
Slumbering in isolated sepulchers, only a dozen fulgatis are known to exist. Yet, whispers speak of more, perhaps even mightier versions, lying in wait at the very base of the Spire, ready to bring about the end of all things at the cosmos’s twilight.
Chant goes that at least one fulgati, driven by a will of her own, has escaped, wreaking havoc not at the behest of the Lady of Graves but on whims of destruction. The pursuit of thss rogue fulgati is a relentless endeavor, with only the most powerful of psychopomps, such as the yamarajes, capable of standing against these reapers of realms.
In close combat, the fulgati are formidable, their functional, deadly horns a weapon in their already fearsome arsenal. Their unusual locomotion, a mix of climbing and burrowing, allows them to emerge suddenly, springing forth from the earth amidst their targets. They have poisonous blood, absorb the life force of dying victims, and understandable exude an aura of menace.
The fulgati stand as a stark reminder of the impermanence of cultures, the inevitability of change, and the merciless progression of the cosmic cycle. They are the ultimate executioners of the natural order, ensuring that when a civilisation’s time has come, its end is absolute and irrevocable.
See Also:
- What are Psychopomps?
- The Castes of the Psychopomps
- The Ushers of the Psychopomps
- The Ecology of the Psychopomp
Sources and Stats:
- Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Concordance of Rivals [PF1e] p60, here
- Origin: Possibly loosely based on the Roman myth of Fulgora, the personification of lightning (Astrape in Greek mythology). More on this here.
