Psychopomp, Viduus
Habitat: Libraries and scriptoria of the Underlands
Alignment: Neutral
Challenge Rating: 4
The viduus is a curious blend of scholar and memory-manipulator in the afterlife. This enigmatic being is mostly humanoid but has their lower body cocooned within a mysterious husk. They’re the guardians of secrets, the archivists of the obscure, and dwell within the many libraries and scriptoriums of Purgatory.
Their most striking feature is their quill, a tool with the power to rewrite memories. When a viduus strikes a living creature with it, their memories are extracted, and copied into tomes guarded by the viduus. To reclaim those lost memories, one must peruse the appropriate tome.
But that’s not all – viduus can be quite ruthless when dealing with the undead. A single stroke of their quill can obliterate an undead creature’s memories, robbing it of its will to act. It’s a grim fate, the final erasure of the little identity they had left.
What’s intriguing about viduus is their transformation when near death. Their cocoon-like body bursts open, releasing a swarm of black-and-white centipedes and a mind fog that shrouds the senses. It’s a surreal spectacle, a last-ditch effort to defend their knowledge.
Despite their rather pretentious demeanor, viduus are a wellspring of historical and planar secrets. They catalog the extraordinary lives, deeds, deaths, and secrets of remarkable souls. Those who’ve brushed with the extraordinary have their tales and confessions recorded by these semi-cocooned scholars, adding to the vast volumes of Purgatory’s expansive libraries.
Viduus are living encyclopaedias of the arcane and the unknown. Their existence speaks to the value of knowledge and the lengths to which one can go to protect it. They’re the gatekeepers of forgotten lore and the custodians of the extraordinary, offering a tantalising glimpse into the mysteries of the multiverse.
See Also:
- What are Psychopomps?
- The Castes of the Psychopomps
- The Ushers of the Psychopomps
- The Ecology of the Psychopomp
Sources and Stats:
- Bestiary 6 [PF1e] p223 here
- Origin: In Roman mythology, Viduus was a spirit deity associated with separating the body and soul after death, and is the origin of the word ‘widower’.
