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Eil
Trigger warning — this sahkil involves the theme of cancer, inspired by the Ancient Greek conceptions of the disease as both the crab and the wolf—cancer has been with us for thousands of years. If you or your table has concerns about content like that, I suggest you give this fiend a miss.
The Cancer Note (planar sahkil tormentor [she/they] / NE) †
Portfolio: The fear of incurable disease, quack doctors, miracle cures
Realm: Ethereal / Xibalba / The Poison Garden
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Eil is a slender spectre, typically appearing as an androgynous humanoid. Usually cowled in a heavy robe, unless you looked closely, you’re unlikely to notice that their body is in fact made up from a swarm of tiny crabs tightly packed together. It’s most obvious when Eil is angry or gleeful, as their ‘skin’ begins to writhe in waves as the crustaceans clack their claws together. The sound of ten thousand tiny claws clicking is one that will haunt your dreams, mark my words, cutter. The other way to recognise Eil is the distinctive odour that surrounds her. The air turns powdery and sour—the reek of scorched lye, and the tang of bitter medicine.
This sahkil is obsessed with disease, and the fear that mortals have of contracting an incurable condition. Philosophically, Eil preaches that mortality is a filth that no ritual can scour away. While magical healing is able to rectify many ailments, the most virulent can be difficult to cleanse, and the cost of such blessings is beyond the pocket of many sods. Eil is able to inflict the grievous affliction called karkinos (‘the crab’) by the Ancient Greeks, no doubt named after Eil’s own crustacean form. Survivors tell a similar story—the intense gaze of Eil causes blemishes to erupt upon the skin. These crawling stains move and multiply, and can’t be scrubbed off, but at this stage they are just a warning that the cutter has been marked. The true threat comes later, when Eil first speaks to the victim. If they are allowed to inspect their handiwork, Eil can then utter an unholy diagnosis, which acts as a curse that seals the fate of the patient. Once this has taken place, the second stage of the affliction begins: lyko (‘the wolf’)—and at this point, little short of a wish or a miracle can save them.
But first of all, Eil must select a victim, and they are picky about their victims. It must be someone with means, but not so wealthy they can afford powerful magic. They need to be gullible, so they can be fooled by Eil’s propositions. And they must be desperate.
You see, Eil’s true delight doesn’t lie in the sickness itself, but from the festering market that fear breeds. She drinks deep from the terror of all kinds of incurable blight, whispering in the ears of desperate souls: that somewhere, there’s always a “cure”—if only you can find the right treatment. She laps up every snake oil salve, every miraculous balm, and every acidic tincture brewed by quacks eager to fleece the doomed. For each false hope peddled, for every purse raided by a charlatan’s silver tongue, Eil grows larger, her lesions glowing brighter with the profit of their deceit. She is the unholy patron of mountebanks and frauds, whispering new recipes for bitter syrups and corrosive ointments that do nothing but make the sick poorer and the fearful even more afraid, growing fat on both greed and dread.
Edicts: Use poisons against your enemies, spread diseases, take advantage of the fear of others
Anathema: Use magical cures for disease, cast doubt upon false treatments, aid the desperate
Canonical Source: Dance of the Damned [PF1e] p74.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: Eil is given the briefest of mentioned, merely as a sahkil given the evocative but troubling name of ‘the Cancer Note’ who owed Mahathallah innumerable favours. The concept presented above is homebrew based on my research into the historical conception of cancer, and my personal distaste for the pernicious and exploitative quack treatments that were touted historically and unfortunately are still so prevalent.