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Trigger warning — this fiend description contains themes of haunting and possession, so if you have concerns about content like that, I suggest you give this creature a miss
Jidolutz Sahkil
Swinewraith (CR 9); phasmophobia — fear of ghosts and hauntings
The jidolutz [JEE-duh-luts] is a masterful manipulator of mortal emotions and fears. Feeding from the terror that the living have for the dead, these sahkil deceive a group of victims with false hauntings, in order to drive one of them barmy. With weakened resolve and tensions ramped up, the jidolutz will the possess one of their quarry and force them to murder the others.
The appearance of a jidolutz is truly disturbing. They manifest as decomposing human corpses, with the flesh stretched tightly over a skeleton that’s too big for the skin, so it is ripped and shredded at the edged. Bones protrude at unnatural angles and its stench is truly sickening. But instead of the skull and feet of a human, the jidolutz wears the head and hooves of a boar, all the same mottled colour palette of purple bruises, and decomposing green and yellow skin in an advanced state of putrefaction.
The philosophy of the jidolutz is particularly cruel. They believe the greatest vulnerability of mortals is the trust and safety they feel when in their own homes, and it is this which they seek to exploit. These sahkil know that mortals often fear ghosts, and while they loathe the undead as much as any sahkil, they also know how to exploit fears. A jidolutz will deliberately exploits phasmophobia by creating elaborate false hauntings that gradually erode a household’s sense of security, knowing that true horror lies not in sudden acts of violence but in the slow realization that one’s own home has become a place of terror. The jidpolutz are arbitrarily cruel, sparing some family members while tormenting others to the brink of madness, which serves to creating suspicion and paranoia that destroys familial bonds even before the sahkil reveals its true nature.
Planewalkers who suspect a jidolutz faux-haunting should prepare for an environments where reality itself becomes unreliable, and domestic comforts transform into sources of terror. These sahkil excel at creating spectral illusions and summoning swarms of biting insects to simulate paranormal activity, while their ability to become incorporeal allows them to move through walls and appear in impossible locations. Most dangerously, their possession abilities can force victims to commit acts of violence against their own loved ones, with the sahkil magically enhancing the host’s physical capabilities to ensure maximum damage and trauma. They particularly enjoy turning children and non-threatening adults into deadly weapons. Cutters should watch for warning signs including unexplained cold spots, the sound of hoofed footsteps, and the distinctive smell of decomposition without an identifiable source. Unfortunately, all of these signs might also mean you are being haunted by a real phantom. The danger comes when you prepare to face something undead, but are instead attempting to drive off a deceptive fiend that is very much alive. By the time victims realize they face a physical threat rather than a supernatural haunting, the jidolutz has already undermined their ability to trust their own perceptions or rely on allies for support, leaving them isolated and vulnerable to the sahkil’s final betrayal where it possesses a victim and strikes when least expected.
Source and Stats: The Creature Codex [PF1e] here
Other Sources: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: The sahkil are a fabulously horrid type of fiend from Pathfinder lore, who make a great addition to the Ethereal Plane and Planescape lore generally. The Creature Codex has done an awesome job of expanding the number of sahkil massively too, and I’ve included all their creations here. Organising the sahkil into three sub-types based on their hunting style was my idea, because the list was unwieldy and their names are (deliberately) hard to remember, and this splits them up into bite-sized chunks.