[ Sahkil ] [ Impostors | Lurkers | Stalkers | Tormentors ]
[ Ichkoh | Kalona | Kimenhul | Kinverletz | Kwevencha | Nucol | Pakalchi | Pazanbuul | Phikkik | Tuchulcha | Vlogar | Wihsaak | Ximtal ]
Trigger warning — this fiend description contains relationship breakdown, so if you have concerns about content like that, I suggest you give this creature a miss
Pakalchi Sahkil
The Bride of Thorns (CR 9); gamophobia — fear of commitment, losing a relationship
Home Planes: Ethereal / Xibalba; Nether
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Imagine a tangle of heartbreak given physical form: the pakalchi [pack-AL-chee] sahkil manifests in a twisted mockery of beauty—a gaunt, seven-foot woman cloaked in tattered finery. Scarlet, thorny vines sprout from her wasted limbs and trail behind her, studded with tiny crimson blossoms that a drip sweet, metallic nectar. Her flesh seems almost mummified, her skin stretched taut over prominent bones, and clothing is entwined with fresh and withered petals alike. Whenever a pakalchi manifests, the air turns thick with the sharp scent of cut roses mingled with the earthy rot of past grief. If you’re close (which the wise ain’t), the sound that haunts your ears is the dry scraping of thorns and the rustle of petals drying up and being shed, only to be replaced by new flowers. At times, the vines twitch and crawl of their own accord.
A pakalchi isn’t content with the simple business of scaring berks witless; she delights in unpicking the seams of love and loyalty. Her signature move is social sabotage: with supernatural charm, dominating powers, and her dreadful look of fear, the pakalchi sows suspicion and insecurity among lovers and friends. Her victims are tormented by visions of heartbreak, betrayal, and the slow dissolution of trust, until bonds fray and hope curdles. Pakalchis thrive in the ruins of failed relationships, feeding on the despair and vulnerability their manipulations create. The stronger the relationship was to begin with, the more sustenance they derive from destroying it.
Their philosophy is sharp as a thorn—fear is most potent when it’s tied to the heart’s deepest longings, and the terror that comes when you realise what cherish most is doomed to wither. The niche of the pakalchi is that of an artist of heartbreak: they haunting old graveyards, deserted lovers’ lanes, and thorny holts where joy once grew, always eager to turn affection into agony so that berks never forget how fragile love truly is.
Source and Stats: Bestiary 5 [PF1e] p216; Bestiary 3 [PF2e] p220
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.