Vrolikai

"Blood dripped from its lips, its dead-eyed gaze piercing through me like a freshly sharpened blade. It couldn't understand why I had called it to a plane it would much rather forget and as such, the demands it made were nigh impossible to fulfill. I made a  mistake. I could not pay its terrible price. For my foolishness, I lost my world. My daughter was claimed like a stray, wrapped in four powerful arms and whisked away by its leathery wings. She was all I had left in this world and I had ruined her in pursuit of a dream that would never be fully realized."

- Excerpt from the diary of Khardal Blackblood, a disgraced mage turned hermit.

Formed from the souls of those with unusual appetites, vrolikai are truly brutal creatures that delight in violence and misery. Anyone who feasts on the flesh and blood of sapient creatures, especially those of their own kind, will find themselves twisted into the disgusting form of a nabasu upon death. They wander the material plane, feeding off of corpses and hunting down the souls of the innocent in order to grow. Those who are well fed eventually transform into a much more powerful version of themselves; the vrolikai.
The vrolikai appear as 10-foot tall beasts with black skin, four arms with clawed fingertips, and large bat-like wings. They commonly have wild manes of white fur and long, thin tails that end in a plume of ragged fur. Two long, gnarled horns sit upon their head. Their teeth are like daggers, able to tear through flesh with ease, though they prefer to play with their victims before delivering the killing blow. Vrolikai are needlessly cruel and chaotic. While summoning demons is frowned upon in general, it's highly advised that mages avoid vrolikai in any circumstance. Summoning one will lead to misfortune, even if they decide to keep up their end of the bargain.
Vrolikai serve as assassins-for-hire for the demon lords within the Abyss. Their work rarely takes them outside of the plane and when it does, they usually find themselves hunting targets within Hell. They don't come to the material plane of their own accord. Given the painfully boring process of growing up as a nabasu, vrolikai carry a hatred for it and the mortals that call it home. While the work they deal in requires stealth, skill, and patience; a vrolikai without an active contract is notably impatient. To kill boredom, vrolikai will sometimes make contact with mortals and strike deals with them, all to find an outlet for their sadistic tendencies.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Vrolikai don't have a standardized society or culture. They're solitary for the most part, preferring to hunt on their own. While they do have minions, vrolikai don't bond with them in any capacity and see them as disposable resources. On the rare occasion where they encounter another of their kind, vrolikai ignore each other's presence unless the other is actively interfering with their business.

Facial characteristics

The face of a vrolikai is like that of a rabid bat or a gargoyle. Their eyes are stark white and glossy, like that of a corpse. They have long, slender faces with jaws that are capable of unhinging to a certain degree. With no lips, their sharp teeth are on display at all times, and are usually stained with blood.

Average Intelligence

Vrolikai are unfortunately intelligent, much more than mortals. They're strategic thinkers despite their chaotic nature, though they rarely use that skill outside of their professional work. They're strangely charismatic when they want to be, which they use to their advantage when interacting with mortals or lesser demons and fiends.

Civilization and Culture

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Vrolikai are arrogant and self-absorbed. They loathe mortals, but find enjoyment in torturing them both mentally and physically. Vrolikai truly believe that they're above everyone else and won't be bound to those beneath them. This arrogance is held towards the demon lords too, though most vrolikai know to keep their thoughts to themselves or face a fate worse than death.
While incredibly uncommon, some mortals have had intimate relationships with vrolikai, usually as a means of gaining favor with the demons. This has led to a rare instance of tieflings bearing their blood, though their relation to those tieflings is generally distant. Tieflings born directly from the union, whether voluntary or involuntary, of a mortal and a vrolikai are prone to experience psychosis as well as cannibalistic desires.

Average Height

10 feet

Average Weight

400 lbs

Average Physique

Muscular with exceptionally strong legs and thick wings that can comfortably carry their weight.