Sibriex

Sibriexes were extremely ancient obyrith demons that were capable of manipulating flesh by grafting Abyssal matter into it. They'd existed since long before the tanar'ri came to rule the Abyss and had spawned several breeds of the proliferous fiends through their unholy experiments.

"A breeder of horrors and a hoarder of secrets, A sibriex is said to be as old as the Abyss."

- The Cartographer

Description
Sibriexes were bloated, tall demons that were little more than, deformed heads. The reek of rotten vegetation hung off their misshapen bodies and they constantly exuded streams of blood and bile, polluting the ground and causing plants to wither wherever they went. Their faces were the size of wagons, with shriveled arms ending in trembling digits where their ears would be. In place of a neck, the underbelly of a sibriex hosted a writhing mass of stalks, puckers, and feeding tubes. Although they could lazily float through the air, a body harness fitted with steel chains ending in sharpened spikes was tied around their bodies which tethered them to the ground and which they could animate in order to "walk" along solid surfaces.

Personality
"No creature embodies the chaotic nature of the Abyss so well as the sibriex. Although the realm of the demons is already a place filled with infinite horrors, sibriexes for some reason make even more of these monstrosities."

- Mordenkainen

While the true inner workings of the sibriex mind were unknown even to demonologists, it was apparent that they took personal satisfaction in dominating, modifying, and destroying all other lifeforms. Intelligent and perverse, they enjoyed bullying and tormenting weak creatures, but tended to avoid anyone stronger or smarter than themselves. They were primarily concerned with the increase of their own power and, over the eons, had accrued a vast amount of information from across the multiverse that they greedily hoarded for future use.

Sibriexes viewed flesh grafting as its own kind of art form, and their newfound demonkin were regarded as mere raw material for experimentation. Extremely vain and arrogant creatures, sibriexes made high demands from anyone who hired them for their services, in the form goods or services in return. Such payments could be made with gold, works of art, magic items, large contingents of guards, or other comforts with which to decorate their lairs. They kept a large number of magical weapons and items in their lairs, even if they couldn't use them personally, in order to bestow them upon worthy servants.

Abilities
Sibriexes warped not only the physical reality around them but twisted the minds of those nearby. Those that dared to approach them were not only poisoned by their toxic aura of corruption, but they risked their minds being tainted by a sibriex's eldritch influence and might start viewing it as the perfect life form. Such a mind-warping power drained the victim's personality and self-esteem, although other demons and those with sibriex-grafted flesh were immune. By focusing their efforts, sibriexes could near-instantly warp several creatures nearby, permanently turning those incapable of resisting into the deformed monstrosities known as abyssal wretches. The process could be completed in under a minute and the victim's only hope of salvation would be a wish spell.

By channeling Abyssal power, sibriexes could create legions of demons out of other creatures, so many that within a few days they could create vast forces of rutterkin to defend them. Their warping was generally temporary if agonizing, wearing off if the victim could resist the effects for long enough. If for whatever reason a being wanted to accept a sibriex's flesh-warping, they could undergo an excruciating, hour-long process that permanently transformed them without turning them into a wretch. Some also claimed they could graft flesh instantly, if a limited amount of times each day, using Abyssal chaos as the material. Results of accepting the flesh-warping included the expansion, reduction, multiplication, transition, creation, animation and otherwise alteration of one's anatomy.

Sibriexes could freely manipulate the four chains attached to their bodies using their telepathy. The chains were not truly parts of them, acting more as weapons or items that could be broken despite being highly durable. Sibriexes could use their creation-based abilities to make new chains if their old ones broke.

From the feeding tubes that hung off their lower bodies, sibriexes could spit shots of highly acidic, black bile at their enemies in order to liquefy them. They could float not because of any magical power, but because like beholders their bodies were naturally buoyant. They could innately cause the effects of the charm person, command, dispel magic, hold monster, and feeblemind spells.

Combat
Most sibriexes, if threatened, would immediately try to melt down their enemies with their acidic bile before charming foes to their side in order to better their chances. Afterwards, they used feeblemind to disable enemy spellcasters as appropriate to the situation. They were extremely skilled in the use of their chains as weapons, lashing out at enemies in single, fluid motions by gracefully striking with one chain and anchoring it in order to let the other chains hit. While capable of biting opponents, such a tactic was less effective, although they would still do so to any opponent in reach.

Some sibriexes preferred to use their sheer unworldly presence to terrify enemy ranks while soaring across the battlefield. They would immobilize or otherwise limit their foe's movements before quickly turning them into pools of foul gore using their bile. Others viewed combat as a testing ground for their experiments, restraining foes before warping their flesh and turning them into terrifying monstrosities.

Society
Sibriexes had no tolerance for equals among their associates and were found either surrounding themselves with lowly thralls or under the orders of a greater power. The sibriexes' ability to graft flesh out of the chaotic matter of the Abyss was highly valued by demon lords and certain spellcasters, making them most likely to be found within their lairs. If under the thumb of a master, they always sought out viable opportunities to betray them, becoming more domineering and wicked while being oppressed. This process usually only took a few weeks if the sibriex wasn't stopped, as they eventually took control of their environment and used their innate charm monster and feeblemind abilities to convert their supposed masters into puppets at their command. Some sibriexes were sought out and employed by demon lords not to craft flesh but to use their incredible knowledge to act as advisors and oracles, although such sibriexes still manipulated their employers for their own ends.

As a rule, sibriexes preferred to avoid politics and tried to keep themselves apart from major conflicts, living in large, isolated fortresses or unclaimed areas of the Abyss. Such lairs were guarded by armies of lesser demons and charmed monsters, allowing a sibriex to focus on strengthening their position.

Ecology
The origin of sibriexes was largely unknown, but some sages claimed that they had come from an alien universe at the time of the creation of the Abyss. According to the World Axis cosmology, this event coincided with the insertion of the shard of evil into the Elemental Chaos by Tharizdun. Their Abyssal layer of origin, or at the least the one they were most commonly encountered in, was the 558, known as the Fleshforges, a protoplasmic dimension of ever-changing organic matter with lakes of bodily fluid and mountains of bone. They were never numerous, even before the fall of the obyriths, and the conditions for their reproduction seemed to have been lost with their dominion. It was estimated that there were only a few hundred sibriexes in existence, usually no more than one per each layer of the Abyss.

History
During the war waged by the obyriths against law, the precursor to the Blood War known as the Upheaval, sibriexes were tasked with breeding and augmenting the obyrith armies with their implants. After generations of experiments, sibriexes played a major role in the creation of the various tanar'ri races that initially fought for their obyrith masters. Their craft could most easily be seen in some of the characteristics of tanar'ri anatomy that looked artificial, such as the half-organic armor plating found underneath the flesh of the glabrezus and hezrous. After the obyriths' defeat at the hands of the tanar'ri, sibriexes used their cunning to swiftly switch sides and started working for the new demon lords in the same way they served their former masters. Whether or not there was any kind of underlying scheme behind the augmentation of the race that overthrew their former masters was unknown.

Notable Sibriexes
Five brilliant sibriexes inhabited the Scabwash Sentinels, a laboratory located in the ocean portion of Gaping Maw, the 88 layer of the Abyss. The sea around the laboratory was constantly polluted with refuse and crowded by their failed experiments.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus 
 * Cauldron of Sapphire