Rutterkin

The rutterkins were demons low on the pecking order of the Abyss.

Description
The rutterkins were grotesque and disfigured demons with backward-pointing ears that dwelled in the Abyss, they hunted in mobs in search of victims to devour.

Personality
Wild, rough, and bestial, these creatures respected nothing but brute force. The rutterkins were foot soldiers of many Abyssal armies and subservient to tanar'ri lords. Even though they were feral and monstrous creatures some of them were intelligent enough to understand concepts like value and trade.

Combat
The rutterkins would overwhelm the intruders in their realms with a paralyzing wave of fear while surging forwards in a mob.

Abilities
Some individual rutterkins were able to create unnatural darkness, imbue an area with negative energy, as well as magically summon their kin. In extremely rare cases they could fly and use telekinesis.

Society
Rutterkins generally roamed the layers of the Abyss in vicious murderous mobs. The deformed demons were capable of using man-made tools seldomly wearing armor as well as using long swords and battle-axes. They did prefer to use weapons rarely seen anywhere else but their grotesque hands: snap-tong (a short pole arm ended in a spike with crescent-shaped pincers designed close around it), tri-blade (a thrown weapon with a three-bladed wedge.)

History
The first rutterkins were molded into existence when a demon lord needed stronger soldiers using raw manes demons. The process of creating rutterkins was described as gut-wrenching, so unholy and disgusting that witnessing the ritual was akin to inviting blindness.

In 1370 DR rutterkins among with other tanar'ri were found in the Dungeon of Death on its Habitat Level subservient to the adolescent nabassu Visceris.

In the 14 century DR, Vheod Runechild read of an ancient tower and wished to find out more. He gifted a rutterkin a hefty amount of gold and a magical cloak to determine the tower's location.

Ecology
These demons' main purpose was hunting down non-demons that ended up in the Abyss. These deformed creatures were carries of the Warping Plague, infecting the victims with a bite. The bitten experienced debilitating symptoms such as pain and tremors, while their bodies were wrapped and disfigured by the Abyss' taint. The victims' flesh was twisted and shifted around the bones transforming them into abyssal wretches. The process of transformation, be it via the Wrapping Plague or being molded from a demon, does not cease being painful even long after the mutation is complete. The continuous excruciating pain makes these demons howl and shriek in pain.

Chaotic evil mortals occasionally reincarnate as manes, dretches, or rutterkin demons after dying in Thanatos, one of the layers of the Abyss.

These creatures could be found in dungeons, such as in the Habitat Level of the Dungeon of Death. Along with other tanar'ri, many rutterkins made this their home.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Dungeon of Death


 * Novels
 * The Glass Prison