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 were believed to be as old as the plane itself.

Description
A sibriex appeared to be an enormous floating misshapen head tethered to the ground by chains. They constantly exuded blood and bile from their misshapen bodies. Their excretions polluted the ground wherever they fell. The chains, which were attached to harnesses, could be animated by the sibriex and used to move it around or to attack.

Personality
Extremely vain and arrogant creatures, sibriexes made high demands from anyone who hired them for their services, in the form of gold, works of art, magic items, large contingents of guards, and other comforts. They viewed their grafting skills as an art form.

Intelligent and perverse, they enjoyed bullying and tormenting weak creatures, but tended to avoid anyone stronger or smarter than themselves.

Combat
Any creature that came near a sibriex could feel the effects of its reality-warping madness. Those who dared approach it could be poisoned by its aura of corruption. Moreover, they risked being driven insane by its mind-warping influence, starting to view the sibriex as the perfect life form.

A sibriex could almost instantly warp a number of creatures around it. In less than a minute, it could turn those that could not resist its effect into deformed monstrosities known as abyssal wretches. This transformation could only be undone by a wish spell.

When in combat, sibriexes tended to use their acidic excretions of bile to reach opponents at a distance, as well as their animated chains to attack enemies that came nearby. They could innately cause the effects of the charm person, command, dispel magic, hold monster, and feeblemind spells.

Society
The sibriexes' ability to graft flesh was highly valued by demon lords and some spellcasters. For that reason, they were most typically found close to their lairs. It was not uncommon for a sibriex to eventually take control of its environment, using its innate charm monster and feeblemind abilities to convert its master into a puppet.

As a rule, sibriexes preferred to avoid politics and tended to keep themselves apart from major conflicts, living in isolated fortresses or unclaimed areas of the Abyss as they focused on increasing their own power.

Ecology
It was believed that the obyriths had lost the means for sibriexes to reproduce. For that reason, their numbers never increased. Their exact numbers were unknown, but it was estimated that there were only a few hundred sibriexes in existence, usually no more than one per layer of the Abyss.

History
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.

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.

After the obyriths' defeat at the hands of the tanar'ri, sibriexes used their cunning to swiftly switch sides and started working for the demon lords in the same way they served their former masters.

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