Nupperibo

Nupperibos were a type of devil. To be precise, they were the absolute bottom of the infernal hierarchy.

Description
Nupperibos were bloated, tall devils that waddled about with their  pound bodies. They were similar to lemures, being vaguely humanoid monstrosities with even less discernible features. They had lanky, arm-like appendages and a head with the eyes and mouth sewn shut, a fact that didn't prevent them from shrieking or sensing those around them. Vestiges of their old forms always lingered, such as some tattoos, a scar pattern, odd skin coloration or other obscure leftovers. Clouds of fetid vermin formed a stinging veil around their distended forms.

Personality
Nupperibos barely had anything that could be considered a personality. They lacked any kind of ingenuity to develop anything that resembled combat strategy on their own, even when somebody directed them. They showed their sense of order in their unquestioning obedience towards their superiors and expressed their cruelty through the glee they took when engaging enemies. They followed the telepathic orders of any devil due to their sensitivity to such commands and in order to lighten their own torment at the hands of their commanders. They knew primarily of unending hunger, consuming everything they could scoop into their sewn up mouths.

Abilities
Nupperibos were blind, deaf, and mute, only able to discern the existence of nearby creatures by scent. One way to "blind" a nupperibo was to confront it with an overpowering odor.

Like the lemures they were incredibly hard to kill, as they had a persistent, if slow, regeneration ability. Even when burnt down to ash, a nupperibo's regeneration ability fully restored it if given enough time, leaving two main methods to permanently destroy them Firstly, they only regenerated when within the Lower planes, meaning if a nupperibo was brought away from there, it could be permanently killed. Second, nupperibos could not regenerate from wounds dealt by holy implements like holy weapons or holy water. Another trait they shared with lemures was their mindlessness, which made it impossible to mentally manipulate them.

The horrific appearance of the nupperibos combined with their ruined mental state created an aura of raw terror around them. When more than ten nupperibos ganged up on the same opponent, they generated an effect that was similar to cause fear against their target. Their fetid forms were also constantly being swarmed by vermin that stung at non-devils nearby. Provided they were in the Nine Hells, nupperibos could pursue any creature without fault that was hurt by one of the vermin.

Combat
Outside from their instinctual desire to inflict pain and unending quest to end their hunger, nupperibos had little independent thought. They violently lashed out at any non-devil they encountered and relentlessly hunted potential prey unless distracted by another meal. While pathetic when alone they were normally gathered in together, to clog important passageways or attack in mob formations. Groups between four and eight were often dispatched, but on Blood War battlefields their numbers could reach the thousands..

With practically no personal goals, or self-preservation instinct they mindlessly obeyed the telepathic commands of other devils, making them ideal Blood War troops. Their bone devil supervisors gathered them into mobs and equipped them for war with crude weapons, as they wouldn't be particularly more efficient with refined tools, and sent them to the frontlines to engage demonic hordes. Most nupperibo mobs were under the command of spinagons, yet even when directed they fought with no sense of strategy, finesse or forward thought. In order to use their ability to cause fear their superiors had to specifically instruct them to focus on one opponent. Unless told otherwise, they merely waded directly into combat blindly flailing at their foes with whatever they were given or tried to rip their foes apart by biting and clawing at them.

A nupperibo's role in the infernal military was to serve as cannon fodder, acting as distractions, rear guard during a retreat, cushions to absorb attacks, or forces to occupy the enemy. A nupperibo was never the protagonist in a military campaign, only used to make enemy spellcasters waste valuable spells and time that could have been used against more important units.

Society
Nupperibos were at the utter bottom of the baatezu hierarchy only standing higher than lemures by pure technicality. The status of nupperibo was a dead end in terms of promotion, forcing a nupperibo to first be demoted into a lemure before they could further progress. A devil was demoted into a nupperibo only after significantly failing their superior, as a common belief among the devils was that demotion was the best way to demonstrate the depths of ones failures. Sometimes when a failed devil was turned into a nupperibo, they were kept around because their superior still saw some value in the capacities of their original form, returning them to their former station when it was opportune. From time to time, this led a devil to kidnap a nupperibo from its rival in order to restore the nupperibo to its previous status to gain information and/or a new ally. Asmodeus himself was rumored to use the intrigue spawned from such a tactic for entertainment, spreading rumors that a nupperibo he granted to one of his mortal followers was a former member of his court.

Nupperibos were the target of abuse at the hands of other devils who outranked them. They were the menial labor force and partial food source of Baator, a virtually inexhaustible resource that constantly gained new members due to frequent devilish political struggles. Hundreds of thousands of nupperibos swarmed Avernus and Dis, although like vermin they could be found anywhere within the Nine Hells. Most handlers lost them in the thick of battle although if they did return they had any useful items they scavenged taken away. If not being used for slave labor they could be found guarding the possessions of their handler. When a nupperibo was found alone, it was most likely a survivor of a former mob, or an enforcer or guard gifted to a promising, low-class, mortal servant of a devil. Most devils found the idea of a diminished devil forced to serve under a feeble mortal to be a humorous joke. Another common use for nupperibos was as trading stock for baatezu deals with the yugoloths in exchange for their mercenary services. Whether in the hands of the baatezu or yugoloths, nupperibos were disregarded, mistreated or consumed by the beings of the Lower Planes.

Ecology
Nupperibos were genderless creatures. They also never drank or ate anything. That said, they constantly hungered, and they put whatever they could grab, no matter how filthy, into their mouths, it simply was never satisfactory or quenched their hunger in any way.

The method through which a devil was demoted to a nupperibo was to carve its flesh, sew its eyes and mouth, seal the ears with lead, fill the body with corruption, and then remove the brain. The process, as done by an excruciarch left the devil with practically no hint about its former form and the nupperibo was complete. A nupperibo that was born from demotion always had some signs that might give another person idea about its former identity like some unique scar patterns.

A second way to generate a nupperibo was to leave a larva alone on Baator. They naturally grew into nupperibos. However, they were turned into lemures, so they could become full members of infernal society. However, some souls, namely of evil people, who were not evil because of their actions, but because of their laziness, lacked the spark of ambition that gave a devils the ability to enter and rise in their hierarchy. Such souls still entered the Nine Hells, but the devils could draw no use out of them and could not turn them into lemures or other devils. So, these souls became nupperibos and stayed that way.

History
Nupperibos were counted among the baatezu and the baatezu claimed that they were part of their race. This was a lie, the race of the nupperibos, or to be more precise what the nupperibos eventually matured into, existed on Baator for a longer time than the baatezu did. Whatever they were, when the baatezu came to Baator, this race disappeared.

Being the original denizens of Baator, nupperibos naturally grew from larvae that were left alone and were expected to grow into mature specimen of their race if given time. However, the baatezu, who claimed that they were the first denizens of Baator, perpetuated a lie that the nupperibos were members of their race and turned them into lemures to build them artificially into their hierarchy. The truth that the nupperibos were not baatezu was leaked by the yugoloths at some point during the 14 century DR.

When a devil died outside of Baator, it most often became a nupperibo in Baator. Devils often made arrangements with their subordinates to find them by leaving detailed descriptions of their nupperibo-form and restore them to their former position. This method had a number of problems. Distinguishing one nupperibo from the horde was difficult even for devils and from time to time, it happened that a devil intentionally disobeyed the order. However, having the chance to work one's way up from nupperibo-status was viewed as more preferable than dying by the devils.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
 * Miniatures:
 * Icons of the Realms
 * Video Games:
 * Planescape: Torment