Guecubu

A guecubu possessing a victim.
Guecubu
3rd Edition Statistics
Size	Medium
Type	Outsider
Subtype(s)	Chaotic, evil, incorporeal, Loumara
Alignment	Always Chaotic evil
Challenge rating	4
General Information
Vision	Darkvision
Homeland(s)	Abyss
Language(s)	Abyssal, Common, telepathy

Guecubus were a type of loumara (disembodied demonic spirits) that possessed the living and drove them to insanity. After secretly attaching themselves to mortals, they drove them to commit horrid atrocities or engineered the deaths of those around them.

Description

Guecubus were both incorporeal and invisible, unable to be detected except in minor ways that could be easily brushed off, such as hazy nightmares, signs of fatigue or hallucinations like the smell of fresh blood. Those with truesight or under the effects of a see invisibility spell would see their true form, that of an indistinct, convulsive, mass of gray gas with a diameter of 5 ft (1.5 m).

Personality

Guecubus were possessed by a deadly compulsion to murder others in enigmatic patterns, believing such actions would form a pattern that on completion would unveil the mysteries of existence. Regardless of its accuracy guecubus fervently believed it, as well as the idea that they, as individuals, were the single manifestation of the Abyss's true will. They were sadistic beings whose activities were not limited to murder in the pursuit of truth, as they would commit many vile misdeeds simply for their own pleasure, such as killing a host's loved ones or collecting morbid trophies.

Strangely, guecubus were fairly passive creatures a majority of the time, content to ride their hosts for potential months without the slightest hint of their presence. They had no need for treasure as they lacked bodies, nor the will to grow in power or authority, and typically lacked any truly defined personality outside of their hosts. Even in terms of hosts they were somewhat opportunistic, although they were slightly biased towards rural areas where the chances of exorcism were lower. However, guecubus inevitably grew disinterested in their current hosts or became enamored with new ones and would send their puppets on a string of despicable crimes until either unable to do so or until they finally decided to kill them off.

Abilities

Although constantly unseen, the presence of a guecubu could be felt dozens of feet away by all living creatures when they didn't possess a host. They didn't give those nearby nightmares,but attempts to sleep were often foiled by their unsettling nature while the awake constantly felt unnerved. When they decided to possess a creature, animal or humanoid, they had to touch it while it slept, a simple matter as their touch sent the living into a deep, hour-long slumber that only physical force could wake them from. If their attempt to possess a target failed, they continued to sleep, only remembering it as an odd dream.

Guecubus that successfully possessed their targets could hinder or help them in their endeavors through their profane powers, attempt to control them for a short period of time, or just influence them through emotional manipulation or words of advice, ill omens, and compliments. If the influence of such demonic possession didn't drive their puppet insane, they might at least create the appearance of lunacy.

With or without a host, the only recourse for a guecubu wishing to take direct action upon the material world was to use their telekinetic powers to move objects. They could hurl weapons and even denser objects like boulders weighing up to 50 lb (23 kg) to crush and maim most weaker entities.

Combat

Unless inhabiting a body, guecubus simply had to hurl objects at their enemies to hurt them. Their ability to put those they touched to sleep and lack of presence made it easy to move directly to those they wished to control. Those in control of bodies would attempt to puppeteer their pawns in the most advantageous way they could think of.

Society

The massive marketplaces of the Abyss, such as the Broken Reach of Pazunia, Zelatar from the realms of Graz'zt, and Lemoriax from the Gaping Maw, were often plagued by guecubus seeking to latch onto mortal visitors in order to enter the Material Plane.

Creation

Guecubus could be found throughout the Abyss, but were most numerous in their layer of origin, the Dreaming Gulf, where they were spontaneously spawned. They were formed when the otherworldly dreams of a dead pantheon of gods were infused with the raw, chaotic matter of their plane and it was postulated in the Demonomicon of Iggwilv that they specifically originated from the nightmares of a god of law and peace. Pieces of the particular dreams that generated them could be faintly recalled by new guecubus as weak memories.

Appendix

Connections

Demons

Fiendish Beings of Evil and Anarchy

Loumara
Caligrosto • Dybbuk • Guecubu • Manitou

Tanar'ri
Adaru • Alkilith • Armanite • Arrow demon • Babau • Balor • Bar-lgura • Bulezau • Cerebrilith • Chasme • Dretch • Gadacro • Glabrezu • Goristro • Hezrou • Jovoc • Kastighur • Klurichir • Lilitu • Mane • Marilith • Maurezhi • Mavawhan • Molydeus • Myrmyxicus • Nabassu • Nalfeshnee • Palrethee • Rutterkin • Solamith • Sorrowsworn • Spyder-fiend • Succubus • Uridezu • Vrock • Yochlol
Obyriths
Draudnu • Ekolid • Golothoma • Laghathti • Sibriex • Uzollru • Verakia • Wastrilith

Miscellaneous Demons
Abyssal chicken • Abyssal scavenger • Abyssal wretch • Abyssal wurm • Bebilith • Bonegouge assassin • Deathdrinker • Demon spawn • Dire whiner • Ferrolith • Ghour • Haures • Immolith • Jarrlak • Kazrith • Mahataa • Maw demon • Nashrou • Quasit • Rageborn • Retriever • Ruin demon • Runespiral demon • Rupture demon • Shadow demon • Shoosuva • Skulvyn • Tomb demon • Voracalith • Whisper demon • Zythar