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Mavawhans, also known as ice demons, were winged demons known for their cold magic that were native to the Iron Wastes. After the rise of Kostchtchie, their numbers on the 23rd layer dwindled as they were hunted, enslaved and driven from the realm.[1][2]
Description[]
Mavawhans were gaunt bipeds with lean but muscular bodies seemingly carved out of bloodied, pale blue and white ice covered in black, jagged runes. Their long arms folded up like those of a mantis, their tails were long and ended in a mess of six, icicle-like blades, and their looming bat-like wings were partially transparent and tipped with even more sharp icicles.[2]
Their elongated, noseless faces housed four serpentine eyes all in single row and large mouths filled with fangs. Higher up were long, downwards-curving horns of transparent ice and a black, braided mane that emerged from the back of their heads, fixed with silver bangles and small bones.[2]
Personality[]
While not exactly stupid,[1][2] mavawhans were vicious creatures known for their single-minded rage.[1] Though killing was enjoyable to them, they were capable of working and negotiating with others and admitting, however unpleasant it was to do so, when they were in need of assistance.[1][2] The demons had to be canny just to survive and had vast knowledge of the Iron Wastes.[2]
Abilities[]
Mavawhan's radiated an aura of bitter cold that slowed down those around them, made others more vulnerable to frost, and made them easy to move around on the battlefield.[1][2] They themselves couldn't be harmed by the cold, though as one would expect, they were vulnerable to fire.[2] Not only could they fly with their frozen wings, but they could maneuver on icy surfaces like a spider on a web, whether flat, vertical, or upside-down.[1][2]
Various ice magic was available to the mavawhans, including the spell-like abilities chill metal, fog cloud and wall of ice.[2] A limited number of times per day, they could create icy blasts, cones of cold, ice storms and polar rays.[1][2] Mavawhans also had the power to summon other tanar'ri, typically another mavawhan or a small group of babaus, though this only worked half the time.[2]
Mavawhans were infamous for the icy venom in their talons; a combination of freezing liquid and terrible poison, the venom of mavawhans quickly froze their victim solid from the inside out. Effects that protected one from traditional poison or disease couldn't stop the process, but magical fire immediately caused it to end. Aside from that, an ice statue could be reverted to normal by methods that worked on normally petrified victims, or through an arcane process involving mavawhan blood.[1][2]
Combat[]
Mavawhans were a race of marauders that hunted and fought individually,[1][2] ambushing targets that were traveling in the open after lying in wait.[2][3] They would make sure to reduce their prey's mobility, using spells like wall of ice and fog cloud before blasting them with icy magic.[2]
Those that managed to avoid these sneak attacks were met with melee as the mavawhan swept down to personally engage with their target.[2][3] They relished the chance to freeze their enemies to death and so stayed in constant motion, striking as many opponents as possible in an attempt to turn as many as possible into statues.[1][2] Given their reliance on ice, they tried to avoid combatants that demonstrated an immunity to the cold.[2]
Society[]
Most mavawhans of the Iron Wastes were bound to the service of the hateful Kostchtchie,[3] who despised tanar'ri, despite being one of them, and so slaughtered or enslaved the ice demons whenever he had the chance.[1][2] When free, they were known to group into "flights" containing somewhere between three to six members, but there were likely larger concentrations living in remote regions in the Wastes.[2] Many nested in the trackless mountains and some took advantage of its many planar portals to mount attacks on the Material Plane.[3]
Kostchtchie's many enemies took advantage of the mavawhans, hiring them as counselors, spies and scouts regarding the Wastes. Their service could be invaluable in avoiding the icy realm's hazards, and for their part, the mavawhans were more than willing to to perform service and accept outside aid, begrudgingly accepting help in taking the Iron Wastes from the Prince of Wrath.[1][2] They had a particular affinity with creatures of the cold, such as certain elementals, jarrlaks, and even frost giants, provided they weren't following Kostchtchie.[1]
History[]
Long had the Iron Wastes been the ancestral home of the ice demons, a plane where great flocks of mavawhans ruled the sky above and the icy caverns below. However, when Kostchtchie arrived, he and his minions hunted most flocks to extinction, with only the most cunning and hardy surviving the ordeal. Though the mavawhan's numbers had decreased, and despite having spread into other parts of the Abyss and in the multiverse beyond, a great number still existed on the fringes of their original home.[1][2]
Rumors and Legends[]
Supposedly, under a massive, hollow mountain, a great concentration of mavawhans and the overlords of their kind schemed to reclaim their homelands.[2]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Mike Mearls, Brian R. James, Steve Townshend (July 2010). Demonomicon. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 127. ISBN 978-0786954926.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 James Jacobs (July 2006). “The Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Kostchtchie: Prince of Wrath”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #345 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. 32–33.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Mike Mearls, Brian R. James, Steve Townshend (July 2010). Demonomicon. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 67. ISBN 978-0786954926.
Connections[]
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
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