Kalakaigh
Level 6Attacks
Abilities
A kalakaigh can sense creatures that are frightened or under a fear effect.
Kalakaighs delight in the sight of fresh wounds, and when one is healed, they recoil in pain. When a creature heals from damage that the kalakaigh dealt on their last turn, the demon takes 4d6 mental damage. The kalakaigh can take this damage only once per round.
A kalakaigh deals 1d6 extra precision damage and 1d6 extra persistent bleed damage to Off-Guard creatures.
The kalakaigh can take on the appearance of any Medium humanoid, but when they do so, they always appear to be wearing dark clothing, black gloves, and some sort of obscuring cover over their face or head. These "clothes" are in fact part of the demon's new body. Their new form doesn't change their Speed or their weapon attack and damage modifiers with their Strikes, but it does prevent them from making horn Strikes. The monster changes its shape indefinitely. It can use this action again to return to its natural shape or adopt a new shape. Unless otherwise noted, a monster cannot use Change Shape to appear as a specific individual. Using Change Shape counts as creating a disguise for the Impersonate use of Deception. The monster's transformation automatically defeats Perception DCs to determine whether the creature is a member of the ancestry or creature type into which it transformed, and it gains a +4 status bonus to its Deception DC to prevent others from seeing through its disguise. Change Shape abilities specify what shapes the monster can adopt. The monster doesn't gain any special abilities of the new shape, only its physical form. For example, in each shape, it replaces its normal Speeds and Strikes, and might potentially change its senses or size. Any changes are listed in its stat block.
Trigger The kalakaigh damages a creature with a melee Strike while in its humanoid form Effect The kalakaigh reverts to its true form, and all creatures within 30-foot emanation who witness the transformation must make a DC 21 will save or become Frightened 1 (Frightened 2 on a critical failure).
The kalakaigh attacks with a recognizable flourish or in a specific way that links all its murders together. The kalakaigh makes a melee Strike with its kukri. This counts as two attacks when calculating the demon's multiple attack penalty. If this strike hits, the kalakaigh deals an additional 2d6 persistent bleed damage, and the target is Frightened 2.
Description
A kalakaigh is above all else a killer—a fiendish incarnation of the sin of murder. They typically form from the souls of mortals who, in life, pursued murder as an obsession, killing simply for the thrill of killing.
Servants of Slaughter
Kalakaighs often serve the demon lords Shax and Zura, but some remain stubbornly devoted to Nocticula, a legacy from her time spent as a patron of assassins. These demons cling to the hope that Nocticula will return as their queen, if only they can murder enough innocents in her name.