Gylou
Level 14Attacks
Abilities
Trigger A creature leaves a square within the gylou's reach using a move action or attempts a melee Strike against the gylou
Effect The gylou lashes out with a tentacle, attempting to Grapple the triggering creature. If the triggering Strike was with a melee weapon, the attacking creature can Release the weapon to cause the gylou to automatically fail the Athletics check.
Requirements The gylou has a Medium or smaller creature Grabbed or Restrained
Effect The gylou transfers the grabbed creature into their lower body's net of encaging tentacles, freeing their limbs and tentacles to make Strikes. This has the same effects as Swallow Whole (Medium, (2d12+12)[bludgeoning], Rupture 30), except the encaged creature is not at risk of suffocation, and the gylou can bring the encaged creature with them when they cast Translocate. A gylou can have only one creature
Frequency once per day
Trigger The gylou attempts a skill check but hasn't rolled yet
Effect The gylou demonstrates a preternatural ability for the task at hand. They use their Deception modifier for the triggering check and for all skill checks using the same skill thereafter until the next time the gylou uses this ability or until 24 hours have passed, whichever happens first.
Though gylous are deeply entrenched in the expansive and complex machinations of Hell, they are highly skilled agents capable of nuanced diplomacy, masterful deception, physical finesse, and nearly any other tasks they set their minds to. This versatility has led to gylous becoming widespread throughout all layers of Hell, enabling them to filter key information to their masters regarding other devils' plots and schemes. Their allegiance is no secret, but their skills are so great that powerful devils employ one or more gylous regardless. While most gylous have a feminine form (combined with their role, this is the source of their common moniker of "handmaiden"), some have other gender presentations, and nearly all gylous take on carefully cultivated illusions to best suit the roles they fill. More often than not, gylous arise when lesser devils who have demonstrated exceptional utility and invaluable skills are uplifted into a new form, though on rare occasions they are shaped from the souls of evil mortals who showed unparalleled savvy within bureaucratic enterprises.
Masters of corruption and architects of conquest, devils seek both to tempt mortal life to join in their pursuit of all things profane and to spread tyranny throughout all worlds. The temptations they offer mortals range from great powers granted by the signing of an infernal contract to twisted favors following a whispered pledge to a diabolic patron, or any number of even subtler exchanges. Those who succumb to these temptations find themselves consigned to an afterlife of endless torment in the pits of Hell, wherein the only hope of escape lies in the chance of being promoted to become a devil in the infernal ranks.
Every devil has a specific role to play in the upkeep of the remorseless bureaucratic machine that is Hell, from soldiers and scholars to inquisitors, lawyers, judges, and executioners. Lowly orts perform subservient labor to more powerful and specialized devils, such as infantry and contract devils, while the greatest nessaris command entire infernal armies.
Asmodeus stands at the apex of the structure he created, but the layers below him are marked by a constant jockeying for position. Most diabolic plans ultimately serve to improve the schemer's place in the hierarchy.