Hastatus

Plural: Hastati

A warrior of Ansulym who wields infernal energies as well as other energies. An elite warrior of the empires, they carry massive spears made of infernal metals, wear nothing but silken togas which seem unwieldy and inappropriate for battle, and sandals made of the flesh of slaves. They have sold their souls, have empty pits where their eyes once were, and have long tongues of acid and slime and sharp claws on their hands as part of the ritual that turns them into nearly invincible, evil warriors.

"The first time I witnesses an hastatus in combat, I knew not what he was. He stood amongst the infantry of the Srisian armies, another spearman, though with an unusually large spear. I thought nothing of his darkened eyes, as I was observing from a distance. What I saw when combat was engaged changed my perceptions in the most terrifying manner. We, I must admit, underestimated them to begin with. Seeing them among infantry with no armor upon their persons suggested they were officers, or perhaps support troops carrying ballistae bolts. Many of our warriors did not even attack them, thinking them noncombatants. By the time our error was realized, it was far too late." - General Najwan Tarabay, Tara'hinian Army

Ritual of Infernal Might

The ritual to create an hastatus is different from that which creates a demon knight, who do so for themselves and their own demonic powers. An hastatus is a warrior devoted to an empire, owned by an empire, and created by an empire. Though they are often willing participants, they lose all being in service to conquest and power for their imperial overlords. The ritual requires a maleficer or other powerful infernal esotericist who is willing to take a mortal apart and put them back together again with infernal arts. The ritual is extremely variable, but it always involves butchery, souleating, and torture.

Risks

A maleficer has a soulbond to their hastati, and therefore, the hastati may resist the maleficer's control or even take over the maleficer's soul. They may also drain power from the maleficer. For this reason, maleficers rarely create them.

Powers

An hastatus gains many powers upon completion of the ritual, and these powers grow as they kill.

Soulstealing

"The hastatus was feeding on our deaths. Hyphax and his fellow spearman, whom we later found out was named Torquatus, were unstoppable. We sent elite warriors, overwhelming squads, and volleys unending of arrows, but nothing slowed their brutal violence. Every death gave them new powers - one moment they would spew acids from their mouths and the next it would be lightning as dark as midnight; one moment they would have the strength of giants and the next the speed of mutumwa. We could see their claws, fangs, and spears taking from us everything we were, but to ignore them was to allow conquest." - General Najwan Tarabay, Tara'hinian Army

Every being killed by an hastatus loses their soul to it, and that soul is converted to power for the warrior, either in terms of stat or skill bonuses or in new powers.

Near-Immunity to Death

"To kill an hastatus seemed impossible. Indeed, Torquatus never died by Tara'hinian hand - the Srisians themselves dispatched him one night as he lie unconscious, incapacitated by drugs and drink, for he had grown so powerful they feared him. But Hyphax we did see die after we had slain the maleficer Etana, the one who created these two atrocities. It took all the might of one of the mikali, whose own soul was sacrificed in the assault, to see him destroyed, but he did fall. I therefore offer this hope: it is possible for an hastatus to die." - General Najwan Tarabay, Tara'hinian Army

The lifeforce of an hastatus is hidden within the soul of the maleficer who made them, meaning that the hastatus cannot die so long as the maleficer lives. They can, however, be rent limb from limb, knocked out, sealed in stone, chained up at the bottom of an ocean, etc. The only other ways to slay an hastatus besides killing their maker is to sever their soulbond with an infernal weapon or to overload their souls with celestial or aetherial powers, both of which require enormous power.

Infernal Powers

The main powers of an hastatus include

• Soulstealing spear: a combination of msahwat, quaestus, razdavit', and drenante allows them to steal the souls of those they slay by any means, but their spears are the most effective tool for this.
• Soul-burning gaze: a combination of hollow energy, arnum, infernum, and fusei allows them to damage souls as if they were burning them to ash by gazing into the eyes of their opponents.
• Acid tongue: their tongues drip with an acidic ooze powered by ibbissu and cacophony.
• Poisonous bite: their bite is coated with the same ooze, but it is transformed by vile energy and brown aether to make it toxic.
• Rending claws: their claws are pure slitna, breaking, shattering, cracking, slashing everything they strike.
• Unbreakable skin: their skin is made impenetrable by Bedrog and blasphemy, meaning they do not take wound damage.
• Mindsapper song: their voices drain the willpower of those who hear them singing, using mollesse, uafas, peccatum, and stravomenos.
• Brutal rush: they can tap into the pure violence within them and become temporarily wreathed in infernal flames as they destroy and kill by drawing upon baleblood, feirua, and imperium.
• Insidious twine: they can ensnare victims in a thin infernal twine from their spittle made of gossamer light, pravum, and thorn energy.
• Word of negation: a single word from them can negate certain esoteric defenses, using void, sterisi, and misfortune.
• Eldritch eruption: when they die, if they die, they explode in a blast of Eldritch energy.

By being made of multiple energies, these attacks become harder to defend against.

Secondary Powers

As they devour the souls of those who are not infernal, they often take on other powers:

• Wall of Power: a wall of red light that is impenetrable, fueled by gebvel. Triggered by slamming their spear-butt on the ground.
• Hell's Shadow: an aura of darkness that obscures the hastatus for a round, fueled by gemtkhereg. Triggered by covering their eyes.
• Undefeatable Blade: the hastatus's sword becomes unbeatable for a round, fueled by d'qiarsea. Triggered by licking their blade.
• Sealed Fortress: the building an hastatus is in becomes sealed and protected, fueled by cu'ucuch'ik. Triggered by pressing their hand to the wall.
• Bloodstrength: the hastatus gains a massive strength bonus, fueled by oalkhaylaoataa. Triggered by flexing their arms.
• Infernal Law: the hastatus is empowered by any unjust laws in the area, fueled by shavev mashkalran. Triggered by pressing their hand to the ground.
• Sense Energies: the hastatus can sense any energies they can draw from nearby, fueled by menab'e. Triggered by cutting the flesh between their eyes.
• Summon Infernal Dragon: the hastatus summons an infernal dragon to serve them, fueled by draconic power. Triggered by vomiting on the ground intentionally.
• Soul Trade: the hastatus can exchange some esoteric quality for someone's soul, fueled by mashoaab. Triggered by whispering in the target's ear.
• Seeking Blade: the hastatus's weapons gain bonuses to hit, fueled by b'qar. Triggered by holding action for three rounds.
• Fast Learning: the hastatus learns skills faster, fueled bu kakraohy. Triggered by inhaling smoke.
• Dispell: the hastatus breaks any aligned protections a target has, fueled by shebv heya. Triggered by a swift, pulled punch.

Form

Hastati's bodies transform when they submit to become a vessel of imperial power.

Claws

If they did not already have claws, they grow them. If they do not have arms, they grow arms to have claws. If they have claws, their claws become sharper and stained yellow and red. Their claws pulse with the grey and purple power of slitna and rend anything they slash.

Tongues

Their tongues elongate and become coated with acidic slime. If they have no tongues, they grow them. If they have no mouths, they form them. If they have tongues, their tongues transform. They are coated in ibbissu and cacophony, creating an entropic, dissolving, dissonant ooze that burns and disrupts all it touches.

Eyes

Their eyes become empty pits, burning and vacant. If they had no eyes, pits grow anyway. They contain a pool, deep within, of hollow energy, arnum, infernum, and fusei that gives them soul-burning power..

"The eyes were a horror unto themselves. Our warriors would engage the hastatus directly, gaining ground, forcing him back, only to find themselves locked in the gaze of a man whose soul was burnt to ash. In those eyes were no faceted insectoid organs one might expect from a scorpionkin, but rather actual pits of burning coal. And to behold those pits was to feel one's soul begin to char." - General Najwan Tarabay, Tara'hinian Army

Inventory

The ceremony to create an hastatus forms three items that are part of them:

Silken Armor

The hastati gain silk togas which are unwieldy and seemingly unfit for combat, but that do not hinder them at all. Most togas are pink, yellow, or orange. They give +10/+10 defense. If their togas are destroyed, they take penalties to their energy-absorbing powers.

Spears

"It would be more accurate to call them ballista bolts." - General Najwan Tarabay, Tara'hinian Army

Huge, thick, tall spears made of infernal metals - usually griseomy, boreanic, or steuerungium - which speed the draining of souls from those they kill, ensuring more energy is drained to the hastatus and not lost. They are +18/+18 and add +6 to the souldrain.

Flesh Sandals

As part of the ceremony to create them, many slaves are sacrificed. Their first act upon creation is to flay these corpses and make sandals from their flesh. These sandals give them +7 endurance during combat, allowing them to fight on much longer than the average soldier.

Societal Role

Hastati are elite soldiers of the imperial armies of Ansulym. They are created by maleficers, who are usually members of the ruling class, and they are lavished with luxury while they live and are useful. When they become too powerful or lose their power, they are killed ruthlessly. They exist as embodiments of imperial violence, and therefore, if the empire falls, so do they.

Variations

Each of the major empires of Ansulym has slight variations on the hastati which gives them one extra power. In some cases, these countries are not always empires, and as such, cannot have hastati during those times.

• Arunel: Arunelese hastati have breath that has uafan toxins in it.
• Baradin: Baradinian hastati have higher persuasion scores.
• Deseria: Deserian hastati have an aura of dominance.
• Endruin: Endruish hastati gain power from drinking blood.
• Fennvell: Fennish hastati have breath that is filled with diseases.
• Furich Amol: Amolese hastati have an enslaving bite.
• Kael'Ras: Raesian hastati turn victims into corporeal undead.
• Lyfane: Lyfanean hastati bleed brown sludge.
• Malaer: Malaerean hastati have multiple infernal auras.
• Mal'sk: Malish hastati have an aura of intimidation.
• Mwyr Aeld: Aeldian hastati are beautiful to behold.
• Srisia: Srisian hastati have a long-distance, persuasive whisper.
• Tyreeth: Tyreethian hastati are all women and gain power by eating genitalia.
• Vendale: Vendalian hastati have poisonous spit.

Skills

Common skills include

• Murder
• Torture
• Intimidation
• Cannibalism
• Slaving
• Tactics
• Hunting

Stats

Modifiers from base of nation/species:

PRO +10
ATH +8
STR +9
AWA +6
WIL +6
STH +5
PRS +5