Indarugant

Taut, leathery skin clings to the skeleton of this giant, whose hide garments only partially conceal the simple geometric tattoos and ancient battle scars that decorate his flesh.

Indarugant (CR 14)

Huge Undead
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Initiative: +2
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet; Perception +27

Speed: 30 feet (40 feet without armor)
Space: 15 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 29, touch 11, flat-footed 26 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural, -2 size)
Hit Points: 190 (20d8+100)
Saving Throws: Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +16
Channel Resistance +4
Damage Reduction: 5/-
Immunity: cold, undead traits
Spell Resistance: 25

Offense

Melee: battleaxe +23/+18/+13 (3d6+15/19-20/x3) or 2 slams +23 (1d8+10 plus curse of frozen flesh)
Reach: 15 feet
Ranged: rock +16 (2d6+10)

Special Attacks: Curse of frozen flesh, lingering curses, Rock Throwing (120 ft.)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; Concentration +19):

• At Will- Ill Omen
  
  
• 3/day- Bestow Curse (DC 18), Blindness/Deafness (DC 17)
  
  
• 1/day- Cone of Cold (DC 19)

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
31 (+10)	14 (+2)	-	12 (+1)	19 (+4)	19 (+4)

Base Attack Bonus: +15
CMB +27
CMD 40

Feats: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Intimidating Prowess, Lightning Reflexes, Precise Shot, Toughness, Vital Strike

Skills: Climb +17, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +27, Sense Motive +17, Stealth +14, Survival +24

Languages: Common, Giant

Special Abilities

Curse of Frozen Flesh (Su)

Slam-contact; save Will DC 24; effect Creature gains vulnerability to cold. Anytime the cursed creature fails a saving throw against a spell or effect with the cold descriptor, it is also slowed for 1d4 rounds.

Lingering Curses (Su)

An indarugant is an accursed creature, and so has dominion over misfortune and curses. An indarugant can apply the effects of its curse of frozen flesh with its bestow curse spell-like ability (in place of bestow curse's normal effects). Additionally, the DC of any attempt to remove a curse inflicted by the indarugant increases by 5. If a caster level check to remove an indarugant's curse fails by 5 or more, the curse appears to be lifted and is temporarily suppressed until the next time the victim enters combat or is otherwise faced with a life-threatening situation (subject to the GM's discretion).

Ecology

Environment: Cold Mountains
Organization: solitary or warband (1 indarugant and 2-6 taiga giants)
Treasure: standard (hide armor, spear)


In times of need, the taiga giants of Varisia turn to the spirits of their ancestors for aid, relying on signs and omens from the spirit world to guide them out of danger. Yet sometimes the power and insight of these ancestral spirits is not enough. When invaders overhunt the land, when disease and pestilence run rampant, or when war and slavery threaten to decimate whole tribes, some giants seek a different sort of aid—one that comes at a far higher price. High above the snow line, trapped within ancient glacial floes, the indarugants wait to be unleashed so they might once again bring disaster and ruin to the enemies of their tribes. Most indarugants resemble the desiccated corpses of taiga giants, though other types of giants may become indarugants as well. After taiga giants, stone giants are the most likely to follow through with this ritual, though by doing so they risk being shunned by neighboring tribes. Indarugants stand 20 feet tall, but weigh only 3,000 pounds due to the lack of water in their shriveled, skeletal bodies. The ritual that creates an indarugant involves marking and maiming the body of the candidate, and many still bear these fading tattoos and ancient scars.

Ecology

Indarugants are remarkable among corporeal undead in that they can't be created from a deceased creature's corpse—a creature must be alive and willing to be transformed into an indarugant. This process usually begins with a pilgrimage of a group of taiga giants into the icy mountains. The tribe's shaman or chieftain accompanies the candidate in order to perform the profane rituals necessary for the transformation. Once above the snow line, the candidate is subjected to a week-long ritual designed to sever its connection to the spirits of its ancestors, the intent being that the future indarugant can do whatever must be done to protect the tribe without fear of offending the spirits or bringing dishonor to the tribe. At the ritual's conclusion, the candidate is killed with a single blow to the head, then buried in the ice and snow along with the weapons and tools it will use once it rises as an indarugant. How long it takes the indarugant to rise varies—some rise as early as the following evening, while others remain in the ice for months or even years.

Not all giants who agree to undergo the transformation successfully complete their promise. Many lose their gall at the ritual's outset and attempt to escape back down the mountain to safety. Those who flee are hunted ruthlessly by their fellow pilgrims and the rest of the tribe, who fear offending the spirits. If possible, such escapees are captured alive and brought back to the frozen heights to undergo the ritual at spear point. This forced ritual does not produce an indarugant, but serves as a deterrent to those who would think to renege on their commitments in the future. Some tribal leaders claim that those who successfully escape their promise to serve as an indarugant are cursed. They say that these traitors to their people transform into even more grotesque and sinister creatures, though no evidence of such monsters exists—these claims are widely thought to be a scare tactic to elicit compliance.

Those that successfully undergo the transformation come back changed. They are no longer constrained by moral concerns such as honor, fear, or mercy. Indarugants are capable of committing any act, no matter how taboo, so long as it furthers the interests of the tribe and its people. They treat their foes with such brutality that even the most wicked of giants cringe at the sight.

Habitat & Society

Indarugants reside high in the mountains of Varisia, in places where the snow never melts. They hide themselves away in glacial caves, deep foreboding crevasses, and other secluded chasms where only those initiated into the secrets of their creation will know to find them. In times of need, a giant shaman or oracle will journey to the hidden places, braving the dangers of the cold and high elevation in order to beseech the indarugants for aid. Usually this aid comes in the form of exacting violence against the tribe's enemies, as indarugants are powerful warriors and cunning strategists. Rarely, an especially evil or desperate tribe may entreat an indarugant to serve as its chief or shaman, though usually only for a limited period of time, and only when the tribe is leaderless and under dire threat.

Whatever form the indarugant's aid takes, it comes at a steep price. A giant who would petition an indarugant for aid must first swear a profane pact with the creature to someday undergo the transformation and become an indarugant itself. Once the indarugant has accomplished its agreed-upon task, it will lead the petitioner back up the mountain to its desolate home, and perform the necessary rituals to add the petitioner to the ranks of the undead. This serves both as a deterrent to keep the giants from calling on the indarugants too readily, and as a way to ensure the indarugant population grows along with the tribe. In this way, the tribes of giants will always have guardians waiting for them in the high ice, ready to defend them against any threat.

Scholars of giant lore claim that all the races of giants once buried their dead in this manner, or at least created indarugants through similar rituals, if they did not live in icy climates. In Varisia, this changed during the Age of Legend, when the runelords of Azlant enslaved the giants and bent them to their sinister will. Those giants who fought back against the runelords called upon the might of their undying ancestors, sending legions of indarugants down into the plains to defend the giant tribes. Though the undead guardians fought fiercely, they were unable to stand against the might of Thassilon, and all were eventually destroyed. Since that time, only the taiga giants, who largely escaped slavery, continue the practice of creating indarugants. This may not be true for much longer, however, as reports of stone and frost giants burying their dead in the high ice now grow ever more common.