Div, Akvan

Akvans number among the most physically powerful and openly destructive servants of Ahriman, directly carrying out his ancient plans for oblivion. Their twisted minds bend toward desolation, ruin, and blasphemy, and their hatred of the gods of creation and beings renowned for inspiring art and wonder knows few equals. Whereas most divs turn their cruelty and vengefulness exclusively upon mortals, akvans broaden the scope of their hatred to encompass geniekind as well.

Akvans seek out wonders to destroy—monuments from lost ages that have long inspired awe and pride or beings and establishments said to be invincible. While divs typically spread their taint through more subtle ways, akvans target symbols for destruction, bringing down not just stone and mortar but hopes and dreams. Additionally, these masters of destruction promote the creation of new horrors, transforming their most hated victims, genies, into nightmares known as ghuls. Thus, an akvan's evil does not end with its victim's death, as slain genies arise from the battlefield—or are belched up from an akvan's gullet—as blasphemous undead servants. These undead minions serve their terrifying master and, over the ages, gather around it as an army of profane slaves.

Hatred and hunger for genies and those allied with them constitute the racial compulsion to which all akvans bow. These divs always go out of their way to hunt, destroy, and consume any genie they encounter. While wise enough to not waste their lives in combat against foes obviously more powerful then they, akvans seek to bring low any such opponents, if not by brute strength, then by guile.

Akvans stand approximately 40 feet tall and weigh over 30,000 pounds.

As akvans go through existence slaying mortals and genies, many gravitate toward one of the races of geniekind, targeting members of that race with particular passion. Over ages of service, akvans who prove especially lethal in slaughtering genies garner the attention of Ahriman, who blesses such divs with increased power, transforming them into akvan princes.

Each akvan prince dedicates itself to extinguishing a particular type of genie and gains special abilities with which to slaughter genies of that type. An akvan prince gains an additional 4–8 Hit Dice, a +4 bonus to three ability scores, and has a CR of 22–24. The akvan prince also gains one of the following sets of abilities, depending on what type of genies it hunts.

Create Ghul — Any genie that is slain by an akvan becomes a ghul (see page 125) in 1d4 rounds. Such ghuls are under the command of the akvan that created them and remain enslaved until it dies, at which point they become free-willed ghuls. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.

rend (2 claws, 2d6+18)

Shake Faith — Anytime an akvan strikes a divine spellcaster with any of its melee attacks, the target must make a DC 30 Will save or be shaken for 1d4 rounds. If the save is successful, the target is instead shaken for 1 round. The save DC is Charisma-based.

swallow whole (6d6+18 plus 4d6 energy damage, AC 25, 37 hp)

Torturous Gullet — As hunters of otherworldly beings, akvans are uniquely drawn to digest creatures with a variety of resistances. In addition to the damage dealt by crushing internal organs, creatures swallowed by an akvan take 4d6 points of acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage per round. The akvan chooses what type of energy damage those in its stomach will take every round, and may change this from round to round. Additionally, an akvan's stomach is thickly armored, allowing it to benefit from its entire natural armor bonus instead of merely half.

trample (2d8+18, DC 34)

Armor Training — An akvan is created wearing armor, and is naturally experienced in its use. An akvan possesses the armor training ability of a 15th-level fighter.

Awesome Blow, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Critical (bite), Multiattack, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical

Acrobatics +28 (+36 when jumping), Bluff +43, Diplomacy +31, Fly +27, Intimidate +31, Knowledge (arcana) +31, Knowledge (planes) +31, Knowledge (religion) +19, Perception +34, Sense Motive +30, Spellcraft +19, Use Magic Device +23