Arasham [Monster]

[Haruspex]

The inspiration for this monster came from a story I was developing. Like most of my stories, it hasn’t come to anything, but this character seemed interesting enough to stat out.
In case anyone is wondering, the ‘base’ of the arasham is the astral deva from the SRD.
Comments are welcome, especially regarding CR, LA, and potential home planes for the arasham.

Bjorn grasped his throwing axe as he rounded the corner. His instincts told him that the intruder was on the roof, and he wanted to cut off all routes of escape. The sellsword grabbed the edge of the balcony and swung up and over. He hoped to catch the intruder unawares, and as he set foot on the roof he raised his axe for a powerful throw.
Crouching at the opposite edge of the roof was a figure clad in dark brown, almost black robes.
“Intruder!” shouted Bjorn, “Dare you to trespass at this house in mourning?”
The intruder turned to face Bjorn, showing an emaciated pale face under the robes.
“I have harmed no one. Leave me be.”
“You are the one who will leave!” shouted Bjorn as he pulled his axe back over his shoulder.
The intruder stood up, and even with the robes Bjorn could see that he was thin, impossibly so.
“Have I wronged you, stranger?” asked the intruder. The robes appeared to unravel, thread by thread, revealing an almost skeletal, pale individual with numerous red lines all over his body.
Bjorn’s decades of experience allowed him to recognize them as self-inflicted wounds, and he felt slightly nervous.
The last of the robes fell away, and what appeared to be red wings sprouted from behind the intruder’s shoulders. Bjorn almost believed them to be feathers, until he smelled the all-too familiar aroma of fresh blood.
As his sanguine wings spread like crimson wounds in the air itself, the intruder fixed his gaze upon Bjorn. The warrior backed away, and inadvertently looked into the cold eyes of his foe. He saw nothing, only an emptiness which made him feel alone. He continued to back away as the feeling grew into one of despair and hopelessness. Before he realized it, he was at the edge of the roof. Suddenly aware of his situation, he lost his balance and fell backwards.
Out of nowhere, something gripped his arm, saving him from the fall. Looking up, Bjorn saw that the intruder had extended his blood wings to catch him. With ease, he pulled Bjorn away from the edge and danger.
“Why did you save me?” asked Bjorn as he regained his composure.
“If you died now,” replied the intruder as he turned away, “no one would mourn.”

Arasham
Medium Outsider (Psionic)
Hit Dice: 12d8+48 (102hp)
Initiative: +8 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 50 feet, fly 100 feet (perfect).
Armor Class: 29 (+4 Dex, +15 natural) touch 14, flat-footed 25
Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+22
Attack: Slam +18 melee (1d8+9)
Full Attack: Slam +18 melee (1d8+9)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, psi-like abilities, soul despair
Special Qualities: Fast healing 10, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, immunity to Constitution damage, mind-affecting effects and petrification, outsider traits, blood wings, aura of sorrow, spell resistance 30, tongues.
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +12
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 20
Skills: Autohypnosis +21, Concentration +19, Diplomacy +22, Escape Artist +19, Hide +19, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (psionics) +21, Listen +23, Move Silently +19, Psicraft +19, Sense Motive +19, Spot +23, Use Rope +4 (+6 with bindings)
Feats: Alertness, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Wounding Attack
Environment: An Unknown Plane
Organization: Solitary, pair, or flock (3-5)
Challenge Rating: 14(??)
Treasure: No coins; double goods; standard items.
Language: Common
Alignment: Usually neutral (any)
Advancement: 13-18 HD (Medium); 19-36 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +8 (??)

The creature before you is tall and pale, resembling a malnourished human. Despite it’s apparent frailty, it’s frame moves with inhuman strength. Crimson wings emerge from it’s back, resembling feathered bird wings, bat wings, or tangled skeins of blood depending on how you look at them. The shifting appendages are bright red where they join the body, and dark red at the tips. Numerous cuts can be seen on it’s body, but there are no scars; all the wounds look fresh. When the creature is moved to action, these wounds seem to almost glow, and blood begins to drip from the cuts on it’s wrists.

An arasham is 6-1/2 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds.

Arasham speak Common, though their tongues ability enables them to converse with almost anyone.

COMBAT
An arasham will not usually attack unless it has something to gain from doing so. In combat it uses its blood wings to attack and grapple its foes. Arasham society is unclear to outsiders, though some are known to attend funerals in disguise. The more beloved the deceased, the more arasham appear, and some sages theorize that these creatures feed off the sadness of the mourners. Particularly cruel arasham (a minority) will actively slay those whose deaths engender such despair.
Spell-like abilities (Sp): At will - crushing despair (DC 19). Caster level 10th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Psi-like abilities (Ps): At will – demoralize (DC 16); 3/day – death urge (DC 19). Manifester level 10th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Soul Despair: (Su) Any creature which takes damage from the arasham’s natural attacks must make a DC 21 Will save or be exhausted. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Aura of Sorrow (Su): The arasham is surrounded by an aura of pure sorrow. Any creature within 20 feet of the arasham loses all morale bonuses. The arasham may suppress or resume this ability as a free action, though few choose to do so.
Blood Wings (Ex): The arasham’s wings are formed from it’s own blood, and are also used as weapons. An arasham may fly and attack with it’s wings at the same time without penalty. If the arasham pins a creature, the creature becomes entangled by the rapidly clotting blood that ensnares it. A DC 20 Strength check is required to break the entanglement. The entanglement persists even if the grapple is subsequently broken.
Tongues (Su): All arasham can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level equal to arasham’s Hit Dice). This ability is always active.

[EvilElitest]

Scary. Just two points
1. Could you add some more fluff. I like the monster but i want to have more fluff.
2. He should way about 70 pounds. For somebod 6 1/2 feet tall that is way to skinny.
Apart from that i like it.
from,
EE

[Haruspex]

Thanks for the reply. I'll get on it soon.
The fluff for this monster is connected with the story I wrote, so it won't make much sense in a DnD (or any other RPG) context.

Anyway, the fluff:

In the beginning four there be,
Sun, Snake, Ocean, Tree.

For millennia the four existed in harmony, exploring the universe which they had been born into. One tragic day they decided to divide creation among each of them, and started to argue. Having known no war until then, they were unaware of the destructive powers each possessed.
First to fall was Snake, who was burned by the intense light of Sun. Ocean was closest to Snake, and in response to the brutal attack proceeded to drown Sun. Tree, the only one unwilling to fight, tried to end the conflict. The ancient being lowered roots into Ocean, draining away Ocean's mass and trying to save Sun from certain destruction. Tree called upon all available strentgh and inadvertently tore Ocean into countless of pieces. Tree then checked to see if Sun was alright, and found that Sun did not respond at all. It was then that Tree realized that there was no one, that by tearing Ocean asunder the only reward was loneliness.

Grieving, Tree initially failed to realize that certain fragments of Ocean possessed a life of their own, moving and interacting with their surroundings. Two of these fragments grew into awareness, and became known as The Beginning and The End. The Beginning was responsible for all creation after that point, and the End was responsible for all destruction. Despite their opposing natures, the two were close friends and together formed much of the known universe. They guided the other fragments of Ocean into awareness, forming the beings that would later be known as deities as well as the first outsiders (in the DnD sense of the word).

The beings that later became deities were formed from the creative and destructive powers of Ocean respectively. The beings that became outsiders were formed from Ocean's emotions. The fragments that scattered the furthest were full of sorrow and despair, and eventually formed the first arasham. Before the creation of mortals, they were content to dwell among themselves and wallow in self-pity.

However, among the deities there was one by the name of Lion. He was a genius among the children of the Beginning (the creator deities), and dabbled in the construction of self-aware servants. This was a hobby among all the creator deities, but Lion was the most talented despite his emotional instability.

His idea was to take the unaware fragments of Ocean, of which there were a seemingly endless supply, and fuse them with his creations. After numerous attempts, Lion finally succeeded, creating the first mortal. The unaware fragments used in this way became known as souls. The other creator deities were deeply impressed and began to use that technique to create their own servants. Thus were born the ancestors of today's mortal races.

The arasham eventually grew aware of this, and sent one of their own, a young one named Misery, to study the situation. Unexpectedly, the other outsiders had also sent spies, and upon meeting they decided to coordinate their efforts so as to not be caught by the deities. Misery joined forces with Mal'ach, representing the radiants, and Armazahallan, representing the infernals. The other outsiders formed their own teams.

Each saw a part of themselves in the mortals. Mal’ach was drawn by their innate generosity and communal thinking. Armazahallan was impressed by the cruelty and selfishness shown by some, while Misery enjoyed their sadness. Their scouting mission complete, the three parted ways, each going home to report on their findings. Many years later representatives of the infernals and the radiants would come to the mortals, with the permission of the deities, and spread their message. But that is another story. The arasham too would come, with stealth, to feast upon the sorrow that was an inevitable part of mortal existence.

[Assasinater]

Both "fluffs" (as you said) were very good, especially the introduction story to Arasham, though I leave the technical comments to those who are more knowledgeable.

[Haruspex]

Thanks for the comments. I hope someone will comment on the crunch, as my games never got up to the point where a CR 14 creature would come in.