Pazuzu

Huge fiend (demon), chaotic evil

Armor Class 22 (natural armor)

Hit Points 338 (25d12 + 175)

Speed 50 ft., fly 120 ft. (hover)

STR 26 (+8) · DEX 20 (+5) · CON 24 (+7) · INT 22 (+6) · WIS 21 (+5) · CHA 24 (+7)

Saving Throws Str +14, Dex +11, Con +13, Int +12, Wis +11, Cha +13

Skills Deception +13, Insight +11, Perception +11, Survival +11

Damage Resistances cold, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities fire, poison

Condition Immunities poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 21

Languages Abyssal, Common, Primordial (Auran); telepathy 120 ft.

Challenge 21 (33,000 XP)

Traits

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Pazuzu fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. Pazuzu has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Pazuzu’s weapon attacks are magical.

Lord of the Southwest Wind. Difficult terrain caused by wind, dust, or sand never slows Pazuzu, and ranged weapon attacks against him are made with disadvantage.

Scales of Sirocco. A creature that hits Pazuzu with a melee attack while within 5 feet of him takes 9 (2d8) fire damage.

Actions

Multiattack. Pazuzu makes four attacks: one with his Bite, two with his Claws, and one with his Scorpion Tail.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d10 + 9) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) fire damage.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) slashing damage.

Scorpion Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 25 (2d12 + 8) piercing damage plus 21 (6d6) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The poisoned target is also blinded while poisoned in this way. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Breath of the Sirocco (Recharge 5–6). Pazuzu exhales super-heated desert wind in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw, taking 72 (16d8) fire damage and 36 (8d8) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that fails the save is also pushed 30 feet away from Pazuzu and is blinded until the start of its next turn.

Summon Wind Spirits (1/Day). Pazuzu summons 1d4 air elementals. Summoned elementals appear in unoccupied spaces within 60 feet of him, act on their own initiative, obey his spoken commands, and disappear after 1 hour or when they drop to 0 hit points.

Bonus Actions

Gale Step. Pazuzu magically bursts forward on a stream of wind, flying up to half his flying speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

Reactions

Wing Buffet. When a Large or smaller creature Pazuzu can see enters a space within 10 feet of him, he can beat his wings in a violent gust. The creature must succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 20 feet away and knocked prone.

Legendary Actions

Pazuzu can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Pazuzu regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Claw. Pazuzu makes one Claw attack.

Zephyr Dash (Costs 2 Actions). Pazuzu moves up to his flying speed without provoking opportunity attacks.

Storm (Costs 3 Actions). Pazuzu beats all four of his wings. Each creature within 15 feet of him must succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or take 27 (6d8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone; on a success, a creature takes half damage and isn’t knocked prone.

Lore

A scaly, four-winged wind lord with dog head and scorpion tail whose roar quakes mountains and breath spreads disease.

Pazuzu is the demon of the south-west wind, a name that for millennia struck terror into the peoples of the Ancient Near East. The exact meaning of the name is still unknown, though some link it to the idea of a “fierce” or “gusting” wind. In Mesopotamia the south-west wind brought heat and famine during drought, and storms, floods, and locusts in the rainy season, so the demon’s name became associated with climatic disasters, disease—malaria above all—and devastation.

Anatomically, Pazuzu is depicted as a humanoid creature covered in rigid scales the color of dark bronze, iron, or scorched sand. His rectangular head blends a dog’s or lion’s muzzle, bulging glowing eyes, and curving goat horns. Two pairs of eagle wings spring from his back, symbolizing dominion over all winds. His arms end in leonine paws with retractable claws, his legs in the talons of a raptor. From the lower back extends a segmented scorpion tail tipped with poison. The aura surrounding the demon is deliberately repellent and serves as an apotropaic ward against other spirits. In ancient images he usually stands with his right hand raised and his left lowered, interpreted as control over the upper and lower worlds.

From Demonic Bestiary 5E, p. 84 · Fern Flower Press