The Demon of Unutterable Hunger
My Lord,
    the horrors that confront us are more fearsome than any I have seen in twelve years on the Kaiu Wall. The Demons that breached the defences of Shiro no Osano were not the largest or most powerful or most destructive I have ever seen, but they have wounded me in a way no other horror has managed. My Lord, I pity them, and my pity is a weakness that blunts my sword and my wits.
    They are like starving children. I have seen the marks of famine, and though these demons stand twice the height of a man, their limbs are thin as twigs and their bellies are swollen with hunger. Their plaintive cries in the night cut through my heart. I have ordered men to their deaths, and my sleep was untroubled. I have burnt Tainted men alive - men who served under me for years, who I counted as friends - and I walked away from their pyres without a glance.
    Now I hear the sobbings of demons, and I wish to feed them. But they do not eat. They cannot eat.
    These demons have large heads, and larger, toothless mouths. From their mouths issues forth great clouds of white gas or steam. Anything that this steam touches is...destroyed. The steam melts any substance - apart from Jade - away to nothingness. I have seen the demons pick up cattle and try to eat the flesh of the beast, only to have the steam destroy the meat before it touched the horror's lips. The demons have grabbed soldiers off the Wall and lowered them down towards their gaping maws - but the soldiers vanished in screaming agony before being devoured.
    The demons are not especially intelligent. They do not seem to understand why they cannot eat. When each prospective meal vanishes in that cursed white smoke of nothingness, they moan, like a hungry child whose food has been snatched away. They are wise enough not to touch the smoke, though, and have the guile to use it as a weapon. They were able to destroy the walls by blowing clouds of smoke at the stones, which melted away  into thin air. The smoke dissipates quickly. The demons destroyed much of the south wall, but my Hiruma scouts were able to lead the demons away, tricking them with food. None of the scouts have returned, and I fear they were caught....at least we shall not have to fear them returning as unquiet dead.
    The demons have returned though. They sit outside my walls, just beyond the range of my best bowman. Soon, they will come to devour my castle, and my supplies, and my men, and myself.
    Their cries are so despairing, I find myself wishing they will find some relief in my destruction.

Kaiu Osano.



Demons of Unutterable Hunger look like 10' tall starving children with oversized heads. They are eternally hungry, but cannot eat anything due to the clouds of white mist they constantly spew from their gaping mouths. Anything that the mist touches is destroyed. The demons are not immune to the effects of the mist, but are careful to avoid it. They're not that bright through, and it is possible to knock them into their own mist cloud, make them eat themselves, or make one Demon breathe on another.

It just takes someone willing to get in close enough to trick the demon...

Demon of Unutterable Hunger:
Earth 1                Air 3
Stamina 6
Water 2               Fire 2
    Strength 6
Attacking: 4k2 Damage: 6k6 (claws)
TN To Be Hit: 15 Armour: 3

Wounds per Level:
30 -1, 45 -2, 60 -3, 75 Dead

Special Abilities: Invulnerability, Mist Defence, Mist Attack, Cry of Hunger

Invulerability: Can only be harmed by Jade or Magic weapons
Mist Defence: The constant clouds of mist make it hard to attack the demon. Any missile attacks on the demon have a 20% chance of vanishing in the mist. All hand-to-hand attacks are at +15 TN, and if the attack misses, the attacker must be an Agility roll (TN 15) to avoid the mist. Hitting the mist is...bad.
    The mist forms a small cloud in front of the demon. Attacks from the side or rear have no penalties or problems, and the demon won't attack people directly in front it.
Mist Attack: The demon can blow mist clouds at targets. It normally only attacks stationary targets. The demon has one dice for attacking. Anything hit by the mist (in the spirit of retro gaming, assume it fills a 10x10x10 cube) is destroyed. Nice GMs might allow dodging or Earth rolls or something.
Cry of Hunger: The demon's cries of despair attack the soul. Weakminded people (those who fail a Willpower roll, TN 5 initially) find themselves throwing themselves into the demon's mouth, or giving it food, or doing anything to stop the wailing. The TN to resist goes up by 5 for every three hours of wailing.

GM's commentary: These guys are kinda fun. A bit different from the traditional big bad oni. They're stupidly powerful in some ways though, and will slaughter stupid pcs and make a mockery of fortifications. In my game, an army of these guys broke through the Kaiu wall, and the two who survived went on to walk through a Crab castle. Try 'em out.

Back to Resources