The Tumipta is an aberration, a corrupted version of a golem-like servant and protector. Often associated with some form of a phantom doorway, the creature is rarely seen. The doorway it is associated with is said to appear in a field, empty lot, or some other abandoned area. The door appears in a variety of styles but always looks out of place where it is (other than being a door with no structure attached). If it is a city it may appear as a rustic door. If it is in a desert it may appear as a gothic church door or some other clash of style and location. For most it is easy to ignore, in fact most are prone to accepting its presence even if they recognize and understand how strange it is and it looked -- to those it will fade into the background. Individuals who are prone to be troublemakers, unhappy with whatever the status quo is will feel drawn to the door. For them the door is a puzzle and one that makes them want to solve it, predominantly by opening the door. The door itself will be locked and will not open. The door appears with no windows and a handle or knob only on one side and will not have a knocker or bell of any kind.
Behavior
They are intensely obsessed with order, believing fully that every creature has a place and every creature should stay in that place. They abhor alternations in what they consider the order of the universe. In their belief the universe hinges on order and failure to enforce it will cause the universe to unravel and creation to be destroyed. Thus they seek to enforce this order.
Logical to a point though endlessly pragmatic toward the completion of its goals. It is a true believer in what it does, and does not consider what it does to be harmful or evil. It will attempt to avoid harming those who are not targets if it can but will harm others as a last resort. They are ruthless and will continue to pursue a target until they can eradicate that target, seeking to inspire true feer at stepping out of the mundane and into the unknown, exploration of the unknown violates their sense of order.
Their ultimate goal is to punish the troublemakers who disrupt the natural order of the universe. They are not picky, attracted to manifest in places of unrest, confusion, and enforce their ideas of order through fear. Their victim will be pursued and savagely killed or the creature may choose to take the person back into their own realm to be converted. When it kills it takes a souvenir to mark the death before it travels back to the door. Once through the door after its task is complete, the door vanishes.
Skills
- Metamagical Expert
- Can understand and learn any spell it has ever been exposed to, no matter how long ago it was
- Brute Force
- Has an intrinsic understanding of the physical limits of the world and is skilled are how much force is required to break through, over, knock down, or otherwise remove obstacles from its path
Abilities
- Tireless
- Conversion
- Can convert a person to one of its own kind given enough time within its pocket dimension
- Amplified Abilities
- Strength, dexterity, and durability, can all be amplified by drawing in local energy from the Aether or even all the way from the Aethic plane
- Tracking
- Once it chooses a target it can always know where that target is
- Aether Absorption
- They can absorb incoming spells, psionics, or other flows of Aether
Weaknesses
There are two ways to destroy the Tumpita:
- Destroy the keystone / source of power within the pocket dimension
- Complete and total destruction of the creature itself
Destroying the Keystone
Each pocket dimension has a keystone in place at its center. This is protected by the creature at all times and it will know if someone has invaded its realm. The keystone is an artifact, usually a stone or crystal which is covered in powerful runes. These runes establish the heart of the pocket dimension and maintain it. To destroy the keystone it must be obtained and taken from the pocket dimension to the material plane.
Once in the material plane it can be destroyed by mentling the object, which requires it be heated to an excess of 1300 degrees celsius. Even melted the keystone will retain its power and as it cools resume its original shape. To destroy it, it must be allowed to mix with molten rock and elemental Earth magic can then be used to diffuse the object into the rock and break the magic.
After the keystone is destroyed the pocket dimension will collapse and everything in it will be destroyed. The creature itself will also die within a matter of minutes.
Complete Physical Destruction
Since the creature cannot be rendered unconscious and is able to draw energy from other planes and the local Aether to sustain itself and make itself stronger, faster, and more durable destroying the creature is exceedingly difficult. If even a grain of sand of the creature remain intact it can regenerate, drawing from the power of its pocket dimension and other sources to do so.
The only way to destroy the creature is to cut it off from flows of Aether and from accessing other planes for energy. Once this is done the creature can be whittled down and damaged like any other. It is ability to absorb and use Aether means that most spells do not have the ability to harm it for long.
If the creature is physically destroyed to such an extent that nothing remains the door itself will fuse shut and the pocket dimension will collapse, destroying everything inside.
Origins
The creatures were originally created as golems to serve as guardians to an order of wizards who studied and traveled the planes. Their original purpose was to protect the order itself through protection of their members. They would act as bodyguards and record keepers some thousands of years ago. The name and origin of the wizards who created them has been lost to time but it is known that they were some of the first to pioneer the magic associated with planar travel and in the creation of pocket dimensions.
Enamored with their masterpieces of creation the wizards began to experiment with making their creations stronger. Tapping into the Dark Aether the wizards hubris was their downfall. They violated the natural order once in creating living beings out of nothing and again when they tried to tap the darkest and most powerful plane they could, and lost control. Killed by their own creations for the very act of creating them. The energy from the Dark Aether gave the golems an understanding of death and killing.
The creatures exist in pocket dimensions, though not all the same one they have a similar look and feel. An enclosed system of caves with no way to the surface except the door, which the creature itself will bind to a particulate place. Within the caves are those the creature has captured and intends to convert as well as souvenirs of those it has killed.