ECOLOGY

Environment any, Hell
Organization solitary, pair, or league (3–9)
Treasure standard

Devilish dealmakers use varied, pleasing forms to entice mortals to make terrible bargains, but the chort revels in its obvious devilishness and the unease its appearance brings to someone desperate for its help. In Hell, a chort merely intimidates lesser devils, but in mortal worlds, where it specializes in bargains of revenge and coercion, it proves to be counter-intuitively deceptive. A chort stands nearly 8 ft. tall and weighs over 350 lb.

A chort wants its victim to know it is dealing with a devil. The relative straightforwardness of this approach enables the creature to better deceive those with which it bargains. After all, the chort affirms, if the victim weren't so desperate, he wouldn't be bargaining with a devil. If necessary, an implied threat of immolation gives it greater bargaining power, but the creature is careful not to torture or otherwise harm its patsy, since that moots any potential contract.

An annual spectacle involves some poor fool who believes he can trick a chort and escape a legal bargain. The devil appears and recites the entirety of the contract its victim signed, replete with details about a dispatched rival, the ensnarement of a love who once spurned him, and other embarrassing details. A chort ensures all those entangled in its victim's affairs are present before outing him and disappears once all his dark secrets have been revealed, leaving the fool to his fate. Similarly, an overly zealous opponent of the chort eventually finds himself the victim of his own hubris, as the devil digs up or manufactures dirt on its foe and brings his folly to light. Much as it does with humanoid targets, a chort enjoys tarnishing the reputation of tools of good. For example, it will abscond with a paladin's holy sword and apply its considerable skill in Use Magic Device to convince the sword it is good aligned. Then, it uses the sword to murder an especially pious member of a community, and as a final twist, it leaves the sword at the scene of the crime. Thus, a chort dispatches a foe strongly resistant to its manipulations, brings suspicion to another potential foe, and taints a weapon—at least in reputation—which might be used against it.