Xill

Deep within the Ethereal Plane are the demiplanes, miniatures worlds built by powerful archmages and other mighty entities to serve as a private domain. Each demiplane is a designed realm, built for a specific purpose. Some are fortresses, designed to keep wanderers from the material world away. Others are far more sinister, dark realms where evil dreams take root and become ghastly realities. Such is the realm that spawned the xill, horrific, insectoid creatures created long ago to serve an ancient, evil master.

Gruesome Collectors: Xills are horrid, four-armed creatures that seem to be a cross between a lizard and insect. They emerge from the Ethereal Plane to fall upon their victims with their vicious claws, but their aim is no to kill. Instead, a xill injects its victim with a paralytic poison. When their the poison overwhelms their target, the xill snatches the victim and returns to the Ethereal. The ultimate fate of unfortunates carried off in this manner is not known, but plenty of speculation surrounds the xills' true nature and the demiplane that spawned them.

An Ancient Remnant: A variety of theories attempt to explain the xills and their origin. The one found most plausible by scholars of the planes concerns the enigmatic wizard Keraptis. Supposedly, Keraptis long ago crafted a demiplane to serve as personal domain from which he could dispatch his servitors to collect the powerful artifacts he longed to stockpile. The xills were his creation, servitors who could slip to and from the Ethereal plane and steal any artifact or kidnap any person he wished to collect.

A Mysterious Task: Little has been heard of Kerpatis. Save for the recent theft of three mighty items in the World of Greyhawk, he has remained primarily a figure of myth, rumor, and legend. As an inveterate collector of magic items, though, his demiplane is likely filled with powerful artifacts long thought lost to the multiverse. If the story is true, his demiplane is undoubtedly guarded by strange traps and logic-defying puzzles, along with a legion of brainwashed servitors and countless xills. As to the fate of the individuals seized by the xills, they perhaps form the bulk of Kerpatis's followers. Brainwashed by his magic and set to guard his many dungeons, these fanatics are among his most dangerous followers. It is telling that the xills rarely kidnap commoners. Instead, they target young but promising adventurers, those whose natural talent and aptitude point to a bright future but whose skills have not yet grown sharp enough to repel a dedicated assault.