What could an Isitoq want? How would they be when uncontrolled?

[Coidzor]

Isitoqs (http://archivesofnethys.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Isitoq) are basically undead security cameras and pets, but also hold the distinction of being the only sapient undead that one can create with Animate Dead in Pathfinder.

As far as I can tell, there is no flavor text about them beyond that they're pets and security cameras/spy drones.

So what do you lot think? Anyone actually tackled this and made a ruling in your home games? Has the issue come up and been addressed somewhere in PFS modules?

[Psyren]

It appears to be based on the "issitoq" from Inuit myths, so if you're looking for flavor then starting at the source might bear fruit.

[Florian]

Some of their abilities indicate a strong connection to their former life, like their nerve ends/wings still holding a connection to the memory of their last living moments.

So I guess they might not be mindless, but have their mind stuck in time, a common theme with PF undead. So, maybe hover around the place of their death, being a bit confused?

[Gildedragon]

They seem quite weepy with sorrow or pain... They might want nothing more than rest, a true and final death. Thus they might hound clerics (using detect good) looking to be purified or revived or given some sort of forgetting.

Alternatively they might just be looking for eyedrops.

[Admiral Squish]

It appears to be based on the "issitoq" from Inuit myths, so if you're looking for flavor then starting at the source might bear fruit.

I thought the name sounded vaguely inuit.
All I can find is that Issitoq is an inuit god who takes the form of a giant flying eyeball and punishes those that break taboos.
So, in terms of answering the OP's question... I guess they're probably curious, even nosy creatures when uncontrolled, spying, peeking, eavesdropping, stalking... Particular interested in secrets, the truth behind lies, and 'misbehavior' in general. Anything somebody would want to hide. Basically, nosy little brats.

[Florian]

Not so serious answer: "Wild" Isitoq are often hell-bent to become seriously good psychics, often favoring dreams or psychic duels. They are driven by a passion and certain needs to learn to possess other creatures as fast as possible, to .... simply get a bit of shut-eye time (and blink again).

It is a lesser known fact that it was actually an Isitoq that first invented the "Laser Blast" discovery, shortly before also learning how to posses a black panther. It died of pure bliss.

[Coidzor]

Not so serious answer: "Wild" Isitoq are often hell-bent to become seriously good psychics, often favoring dreams or psychic duels. They are driven by a passion and certain needs to learn to possess other creatures as fast as possible, to .... simply get a bit of shut-eye time (and blink again).

It is a lesser known fact that it was actually an Isitoq that first invented the "Laser Blast" discovery, shortly before also learning how to posses a black panther. It died of pure bliss.

I must admit, I'm not quite sure what you're referencing here. :smallconfused:


Some of their abilities indicate a strong connection to their former life, like their nerve ends/wings still holding a connection to the memory of their last living moments.

So I guess they might not be mindless, but have their mind stuck in time, a common theme with PF undead. So, maybe hover around the place of their death, being a bit confused?

I have to wonder how closely their intelligence/mind is actually linked to the body they came from, given that one can make two of them from one corpse and then make that corpse into a Skeletal Champion/Zombie Lord/Juju Zombie that has the core personality and memories of that person. Although, that may just be an artifact of the weirdness of necromancy that's been a factor since 3.0 or at least the 3.5 revision.

They definitely have a connection to those last moments, which are horrifying even for someone that died a fairly peaceful death, so I can see that horror affecting them, definitely. Although part of me wonders if being kinda sad and weeping bloody tears already reflects that.

It'll probably be a bit of a pain to determine where bodies have died that weren't killed on the spot their bodies are found, though, and even if known I'm not sure if they'd be able to recognize the location or find their way back there depending upon how much time has passed and where they were moved to.


They seem quite weepy with sorrow or pain... They might want nothing more than rest, a true and final death. Thus they might hound clerics (using detect good) looking to be purified or revived or given some sort of forgetting.

Alternatively they might just be looking for eyedrops.

Is there precedent for self-destructive undead like that? I suppose some of the ghosts that retain more of their presence of mind might at least try to communicate what needs to be done to put them to rest? :smallconfused:

Heh. All that eye and no eyedrops. Maybe they're just grumps. :smallamused:


I thought the name sounded vaguely inuit.
All I can find is that Issitoq is an inuit god who takes the form of a giant flying eyeball and punishes those that break taboos.
So, in terms of answering the OP's question... I guess they're probably curious, even nosy creatures when uncontrolled, spying, peeking, eavesdropping, stalking... Particular interested in secrets, the truth behind lies, and 'misbehavior' in general. Anything somebody would want to hide. Basically, nosy little brats.

Heh. That does sound perfect.

[Florian]

I must admit, I'm not quite sure what you're referencing here.

I was thinking about what motivates a creature that potentially knows that it´s just a ripped-out part.
So it could know that it once had more senses then just sight, could manipulate objects, and so on, contrast that to its diminished (but still material) state.
My first thought was, that it might to look for a way to reattach itself to its old body, become "whole" again. You said it yourself, finding the body could be impossible, the task itself, too.

Being nosy spies/familiars (and able to take class levels), they should know that psychic magic is a thing they could actually use to circumvent their problems. So maybe going into the Spiritualist class and calling their old body as Phantoms.

... or: Mesmerist. Natural fit for them.

The rest was humor: What floating eye does not want to be a laser-eyes-pather?

[Gildedragon]

They definitely have a connection to those last moments, which are horrifying even for someone that died a fairly peaceful death, so I can see that horror affecting them, definitely. Although part of me wonders if being kinda sad and weeping bloody tears already reflects that...

Is there precedent for self-destructive undead like that? I suppose some of the ghosts that retain more of their presence of mind might at least try to communicate what needs to be done to put them to rest? :smallconfused:

Within the DnD bestiaries: Ghosts are the only I can think of. But as you mentioned: these seem to be in perpetual... Let's say discomfort and melancholy
within culture in general... Undead looking for a means out of their earthbound/impure state isn't terribly rare.

[Florian]

Within the DnD bestiaries: Ghosts are the only I can think of. But as you mentioned: these seem to be in perpetual... Let's say discomfort and melancholy
within culture in general... Undead looking for a means out of their earthbound/impure state isn't terribly rare.

The better source for more specific info are books like Undead Unleashed or Classic Horror Revisited.
"Transformed" undead (ghouls, vampire, etc.) retain enough functioning personality to know what happened to them.
"Stuck" undead (Shadow, Ghost, Combusted, Attic Whisperer, etc.) are literally stuck in time and lack any real self-awareness, the way we would accept for a living creature). Exiled Shades or Hupia (both B6) exemplify this very well.

[noob]

Why is there is so cute undead?
I mean everybody thinks a flying eye will not start by trying to kill the one who did make him live in such a horrible situation(I mean he remembers for ever the worst part of his life it is like hell and the one who created him probably is antipathic).
For that to be believed those eyes must be the cutest.

[Psyren]

I have to wonder how closely their intelligence/mind is actually linked to the body they came from, given that one can make two of them from one corpse and then make that corpse into a Skeletal Champion/Zombie Lord/Juju Zombie that has the core personality and memories of that person. Although, that may just be an artifact of the weirdness of necromancy that's been a factor since 3.0 or at least the 3.5 revision.

They definitely have a connection to those last moments, which are horrifying even for someone that died a fairly peaceful death, so I can see that horror affecting them, definitely. Although part of me wonders if being kinda sad and weeping bloody tears already reflects that.

It'll probably be a bit of a pain to determine where bodies have died that weren't killed on the spot their bodies are found, though, and even if known I'm not sure if they'd be able to recognize the location or find their way back there depending upon how much time has passed and where they were moved to.

You forget that, though they are aware of the horror of their last moments, being undead means they're also immune to said horror and so are able to view it dispassionately. Rather than every isitoq being perpetually traumatized, it's probably more likely that they feel nothing at all and don't even really know why they cry all the time. Such is the nature of the negative energy that gives them unlife.