Pallkeepers are Black Devils who broker premature death. Called brokers of the deathwrit, they negotiate the removal of a living person before that person’s natural course would end. The Pallkeeper receives the petition, names the price, seals the original contract and entrusts its execution to specially trained Black Imps. The broker need not touch the intended victim. A death it has purchased may resemble an accident, a betrayal or an ordinary misfortune, until someone notices the pattern.

The Pallkeeper is not a psychopomp, a guardian of graves or a second Lamenter. Lamenters bargain with the bereaved for another moment with someone already lost. Pallkeepers sell the premature ending of someone who is still alive. Their signature promise is not reunion, but removal.

Promotion Through the Deathwrit

Pallkeepers most often Promote from Black Imps that master the legal and emotional architecture of loss. Where an ordinary imp might witness a death, a prospective Pallkeeper learns to recognize the precise moment a mortal stops merely wishing harm and becomes willing to purchase another person’s absence. Such deliberate choices can produce compatible Whispers when the conditions of a valid bargain are actually fulfilled.

Black resonance remains the Devil’s foundation: grief, bereavement, anticipated loss and the lasting absence a premature death will leave behind. A petitioner’s vengeance, jealousy, fear or ambition may start the negotiation, but rage alone does not define a Pallkeeper. The creature measures how many futures, relationships and obligations will be severed. Its ledger records the cost of the vacancy, not simply the emotion that requested it.

Appearance and Bearing

A Pallkeeper appears as a composed, impeccably dressed infernal solicitor rather than a hooded reaper. It has an imposing, humanlike silhouette, black-violet or deep charcoal skin, polished swept-back horns and watchful pale eyes. Fine claws or ink-darkened fingers turn the pages of an immaculate infernal ledger. Its long dark coat, fitted waistcoat and discreet black-metal jewelry announce wealth, discretion and authority rather than mourning.

Its most recognizable possessions are a deathwrit ledger, a signet for pressing black wax seals and an ornate case holding the original contracts. Some carry a slender hourglass whose sand represents the remaining time of an intended victim; the hourglass is a warning or divinatory focus, not an automatic death sentence. A Pallkeeper’s face rarely betrays pleasure or anger. It speaks with the calm courtesy of someone who has already calculated the consequences.

The Pallkeeper’s field operatives are Black Imps trained for stealth, reconnaissance and engineered fatalities. They favor fitted black leather, quiet boots, close-fitting hoods or masks, compact blades, lock tools and wax-sealed mission orders. Unlike the stately broker, these agents are rarely seen clearly and almost never introduce themselves.

A Black Imp may loosen the axle of a carriage days before a journey, switch the position of a warning lantern, plant a forged message or redirect a guard patrol. Multiple imps can coordinate a fatal chain of events without any one act appearing supernatural. When subtlety fails, they can resort to direct violence. They remain individual creatures subject to the normal limits of stealth, movement, combat and magic; no contract grants them guaranteed success.

Use the existing Imp as the base creature until a separate Black Imp operative stat block is established. Black leather and tradecraft are a role and visual distinction, not an automatic new set of mechanical powers. Their emergence can be foreshadowed by matching black wax seals, repeated sightings and suspicious accidents.

A Black Imp may receive a negotiated share of compatible Whispers when a deathwrit’s explicit fulfillment and collection conditions are met. Signing the contract, frightening its victim or causing a death does not automatically create a collectible Whisper. The Pallkeeper retains the original deathwrit; operatives carry only instructions or authorized copies, and cannot alter the bargain on their own. Black Imps that progress from executing assignments to pricing unexpired lives, negotiating lawful terms and accumulating compatible resonance may eventually Promote into Pallkeepers.

In an encounter, the first clue might be a black wax seal on a forged letter, an imp’s leather glove abandoned near a loosened wheel or repeated sightings of the same shadowed wings before unrelated accidents. Intercepted mission orders can reveal a target or a method, but the controlling deathwrit remains with the Pallkeeper. Defeating the operatives ends an attempt, not necessarily the contract behind it.

Pallkeeper

Medium Fiend (Devil), any alignment

Saving Throws Dexterity +5, Wisdom +4
Skills Deception +6, Insight +4, Investigation +5, Persuasion +6, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances fire
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Infernal
EROSave Wisdom +4 or Charisma +6 (the devil chooses)

Emotion-Born. Effects that detect fiends identify this creature as a devil. It is not part of demon, Gelkin or Chrysalis metamorphosis. Native color identifies sustaining resonance: Red—desire; Green—envy; Blue—sorrow; Orange—rage; Black—grief. Color does not prescribe alignment.

Keeper of the Original. The Pallkeeper perfectly recalls the identity of each named petitioner and intended victim in a deathwrit it has personally sealed, along with the contract’s written terms. This trait supplies neither the victim’s current location nor a means of tracking or harming that victim. The original contract remains a physical document that can be discovered, stolen, contested or destroyed, subject to its established terms.

Black Imp Network. The Pallkeeper can hire, command or negotiate with Black Imp operatives as part of its organization. This trait does not summon creatures in combat or grant a free action. The Masters of the Veil determines which imps are present and what preparations they have actually completed.

Multiattack. The devil makes two Ledger Blade attacks. It cannot replace either attack with Foreclosure Notice.

Ledger Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) psychic damage.

Foreclosure Notice (Recharge 5–6). The Pallkeeper speaks a creature’s possible final hour aloud. Choose one creature the devil can see within 30 feet that can hear it. Use only the version for the table’s chosen mode. This action cannot compel a confession, force a contract or cause unavoidable death.

• Classic Play. The target makes a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it takes 21 (6d6) psychic damage and cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. On a success, it takes half damage and suffers no additional effect.
• Veiled Play. The target makes a DC 14 EROSave. On a failure, it takes 21 (6d6) psychic damage and becomes Stirred by this devil. If it is already Stirred by this devil, the failed save instead advances it to Overwhelmed and it cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. Resolve the normal culmination for the target under Veiled Play. On a success, it takes half damage and does not change Desire state. No use of this action regresses a Desire state or triggers the Pallkeeper’s own release.
• Unveiled Play. The target makes a DC 14 EROSave. On a failure, it takes 21 (6d6) psychic damage and gains 1 Arousal. On a success, it takes half damage and gains no Arousal. Any Climax caused by the target’s Arousal resolves under that target’s own effects, not the Pallkeeper’s release.

Mark the Hour. The Pallkeeper marks one creature it can see within 60 feet until the end of its next turn. The next Ledger Blade attack the Pallkeeper hits against that creature before the mark ends deals an extra 3 (1d6) psychic damage. The mark ends after that hit. The Pallkeeper can have only one creature marked at a time. This combat mark is not a deathwrit, does not identify a contracted target and cannot persist after the encounter.

Contingency Clause. When a creature the Pallkeeper can see makes an attack roll against it, the Pallkeeper imposes disadvantage on that roll. The reaction must be used before the roll is resolved. The Pallkeeper cannot use this reaction while incapacitated.

Deepen the Hook (Unveiled Only). Once on each of its turns, when a target fails an EROSave against Foreclosure Notice, the Pallkeeper may spend 1 Libido to give that target 1 additional Arousal. This respects the normal maximum of 3 Arousal gained during one turn and the Arousal 6 ceiling.

Resonant Appetite (Unveiled Only). Once per round, when another creature within 30 feet Climaxes because Arousal gained from this Pallkeeper’s effect brings it to 6, the Pallkeeper regains 1 spent Libido, never above 6. This does not create or collect a Whisper.

The Pallkeeper calls a single name as spectral black wax fractures in the air. Choose one creature the Pallkeeper can see within 30 feet. That creature makes a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) psychic damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. On a failed save it also cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. The Hour Strikes neither completes a contract nor kills a target automatically. This release applies only in Veiled or Unveiled Play when the Pallkeeper itself reaches its relevant culmination.

Whispers and Pathos-Tolls. Arousal is pressure, not consent; Climax is release, not contractual fulfillment. No ability in this stat block generates a Whisper through damage, a failed saving throw, assassination or release alone. Collection requires the explicit fulfillment and collection clauses of a valid bargain. Whispers are emotional resonance, not souls or automatic ownership of their source. Naming a victim in a deathwrit grants no right to their soul, memories or consent.

The Pallkeeper fights to protect its ledger and its leverage, not to prove its prowess. It opens with Foreclosure Notice, marks vulnerable foes before using Ledger Blade and relies on Contingency Clause to frustrate attackers. If the outcome turns against it, it bargains, withdraws or offers a narrower contract. Black Imps are separate encounter creatures whose numbers and preparations must be established in advance; they do not materialize because the Pallkeeper needs reinforcements.

Contract Scope. Before using a deathwrit in play, record the petitioner, target, requested outcome, agreed price, service and fulfillment conditions, payment or compatible Pathos-Toll, collection method, enforcement limits, expiry or cancellation conditions, and breach remedy. Never treat the deathwrit as an automatic kill effect or allow a retroactive contract clause to erase successful player intervention.