Maddened Shreds (Basic Lore)

Maddened Shreds (CR 8)
True Chaotic - Small - Vermin (Aberration)
It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality. However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire. Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however. A fairly common side effect of this utter destruction is that Madness Minions who have been destroyed have a portion of their remnants trapped in a horrific state of non-quiet, non-dead, non-alive 'existence', the very flesh and fabric of their bodies torn apart into gory pieces and forced into unnatural existence. These grisly chunks of remains are horribly recognizable as body parts, corrupted with fleshy palps and teeth, animated by a simple maddened urge to ruin and despoil, the new form filled with the terrible hungry rage of the Outer Madness. Far worse, in many cases these 'Maddened Shreds', as they are known, are often recognizable as the beings they once were. A truly awful fate is to go to a friends home for an evening meal, and discovering the entire family has dabbled too deep, and are now horrifically mangled into utterly inimical madness machines, looking to kill and wreck everything they can reach.