A Fish’s Well-Wishes

There’s been a lot of bad news related to the situation with COVID-19 right now. From those forced into isolation and quarantine, to those facing sudden financial or medical hardship, to those upset that an event they were looking forward to was canceled, a lot of people have been having a rough time. Teachers, artists, authors, performers, musicians, and many others have been stepping up to help keep spirits high despite the circumstances. In particular, I’ve been following the curious resurrection of an obscure Japanese yokai—known as an amabie, the creature was recorded as predicting a plague, but claiming that anyone who saw a picture of the amabie would be cured of the disease. Now, Japanese artists on twitter have been sharing their own drawings and other creations of the amabie to offer their best wishes for good health.

An Edo-era depiction of an ‘amabie’. Image Public Domain, from Wikipedia.

Often in Pathfinder, we focus on creatures that are cruel and vicious, to better serve as foes for player characters. But right now, I think a humble yokai that seeks to do good deserves its own spotlight. So here is my “picture” of the amabie, sketched with words, to give to you.

Amabie

Creature 3

Rare, NG, Medium, Aquatic, Kami

Perception +13; disease sense (imprecise) 30 feet, low-light vision
Languages Aquan, Common
Athletics +10 (+12 to swim), Intimidation +8, Nature +11, Religion +10
Str +1, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +3

Disease Sense The amabie detects sources of disease and creatures that are infected with a disease, but receives no information beyond the location of the disease or such afflicted creatures.

Warding Visage An amabie’s image helps ward off sickness and bad fortune. For this ability to function, a non-amabie creature must clearly see the amabie and succeed at a DC 10 Crafting (Artistry) check to create an image of the amabie within 7 days. Any creature that sees this image within the next 28 days can use a +11 modifier to saving throws against diseases and curse effects instead of its own saving throw modifier for the next 14 days. Once a creature has gained a bonus from a specific amabie’s warding visage ability, it is permanently immune to that amabie’s warding visage ability.

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AC 19; Reflex +8, Fortitude +6, Will +7

HP 43

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Speed 20 feet; swim 30 feet
Melee [one-action] +13 claw (agile), Damage 1d6+3 slashing plus touch of purity
Divine Innate Spells DC 22; 3rd remove curse (x2), remove disease (x2); 2nd augury, dispel magic, restoration; 1st chilling sprayAPG, ill omenAPG; cantrips light
Touch of Purity An amabie deals an extra 1d6 good damage to any creature with the ability to inflict diseases or curses.
Whirling Slash [two-actions] The amabie makes three claw Strikes, each at its current multiple attack penalty.

Be well, do your best, and stay safe.

Eleanor Ferron

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