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578. Electric Axolotl These tiny axolotl live only in brackish water, occupying saltwater swamps on the surface and in the deep seas of the Darklands. They usually have a blue and green countershaded appearance, and can sense nearby prey by their electrical fields (having otherwise poor vision). In addition, usually only once or twice per day, they can release a small electrical jolt, able to inflict at most a single point of electrical damage to someone touching them, but useful to stun the tiny fish, insects, mollusks and crustaceans that serve as their prey. They are highly sought after by Darkland races as their blood can be used as a component in healing potions, replacing the need for some of the commonly used plant components on the surface.
Rumors of vastly larger specimens, with correspondingly more powerful electrical discharges, inhabiting Azlanti ruins remain unconfirmed.
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579. Spouse Spice- This garish looking pepperoncini-like plant is a popular ingredient in newlywed household meals or with shrewish partners. Once ground unto a powder and applied to a communal meal like a stew or something similar, it magically gives all who partake of it sympathetic taste buds, allowing then to "taste" what their partner is eating or drinking for about 3 hours after both ingest the meal. This allows for suspicious couples to spy upon what has been in their partners mouth by tasting it themselves even at a great distance, with all the drama and arguing that would normally follow an unpleasant(or unusually pleasant) taste in the back of one throat suddenly at off hours. Some vindictive- or paranoid- partners have been known to get a "spouse spice shot"- a combination of fires liquors and a dash of liquid hot pepper- for what is often humorously called a "cheaters copper" as the first(or last) beverage of the evening at a tavern.
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580. Hush Money/Quiet Coin- These plain-looking seedpods are not particularly fuzzy and take well to dyeing, and hence are easy to slip into a pile of a few copper, silver, or gold, though not electrum or platinum- they cannot get thr sheen necessary for those. When disrupted or broken- easy to do when surrounded by metal coinage- the seedpod lets out a loud, distinctive snapping sound that is impossible to hide within a 10 foot radius- loud enough to wake up someone who is sound asleep, even someone under the effect of doze but not sleep. Best used when piles of money are in a normally quiet area, they are a favorite of poorer people who hoard coins but do not have the capital for a lockbox.
Eris reserves the right to grant cleric's hood plants turning power which detects 1-3 good, 4-6 evil determined randomly each round. Her holy symbol is of her draconequus form dancing.
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583: Fauna deer
An otherwise normal deer that when it senses danger from hunters will stand and walk upright. It can even put on clothing. It cannot however speak human languages, use tools, gain class levels, ect.
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584. Sauna Deer
An otherwise normal deer that, when it senses danger, releases a cloud of steam from its pores and musk glands. This is a swift action and obscures vision as a 10-ft radius fog cloud. The cloud deals 1d6 fire damage per round to creatures entering or within it due to heat and steam (not actual fire). It is stationary like the fog cloud spell but the animal continues to emit it for a number of rounds equal to their hit dice (typically 2), even as they move. Since they typically do this before performing a run action to flee, this can lead to a long trail of steam clouds, especially if there's a family or herd startled. The cloud dissipates at a rate of 10 feet per round (meaning the trail can still be somewhat followed for observant characters waiting for it to fade). The round after they stop emitting steam, the sauna deer is fatigued and cannot emit steam again until it rests or removes the condition.Sauna deer have blindsense within steam, fog, clouds, and similar hazards and have fire resistance 10, but only to heat, steam, or other effects that deal fire damage, not to actual fire (such as the heat from being within 20 ft of a wall of fire but not from passing through it).
I like this one.
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584. Sauna Deer
Reminds me a bit of Greyhawk's Mist Wolves.
Which I will re-imagine here.
585. Mist Wolves.
These over-sized jackals (wolves is a somewhat generous name for hem...) are large and lanky, save for unusual bulges or 'humps' of fatty tissue above their shoulders, with coats in various shades of gray-white that blend in quite well with the mist they can generate once / day, if in an area with sufficient water. It takes them a round to fill a 5 ft. square with mist, and it continues to spread, adding another 5 ft. square for each round they pant heavily, with a single mist wolf being able to spread mist over up to 8 squares. This mist isn't as thick as the heavy mist of an obscuring mist or fog cloud spell, any only lingers for a single minute in areas that are not prone to them hanging around (arid, sunny, breezy, etc.). Those in the areas of mist treat all beyond 5 ft. as having partial concealment, except for mist wolves themselves, who are treated as having total concealment, thanks to the color and unusual properties of their coats. Mist wolves are also unaffected by the obscuring properties of their own mists, and treat other forms of mist as if they provided one step less concealment.
It is believed that mist wolves first developed in desert regions, and drew moisture from morning dew, through their special fur, and stored water like camels in the fatty bulges on their shoulders, but further developed the ability to pant out excess moisture when the breed moved into more temperate climes, where water was far more abundant.
Their fur loses it's mist-blending property soon after the creature's death, but, sadly, not it's water-absorbing qualities, such that wearing a cloak of mist wolf fur in rain or fog will very quickly result in the pet weighing up to 10 lbs. more, due to the water that has wicked up into the hollow hair follicles (and will never be absorbed by the skin beneath it, as that process ends with the death of the wolf). As a result, mist wolf cloaks are only worn on arid days (and kept locked away from damper night air) by the desert tribes of the region they once exclusively inhabited, perhaps serving to explain why they are now so much more common in wetter climes, far from their original habitat...
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586. Sky Gourds. These vines grow most prolifically at higher altitudes, where they can avoid shading by other plants, and often grow near the nesting sites of high-dwelling predators, being especially common in the Barrier Wall and Napsune Mountains of northern Garund, in areas frequented by giant eagles, griffons, drakes, manticores, heiracosphinxes and similar aerial predators. The vines have rootlets all along their length, fastening to sheer walls of rock, when necessary, and produce heavy yellow gourds that even the obligate carnivores of the region sometimes greedily eat for the proteins and nutrients (as well as moisture) that they contain, spreading their seeds in their droppings far and wide across not just the mountains, but their hunting grounds south of the Barrier Wall. Small groups of mountains folk, such as the Ekujae sect called 'the High Green,' consider sky gourds a staple, and are either loosely allied with local flights of giant eagles, or bravely harvest these vines during the months when the local aerial predators (such as drakes or griffons) are not nesting.
As the most prolific fruiting seasons tend to happen when these predators *are* nesting, this can be a dangerous, but tempting time to go harvesting...
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We gotta get working on this
Normal animals with minor mutations.
587: Plage Deer. At will the deer can make fake pustules appear on it's face so carnivores will not want to eat it.
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Way back in the dawn of Paizo, a lot of thorn-based stuff appeared, like fey using thorn arrows or weapons, in one of the earliest adventures, and then showing up as equipment in the first Campaign Setting book. (Thorn Bracer, Thorn Bow, Bristle Arrow, Leaf Armor, Rosewood Armor, all p. 209-210 ish). This stuff inspired me, but seemed to fall out of popularity, so Imma bringin' it back!
588: Bladeroot. These gnarled trees have thick twisting roots that spread out along the nearby surface of the ground, and from these roots, large thorns sprout, ranging in color from dark green (when young) to dark red (as they mature) to black at the tips. The thorns are sturdy and deeply integrated to the thick roots, not snapping off easily like the thorns of a rose, growing anywhere from eight to eighteen inches at full strength, and then slowly increasing to up to three feet in height, by which point they are past their prime, dried out and brittle, and no longer as dangerous, but still render the ground around their parent tree difficult terrain to cross (and a fall can leave one impaled by one of more of the stouter mature 'blades'). Woodlands natives harvest the young and mature thorns to use as daggers, arrowheads, spear and javelin-points, or even short swords, for the eighteen inch 'adult' specimens. (The longer dried out husks tend to be snapped off and used as firewood, being too brittle for use as weapons or even in most construction.) Such weapons have the fragile property, weigh 2/3rds as much as a metal weapon of the same sort, and have the hardness of wood, unless they are alchemically strengthened, in which case their cost increases to commensurate with a metal weapon of the same sort, their weight slightly increases to 3/4 that of a metal weapon of the same sort, they no longer have the fragile quality, and gain the hardness of stone. In either event, alchemically strengthened or not, ammunition (such as arrows) with bladethorn tips, are never recoverable after use, nor do such weapons keep well, as they cannot be sharpened like a metal blade, requiring frequent replacement, or something as simple as a mending cantrip weekly to 'maintain their point.'
As a result, the local folk who use such weapons in the deep forest, tend to have both adequate access to the mending cantrip, and the alchemical skills to make the thorns usable as effective weapons. Some local druids replace proficiency with the scimitar with the short sword, do to their heavy use of blade thorn stabbing implements.
The danger to harvesting bladeroot thorns is that the roots are not the only place the thorns grow. High up in the branches overhead, additional thorns grow, and they clatter sometimes in a strong wind, like wooden wind-chimes. At the end of the season, the tree pumps them full of fluid, and the fibers connecting them to the tree itself grow thin and brittle, causing them to plunge to the ground with some force. The exact trigger seems to be based on climactic change, temperature and time of day, but a branch of the tree will shift fluid inside of itself and 'spasm,' jerking so violently that thorns the size of short swords will go flying for many yards in whatever direction that branch faces. The thorns contain a seed, and sufficient nutrient-enriched fluid to water the ground and encourage growth of a new tree wherever the thorn lands, hopefully many yards distant from the tree itself, so that it does not have to compete for light or resources with it's own offspring.
Because these thorns are weighted down with their nutrient-cargo, and flung with some force, this can kill an unwary passer-by (1d6 damage, and a truly unlucky soul could be struck by multiple thorns!), and there are all sorts of local legends about the trees deliberately flinging their thorns to kill intruders, or engaging in malicious acts like 'dropping' thorns on those digging at their roots or harvesting the thorns at their base. This happens often enough to keep the rumors alive, even if at least some cases have nothing to do with malicious trees, and more to do with tricksome fey, druids animating the tree temporarily or permananently (through awaken) or haunting presences (or, sometimes, simple mischance).
Topping a wand of magic missiles with a bladeroot thorn will reduce the cost of making the wand.
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[running with the theme of 'plants that move defensively']
590. Twistweed.
These reedy stalks are topped with a somewhat bitter grain (that makes for sour bread, but ferments well) and grow in a distinct spiraling curve.
When the surface is disturbed, sometimes even by a hard rain or powerful gust of wind, the spiraling stalk uncoils abruptly, as if attempting to lift it's precious cargo out of the reach of predation, springing to two or three times it's height, before slowly coiling back up (as fluid drains back into the bulbous root). This sudden burst of movement causes any insects (or even larger creatures) nibbling at it to either be rapidly thrown off of it, or to shy away from the plant's sudden motion, which occurs entirely through fluid dynamics within the reed itself.
The storage of fresh, if somewhat bitter, water in the root can prove useful in an area where other water sources are tainted, but the plant doesn't grow in arid areas, so is rarely needed as such. But the stalk of the plant itself, when harvested and dried out makes for a distinctive arrow shaft, and is quite popular in that role.
A local wizard has even enchanted some via some necromantic process that remains secret for now, that causes an arrow-shaft of twistweed to 'twist' when it strikes and embeds in a target, possibly plunging the arrow head deeper into the wound, and causing an additional die of damage (d6 for shortbow, d8 for longbow) at the end of the round the arrow strikes a target, if not quickly removed before the wood 'twists.' (DC 12 Heal check as a standard action, or 17 as a move action.)
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591. Shrapnel Squirrel- A horrific combination of the dust bunny and razor gull above, the Shrapnel Squirrel is similar to some myths people had about the porcupine. When chased by a predator, these animals release the hair of their tails in a 5 foot cube cloud, which is unfortunately for anything in it comprised of a dust of incredibly sharp fine particles, doing horrific internal damage. The dust only lasts for 1d2 rounds but also does 1d2 Constutition damage with a Fort save for half, minimum 1. One can recover from this damage normally, but cannot take the run action while doing so- the damage to the lungs is too great. To date they have not become a familiar to any spell caster, nor an animal companion to any ranger or barbarian- these animals are far too skittish and dangerous to have around permanently. Rogues run regular confidence games upon one another, swearing to have a per shrapnel squirrel they can sic on the authorities in a chase.
591. Shrapnel Squirrel- A horrific combination of the dust bunny and razor gull above, the Shrapnel Squirrel is similar to some myths people had about the porcupine. When chased by a predator, these animals release the hair of their tails in a 5 foot cube cloud, which is unfortunately for anything in it comprised of a dust of incredibly sharp fine particles, doing horrific internal damage. The dust only lasts for 1d2 rounds but also does 1d2 Constutition damage with a Fort save for half, minimum 1. One can recover from this damage normally, but cannot take the run action while doing so- the damage to the lungs is too great. To date they have not become a familiar to any spell caster, nor an animal companion to any ranger or barbarian- these animals are far too skittish and dangerous to have around permanently. Rogues run regular confidence games upon one another, swearing to have a per shrapnel squirrel they can sic on the authorities in a chase.
Shrapnel Squirrels can only do this once a week, and are not considered some sort of apex rodent because they are not immune to the effects of their own ability, and are as much of a threat to themselves as they are to their predators, keeping their numbers low.
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592. Footworms. Cheekily nicknamed 'footworms' by a bored student of nature who remarked that they were 'inchworms, but a foot long,' these giant inchworms are usually not quite a foot long, but can reach that size. They appear in spring and autumn, for about a month each time, squirming through the undergrowth (generally too big and too heavy to climb any significant distance) making an unholy racket of crunching as they voraciously devour every ground plant they can, and smaller slower stupider insects, and a fair amount of dirt in the process. These worms will even bite someone that picks up their heavy sausage tube length, inflicting only a single point of nonlethal damage, generally enough to discourage most smaller creatures from coming anywhere near them. They are bitter to the taste, and not a popular source of food for any animal that is not itself voracious, such as bears getting ready to hibernate in autumn, or just waking up from a long hibernation, in the spring, who will handily devour them in turn, finding them to be a timely food source in their annual times of need. It is for the best that they are consumed so readily by some larger predators, as a single footworm can noisily munch through several times it's weight in plant matter in a day, and leaves behind a trail of devastation, with many hundreds of them appearing in an area where the adults of their species have laid eggs. Fortunately, they cannot devour hardier matter, like trees, and tend to strip away undergrowth, while leaving the forest itself mostly intact (although they will devour softer bark, such as that of birch, or strip saplings, killing them utterly), but if one gets into a vegetable or herb garden, it will be a complete loss, making these creatures a kill-on-sight target for farmers.
The 'footworm' is the larval stage of a kind of giant luna moth, with a wingspan anywhere from eighteen to twenty-four inches across, and beautiful grey and green (sometimes with design elements in white or yellow) wings in a dozen distinctive patterns. During the spring spawning, the worms themselves are countershaded green and grey, and produce the most colorful moths. The autumn 'crop' is brown and grey, and produce moths with similarly muted coloration on their wings, shunned by the collectors who will pay hundreds of gold pieces or more for an undamaged spring moth in a pattern that they don't already have to add to their collection. The moths themselves only live for about a month, and their is no sign of the creatures, or their voracious larval stage, throughout the next season, until changing weather signals their eggs to hatch a new brood of larva, hundreds more than eventually turn into moths (as so many different creatures prove willing to devour the fat 'footworms' despite their bitter taste).
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593. Sleep Slug- These unsettling gastropod-like creatures(in truth a type of diminutive fae) feed on the mana-rich drool of sleeping creatures, usually humanoids. Unlike most fae, they are incredibly unintelligent(3-4 Int, 5-7 Wis and Cha), and usually live in the wild, where they are named for their ability to "sniff out" any sleeping wanderers or vagrants- adventurers usually. They are sometimes cultivated by isolation ist elves, more intelligent fae, and similar beings who wish to know who have come into their territory. That said they are a terrible watchdog as it were, as they move incredibly slowly- they are sluglike, after all. They are far more useful as sources of amusement- more playful fae encourage the creatures to congreate on the most squeamish looking member of an adventuring party during the nights rest.
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594. Faerie Golems. These miniscule humanoid figures are lumpy and ill-formed caricatures made of mud, sticks, dried grass and other natural materials. They only exist temporarily, a mere thirty days, and contain the least of elemental spirits, having an intelligence barely more than that of an animal, and a Strength score of 2, making them only marginally useful to even the laziest fey crafter. Still, they get made from time to time, and can be seen trudging around a sprite encampment vainly attempting to clean up after the boisterous fey. They have damage reduction 5, which is bypassed by cold iron, but only a single hit point, so that even a hard poke by a cold iron dagger will cause one to fall apart, it's diminutive elemental spirit released like wine from a tipped mug. They have no effective attacks, and seem to be the fey equivalent to a long-lasting, but significantly weaker and less useful, unseen servant.
Some fey absolutely adore them, particularly mites and some gremlins, who seem to compete to make their diminutive 'trash golems' as ugly and ill-formed as possible (or even odiferous, with some substituting dung instead of mud...). These fey tend to resent their more beautiful, magical and 'popular' fey cousins, and enjoy lording it over sad but obedient lumpy minions demonstrably weaker, slower, dumber and less lovely than themselves.
[Yeah, it's not an animal or a plant, but it's certainly inconsequential!]
The M sized version is called a trash golem and is popular for triggering traps and ambushes.
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595. Glyph Trees. A 'short-lived trend' millenia ago among the elves of Kyonin led to an entire forest of trees that have leaves whose veins spell out stylized characters in the elven script, each representing the personal glyph of a particular elven spellcaster who chose to plant those trees around their personal territory. Those particular elves are long departed from this world, one way or another, and the 'fad' ended many centuries ago, but the trees still grow, as trees do, and spread through the usual means, so that trees quite far from their original groves can be found with these unusual leaf-patterns, descendants of the original 'glyph trees' marking those elven spellcasters domains. As the leaves fall in autumn, the veins, shaped to delineate the glyph, remain intact while the lamina of the leaf is worn away, eaten, etc. leaving what looks like elven characters littering the ground for a time.
A rumor spread by some mischievous soul states that handsful of these leaves, from different trees, can be mixed together and throw into the air, and those that land at your feet will spell out a prophetic or meaningful message in elven, subject to some (creative) interpretation.
This is, obviously, bupkiss, but allows the gnomes who live in that area to sell off their leaf-litter to the gullible. On the ridiculously rare occasion of someone's 'prophecy' coming true (generally for self-fulfilling reasons...), the locals are sure to talk it up and perpetuate the rumor.
Elves find the whole subject kind of gauche, and don't like to talk about it, with opinions ranging from 'they signed their names to trees to mark 'their territory?' goodness, what sad little attention-seeking land-grubbing fools' to 'they magically warped a bunch of trees for what?'
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596. Tuah Hawk- This dingy colored bird of prey is famous solely for the nauseating sounds it makes instead of a piercing cry. It sounds very much like phlegm gathering in the mouth before being spat out, which makes it a very good hunter in urban areas as it is usually dismissed by any humanoids in earshot and rarely heard as a distressing call by prey. Outside of an urban area, it rarely does as well, as the call is pretty indicative of either humanity or this unique hawk.
595. Glyph Trees. A 'short-lived trend' millenia ago among the elves of Kyonin led to an entire forest of trees that have leaves whose veins spell out stylized characters in the elven script, each representing the personal glyph of a particular elven spellcaster who chose to plant those trees around their personal territory. Those particular elves are long departed from this world, one way or another, and the 'fad' ended many centuries ago, but the trees still grow, as trees do, and spread through the usual means, so that trees quite far from their original groves can be found with these unusual leaf-patterns, descendants of the original 'glyph trees' marking those elven spellcasters domains. As the leaves fall in autumn, the veins, shaped to delineate the glyph, remain intact while the lamina of the leaf is worn away, eaten, etc. leaving what looks like elven characters littering the ground for a time.
A rumor spread by some mischievous soul states that handsful of these leaves, from different trees, can be mixed together and throw into the air, and those that land at your feet will spell out a prophetic or meaningful message in elven, subject to some (creative) interpretation.
This is, obviously, bupkiss, but allows the gnomes who live in that area to sell off their leaf-litter to the gullible. On the ridiculously rare occasion of someone's 'prophecy' coming true (generally for self-fulfilling reasons...), the locals are sure to talk it up and perpetuate the rumor.
Elves find the whole subject kind of gauche, and don't like to talk about it, with opinions ranging from 'they signed their names to trees to mark 'their territory?' goodness, what sad little attention-seeking land-grubbing fools' to 'they magically warped a bunch of trees for what?'
It can be used for an augury spell. Some elven parents name their kids from such leaves.
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598. Fire Lilies. The ancient temple to the sun goddess had been lost for decades after the sandstorm scoured the communities fields and the survivors left it to be buried under the sand
The lantern archon who had been bound to guard it for 101 years amused itself by casting continual flame on the water in the central pool, over which it was meant to stand (hover?) watch. Over decades, passing birds deposited seeds in their droppings, as they stopped to drink from this glowing pool, and the seeds flourished, around this tiny oasis of water deep in the desert, but since the water glowed with continual fire, and continued to do so, because the archon refreshed it even when new water formed from dew or moisture accumulating overnight, not letting its 'pool of light' dim, the plants nourished by that moisture also picked up a flickering aura of cool golden flame.
The archon's time ended years ago, but when the half-buried temple was recently discovered, this new oasis has become the source of a rare breed of glowing lily. The Rahadoumi scholar who discovered it has kept it a secret where she gets these 'glowing lilies,' and harvests and sells them as curiosities. The plants cannot be transplanted, losing their glow within months if fed 'normal' water, but a cut flower, specially preserved though a technique she has not shared (gentle repose, perhaps?), retains a candle-light intensity glow, and are the height of a rare and exotic new fashion through Rahadoum, Thuvia and Cheliax. There are other species of plants in this tiny oasis of life, but only the white lilies with the golden fire seem marketable, and so she leaves the rest for now, being careful to prune away any who seem to be crowding the lilies that are her glowing golden goose.
599. Cloudsilver. This tall grass grows a puffy frizz of silvery tendrils that resemble a fluffy cloud at the end of their season, and this fluff detaches and blows away, carrying the seeds of the plant far and wide with the wind, unless, as happens in the region of the Kho Rarne pass where it grows, it is harvested just as it turns silver by the locals, who twirl it into fine silver thread and use it to decorate and embroider their clothes. An old rumor says that cloudsilver once grew only on floating cloud islands inhabited by cloud dragons and cloud giants, and that it may have also grown on the floating city of Kho, but the locals dismiss that as rumor. Certainly none seems to grow near the ruins of Kho itself, the grass preferring a higher elevation and drier climate, and none of the locals have ever seen a cloud island, and have no idea what, if anything, even grows in such a place!
600. Goblin Spiders. These large (Fine) bulbous green spiders have a distorted marking on their back that vaguely resembles a goblin's face, but are otherwise harmless, their bite only producing a swollen bump that itches something fierce, and eventually subsides over several days. (Except for the horrifying rumors that sometimes a lump grows in size over several days, the victim becomes feverish, and then it pops and dozens of tiny goblin spiders crawl forth, but there's no proof that this actually ever happens...) The only real similarity to goblins seems to be that the goblin spiders are fascinated by fire, and sometimes descend from above too close and end up falling in when their web-strand flares up. They also are fascinated by music, swaying along in a strange similarity to their mating dance, even when there is no other spider there to appreciate their performance. Rumors of monstrous goblin spiders, or, most horribly, goblin *driders,* remain unconfirmed, thank all the gods.
328. Centurypedes An elven pet, only seen in Kyonin (or on Castrovel), centurypedes live exactly 100 years, for reasons that are not clear, and as such tend to be popular childhood pets, gotten when an elven child is born, and dying on the day she becomes an adult. They start off diminutive things, but grow to the size of cats (T) or dogs (S), or even larger hounds (M) if sufficiently fed and pampered. They are far more intelligent than most 'vermin,' and have the same intelligence (and personality) of a dog, bonding very strongly to 'their person' and generally coming across as stand-offish or even territorial around strangers (even the parents of their bonded child!).
Centurypedes are not venomous, but can bite with the same force as any other animal of similar size. Elves tend to lie and suggest that they are poisonous, 'but not to elves,' or that they are much more intelligent, or various other things, as the whim takes them.
The death of one's constant companion at the age of adulthood is something of a cruel rite of passage among the elves of Castrovel (the custom is less popular on Golarion, and not practiced by the various 'Forlorn' cultures of Snowcaster, Mwangi, Mordant Spire, etc. elves), and elves sometimes say, 'centurypedes exist to teach children about death.'
In open mockery of tradition, Queen Telandia of Kyonin has a huge centurypede that wraps around her dwelling when she retires for the night, and is said to be 300 years old, kept from death by unknown means. When it was suggested by a staunch traditionalist that she showed weakness and childish sentiment by refusing to accept natural death, she said, "Tell it to my husband. When you meet him in the afterlife." Since then she has taken to riding 'Leggysnake' around town for public functions, just to tweak the noses of traditionalists, and earning the love of many of her custom-flouting people.
Leggysnake was mentioned in Futurama this season.
Leggysnake has the immortal mutation or has been treated with the alchemical discovery. In any case, some of it's offspring can become the mount of elvish cavaliers.
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Leggysnake was mentioned in Futurama this season.328. Centurypedes An elven pet, only seen in Kyonin (or on Castrovel), centurypedes live exactly 100 years, for reasons that are not clear, and as such tend to be popular childhood pets, gotten when an elven child is born, and dying on the day she becomes an adult. They start off diminutive things, but grow to the size of cats (T) or dogs (S), or even larger hounds (M) if sufficiently fed and pampered. They are far more intelligent than most 'vermin,' and have the same intelligence (and personality) of a dog, bonding very strongly to 'their person' and generally coming across as stand-offish or even territorial around strangers (even the parents of their bonded child!).
Centurypedes are not venomous, but can bite with the same force as any other animal of similar size. Elves tend to lie and suggest that they are poisonous, 'but not to elves,' or that they are much more intelligent, or various other things, as the whim takes them.
The death of one's constant companion at the age of adulthood is something of a cruel rite of passage among the elves of Castrovel (the custom is less popular on Golarion, and not practiced by the various 'Forlorn' cultures of Snowcaster, Mwangi, Mordant Spire, etc. elves), and elves sometimes say, 'centurypedes exist to teach children about death.'
In open mockery of tradition, Queen Telandia of Kyonin has a huge centurypede that wraps around her dwelling when she retires for the night, and is said to be 300 years old, kept from death by unknown means. When it was suggested by a staunch traditionalist that she showed weakness and childish sentiment by refusing to accept natural death, she said, "Tell it to my husband. When you meet him in the afterlife." Since then she has taken to riding 'Leggysnake' around town for public functions, just to tweak the noses of traditionalists, and earning the love of many of her custom-flouting people.
Immortality through becoming a meme is a little known variation on the whole 'becoming a lich' process, and only marginally as evil.
Immortality through becoming a meme is a little known variation on the whole 'becoming a lich' process, and only marginally as evil.Leggysnake was mentioned in Futurama this season.[b]328.
Snip
In open mockery of tradition, Queen Telandia of Kyonin has a huge centurypede that wraps around her dwelling when she retires for the night, and is said to be 300 years old, kept from death by unknown means. When it was suggested by a staunch traditionalist that she showed weakness and childish sentiment by refusing to accept natural death, she said, "Tell it to my husband. When you meet him in the afterlife." Since then she has taken to riding 'Leggysnake' around town for public functions, just to tweak the noses of traditionalists, and earning the love of many of her custom-flouting people.
You can source this EVIL immortality you are talking about, but it sounds like a GM call.
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601. Starcloud Fungus- This beautiful pestilence takes the form of faint weft of gauze-like growth that can take over trees and other natural vegetation surprisingly fast. It feasts on the outermost layer of most plants, causing them to wither and eventually decay as they compromise their ability to photosynthetize. This is because the fungus absorbs natural light during the day and lets it out at night for unknown reasons as erratic sparks that make it look as if the fungus is what we would see a strip of flickering, dying LED lights. Forests that have been overtaken by starcloud fungus positively glow with celestial radiance, providing onlookers with a truly gorgeous light show even as they horrify any druids and elves in the vicinity, who to their dismay can only eliminate Starcloud Fungus by burning it.
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601. Starcloud Fungus- This beautiful pestilence takes the form of faint weft of gauze-like growth that can take over trees and other natural vegetation surprisingly fast. It feasts on the outermost layer of most plants, causing them to wither and eventually decay as they compromise their ability to photosynthetize. This is because the fungus absorbs natural light during the day and lets it out at night for unknown reasons as erratic sparks that make it look as if the fungus is what we would see a strip of flickering, dying LED lights. Forests that have been overtaken by starcloud fungus positively glow with celestial radiance, providing onlookers with a truly gorgeous light show even as they horrify any druids and elves in the vicinity, who to their dismay can only eliminate Starcloud Fungus by burning it.
One theory;
The sparkly display attracts moths (and other pollinators, like bats, eating the moths), which get spores on their furry legs, and end up spreading them to distant locations, if they survive the night (since they depart confused when the fungus stops glowing as dawn approaches).It's how the fungus reproduces and spreads to quickly (and, to the druid's minds, disastrously), since the fungus seems to thrive better higher above the ground, where it is both less likely to be devoured by ants, and also not as damp and tends to 'drown' the fungus, which likes a moist environment, but not a sopping wet one, and can't as readily spread from tree to tree by creeping along the ground cover.
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602. That Damn Cat. Technically not a species, per se, since there may only be one of them. Or nine? Opinions vary. This aristocratically appointed Osirioni wise-eye was a local legend, practically a folk hero, in Sothis for more decades than any cat should live, and seems still in the prime of life, which makes sense to those that say it has nine lives.
It *may* have once been a familiar, as it is rumored to be unnaturally intelligent (although the amount of times it is blindly blundered into another attempt to kill it suggests otherwise, either that, or it is also supernaturally arrogant...), is rumored to be able to talk (there is absolutely no proof of this, as it never deigns to do so), and never seems to die, no matter how ridiculously lethal the attack upon it. It always manages to evade any attack, even fiery explosions or collapsing buildings, and was something of a folk hero among native Osirioni because it took unholy glee in foiling the plans of local Qadiran authority figures, such as the governor, making them look foolish, or 'accidentally' exposing their financial improprieties or moral shenanigans (hence the many attempts to murder it).
There was the time That Damn Cat narrowly avoided capture by leaping out of a palace window in the governors study, knocking over a stack of documents that fluttered down into the street and revealed that the governor had been overtaxing the people and skimming the excess from what he was supposed to be tithing to the satrap.
And the time That Damn Cat burst into a private chamber in the palace, holding in it's teeth the governors wife's favorite bangle, pursued closely by her, half the palace guard, and a dozen courtiers and ladies in waiting, only to interrupt the governor and his latest mistress.
And then there was the matter of the exotic songbirds that were terribly expensive, and meant as a gift to visiting Pactmasters, who were unamused to find only blood and feathers and a very satisfied looking cat in their private viewing chamber...
Needless to say, That Damn Cat had a price on it's head!
Since Qadira 'pulled out' of Osirion, 'That Damn Cat' has been seen only rarely, usually just making an appearance and setting off rumors that it's 'still watching out for us.'
Or maybe it left years ago, and any of the thousand or so *other* more or less identical Osirioni wise-eye cats in the city are benefitting from mistaken identity?
That Damn Cat may be a cartoon or was an inspiration for a cartoon.
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603. Warose- The petals of this wild white rose is famous for its hemoadsorption properties, with a single petal being able to stop a bloody nose and a fistful being able to act as a bandage for a particularly bad stab wound. The petals offer no magical healing property despite the many, many tales to the contrary, solely being abke to act as an incredibly small bandage in proportion to any wounds sustained. It is only taken seriously by those who see blood rarely and in the most dire circumstances- it is often given out in bouquets to those who have finished some type of modest emergency medical service training, with the graduate no longer being seen as a neophyte once they have used up their last petals. In day to day life, the common folk use it the way they would use any other bandage- although calling someone a "warose" is similar to calling them a particularly violent bully, although the term has some respect in bare knuckle boxing areas- the equivalent to what we would call a debutante. In the adventuring world it is used akin to an olive branch when requesting safe passage through contested territory, but few rivals take the party waving the flower seriously afterwards(and don't think the tale wont spread). In other circles, such as organized crime, displaying a warose is a sign that someone is a skilled "conversation artist" in a very real sense, it is MUCH better to tell that person what they want to know, swiftly and honestly, otherwise...
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603. 'Deep Chicken.' A name used by dwarves for a staple livestock from their subterranean days, still eaten mostly for nostalgic reasons or on festival days (or offered to members of other races, so that they can laugh at the strangers reactions when they find out what they are really eating), the 'deep chicken' is a species of domesticated giant centipede.
Growing to size small or medium, depending on how long they are kept, and their diet, these centipedes venom is actually more intense, for the smaller versions (size Small specimens have the stronger venom normally seen in size Medium giant centipedes, and vice versa). The flavor is far more intense (and borderline toxic!) for the Smaller specimens, and far preferred by dwarven gourmands, the Medium specimens generally only being fed to non-dwarves, who are more likely to have a toxic reaction to the meat of the Smaller ones.
Poorer dwarven communities, or without regular access to surface world protein, are much more likely to regard 'deep chicken' as a staple, and being offered deep chicken by a successful dwarven family in the middle of the Five Kingdoms (save on special occasions, such as the commemoration of the Quest for Sky), is considered an insult, implying some combination of A) the guest isn't worth spending real money on feeding, B) the guest is a stodgy traditionalist stuck in the past, C) the guest is too stupid to know they are being insulted.
Despite these associations among the dwarves, particularly urbane dwarves, other subterranean races, such as dark creepers, svirfneblin and kobolds, have also taking to farming these creatures, and harvesting them for their protein, although races other than dwarves and svirfneblin tend to consume only the mature Medium sized (less toxic) specimens, as they lack the powerful poison resistance of dwarves. (While Svirfneblin lack special resistance to poison, they deliberately risk themselves by enjoying toxic dishes made from the younger, more virulent, specimens. Dark creepers and kobolds are more risk-averse.)
Kobolds, in particular, have taken to allying with mites (usually only a single misanthropic mite will jealously protect their status as 'wrangler' for a tribe of kobolds, enjoying a unique position in the kobold community and driving away anyone who could usurp it), who train their 'deep chickens' for more practical uses, even for use in combat.
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604. Bouldershrooms. These relatives of the puffball grow significantly larger than a man's head, and resemble boulders of stone until they finish their growth cycle, dry out and fill with lighter-than-air gas, being dislodged by the slightest touch, or strong breeze, and sent tumbling off into the distance, or even into the sky on a windy day, spreading their spores far and wide and creating the illusion that boulders are soaring across the sky! These 'boulders' have the texture of paper, and weigh only ounces, despite appearing convincingly like 200 lb. granite boulders!
605. Krampi. These ugly bats have skinny bodies and a marsupial pouch in which they carry their young. They live in the wild near geothermal vents, or areas where the stone heats up during the day, and thrive on the radiated heat, having a unique system of a half-dozen filtered nostrils (and nictating folds over their eyes) that allows them to thrive in smoke-filled or sulfurous environments. They have become quite the destructive terror since mankind developed the chimney, as they build nests inside the tops of chimneys, luxuriating in the warmth, and drop 'gifts' of smelly and flammable excrement into the fire below, causing unexpected and dangerous fiery flareups in the hearths below!
Rumors of a giant Krampus that kidnaps halfling children and stuffs them in it's pouch to carry away and eat (or transform into new Krampi? Rumors are inconsistent.), are unconfirmed.
Dark stalkers and slayers usually have built up a tolerance to the deep chicken venom. They usually coat their weapons with the concentrated poison. The poison causes dex. damage and can be mixed with black smear to cause strength damage too.
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607. Horned Fern. These bifurcated branched cycads grow to over nine feet tall over the course of a decade or more, and branch about every foot of height. At each branching, the two new shoots veer off at about a 30 to 45 degree angle, so that their leafy offshoots do not interfere with each other, and the branches often twist slightly while growing, so that, instead of a large peacock-like fan, they angle in all sorts of improbable directions, so that the sprays of the top-most tier might often angle in all sorts of different directions. The seeds that grow on these sprays are black and taste bitter, being an acquired taste for strong black teas (used for medicinal or ceremonial purposes, more than for enjoyment), and the branched woody upper upper sections are popular for making diving rods, while the lower most branch of a mature specimen as the base for a metamagic rod of twinning.
Note that only the upper-most tier produces it's leafy fan-like 'sprays' of green leaves, with each lower tier consisting of twinning branches of wood that grow increasingly thick as they must support an every heavier array of 'sprays' on the upper tier. A horned fern will sometimes split or collapse under the weight of it's own sprays, if it grows too fast to thicken adequately (a heavy rainy season could cause this), and locals will sometimes twist them deliberately so that different branches from a particular tier will 'interlock' and end up supporting each other, so as to keep this from happening in regions where locals are harvesting their seeds (or, more likely, encouraging their growth so that other wildlife can feed from their plentiful seeds, which the locals would much rather consume or farm, like wild hens or dappled antelope).
608. Dappled Antelope. Often found in the same antediluvian cycad forests found in some Mwangi mountain valleys, dappled antelope are small deer that have irregular white streaks primarily on their haunches, resembling a smear of paint, or jagged stretched-out 'drop.' Their base coat is darker, sometimes grey, sometimes roan, often fading to dark brown, while the dappled streaks are lighter in color, from sandy tan to creamy white or a paler shade of gray. Both genders of dappled antelope have short but stout (usually) forward-pointing horns that they use to gouge local trees, after which they nibble at the tender bark underneath the tougher (and inedible) outer layer, and lick at the flowing sweet sap that bleeds from the wounded tree. (This is rarely great for the tree, which now becomes vulnerable to insect predation and fungal infection...)
Occasionally one will gouge too enthusiastically, and one of their horns will break off, or become too sensitive to continue using (particularly in the case of one who has lost one horn, and overuses the remaining horn...), and the deer will need to subsist on the leaves and seeds of horned fern, which causes it to emit a subtle odor that other dappled antelope find unpleasant, and leading to them being shunned and unable to mate until their horns regenerate (which can take an entire year in the case of serious damage!) and they can return to their preferred diet.
Dappled antelope almost always bear twin offspring, and have led to a common myth among non-natives that consuming the seeds of the horned fern can cause a woman to bear twins. This is absolutely not true, and the bitter seeds of the horned fern are actually much more likely to be used in a tea to end a pregnancy.
Dappled antelope meat is sweet, in a native dish that includes a marinade made with sap from it's preferred tree, almost like teriyaki beef, and extremely popular, so much so that savvy locals hunt the animal only for special occasions (coming of age ceremonies, weddings, family gatherings, elevation of a new chieftain or shaman, etc.), so as not to depopulate the species, as has happened in some valleys, where precautions were not taken to keep a viable population thriving.
609. Great Horned Boa. This large constrictor can reach the lengths of the mighty anaconda, and can only be found deep within the Mwangi Expanse, but has also been said to dwell in far Vudra, where it is sometimes seen as an avatar of one of their many local gods. Unlike most constrictors, it has the triangular head and sinister keratin 'horns' of some vipers, and is every bit as venomous as that appearance implies, combining the deadly characteristics of a large constrictor *and* a deadly viper. It has a collection of melon sized spots running down it's length, along it's sides, having a darker upper body with a variety of patterns in shades of darker browns and greens, lighter tan colored underbelly, and dark yellow or paler dull green colored spots.
Hardly 'innocuous,' and yet, it shuns human(oid) life, and subsists almost entirely on a diet of river fish, and small mammals, such as capybaras or immature wildebeest, that come to the river to drink. Faced by a human, or multiple humans, or even a larger mammal, it is likely to coil and hiss in threat display, and retreat to the water, if possible, when on land, or submerge swim away, if in the water. It seems to instinctively recognize any creature above a certain height as 'unable to fit in its mouth' and avoids them, and does not appear to have the intellectual capacity to recognize that a small humanoid lying on it's side would go down just as easily as one of the fish it regularly consumes. (So, ah, halflings? Don't lie down on the ground in front of one. Just sayin'.)
Some say these creatures presence indicates the presence of nagas in the area, and they do seem to often be found in proximity.
473. Pixiepop- Another magical candy, this one is derived from berries that have been handled by Tiny fae but not picked or otherwise molested, making them incredibly rare considering the appetites of the wee folk. Eating a few of these makes one appear a size category younger for about a minute. Anyone considered a Youth with respect to age category gets fine, elfin features as if they were a pixie writ large, gaining a +2 to Charisma, all others look visibly younger, but gain no benefit beyond a temporary boost to ego as they do look younger, but the effect is limited to a single round. This makes them incredibly popular with children looking to get up to adorable mischief and wistfully unpopular with anyone older, although some wealthy folk who are well past their middle years have been known to take literal handfuls of this candy along with certain other supplements to increase their vitality during intimate moments. Calling an adult woman a "Pixiepop" is akin to describing her as a "cougar" if she is in her middle years, and "handsome" if she is anything older than that. Calling an adult man the same is a dread insult, as it implies he no longer has "it"(whatever "it" is).Edit- It seems a part of this was edited out, anyone older than a Youth that takes pixiepop looks AN AGE CATEGORY YOUNGER for one round.
This entire candy revolves around character age category, not character size category.
I have been yelled at- the effect lasts for one hour, not one round
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604. Bouldershrooms. These 'boulders' have the texture of paper, and weigh only ounces, despite appearing convincingly like 200 lb. granite boulders!Inspired by movie props?
Heh, not what I was thinking of, but yes, exactly like those big 'boulders' that fall on the hero he sort of pushes them off, because they are painted styrofoam. :)
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611. Firegrass For millenia, the grasslands of the Sere Expanse, near the city of Oenepion, in Nex, were prone to seasonal wildfires, and the seeds of the local grasses grew thick shells that required the kiss of fire to lightly char so that the seedling within could break free and take root. And then the weather changed, with the cultivation of these lands by the Arclords of Nex, seeking more land for their own grain and grazing livestock, and the now regular magically influenced rains ensured that no wildfires occurred over the expanse. Unable to grow through their own protective coatings, and the Arclords having no patience to learn why their lands grew barren, they moved on to other concerns, and now much of the feedstock that supports Nex is imported from their sometimes-foe, Geb, which is something of an irony that Geb finds deeply amusing, since his nation has such fertile soil, and far fewer living souls in need of such nourishment...
But the grasses of the plains, instead of completely dying out, mutated yet again, and the oils within the plant, already optimized to cause them to flare up and burn very quickly, so that the wildfires would sweep through an area very quickly and not linger long enough to kill the roots, rhizomes or tubers of most adapted flora in the region, became even more prone to spontaneous combustion, absorbing trace elements of magnesium, phosphorus and sulfur from the soil, and concentrating it into tiny colorful dots at the base of their seeds.
When the time was right, the seed fell away and the dot was exposed to air, causing it to ignite, and burning a tiny hole in the bottom of the seed-case, allowing the seedling within to squirm free, and, incidentally, starting again the annual cycle of wildfires, no longer triggered by the extreme arid conditions, but by tiny sparks of fire appearing all through the grasslands, with tiny popping sounds.
This tends to happen around the same time of day, during a time of optimal dryness, and someone standing in these grasslands could be caught in a fatal surprise as they hear tiny popping and spitting sounds all through the tall grass around them, accompanied by fires bursting into being all around them...
A lone researcher has been attempting to find out what sort of 'magical mutation' has occurred here, but been unsuccessful, so far, as the mutation was not magical (even if it was a reaction to magical weather alteration), itself a rare and unexpected occurrence in Nex!
A seed that is not allowed to dry out and fall off naturally, or even twisted off and coated *immediately* with wax to prevent it from bursting into flame on contact with air, could, in theory, be used as a form of tindertwig, but they are far too prone to just spontaneously drying out, falling apart and then igniting unexpectedly to be safely usable this way.
Also disposing of 'used' seeds in areas where firegrass does not already grow could be ecologically disastrous. An *incendiary* invasive species that makes it's own wildfires and burns out the competition? Just, no.
611. Firegrass For millenia, the grasslands of the Sere Expanse, near the city of Oenepion, in Nex, were prone to seasonal wildfires, and the seeds of the local grasses grew thick shells that required the kiss of fire to lightly char so that the seedling within could break free and take root. And then the weather changed, with the cultivation of these lands by the Arclords of Nex, seeking more land for their own grain and grazing livestock, and the now regular magically influenced rains ensured that no wildfires occurred over the expanse. Unable to grow through their own protective coatings, and the Arclords having no patience to learn why their lands grew barren, they moved on to other concerns, and now much of the feedstock that supports Nex is imported from their sometimes-foe, Geb, which is something of an irony that Geb finds deeply amusing, since his nation has such- fertile soil, and far fewer living souls in need of such nourishment...
snip
And now you've instructed PC Goblins on how to propagate their new favorite plant. Woopsy!
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This incredibly small legume is tasteless in more ways that one. It only takes on flavor when incredibly salted, peppered, or otherwise seasoned in excess of its size, and is not particularly filling in any case. No, what makes these nuts special is that when they are fire roasted, the shells that are left behind after a meal are the perfect size for a Tiny fey, serving as a helmet, shield, or some other form of semi-rounded armor. There are a few "biggies" that will sell the shells to hot headed fey that may be interested in starting their careers as adventurers. Naturally, doing so sickens most folk who see faerie folk as lighthearted, peaceful pranksters who wouldn't hurt a fly.
612This incredibly small legume is tasteless in more ways than one. It only takes on flavor when incredibly salted, peppered, or otherwise seasoned in excess of its size, and is not particularly filling in any case. No, what makes these nuts special is that when they are fire roasted, the shells that are left behind after a meal are the perfect size for a Tiny fey, serving as a helmet, shield, or some other form of semi-rounded armor. There are a few "biggies" that will sell the shells to hot headed fey that may be interested in starting their careers as adventurers. Naturally, doing so sickens most folk who see faerie folk as lighthearted, peaceful pranksters who wouldn't hurt a fly.
Some find such fey hilarious. Decked out as a fighter, hideous laughter cast by them is +4 DC.
Some chefs call the bean "The blank canvas". The tasteless bean bread can highlight a gamey meat filling.
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