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Ability Adjustments: +2 Con, +2 Wis, –2 Int
Hit Points: 4
Size and Type: Vine leshys are Small plants with the leshy subtype but they do not have the immunities to mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, and stunning that the plant type usually grants, and they lack the leshy subtype immunities to electricity and sonic.
Slow Speed: Vine leshys have a base speed of 20 feet.
Darkvision: Vine leshys can see up to 60 feet in the dark.
Low-Light Vision: Vine leshys can see in dim light as if it were normal light.
Pass without Trace: Vine leshys do not leave footprints or a scent trail while moving. Tracking a vine leshy is impossible without magic or sophisticated technology.
Change Shape: Vine leshys can transform into vines at will. Even close inspection will not reveal that the vines are actually a leshy; instead the leshy appears as a particularly healthy Small vine. A detect magic spell will reveal a faint transmutation aura on the vines. While in plant form, vine leshys can observe all that transpires around them and they gain a +10 natural armor bonus to AC but have an effective Dexterity score of 0 and a speed of 0 feet. Vine leshys are immune to critical hits while in tree form. The leshy can assume plant form or revert to its true form as a swift action.
Plantspeech: Vine leshys can speak with vines, ask questions and get answers from them. Normal vines will only be able to answer questions about events and creatures within their immediate area. Vine creatures may have more information, but are not guaranteed to be friendly towards the leshy.
Verdant Burst: When slain, a vine leshy explodes in a burst of fertile energies. All plant creatures within 30 feet of the slain leshy heal 1d8 hit points, and vines quickly infest the area. If the terrain can support vines, the undergrowth is dense enough to make the region into difficult terrain for 24 hours, after which the plant life diminishes to a normal level. If it can’t support vines, this plant life has no effect on movement and withers and dies within an hour.
Unassuming Foliage: Vine leshys gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks in forests and dense shrubbery.
Climber: Vine leshys gain a +2 racial bonus on Athletics checks when attempting to climb.
Sometime during the Gap, whenever Absalom Station was built, it is believed that ancient followers of the Green Faith used old rituals to create defenders of the green parks and plant life found in the Eye: vine leshys. These leshys went about their business and helped maintain the closest thing to natural wilderness to be found on the station and were still performing these duties when the Gap ended.
The followers of the Green Faith that created the leshys must have found the station too much civilization for their tastes as vine leshy lore states they left almost immediately after they created their small custodians. The leshys believe that the Green faithful created the leshys because they refused to remain around so much technology and unnatural structures and they needed someone they could trust to upkeep the parks without them.
The Green faithful did give the leshys one last gift before departing: they taught them the ritual to create more of their own kind. With a warning not to overpopulate and maintain the natural order the followers left and the leshys continued on with their tasks. Many generations have now passed and all of this has passed into legend, vague and missing many details. But one truth remains: the leshys have continued in their sacred trust as custodians and guardians of all green spaces on Absalom Station.
As one would expect, the vast majority of vine leshys can be found in the parks and green areas on Absalom Station, especially in the Eye. Most of the inhabitants pay them little attention when they even notice their presence; in some ways they have become simply part of the machinery that makes the station run in the minds of most people. But the vine leshys do interact with the other station dwellers far more regularly than other leshys do in more natural settings, and this has resulted in a few cultural changes over the centuries.
First the ritual to create more vine leshys has been modified so that is now performed by two leshys who have decided to live with one another. This seems like a copy of most species mating habits, but there remain differences. For one, leshys have no fixed gender and may identify as male, female, or non-gendered and any two can produce “young” through the ritual. Every vine leshy created by the ritual is a full adult at creation, so there is little to no family raising of children as other cultures would recognize it. Still a tight family bond if often formed by leshys with those that created them and those they create.
Even though the ancient warning against creating to many vine leshys and maintaining balance have passed in their culture into an almost sacred belief, sometimes the gregarious leshys get a bit carried away with number replenishment and an excess of vine leshys appears on the Station. When this happens, the extra leshys cheerfully go exploring, looking for other places and worlds with which to take up the task of protection and maintenance of nature.
The interaction between the vine leshys and other races has also resulted in some leshys leaving their posts to go exploring. This is not frowned upon by vine leshy culture; indeed it often affords some leshy couples with an opportunity to create a new leshy, which is a cause for some celebration.
Vine leshy names change over the course of their lives, with young leshys taking names that resemble their physical appearance and then later changing them to reflect their abilities, experiences, and developed personality. They are usually made up of two to three word phrases like Blossom Red Leaf, Verdant Star Shine, or Tendril Green Bark.
One interesting development from their time forming loose families on Absalom Station is the creation of clans. Each clan has a name that reflects the plants they maintain, the vine species they prefer to use when propagating themselves, or the location within the Station they hold most dear. Clan names are not used in daily life and are generally only spoken in formal occasions. Some prominent clans are Red Grape, Pied Kudzu, Rose Hip, and Eye Forest.
Vine leshys appear to be made of twisted vines with faces made out of large leaves with two round eyes, a small mouth, and no nose. They stand 42 to 2-1/2 feet tall and weigh 20–30 pounds. They’re considered adults at creation and live up to 100 years.