Door #9: Lake House (Upstairs)
TODDY: What, are you trying to take 40 on your search over there? Get a move on, Kabloo!
KABLOO: Don't rush me! I'm sure there's something living up here! It's coming and going at night... scuttling around... watching us... planning our demise!
TODDY: You get that just from the scuttling, do you?
KABLOO: Well, that's what I would do if I were trying to kill us. Bah, fine, let's go inside! Obviously, this is some wretched creature that likes to jump out and scare you before it kills you. (Again, like I do.)
JAMPA: Ha ha, PRESENTS! But Jampa hopes scuttling thing really does want to kill us. Jampa doesn't like to kill harmless rats for treasure. First level was a sad time for Jampa.
KABLOO: Do you know what a sinister attic monster looks like? Like an empty room. I'm not sure this room is empty, though. Does the roof look funny to you, Jampa?
JAMPA:(sigh) Goblin comedy is a mystery to Jampa.
KABLOO: No, no, does it look wrong? Goblins can see in the dark, but I can't see the ceiling through those shadows for some reason.
JAMPA: Little snow man is right! Jampa cannot see loft. And what Jampa cannot see into, JAMPA MUST CLIMB INTO!
TODDY: You are a born tank, Jampa. Here, take a conspicuous light source.
A peculiarly long climb later...
JAMPA: What is red and white and tired of climbing all over? Jampa! Jampa already showed magic blackness who's boss with magic redness from relic. Jampa has nothing more to prove. TODDY: Yeah, what the hell is this? We're at least twenty feet past where the ceiling should have been. Did I fall into my bag of holding again?
KABLOO: No, I don't detect magic. And there's no telltale scent of rum, so this can't be anything of yours. It's like a bag of holding, though... hold on! Now I'm detecting some magic... lots of it! Hurry, let's take it while it's still inexplicable! The owner could be back any minute!
KABLOO: Woo hoo hoo! Most of this other stuff is magical, too! Okay, Kabloo, focus... adventuring 101. Let's get the MacGuffin to safety and then come back with a wheelbarrow. You can't loot without proper triage. That's just anarchy.
JAMPA: Maybe magic roof-hole made house too drafty?
KABLOO: Look, I'll have time for questions when I'm sitting on a throne made from the skulls of my enemies. But first I have to build that throne, and that costs money. Priorities, elf.
Without warning, a man-sized owl, its ceramic form soaring with all the grace of a living thing, snatches the gift from Kabloo's hands!
KABLOO: What did I say?! BIRDS! Let's go after it!
TODDY: You've changed your tune since yesterday. Don't you want to go hide inside? Maybe lock yourself in the hawk cellar until this blows over?
KABLOO: Gyah, ELF! We NEED that present! The rest will be useless without it!
TODDY: ... what? Why?
TODDY: Rrrr... okay, fine! Stick me up there, then hook around and grab the present while I distract it. Gods, this treasure better be worth it. I don't know how much gp my dignity was worth, but I'd better get that plus 10% when we sell this crap.
TODDY: You hear that "tink, tink tink" sound, Jampa? That's the sound of no goddamn flanking partner! Get in place!
JAMPA: Sorry, little elf! Jampa is moving at half speed to sneak!
TODDY: You're trying to sneak? Then stop yelling, you idiot!
JAMPA: No, little elf, it's okay! Jampa can yell as free action!
JAMPA: Raah, bad owl! Focus on little elf who's killing you, shiny owl! You can't have Jampa's present!
But it can!
JAMPA: NOOO! Now Jampa has to pay for elf's dignity out of pocket!
TODDY: ...oh... oh gods! It's too distracted by pointless blasty druid spells to notice me! It really doesn't know I'm here! Ha ha ha, merry Long Nights to me! And about time, too!
TODDY: Oh, yes. My d6's were swollen to the size of grapefruits. Flanking is fine, but it's the look of totally unwitting terror that you really live for in this line of work.
KABLOO: That's a beautiful thing you just said, elf. You know, I think it's time we had a little talk about these gifts. There are some things you two should know.
The Crunch: The Curio Owl and the Bell of Ag
New Monster
A man-sized owl glistens dimly before you. Seemingly formed of glazed sepia ceramic, the owl nonetheless regards its surroundings with the keen eyes of a living predator.
Curio Owl CR 7
XP 4,800
N Medium Magical Beast
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect magic, low-light vision, see in darkness; Perception +10
----- Defense -----
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+3 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +6
Defensive Abilities hardness 10
----- Offense -----
Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee 2 talons +13 (1d8+4 plus bleed)
Special Attacks bleed (1d4)
----- Statistics -----
Str 18, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 16, Cha 9
Base Atk +9; CMB +13 (+15 to disarm and steal); CMD 26 (+28 versus disarm and steal)
Feats Flyby Attack, Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Steal, Skill Focus (stealth)
Skills Fly +10, Perception +10, Stealth +13; Racial Modifiers +4 Fly, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Common
SQ deep nest, magic metabolism, opportunistic hoarder, shocking swoop, thieving talons
----- Ecology -----
Environment Any
Organization solitary
Treasure double standard (magic items only)
----- Special Abilities -----
Deep Nest (Su) With 8 hours of continuous hard (but quiet) work in an area of dim light or darkness, a curio owl can form an extradimensional nest "inside" a wall, roof, tree or other solid surface. This nest resembles the extradimensional space created by rope trick, except that it is 30 ft x 30 ft x 30 ft inside, has an opening up to 10 ft x 10 ft (or as large as the surface will allow) and is filled with magical darkness (as per deeper darkness) that does not react to illumination conditions outside the nest. Dimensional nests inside trees, crawlspaces and the like often begin as dark tunnels that gradually widen into larger chambers. The inside of a curio owl's nest is full of the magic items in its hoard, including those it has already drained. Destroying the surface into which a curio owl has nested destroys the nest, scattering all of its contents (including the curio owl, if presents) to random locations across the planes.
A single curio owl can have only one nest in existence at a time.
Detect Magic (Su) A curio owl can continuously detect magic as the spell to the limit of its vision.
Magic Metabolism (Su) A curio owl can gradually drain a magic item of its magic simply by remaining in close proximity to it over a long period of time. For every week that a curio owl spends within 30 feet of a magic item, reduce that item's value by 50 gp. An item reduced to half its value gains the broken condition, while one reduced to 0 value becomes permanently non-magical. The curio owl uses the stolen energy to sustain itself and to reproduce. Magic items damaged in this way may be repaired by the usual means. Curio owls need not eat or breathe, but must consume at least 50 gp of magic item value per month.
Opportunistic Hoarder (Ex) Once per round, after suffering an attack with a melee weapon or non-ammunition projectile that it can detect as magical, a curio owl whose beak is empty may attempt to catch the weapon in its beak with a disarm maneuver. This is an immediate action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Items stolen in this way are carried in the curio owl's beak.
Shocking Swoop (Ex) If a curio owl studies an unaware creature for at least 3 rounds and then immediately attempts a disarm or steal maneuver against that target, the curio owl recieves a +4 insight bonus to that maneuver.
Thieving Talons (Ex) A curio owl does not take the -4 penalty for being unarmed when disarming with its talons or beak. In addition, a curio owl's hunting instincts permit it to take combat feats without meeting their Intelligence prerequisites.
Curio owls lurk in dark places, forming extradimensional nests and hoarding magic items. The owls drain these items' power to fuel their strange physiologies, which simulate life but consist of a hard, ceramic-like substance that gives curio owls their remarkable toughness.
Using their deep nest ability, curio owls create nests in unlikely spaces. They can avoid detection even in the midst of farms and towns, concealing the openings of their nests as nothing more than deep shadows in the rafters of a barn, the hollow of a large tree or the underside of a bridge. From there, the owls hunt over a wide territory for magic items, which they locate using their long-range detect magic ability. Curio owls' razor-sharp talons make them effective combatants, but they prefer to avoid combat, swooping in stealthily to steal a choice item and then fleeing into the night to avoid pursuit. When their targets do give chase, curio owls often resort to their nests, whose inaccessibility and darkness discourages most pursuers.
Curio owls hunt not only to survive, but to reproduce. A curio owl who has absorbed 5,000 gp worth of magic item value can produce an egg of similar material to itself, which will grow and hatch into a full-grown curio owl in 3 months. A curio owl egg is worth 7,000 gp.
Using their deep nest ability, curio owls create nests in unlikely spaces. They can avoid detection even in the midst of farms and towns, concealing the openings of their nests as nothing more than deep shadows in the rafters of a barn, the hollow of a large tree or the underside of a bridge. From there, the owls hunt over a wide territory for magic items, which they locate using their long-range detect magic ability. Curio owls' razor-sharp talons make them effective combatants, but they prefer to avoid combat, swooping in stealthily to steal a choice item and then fleeing into the night to avoid pursuit. When their targets do give chase, curio owls often resort to their nests, whose inaccessibility and darkness discourages most pursuers.
Curio owls hunt not only to survive, but to reproduce. A curio owl who has absorbed 5,000 gp worth of magic item value can produce an egg of similar material to itself, which will grow and hatch into a full-grown curio owl in 3 months. A curio owl egg is worth 7,000 gp.
The Gift
Bell of Ag (courtesy of GM Hudson on the Paizo forums, with minor editing)Aura strong universal CL 14th;
Slot none; Price 24,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs
Description
This miraculous bell's history has been lost to the ages. It is made of pure silver and etched with ancient runes.
The bell may be used up to three times per day; each use requires a standard action. Users with 5 ranks or more of any Perform (any musical instrument) may alter the percentile roll by 5% in either direction.
d% Effect
01—05 Casts Aura of the Unremarkable 10 min (Will DC 15 negates).
06—10 Casts Shatter 20ft radius
11—15 Casts Cure Serious Wounds 3d8 +14
16—20 Casts Gaseous Forms 20ft radius
21—25 Casts Haunting Choir 30ft radius (Will DC 15 negates)
26—30 Casts Invisibility Sphere 10ft radius
31—33 Heavy snow falls for 1 round in 60-foot radius centered on the wielder.
34—36 Summons an animal—1d8 Reindeer
37—46 Casts Sonic Thrust
47—49 Casts Zone of silence 20ft radius
50—53 Cats Overwhelming Grief 20ft Radius (Will DC 15 negates)
54—58 Darkness, 30-foot-diameter hemisphere, centered on bell.
59—62 Casts Wall of Sound (In ring form only)
63—65 Any nonliving object of up to 1,000 pounds of mass and up to 30 cubic feet in size turns ethereal.
66—69 Casts Haste
70—79 Casts Terrible Remorse 20ft radius (Will DC 15 negates)
80—84 Casts Ancestral Gift
85—87 Casts Break Enchantment
88—90 Cure Critical Wounds 4d8 +14
91—95 Casts Echolocation 20ft radius
96—97 Casts Greater Heroism
98—100 Casts Song of Discord (Will DC 15 negates)
Construction Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, Limited Wish, Cost 12,000gp
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