Arboreal Corrupter

Huge Aberration

Hit Dice: 16d8+96 (168 hp),dying/dead –7/–22 Initiative: –2 Speed: 10 feet AC: 20 (–2 size,–2 Dexterity,+14 natural),touch 6, flat-footed 20 Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+27 Attack: Tendril +18 melee (1d6+7 plus poison) Full Attack: 8 tendrils +18 melee (1d6+7 plus poison) Space/Reach: 10 feet/15 feet (Face/Reach:10 feet by 10 feet/15 feet) Special Attacks: Poison,wrath oftrees Special Qualities: Corrupt trees,immunity to cold and fire, immunity to mind-affecting effects,network ofeyes,

DR 10/good (or 15/+2),spells,SR 22 Saves: Fort +16,Ref+3,Will +11 Abilities: Str 24,Dex 6,Con 22,Int 15,Wis 18,Cha 15 Skills: Concentration +17,Disguise* +21,Listen +20,

Spellcraft +18,Spot +19 Feats: Cleave,Iron Will,Power Attack,Psion,Skill Focus (Listen),Stomp,Weapon Focus (tendrils)

Environment: Any forest Organization: Solitary,pair,or grove (3–8) Challenge Rating: 12 Treasure: Standard Advancement: 17–28 HD (Huge);29–40 HD (Colossal) Level Adjustment: +5

Even on close inspection,this horrid monster appears to be little more than a mundane tree.It adopts the guise ofthe plants that grow around it,slowly altering its outer skin to resemble bark and its many limbs to mimic leafy branches.An arboreal corrupter slowly converts the forest around it to creatures under its control,creating a hidden threat that strikes at travelers before they are aware ofthe menace that surrounds them.

This twisted,malevolent tree has its genesis in the fiendish workshops ofthe dramojh.A corrupter spreads its roots throughout an area,allowing it to infest and control normal trees.It uses these puppets to attack travelers. Usually,victims who survive an attack never realize that the animated tree was under the control ofa malevolent intelligence.Arboreal corrupters communicate with each other across great distances using their roots,allowing them to coordinate large-scale campaigns.

While corrupters look like plants,they are actually more like animals in function.They have fleshy interiors with strange,pulsing internal organs.Their roots resemble tentacles rather than woody growths,and their branches are actually pulpy tendrils that sprout growths that look like leaves,pine needles,and smaller branches.They feed by churning the ground around them,dragging dead or decaying animal matter into their root network.Experienced travelers learn to identify corrupters by the thick,loamy soil around their bases,a telltale sign oftheir churning roots.

A forest infested with one or more ofthese monsters becomes a dark,foreboding place.Forest settlements suffer devastating attacks by corrupted trees,while many ofthe animals and plants that provide food for the region come under continual assault.Corrupters wage a highly coordinated campaign ofterror,using their ability to communicate at great distance to launch simultaneous attacks or strike a single target from many directions.Some primitive or destructive beasts,particularly chlortheks (see page 30),worship these twisted beings as deities.These worshippers toss sacrificial victims into the root field that surrounds a corrupter,allowing it to drag the morsel into its root network.

Corrupters can speak Common in wheezing,gasping tones.They are ambitious and vain.Sometimes they negotiate alliances with promising contacts their thralls bring to them,offering them mercy in return for mutual aid.A corrupter might destroy a greedy warlord’s enemies in return for protection against its enemies.Many ofthem fancy themselves the true lords ofthe forest.Ifa greenbond moves into a region claimed by a corrupter,a showdown is almost inevitable.While some greenbonds with violent or hateful tendencies might work with these monsters,most ofthem recognize corrupters as foul mockeries ofthe natural order.

Combat

Arboreal corrupters prefer to allow their thralls to do their fighting for them,since their primary defense is to remain unnoticed by the world at large.Their slow speed makes it difficult for them to disengage from a battle.While they have many magical abilities,patient foes can simply use fire and ranged attacks to slowly whittle down their strength. Corrupters remain motionless even in the face ofa determined enemy.Sometimes they take no actions until the last possible moment.An opponent might have to land the first blow before a corrupter moves to defend itself.

Due to the intimate connection these creatures share with each other,they remember enemies who have slain their kin and make aggressive moves to destroy them.A hunter who defeats a corrupter may find his friends and family harassed by attacks launched by other corrupters,while these monsters’ followers dog his every step in the forest. * Skills (Ex): Arboreal corrupters gain a +10 racial bonus to all Disguise checks made to conceal themselves as mundane trees.They can attempt to disguise themselves as trees merely by remaining still.They do not need more than a standard action to make this check.

Poison (Ex): An arboreal corrupter’s leafy tendrils are covered in a sticky,caustic sap that causes convulsions and the loss ofmotor control in creatures it injures.This poison has a Fortitude save DC of20.It deals 1d4+1 points oftemporary

Dexterity damage initially and 3d4 points oftemporary Dexterity damage as its secondary effect.

Wrath ofTrees (Ex): In battle as a free action,a corrupter can flex and shift its vast network oftendrils and roots to toss and churn the ground around it.Creatures that stand within 60 feet ofa corrupter must make Balance checks (DC 15) each round before they take any actions or fall prone. Four-legged creatures gain a +4 competence bonus to this check.Creatures that are already prone must make a Fortitude save (DC 20) or take 2d6 points ofdamage as the tendrils and roots rip and tear at them.

Corrupt Trees (Su): A corrupter can extend its poison tendrils into a nearby tree,animating it with its fell malevolence.A corrupted tree (see statistics at right) obeys all ofthe corrupter’s commands to the best ofits abilities.It gladly throws its life away to defend its master,since it lacks a true free will ofits own.A corrupter can control up to three trees at once.These servants can travel up to five miles from the corrupter’s location,and it can see and experience everything these thralls observe.It takes a corrupter one day to work its tendrils into a tree and transform it into a servant.Ifa corrupter dies,its thralls immediately perish as well.

Network ofEyes (Su): Corrupters create an intricate network oftendrils and roots among themselves that allow them to remain in contact over great distances.These creatures communicate via telepathy,exchanging gossip and news ofthe events they have observed.There is no theoretical limit to this ability’s range,but most corrupters maintain links with their fellows within 25 miles oftheir current location.In total,the corrupters form a vast network that some sages believe extends across the entire continent.

Spells (Sp): Corrupters have a natural affinity for magic. Though they share little,ifanything,in attitude and behavior with greenbonds,they practice a similar type ofmagic. Corrupters prepare and cast spells as 9th-level greenbonds.

Corrupted Tree

These twisted mockeries ofwholesome plants look like trees bent and twisted into vaguely humanoid shapes.Ponderous and slow,they rely on brute strength to pummel opponents into submission.They usually drag defeated enemies to their arboreal corrupter master so the master can feast on the flesh and bones.

Corrupted trees live solitary existences in any forest environment.They have standard treasure and advance as follows:8–16 HD (Huge);17–21 HD (Gargantuan).

Corrupted tree: CR 5;Huge plant;HD 7d8+28;hp 59;

Dying/Dead –5/–18;Init –3;Speed 20 feet;AC 18 (–2 size,–3 Dexterity,+13 natural),touch 5,flat-footed 18;

Space/Reach 10 feet/15 feet (Face/Reach 10 feet by 10 feet/15 feet);BAB +5;Grapple +18;Attack Slam +8 melee (2d6+5);Full Attack 2 slams +8 melee (2d6+5);SQ Plant traits,vulnerability to fire;SV Fort +9,Ref–1,Will +7;

Str 21,Dex 4,Con 18,Int 12,Wis 16,Cha 12

Skills and Feats: —

Vulnerability to Fire: A corrupted tree suffers halfagain as much (+50 percent) damage as normal from fire.

Arboreal Corrupter Encounter (EL 15)

An ambitious and corrupt noble near the party’s hometown claims to have uncovered a magic item that can animate trees,turning them into guardians for a nearby wilderness area.Within a few weeks,these newfound “soldiers” have driven several bandit gangs out ofthe area and delivered many notorious outlaws to justice.Actually,the noble is working with several arboreal corrupters in an attempt to destabilize the region.In reaction to the trees’ success in guarding the area,he pushes to cut funding to the town guard and uses his growing influence to have mercenary warriors dismissed from the army.

Blinded by his own ambition,the noble fails to consider that the corrupters might have their own plans.In fact,the corrupters intend to rally a horde ofbandits and monsters to conquer the area as soon as its defenses become weak enough.Already,several animated trees have been positioned in town to serve as lookouts.With their thralls in place,the corrupters can observe the town and refine their plans to attack and destroy it.