Mireborn Kin (The Bayou-Blooded)

Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Human, Augmented)
Hit Dice: 3d8+3 (16 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 12 (+1 Dex, +1 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+2
Attack: Rusted blade or crude tool +2 melee (1d6 plus venomtail poison) or claw +2 melee (1d4 plus venomtail poison)
Full Attack: 2 claws +2 melee (1d4 plus venomtail poison) or weapon +2 melee (1d6 plus venomtail poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Mire whisper, swamp-born resilience, venomtail poison, harvest instinct
Special Qualities: Hive murmur, bayou adaptation, disease tolerance, light sensitivity
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 9
Skills: Hide +6, Listen +5, Move Silently +6, Survival +5, Swim +6
Feats: Stealthy, Alertness
Environment: Warm marshes and deep bayous
Organization: Cluster (3–8), brood (9–20), or congregation (21–60)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: Standard (mostly crude, waterlogged items)
Alignment: Usually Neutral Evil
Advancement: By character class (favored class: Sorcerer)
Level Adjustment: —

SPECIAL ATTACKS

Mire Whisper (Su): As a free action, a Mireborn Kin emits a low, wet murmur audible within 30 ft. All Mireborn Kin within range gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and Will saves. This bonus increases to +2 if at least 5 are present and +3 if 10 or more are present.

Swamp-Born Resilience (Ex): While within swamp, marsh, or standing water terrain, a Mireborn Kin gains fast healing 2. This benefit ends immediately upon leaving such terrain.

Venomtail Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 18; initial damage 1d4 Str and 1d4 Dex; secondary damage 1d6 Str. A Mireborn Kin’s claws and wielded melee weapons are considered envenomed. The poison remains effective for 1 minute after application. Mireborn Kin never risk accidental self-poisoning when applying this toxin.

Harvest Instinct (Ex): Mireborn do not kill incapacitated creatures unless threatened. Any creature reduced to 0 Strength, paralyzed, or otherwise rendered helpless is instead considered suitable for capture. A Mireborn will immediately attempt to grapple such a target (no attack of opportunity if the target is helpless) and drag it toward the nearest brood site. Mireborn prioritize the retrieval of living captives over finishing conscious enemies if a viable subject has been secured.

SPECIAL QUALITIES

Hive Murmur (Su):
Mireborn Kin share a low-grade communal awareness. They cannot be flanked while at least one other Mireborn Kin is within 10 feet. Additionally, they gain a +2 bonus on Listen and Spot checks when within 30 feet of another Mireborn.

Bayou Adaptation (Ex):
Mireborn Kin suffer no penalties for moving through difficult terrain caused by mud, shallow water, or vegetation. They may always take 10 on Swim checks, even when threatened.

Disease Tolerance (Ex):
Mireborn Kin gain a +4 racial bonus on saves against disease and poison. However, they often visibly carry such afflictions.

Light Sensitivity (Ex):
Mireborn Kin are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.

DESCRIPTION

At a distance, they resemble people - thin, stooped, and watchful. Up close, that illusion rots away.

Their skin bears a sickly olive cast, stretched too tight in some places and sagging in others, as though the body beneath has forgotten its proper shape. Their hair hangs in long, damp strands resembling Spanish moss, often clotted together with filth and stagnant water. Their eyes are wrong - not in movement, but in stillness, as though they receive the world rather than look at it.

Boils, lesions, and slow-weeping sores mark nearly every inch of exposed flesh. The smell that follows them is brackish and faintly sweet, like something long steeped in still water.

They rarely speak as individuals. Instead, they murmur - overlapping whispers that only form meaning when heard together.

It is said the Mireborn seek out striped venomtails with patient, deliberate intent, luring them into shallow, choking waters where nets of woven reed and bone await. They do not kill the creature quickly. They wound it. They bleed it. They take from it what they need.

The venom is collected in crude vessels - hollowed gourds, skulls, or thick glass when such things can be stolen - and worked into their weapons with unsettling care. Spears, hooks, and jagged blades are coated in the toxin, not for swift death, but for the slow undoing of those struck.

Those who have survived such wounds speak of a familiar sensation - not pain, but surrender. Muscles loosening. Strength fading. The body forgetting how to resist.

LORE

The Mireborn Kin descend from human families who vanished into the deep bayou generations ago. Isolation turned inward. Bloodlines folded back upon themselves. Names repeated until they lost meaning.

Yet it was not inbreeding alone that shaped them. The bayou itself - thick with stagnant magic and things that never fully surface - seeped into them. Not as a curse, nor a blessing, but as inheritance.

They do not worship the bayou. They belong to it.

Cannibalism is central to their existence. The dead are not buried. They are given. Flesh is shared, offered, and returned to the brood. In this way, nothing is lost - only redistributed.

Travelers who vanish are sometimes seen again months later. Thinner. Quieter. Their eyes calmer.

And never alone.

MIREBORN ORACLE

Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Human, Augmented)
Hit Dice: 3d8+3 plus 4d4+4 (31 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 13 (+1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+4
Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d4 plus venomtail poison)
Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d4 plus venomtail poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Mire whisper, spells, venomtail poison, harvest instinct
Special Qualities: Hive murmur, bayou adaptation, disease tolerance, light sensitivity, swamp conduit
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +6
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 14
Skills: Hide +7, Listen +8, Move Silently +7, Survival +8, Spellcraft +6
Feats: Stealthy, Alertness, Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Environment: Warm marshes and deep bayous
Organization: Solitary or with brood (1 plus 6–20 Mireborn Kin)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually Neutral Evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: —

Spells Known (CL 4th):
0 - detect magic, ghost sound, touch of fatigue, resistance
1st - cause fear, obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement
2nd - blindness/deafness, fog cloud

Swamp Conduit (Su):
While standing in natural swamp water, the Mireborn Oracle casts spells at +1 caster level and increases spell DCs by +1.

SPECIAL ATTACKS

Mire Whisper (Su): As Mireborn Kin.

Venomtail Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 18; initial damage 1d4 Str and 1d4 Dex; secondary damage 1d6 Str. The Oracle’s claws are typically envenomed prior to combat. As a swift action, the Mireborn Oracle may reapply poison to its claws up to 3 times per day. It never risks accidental self-poisoning.

Harvest Instinct (Ex): Mireborn do not kill incapacitated creatures unless threatened. Any creature reduced to 0 Strength, paralyzed, or otherwise rendered helpless is instead considered suitable for capture. A Mireborn will immediately attempt to grapple such a target (no attack of opportunity if the target is helpless) and drag it toward the nearest brood site. Mireborn prioritize the retrieval of living captives over finishing conscious enemies if a viable subject has been secured.

ORACLE LORE

Among the Mireborn, a rare few females become something closer to a voice. Only female Mireborn become Oracles.

Their magic is not learned. It seeps through them. They stand half-submerged for hours, whispering into water that does not ripple. When they move, others follow - not out of loyalty, but because the current has shifted.

MIREBORN BROOD MOTHER

Size/Type: Large Humanoid (Human, Augmented)
Hit Dice: 8d8+24 (60 hp)
Initiative: –1
Speed: 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (–1 size, –1 Dex, +8 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+12
Attack: Slam +12 melee (1d8+6 plus disease)
Full Attack: 2 slams +12 melee (1d8+6 plus disease) and bite +7 melee (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Brood call, devouring embrace, mire curse
Special Qualities: Greater hive murmur, swamp regeneration, disease host, bayou anchor, light sensitivity, living feast
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +1, Will +6
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 14
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10, Survival +9, Intimidate +9
Feats: Toughness, Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Intimidate)
Environment: Warm marshes and deep bayous
Organization: Solitary (with 20–60 Mireborn Kin)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard (often sunken or embedded in lair)
Alignment: Usually Neutral Evil
Advancement: 9–14 HD (Large), 15–20 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

SPECIAL ATTACKS

Brood Call (Su):
As a standard action, the Brood Mother emits a deep, layered crooning out to 300 feet. Mireborn Kin gain maximum Mire Whisper (+3 morale bonus) and may take an immediate 5-foot step. Non-Mireborn creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be shaken for 1d4 rounds.

Devouring Embrace (Ex):
On a successful grapple against a Medium or smaller creature, the Brood Mother may deal 2d6+6 damage as a full-round action. If this reduces the target to 0 hp or lower, she heals 15 hit points. Mireborn within 30 feet gain a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls for 3 rounds.

Mire Curse (Su):
Creatures damaged by the Brood Mother’s bite must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or contract Mire Rot.

SPECIAL QUALITIES

Greater Hive Murmur (Su):
Mireborn within 60 feet gain maximum Mire Whisper, cannot be flanked, and gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws.

Swamp Regeneration (Ex):
While partially submerged in swamp or mud, the Brood Mother gains regeneration 5 (fire and acid deal normal damage).

Disease Host (Ex):
Immune to disease. Creatures striking her with natural weapons or unarmed attacks must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or contract Mire Rot.

Bayou Anchor (Su):
Within 1 mile of her lair, non-Mireborn creatures take a –2 penalty on Survival, Listen, and Spot checks and suffer –10 ft. movement speed.

Light Sensitivity (Ex):
Dazzled in bright sunlight or daylight effects.

Living Feast (Ex):
The Broodmother can only benefit fully from consuming living creatures. Any creature delivered alive (even if unconscious or helpless) provides nourishment or triggers any of the Broodmother’s feeding-based abilities. Dead creatures provide no such benefit.

DISEASE: MIRE ROT

Injury; Fortitude DC 17; Incubation 1d3 days; Damage 1d4 Con and 1d4 Cha

Skin softens and weeps brackish fluid. Thoughts blur, accompanied by distant whispering. A creature reduced to 0 Charisma does not die, but instead wanders into the swamp seeking the Brood Mother.

BROOD MOTHER DESCRIPTION

The Brood Mother is not simply a creature, but a place where many have ended and something else has begun.

Her massive form sags and swells unevenly, as though shaped by slow pressure rather than growth. Her hair drapes like wet moss into the water around her, and small creatures often live within it undisturbed.

Her face still echoes humanity, but softened, widened, and stilled. Her eyes are calm. Always calm.

The water around her is never still.

BROOD MOTHER LORE

The Mireborn do not reproduce as other humans do.

They bring her flesh.

What began as survival became ritual, and what became ritual became identity. The weak are given. The dead are given. Strangers most of all are given. Cannibalism is not desperation - it is communion.

Those consumed are not lost entirely. Their voices join the murmur. Their memories dissolve into the whole.

When Mire Rot takes hold, the afflicted feel the pull of the swamp. Those who reach her are not turned away.

They are welcomed.

And in time, the brood grows.

Kelwyn’s Notes

Ah… yes. The Mireborn. One does not so much study them as endure their presence long enough to form an opinion - and even that, I confess, feels like an intrusion upon something that was never meant to be observed.

At first glance, they may be mistaken for the unfortunate descendants of isolation and poor fortune - a pitiable lineage shaped by environment and circumstance. This is a comforting lie. The truth is rather more unsettling: they are not merely people who have adapted to the bayou, but something that has been accepted by it. Their condition is not degeneration alone, but incorporation. The swamp has not rejected them. It has, in its own quiet and patient way, made use of them.

Individually, they are not remarkable threats. Frail of frame, dulled of wit, and lacking the ferocity one might expect from creatures of such appearance, a single Mireborn may be dispatched with relative ease by any reasonably prepared traveler. Even in small clusters, they rely more upon proximity and shared awareness than any singular prowess. One could, if properly equipped and possessed of a steady nerve, carve a path through them.

One should not.

For the danger of the Mireborn does not lie in the strength of the individual, but in the inevitability of the collective. They do not gather in the manner of men, with purpose or command - they accumulate. Quietly. Gradually. Inevitably. One becomes three. Three becomes ten. And before one fully appreciates the shift, the air itself seems occupied by their presence. It is not the sensation of being surrounded that troubles the mind most, but the realization that one has been within their number for some time without noticing. To top it off, their use of poison derived from the Venomtail is most... distasteful. To harvest such a substance from a living creature, to refine it, to apply it with intent - this suggests not desperation, but preference. There is a deliberateness to their actions that I cannot comfortably attribute to mere survival.

Most troubling of all are those rare figures in whom the Mireborn condition deepens into something more focused - the so-called Oracles. These beings do not lead, nor do they command, yet their presence alters the behavior of the others in ways that defy simple explanation. They listen - not to you, nor to one another, but to something beneath and between. I would strongly advise against interrupting such communion. One gets the distinct impression that doing so places one not at the center of their attention, but within the awareness of something far less divisible.

And then… there is the Brood Mother.

I shall be uncharacteristically direct: do not approach such a thing. Do not observe it. Do not test it. Should you become aware that you are within the domain of a Brood Mother, your only sensible course of action is immediate and decisive withdrawal. Only those possessed of immense magics - or a frankly suicidal ideology - would consider standing against such a being, and I cannot in good conscience recommend either path.

It is not merely her physical enormity, though that alone would be sufficient cause for concern. It is the effect she exerts upon the Mireborn as a whole - the manner in which their already tenuous individuality collapses entirely in her presence. Near her, they do not behave as a group. They behave as a single, distributed organism. One does not fight such a thing in any meaningful sense. One is… processed by it.

I have spent a great many years cataloguing the peculiar, the dangerous, and the outright profane. Very little has ever compelled me toward outright avoidance.

The Mireborn have.

Should you hear them before you see them - and you will, if you are unfortunate enough - I suggest you treat that as the only warning you are likely to receive.