Mirewood Warden

Mirewood Warden

Medium Fey (Augmented Plant)
Hit Dice: 8d6+24 (52 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+5 Dex, +3 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+6
Attack: Vine lash +9 melee (1d6+2 plus entangle)
Full Attack: 2 vine lashes +9 melee (1d6+2 plus entangle)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./10 ft. (with vines)
Special Attacks: Entangling grasp, gaze of the sunken grove, call of the mire
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/cold iron, low-light vision, plant traits (partial), swamp stride, camouflage, regeneration 3 (suppressed by fire)
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +11, Will +9
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 17, Cha 18
Skills: Hide +16, Listen +14, Move Silently +15, Spot +14, Survival +14, Knowledge (nature) +12
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Alertness, Ability Focus (gaze of the sunken grove)
Environment: Warm marshes and bayous
Organization: Solitary or grove (2–4)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually neutral
Advancement: 9–12 HD (Medium), 13–16 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: —

DESCRIPTION

The Mirewood Warden appears at first glance to be a woman half-claimed by the swamp itself. Her flesh merges seamlessly with bark, moss, and fungal bloom - not as a corruption, but as a slow and deliberate becoming. Vines coil along her cheekbones and jaw like living veins, and her hair hangs in damp cords threaded with root and lichen.

One eye burns with a dim, golden bioluminescence - not bright enough to illuminate, but impossible to ignore. The other remains dull, as though drowned in shadow. Her skin glistens perpetually with moisture, as if the swamp refuses to release her from its grasp even for a moment.

When still, she is nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding cypress and rot. Only the faint rise and fall of breath - or the slow turning of that glowing eye - betrays her presence.

COMBAT

Mirewood Wardens do not rush into violence. They wait. They watch. They let the swamp soften their prey first.

They prefer to strike from concealment, using terrain and mist to isolate intruders. Combat often begins only when escape is no longer possible.

Entangling Grasp (Ex): A creature struck by a vine lash must succeed on a DC 17 Reflex save or become entangled as roots and creeping vines erupt from the Warden’s limbs and the surrounding ground. The target may attempt a Strength check (DC 17) or Escape Artist check (DC 15) as a move action to break free.

Gaze of the Sunken Grove (Su): 30 ft., Will DC 17 negates. The Warden fixes its glowing eye upon a target, forcing visions of drowning, suffocation, and slow burial beneath roots. On a failed save, the creature is shaken for 1d4 rounds and takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls and skill checks. If already shaken, the target becomes frightened instead. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Call of the Mire (Su): Once per day, as a full-round action, the Warden may animate the swamp in a 20-ft. radius. The area becomes difficult terrain, and all enemies within must succeed on a DC 17 Reflex save or fall prone as the ground softens and shifts unnaturally. The effect lasts 5 rounds.

SPECIAL QUALITIES

Swamp Stride (Ex): A Mirewood Warden may move through natural marsh, mud, and shallow water without penalty and leaves no trail.

Camouflage (Ex): In swamp or forest terrain, a Warden gains a +10 bonus on Hide checks. If it remains motionless, creatures must succeed on a Spot check opposed by Hide to notice it at all.

Regeneration (Ex): Fire and acid deal normal damage to a Mirewood Warden. All other damage is converted to nonlethal damage.

Plant Affinity (Ex): Though a fey, the Warden counts as a plant for effects that specifically target plant creatures, though it is not immune to mind-affecting effects.

LORE

There are those in the bayou who insist the Mirewood Wardens were once human - women who wandered too far into the drowned places and were claimed not by death, but by something patient. Others claim they are older than humanity entirely, the swamp’s attempt at making something that can watch.

What is certain is this: they do not guard the swamp in any simple sense. They tend it. They prune it. They remove what does not belong - whether that be invasive beasts, careless travelers, or entire encampments that linger too long.

The golden eye is a thing of particular superstition. Some say it is a gift - a fragment of sunlight trapped and preserved in a place where the sky rarely reaches. Others say it is bait, meant to draw the lost and the curious just a few steps deeper into the mire, where footing fails and voices carry strangely.

Encounters with Mirewood Wardens are rarely witnessed twice by the same person. Those who survive often speak of a feeling more than a memory - of being watched long before they ever saw her, and of the swamp itself seeming… disappointed… when they escaped.