Vescavor Queen
With a black carapace that has a sheen reminiscent of watery oil, this verminlike creature has membranous wings the shade of obsidian. Its sharp teeth drip with acid.
Vescavor Queen (CR 9)
Large Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar)Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Initiative: +3
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet; Perception +17
Aura: chaos (10 feet), gibber (15 feet, DC 20)
Speed: 20 feet, Fly 50 feet (good)
Space: 10 feet
Defense
Armor Class: 22, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +9 natural, -1 size)Hit Points: 114 (12d10+48) Fast Healing 2
Saving Throws: Fort +8, Ref +11, Will +10
Immunity: acid, poison
Energy Resistance: electricity 10, fire 10
Spell Resistance: 20
Offense
Melee: bite +15 (1d8+3 plus 3d6 acid), 2 claws +14 (1d6+3)Reach: 5 feet
Ranged: spit acid +14 ranged touch (5d6 acid)
Special Attacks: spit acid
Statistics
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 (+3) | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 11 (+0) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) |
CMB +16
CMD 30
Feats: Blind-Fight, Dodge, Fly-by Attack, Hover, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills: Acrobatics +12, Climb +12, Fly +20, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +10, Knowledge (planes) +10, Perception +17, Stealth +14, Survival +15
Languages: Abyssal
Special Qualities: Compression, swarm mother
Special Abilities
Chaos Aura (Su)
A vescavor queen is an embodiment of chaos. Its aura is a font of anarchic energy that grants fast healing 2 to the vescavor queen, as well as to any vescavor swarm within 10 feet of the queen. A vescavor queen can activate or suppress this ability as a free action.Gibber (Su)
Like their broods, vescavor queens yammer the endless chorus of the Abyss. Any creature within 15 feet of a vescavor queen must succeed at a DC 20 Will save or be confused for 1 round. A creature that successfully saves can't be affected by the same vescavor queen's gibbering for 24 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.Spit Acid (Ex)
As a standard action, a vescavor queen can spit acid at a foe within 30 feet. With a successful ranged touch attack, the target is hit with a glob of acid and takes 5d6 points of acid damage. In addition, the spit of a vescavor queen contains some of its pheromones. Any target that takes damage from this attack acts as a beacon for any vescavor swarms; the damaged creature takes a -8 penalty on Stealth checks against the vescavor queen and swarms it controls, and likely becomes the swarm's next target.Swarm Mother (Su)
A vescavor queen can mentally control up to 20 Hit Dice of vescavor swarms through a combination of supernatural pheromones and magical manipulation. To control a vescavor swarm, the vescavor queen must be able to see it and must be within 120 feet of it. Attempting to control a vescavor swarm is a standard action, and the swarm can attempt to resist this attempt with a DC 17 Will save. If the swarm fails this save, the vescavor queen can issue a simple mental command as a swift action, like "fight," "come here," "go there," or "stay still." Vescavor swarms affected by this ability act normally unless a vescavor queen is actively controlling them, but never attack the vescavor queen. The save DC is Charisma-based. In addition, a vescavor queen is immune to a vescavor swarm's swarm attacks and supernatural special abilities. A vescavor queen can release a vescavor swarm from its control as a free action. If a vescavor queen is killed, any vescavor swarms under its control disperse.Ecology
Environment: AnyOrganization: solitary or hive (1 vescavor queen and 2-20 vescavor swarms)
Treasure: none
Appearing as an amalgam of frightening vermin, a vescavor queen is a hideous sight to behold, with its insectile wings and bloated body being the most innocuous aspects. Not only is a queen's bite stronger than that of its spawn, the queen can also spit the acid in its mouth at opponents. Its arms don't end in hands, but in scything claws poised to rend through flesh and armor. A vescavor queen is roughly 10 feet from head to tail, and weighs nearly 500 pounds- more when carrying a brood.
**Ecology** Vescavor queens are creatures of the Abyss through and through; no lesser vescavor embodies the chaotic nature of the plane as thoroughly. Even after passing through the threshold between planes, a vescavor queen retains this infusion of pure chaos, exuding anarchic energies from within and using this attunement to invigorate itself and its kin. And just like its spawn, a vescavor queen trills a mind-muddling song of the Abyss-an incomprehensible and nonsensical mashing of notes and sounds that befuddles those who hear it.
Though queens by name, vescavors are genderless creatures that got their name simply for their ability to birth vescavor swarms. With no desires beyond the base instincts of devouring and destroying, vescavor queens start out as the last remaining members of their swarms, having eaten more than any others in the group-and having devoured other members of the swarm-in blind hunger. It is unknown what causes vescavors to grow within the queen, but some scholars believe that the way the creatures are born from the remnants of the vescavors and other materials is a biological representation of how the Abyss constantly consumes and recycles itself.
Aside from the obvious offensive benefits a vescavor queen's acid gland imparts to it, this gland is thought to be a way for the vescavor queen to break down more durable materials for consumption. Vescavor queens also develop abilities that allow them to control their brood swarms and ignore the swarms' constant gibbering and biting. Vescavor swarms are birthed from a leathery, cocoon-like egg sac that the young vescavors eat through in order to break into the world.
**Habitat & Society** Vescavors are native to the darkest corners of the deepest reaches of the Abyss. However, with the opening of the Worldwound, they are no longer relegated to the dark and twisted recesses of that realm. Even so, once through the rift between planes, many vescavors don't travel very far, instead setting up their hives in the Worldwound. To date, no vescavors have been reported more than 100 miles from the border of the Worldwound, though nothing stops their spread like the wardstones do the demons. It is their own complacency and desire for familiar surroundings that keep them in this region and prevent them from spreading far and wide.
A single queen presides over a region or nest, with all the swarms in the area falling into its brood, whether or not it actually birthed them. Becoming a vescavor queen relies not on ambition or work-such concepts are alien to vescavors' nature-but on instinct and chance. When a queen dies, vescavors notice the sudden lack of a source of chaos and then disperse. Some nearby swarms move in to feed on the remnants of the queen. The vescavor that consumes the most material from the queen's corpse takes over the mantle as queen, growing into its new size and developing its enhanced abilities within a week.
Whether queen for a day or a decade, the vescavor queen is never challenged by vescavor swarms. As long as there is something to eat (which for a vescavor swarm means anything but adamantine), vescavors are content engines of destruction. A vescavor queen's ability to heal other vescavors solidifies its unshakable rule.
Being creatures of the Abyss, vescavors can live in nearly any environment, though they often choose areas that are environmentally similar to their natural habitat if they find themselves on the Material Plane. As such, they often make their homes underground or in natural caves, where the darkness suits them. They might even burrow their own tunnels and caves underground if nothing natural suits their preferences. As with the chaos they embody, there is no rhyme or reason to the designs of their self-made lairs-they follow wherever their mouths lead them.
A vescavor queen holds off producing new swarms until it has a proper nest. The standard gestation period for a new swarm is roughly 3 weeks, at the end of which the queen lays an egg sac. Though vescavors don't strictly need to eat to survive, their ravenous desire to consume, as well as how readily available and abundant a food source is, can alter the gestation period. Scarce resources can delay hatching from 3 to 4 weeks, or vast quantities of food can hasten the birthing process to a single week between hatchings. Vescavor queens remaining in the Abyss spawn new vescavors at different and completely random intervals, independent of location or availability of edible material.
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