Raven Lady
There are certain types of powerful fey that are iconic in mythology and media. The ice queen of the winter court. The stag-headed huntmaster. And the dark and mysterious raven lady. Today’s Exotic Encounters brings the last of these to life as a monster all its own. Enjoy!
Raven Lady
This woman radiates a strange and dark beauty. Her skin is pale as snow and smooth as porcelain. Her lips are black as midnight, as is her hair, and her irises are a brilliant, deep shade of purple that seems to be illuminated from deep within her eyes.
RAVEN LADY CR 21
XP 409,600
CE Medium fey
Init +7; Senses low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +45
DEFENSE
AC 34, touch 26, flat-footed 26 (+4 armor, +8 deflection, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural)
hp 399 (38d6+266)
Fort +20, Ref +28, Will +27
Defensive Abilities otherworldly grace; DR 15/cold iron; Immune cold, death effects, disease, electricity, mind-affecting, poison; Resist acid 20, fire 20; SR 32
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee +5 vicious speed rapier + 32/+32/+27/+22/+17 (1d6+8/15–20 plus 2d6 vicious)
Special Attacks dark needle, death curse, swarm form
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th, concentration +28)
Constant—mage armor, speak with animals, true seeing
At will—augury, beast shape IV, bestow curse, contagion
3/day—commune, deeper darkness
Spells Known (CL 20th, concentration +28)
9th (6/day)—energy drain (DC 29), weird (DC 29), winds of vengeanceAPG
8th (7/day)— death clutchHA (DC 28), finger of death (DC 28), supreme curse terrainHA
7th (7/day)—control weather, project image, transmute metal to wood
6th (7/day)—antilife shell, mislead (DC 26), transport via plants
5th (7/day)—baleful polymorph (DC 23), call lightning storm (DC 23), scripted hallucinationUI (DC 25), wall of thorns
4th (8/day)—control water, dispel magic, freedom of movement, scrying
3rd (8/day)—cup of dustAPG (DC 23), displacement, dominate animal (DC 21), thorny entanglementACG (DC 21)
2nd (8/day)—barkskin, greater detect magicUI, gust of wind (DC 20), resist energy, summon swarm
1st (8/day)—charm person (DC 19), faerie fire, obscuring mist, shield, ventriloquism
0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound, light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, read magic
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 25, Con 22, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 27
Base Atk +19; CMB +22; CMD 48
Feats Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Greater Spell Focus (illusion), Greater Spell Focus (necromancy), Improved Critical (rapier), Iron Will, Mobility, Power Attack, Quicken Spell, Skill Focus (Bluff), Skill Focus (Disguise), Spell Focus (illusion), Spell Focus (necromancy), Toughness, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Skills Bluff +55, Disguise +55, Fly +52, Perception +45, Sense Motive +45, Sleight of Hand +48, Stealth +48
Languages Aklo, Common
ECOLOGY
Environment any forests
Organization solitary
Treasure double
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Dark Needle (Su): As a swift action, a raven lady can conjure a magic rapier made of shadowstuff. This functions as a +5 vicious speed rapier. If the rapier leaves the raven lady’s hands for any reason, it ceases to exist, but she can conjure another with another swift action.
Death Curse (Su): Whoever delivers the killing blow to a raven lady invokes her curse, leaving the killer marked for death. The cursed creature must succeed on a DC 37 Will save or suffer the effects of the curse, which imposes a –8 penalty on saving throws made to resist death effects. Additionally, the target ceases healing hit points and ability score damage naturally, and any magical healing has no effect on him unless the caster succeeds on a DC 35 caster level check. Only a wish or miracle spell can remove this curse. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based.
Otherworldly Grace (Su): A raven lady gains a deflection bonus to AC equal to her Charisma modifier.
Spells: A raven lady casts spells as a 20th-level sorcerer, and can cast spells from the druid list as well as those normally available to a sorcerer. Druid spells are considered arcane spells for a raven lady, meaning that she does not need a divine focus to cast them.
Swarm Form (Su): As a standard action, a raven lady can transform herself into an entire flock of ravens. While in this form, she gains the swarm subtype, her space changes to 10 feet, and her reach changes to 0. In this form, she cannot cast spells or use her spell-like abilities, but she gains a swarm attack that deals 10d6 points of damage. Additionally, each creature damaged in this way must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw (DC 32) or be permanently blinded as the ravens claw out his eyes. She can revert back to her normal form as a move action. The saving throw DC is Strength-based.
Ecology
Raven ladies (referred to as raven lords, when male) are powerful fey nobles who, for one reason or another, were dispossessed of their court status and their titles. This could be the result of another fey usurping their title and status, or the title may have been stripped from them by a higher power, or other circumstances may have conspired to render their court or title obsolete (this most commonly happens when faerie courts tied to a specific location, such as a forest or a dale, have their homes irrevocably altered by human development, transformed into cities or stripped of their natural resources).
When a fey becomes a raven lady, she is considered to be dead by all those who previously knew her, and is mourned as though she had died. Any fey that knew her or associated with her in her previous life will go to great lengths to avoid her, and, in fact, most fey will spurn the company of raven ladies, although some fey with particularly dark appetites will overlook this taboo in order to take part in the death and misery that raven ladies almost always surround themselves with.
It’s unclear whether becoming a raven lady in some way makes a fey more malicious, or whether it is simply the fact that all raven ladies are dispossessed and bitter by circumstance, but whatever the case, their penchant for cruelty is legendary.