Enisysian

Three lidless eyes with vertical pupils stare out from a small umbrella-shaped creature. It moves about using squirming tentacles, each moving independently in a mesmerizing motion.

Enisysian CR 4

XP 1,200
LE Small aberration (aquatic, shapechanger)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +10
Aura mental disarmament (100 ft., DC 17), mucus cloud (5 ft., DC 14)

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 37 (5d8+15)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +7
Immune mind-affecting effects; SR 15

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft.
Melee 2 tentacles +4 (1d4 plus grab and slime)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks alghollthu’s bane, grab (Large)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +5)

At willdetect thoughts (DC 12), hypnotic pattern (DC 13)
3/dayunwilling shield (DC 17)

STATISTICS

Str 11, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +2 (+6 grapple); CMD 16 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Ability Focus (mental disarmament), Dodge, Toughness
Skills Bluff +4, Escape Artist +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5, Perception +10, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +14, Swim +13
Languages Aboleth, Aquan; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ change shape (Tiny or Small animal; greater polymorph), symbiotic bond

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Alghollthu’s Bane (Su)

As a standard action, an enisysian can make a touch attack against another alghollthu— creatures including aboleths, omnipaths, and veiled masters, among others. On a hit, the target’s immunity to mind-affecting effects is completely suppressed as long as it remains within 50 feet of the enisysian (no save).

Mental Disarmament (Su)

An enisysian emits a constant telepathic barrage that lowers the mental defenses of nearby creatures. Anyone within 100 feet of an enisysian must succeed at a DC 17 Will saving throw or take a –4 penalty on Will saving throws while in range.

A creature that succeeds at this saving throw is immune to the enisysian’s mental disarmament for 24 hours.

The enisysian and any creature bonded with it via its symbiotic bond are immune to this ability. An enisysian can suppress or reactivate this ability as a swift action.

Mental disarmament is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Wisdom-based.

Mucus Cloud (Ex)

An underwater enisysian exudes a cloud of clear slime extending 5 feet from itself in all directions. Any creature in this area must succeed at a DC 14 Fortitude saving throw each round or it loses its ability to breathe air (but gains the ability to breathe water) for 24 hours. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing another saving throw extends the effect for another 24 hours. An enisysian can suppress or reactivate this ability as a swift action. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Slime (Ex)

A creature hit by an enisysian’s tentacles must succeed at a DC 14 Fortitude saving throw or have its flesh and skin transform into a clear, slimy membrane over the course of 1d4 rounds. The creature’s new flesh is soft and tender, reducing its Constitution score by 4 as long as the condition persists. If the creature’s flesh isn’t kept moist, it dries quickly and the victim takes 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes.

Remove disease and similar effects can restore an afflicted creature to normal, but immunity to disease offers no protection from this attack. The save DC is Constitution?based.

Symbiotic Bond (Su)

An enisysian is able to form a symbiotic bond with another willing, living creature.

This amplifies the host creature’s mental abilities and boosts its ability to control others. To do this, the enisysian must successfully grapple the target, after which, instead of pinning or maintaining the grapple, it can burrow into the skin as a standard action that deals 10 points of damage; this damage cannot be healed until the enisysian detaches or dies. If the host is Large or larger, the enisysian (but not the host) is considered to have the grappled condition while thus attached.

If the host is Medium or smaller, both are considered to have the grappled condition while attached. Over the next 24 hours the enisysian and the host form a mental and mystical bond, after which the host gains the following bonuses: a +2 enhancement bonus to its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, and a +2 bonus to the caster level and DC of spells and spell-like abilities with the mind-affecting descriptor.

ECOLOGY

Environment any water
Organization solitary or with 1 veiled master
Treasure none

Of all the races of alghollthus, none are as poorly understood by the scholars of the surface world as the enisysians. Their very existence is only a rumor, kept a closely guarded secret by an elite group of veiled masters. These individuals coexist with enisysians in an asymmetrical physical and psychic symbiosis. In exchange for their protection, the much weaker enisysians grant their veiled master hosts not only increased mental capacity but also the ability to use their powers to influence other alghollthus.

This relationship is far from equal, however, as the enisysians have been bred to be subservient to their masters for thousands of years, directly in opposition to the second dictum of their people: an alghollthu is to control. It should therefore never be controlled.

A typical enisysian is about 3 feet in length and weighs approximately 40 pounds.

An enisysian appears as a small tentlike creature with gray skin and trailing tentacles that end in small hooks. Its upper body resembles that of a jellyfish, but with three large, lidless eyes with vertical black pupils arrayed in a line. On the underside of its body is a small double-hooked beak used for eating and attaching to its host. While on land, four of its tentacles act as legs while two of them are used for defense or to manipulate tools. In the water, the enisysian propels itself with its tentacles like a squid.

An enisysian is custom-bred to serve a single veiled master for its life. Like other alghollthus, an enisysian is basically immortal, able to repair almost any damage to its body over time or even enter a chrysalis state to wholly regenerate itself.

Designed and bred to be subservient, an enisysian allows itself to be attached to the underside of its veiled master host at a young age. Once the bond between the alghollthus forms, the enisysian disguises its shape to appear as a remora or any other species of suckerfish common in its biome, reverting to its true shape only when it dies. It remains attached throughout its life, drawing its nutrition from the veiled master’s blood and by filtering micronutrients from the water around it.

Habitat and Society

Until very recently, enisysians have had no cultural or even personal identity separate from that of the veiled masters they served. Genetically bred for dedication and obedience, they communicated telepathically only with their bonded veiled masters, not even acknowledging others of their kind. This has begun to change over the last several centuries, as natural genetic mutations have decreased the enisysians’ inbred subservience and enhanced their self-awareness. Individual enisysians have begun to secretly communicate with one another, slowly awakening others of their kind to their enslavement while reaching out to alghollthus beyond their masters’ control for support. Although the process of their emancipation has been very slow, knowledge of their existence has begun to spread among the other alghollthu races, and surface-dwelling scholars have even theorized about the existence of the enisysians in certain works.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Adventure Path #124: City in the Deep © 2017, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Amber E. Scott, with Alex Greenshields, Mikko Kallio, Mark Moreland, Tim Nightengale, and Kalervo Oikarinen.

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