Couatl, Mix

Dark scales marked with shining spots resembling stars cover this winged serpent. Faint red stripes span the length of its body.

Mix Couatl CR 8

XP 4,800
CG Large outsider (native)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect chaos/evil/good/law, see in darkness; Perception +20

DEFENSE

AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+4 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 95 (10d10+40)
Fort +7, Ref +11, Will +12

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee bite +14 (1d8+6 plus grab and poison)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (15-ft. cone, 8d6 fire, Reflex DC 19 half, usable every 1d6 rounds), constrict (1d8+6), poison
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +13)

Constantdetect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law
At willdetect thoughts (DC 15), invisibility, plane shift (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only
1/daymodify memory (DC 17)

Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +10)

4thflame strike (DC 18), summon nature’s ally IV
3rdcure moderate wounds, protection from energy, speak with plants
2ndbear’s endurance, flaming sphere (DC 15), lesser restoration, resist energy
1stendure elements, faerie fire (DC 14), pass without trace, produce flame, speak with animals
0 (at will)flare (DC 13), guidance, stabilize, virtue

STATISTICS

Str 18, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 16
Base Atk +10; CMB +15 (+19 grapple); CMD 29 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Alertness, Eschew MaterialsB, Hover, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Diplomacy +16, Fly +19, Knowledge (geography) +15, Knowledge (nature) +15, Perception +20, Sense Motive +20, Stealth +0 (+20 in the night sky)
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic; telepathy 100 ft.

SQ gift of knowledge, star child

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Gift of Knowledge (Ex)

When a mix couatl uses its modify memory ability, it can implant a memory of up to 1 hour in length. In addition to its normal modifications, it can use modify memory to grant the knowledge of a particular skill to a creature. When using the ability in this way, the mix couatl chooses one of the following skills: Craft (any), Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (engineering), Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), Profession (any), Ride, Spellcraft, Survival, or Use Magic Device. The target of the spell automatically gains a number of ranks in that skill equal to its Hit Dice (maximum 5 ranks) and treats that skill as a class skill. The target creature retains the skill ranks for up to 1 month, after which the creature loses the skill ranks but still treats the chosen skill as a class skill. A creature can receive the gift of skills in this way only once; it can never receive this gift again, even from a different mix couatl.

Poison (Ex)

Injury—bite; save Fortitude DC 19; frequency 1/ minute for 10 minutes; effect 1d3 Wis damage; cure 1 save.

The DC is Constitution-based.

Spellcasting

A mix couatl casts spells as a 7th-level druid. Druid spells are considered arcane spells for a mix couatl, meaning that it doesn’t need a divine focus to cast them.

Star Child (Ex)

A mix couatl gains power from the night sky, granting it a +20 bonus on Stealth checks to hide against the darkness of the sky. In addition, its fly speed increases to 80 feet (perfect) at night.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or flight (3–4)
Treasure standard

Mix (pronounced “meesh”) couatls are a variety of couatl known for their ability to grant guidance and knowledge to fledgling societies. They seek out less established tribes and villages and offer their knowledge to help such settlements flourish. A mix couatl can offer a variety of knowledge depending on the nature of the settlement and its people. To some, they offer knowledge of new farming and hunting techniques, while others are taught more esoteric knowledge, like the arcane arts. While nurturing a settlement, a mix couatl typically acts as its protector, keeping at bay any foes that would disrupt the growth of the people. A typical mix couatl is 12 feet long with a wingspan of 15 feet and weighs 1,500 pounds.

Mix couatls are among the most common couatls known across Golarion, alongside their auwaz couatl cousins (see page 82). The scales of a mix couatl are dotted with small white and light gray spots that resemble the stars in the sky and red stripes that resemble the final rays of a setting sun. Their feathers range in color from dark blues to deep violets to blacks darker than the night. This coloring resembles the colors of the twilight and helps a mix couatl hide among the stars at night. The flapping of their wings as they fly through the skies is said to resemble the sounds of distant thunder. Many who know of mix couatls or recognize this sound claim that the noise is very calming, as it is both a reminder of relaxing summer rains and of the couatls’ protection.

Each mix couatl is gifted with the knowledge of the rest of its brothers and sisters, though it does not have access to this knowledge on an individual basis. Instead, a mix couatl can call upon bits of knowledge to share with others, much as one might pluck a star from the night sky. The mix couatl can bless an individual with this knowledge, even though the couatl itself may not know the full details of the gift it grants. This shared knowledge allows mix couatls to work together and aid each other even if they never meet face to face, a lesson that they also teach to others. Individual mix couatls may have different skills from those listed above, depending on their own experience and expertise.

Mix couatls are among the couatls with the longest life spans. Though they don’t live as long as xiuh couatls, their legacy can live on for centuries thanks to the knowledge they share with others. When a mix couatl reaches the final years of its life, it lays a small clutch of eggs, which typically hatch up to half a dozen couatls.

Although they are more than capable hunters on their own, many mix couatls have grown accustomed to receiving gifts of fruit, vegetables, and livestock from the first harvests of a settlement. As such, many stories state that earning a mix couatl’s favor requires a single sweet fruit.

Habitat and Society

Mix couatls find their own kind somewhat abrasive. Every mix couatl has its own belief as to what a settlement requires, and many mix couatls find themselves disagreeing with their kin on such matters. They each mark the settlements they are aiding by marking them with starlike beacons, and keep away from each others’ territory to avoid bickering.

When assisting a settlement, a mix couatl tends to share knowledge about the natural world to assist with farming and hunting methods. Thanks to this knowledge, many see mix couatls as demigods of the hunt.

Some claim that mix couatls were created to help guide humanity by providing knowledge of fire and magic. With this knowledge, the first humans were able to learn how to make war, so some humans also consider mix couatls to be demigods of war—a reputation mix couatls have worked hard to escape in the millennia since.

Although they are altruistic as a whole, mix couatls are known for having fun with their duties, often sharing less relevant or risky knowledge to shake up the growth of a settlement.

Many tales tell of mix couatls teaching small children about magic or places that then cause trouble for a settlement. In the end, most settlements find that these challenges teach great lessons and use this valuable knowledge to improve their settlements in unexpected ways.

Mix couatls commonly return to the sites of settlements they have helped nurture over the span of multiple generations—each new generation hears tales of beautiful flying serpents made of stars and considers it a great blessing to see this creature once more. Only on rare occasions does a mix couatl abandon a settlement.

This usually happens when the mix couatl recognizes that its attempts to improve the settlement may actually be harmful, whether due to a potential loss of important traditions or when the possibility of growth could expose the settlement to great dangers from the outside world.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Adventure Path #140: Eulogy for Roslar’s Coffer © 2019, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Jason Keeley, with Eleanor Ferron, Sarah E. Hood, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Crystal Malarsky, Jen McTeague, and Mikhail Rekun.

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