Begedhi, Mother Plant

Giant tumorous seeds comprise the majority of this plant, which sits atop a nest of writhing, thorny tentacles.

Begedhi, Mother Plant CR 10/MR 4

XP 9,600
NE Large plant (mythic)
Init +4; Senses all-around vision, low-light vision; Perception +24

DEFENSE

AC 25, touch 9, flat-footed 25 (+16 natural, -1 size)
hp 146 (12d8+92); regeneration 5 (mythic fire)
Fort +13, Ref +4, Will +7
DR 10/epic; Immune acid, electricity, plant traits; SR 23

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee 2 tentacles +18 (3d4+8/x3/19-20 plus grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with tentacle)
Special Attacks entangling vines, implant parasite, mythic power (4/day, +1d8), pull (tentacle, 5 feet), spores, strangle

STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 10, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 19
Base Atk +9; CMB +18 (+22 grapple); CMD 28 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved CriticalMF (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon FocusMF (tentacle)
Skills Climb +16, Perception +24, Stealth +17; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth
Languages Common (can’t speak); telepathy 500 ft. (only with parasites and seedlings it produces)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

All-Around Vision (Su)

A begedhi mother plant benefits from all-around vision when it has at least two living seedlings or parasites within sight.

Entangling Vines (Su)

A riot of vines grows around a begedhi mother plant, creating an effect similar to entangle in a 10-foot radius around the plant. The mother plant is unaffected by this manifestation.

Implant Parasite (Ex)

As a swift action, a begedhi mother plant can force a begedhi parasite down an adjacent creature’s throat, if the creature is currently helpless or grappled by the plant.

Regeneration (Ex)

A begedhi mother plant’s regeneration can only be overcome by mythic sources of fire damage.

Spores (Ex)

As a standard action, a begedhi mother plant can release spores in a 30-foot-radius burst. Creatures within the burst must succeed at a DC 20 Will save. If a creature fails, it must take a move action to approach the plant on its turn.

This is a mind-affecting, compulsion effect, and the save DC is Constitution-based. The plant forces any creature that fails this save to double move towards the plant on its turn, and the creature is stunned until the beginning of its next turn.

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate
Organization cult (1 mother plant plus 3-6 parasites or parasite-infested NPCs, 6-12 seedlings)
Treasure standard

Transplanted from a riotous jungle planet where all flora is inimical to fleshy life, begedhi have appeared on a variety of worlds. The Hegemony believed they could control the parasitic creatures and use them to infiltrate enemy forces, but the begedhi proved unpredictable and attacked anything within reach. Rather than destroy the plants, the Hegemony dumped them on worlds allied with their enemies with the expectation they would eventually arrive as saviors to exterminate the pests and convert such worlds to their side of the conflict.

Begedhi have two growth stages: a seedling and a mother plant.

Seedlings are deceptively delicate plants, evolved that way to evoke a sense of protectiveness in other creatures. Their spores enforce this desire, which serves them well when multiple creatures work to remove them. Seedlings rarely defend themselves to give the illusion of helplessness so those left unmolested may eventually mature into a mother plant and further propagate.

This process takes five years, during which seedlings feed on rotten organic material or small creatures they overcome. As the years pass, seedling tendrils lengthen and become tentacles, and their cheerfully colored berries transform into sickly green lumps which gestate with more parasites.

Once seedlings become mother plants, complete with fully grown parasites, their demeanor changes. The spore cloud they release covers a larger area and compels living creatures to move closer to them. The plants’ tentacles then sprout wicked thorns to ensnare prey more effectively and infect them with parasites. These victims then travel to other locations where they slowly rot, perish, and sprout more seedlings.

Begedhi parasites exist as extensions of their mother plant, but still act as autonomous creatures with a tremendous ability to absorb knowledge and memories from their hosts to mimic them.

Since it requires a week for parasites to fully overcome their hosts, mother plants maintain a larder of infected victims in a secluded place and release them when a week has elapsed to spread their progeny. Mother plants cannot regrow parasites, so they die once they have release all their ‘children.’ Parasites can maintain a symbiotic relationship with their hosts for up to five years, allowing them to spread throughout the stars without having to draw undue attention to themselves. The only telltale sign of a begedhi-infected host is a small mote of green in one of its eyes.

Begedhi seedlings are about 1 foot in diameter and grow as tall as 3 feet. Mother plants are 10 feet in diameter and grow to a height of 15 feet.