Begedhi, Seedling

This colorful plant with vibrant green leaves and sparkling blue berries seems very delicate.

Begedhi, Seedling CR 1/2

XP 200
NE Tiny plant
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +7

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 6 (1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0; Immune acid, plant traits

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft.
Melee tendril -2 (1d2-4)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks spores

STATISTICS

Str 2, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 6 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Perception +7
SQ unassuming

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Spores (Ex)

As a standard action, a begedhi seedling can release spores in a 10-foot-radius burst. Creatures failing a DC 12 Will save feel a compulsion to protect the seedling and any other begedhi in the area. This functions as per the suggestion spell, with no requirement for the seedling to speak its intent and has a duration of 1 hour. This is a mind-affecting, compulsion effect, and the save DC is Constitution-based.

Unassuming (Ex)

A begedhi seedling looks like an inoffensive plant. A creature must succeed at a DC 15 Knowledge (nature) check to realize the plant poses any threat.

ABOUT

Environment temperate
Organization solitary, bed (2-10), garden (11-30)
Treasure none

Transplanted by the Hegemony 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.