Fantasy NPC: Princess Of Fangs And Fur

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Princess Of Fangs And Fur

An enormous black she-wolf or a savage-looking woman, is she the one or the other? Both? Either way, her eyes reflect the current phase of the moon.

CR 10; 9,600 XP

N Large Magical Beast

Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +18

Defense
AC 24, touch 14, flat-footed 19 (+5 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size)

hp 126 (12d10+60); regeneration 5 (special)
Fort +13, Ref +13, Will +9

Defensive Abilities all-around vision; DR 10/specially blessed silver; Immune polymorphy

Offense
Speed 60 ft.

Melee 3 bites +18 (2d6+7)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks three-faced beast

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +14)

Constant—speak with animals

1/day—commune with birds

Statistics
Str 24, Dex 20, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 15

Base Atk +12; CMB +20; CMD 35 (39 vs trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Nimble Moves

Skills Acrobatics +20, Diplomacy +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Knowledge (nobility) +5, Perception +18, Stealth +16

Language Sylvan, barely remembered smattering of Common, Duc, and Elven

SQ change shape (alter self; a savage and neglected version of her original self)

Regeneration (Ex) Princess Of Fangs And Fur is both blessed and cursed by her transformation. Her damage reduction can be pierced and her regeneration suppressed only with a silver weapon that was jointly blessed by priesthood of sun and moon divinities, a rather unlikely thing in the nearby lands, because of the history of feuds and conflicts between various solar and lunar cults.

Three-Faced Beast (Su) When engaged in combat, Princess Of Fangs And Fur seems to have two more blurry, spectral heads on both sides of her real one, allowing her to make multiple bite attacks and avoid attacks from behind. Her bites count as magic, cold iron, and silver, and deal full damage to incorporeal beings.

When her father was trying to mediate the feud between sun-revering druids and witch-cult of a moon goddess, the young maiden that much later became Princess Of Fangs And Fur though that she might help him by following her grandmother steps and reaching out to the witches. She listened to them and learned of their wisdom, and started to see how the druids pushed to get more and more to say in the lives of common people, and try to become sole spiritual and mystical authority of the land.

Over the time, she and her father drifted apart as he sided with the druids more and more, slowly succumbing to their yet poisoned words, flatteries, and fear-mongering against the moon cult. As their power in the realm was cemented, the meddling advisors decided to silence the remaining voice of opposition at the palace, and told her father to marry her off as they deemed her to be of suitable age. She argued against their request and angrily left the court.

She turned to her sisters and aunts in the cult—they were already growing desperate as the druids grew proud and arrogant already seeing themselves as the true power of the realm, and now they asked her to be the tool that will turn the tide of history and free the king and the kingdom. They invoked the power of their goddess and bound it into a spell of great potency. They asked the princess to return to her father and speak with him, and if he would not listen to the reason, to spill a bit of his blood on the amulet they gave her releasing the blessing of the goddess that would break the hold the druids had over the king, and as the king is one with his lands, the kingdom itself.

The princess rushed toward the capital, her hopes renewed, but she was too late. Somehow the druids learned of the witches plan and invoked their own magic to prevent the blessing of the goddess. By the time she arrived at the palace, the people were already transforming into trees, and other were running for their lives. By the time she approached her father, he was there, growing all over his old throne, green and brown, and covered in bark. To her horror, horror and relief, the bodies of high druids were strewn around, bludgeoned to death.

The sorrow overcame her, for she knew that is too late as her father-turned-tree had no blood to spill on the amulet. She cried when she broke the amulet, cutting herself, and spilling her own blood.

She didn't remember what happened next, or for the following few years, but she knows that the peace returned, but not in the way anyone expected, or wanted, for the kingdom became overgrown by woods overnight. A few people remained—many of those who didn't turn into trees fled the lands. The druids and witches that survived the first few years scattered. The wilderness prevailed.

Now the princess lives most of her time as a massive she-wolf roaming the forest, hunting animals and scarring of looters and intruders. At other times, she yearns for contact, seeking anyone she could speak with. Most of the trees ignore her, others are actually hostile to her—maybe the supporters of druids who recognize her, or maybe they just grow territorial and hate everyone.