Fantasy Monster: Unbound Ba

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Unbound Ba

An owl-like shape with a face of a deceased person.

CR 2; XP 600
LN Tiny Undead (incorporeal)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8

Defense
AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+3 deflection, +2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 22 (3d8+9)
Fort +4; Ref +3; Will +5

Defensive Qualities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, sanctified dead; Immune undead traits

Weakness corpse-bound

Offense
Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect)

Melee spectral talons +6 incorporeal touch (2d4 nonlethal plus curse of ba)

Special Attacks curse of ba (DC 14)

Statistics
Str —, Dex 14, Con —, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 17
Base Atk +2; CMB +0; CMD 10

Feats Flyby Attack, Lunge

Skills Fly +20, Knowledge (local) +4, Knowledge (nobility) +4, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +8

Language Celestial, Common (whatever form it might have taken at the time of the death)

Ecology
Environment urban, ruins, tombs
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Corpse-Bound An unbound ba is inseparably linked to the body from which it spawned. if the body is destroyed, the ba slowly dissolves into nothingness over the next day. An unbound ba always knows the direction towards its tomb and its corpse. If an unbound ba is reduced to 0 hit points, it vanishes and reforms in its tomb in 1d4 days.

Curse Of Ba (Su) Spectral talons—injury; save Will DC 14; frequency 1 day; effect nightmares preventing natural healing of hit point and ability damage, and rendering the victim fatigued for the next day. The curse can be broken by making a proper offering of expensive food, liquor, perfumes, and clothing at the deceased's tomb, and making a successful Knowledge (religion) check against DC of 20 (or more if the local funerary rituals has significantly changed since the deceased's passing). If the dead has no tomb or it has been desecrated, a shrine to the deceased needs to be constructed, reflecting the deceased station in life. Casting remove curse might be cheaper if the deceased had royal blood. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based.

Sanctified Dead (Ex) An unbound ba is created by sacred rituals that invoke powers of life, death, and rebirth. It is empowered by consecrated areas in the same way as regular undead are affected by desecrate, and healed by positive energy used to heal (including all healing spells, and positive energy channeled to heal living things). While an unbound ba is generally evasive of desecrated ground, it affects it normally, and it is otherwise reacting to negative energy in usual way.

Certain mortuary practices involve intricate rituals and procedures, aimed at preserving the body and exalting the spirit of the deceased to ensure continued favorable existence in the afterlife. Occasionally, due to mistakes, distractions, or interruptions to the proceedings, or more rarely malicious interference or curses placed on the deceased, the whole process might go wrong leaving behind spiritual vestiges, ghosts, and other undead beings.

Unbound ba has the face of a deceased person from which it sprang, and shares the dead's dominant personality traits and significant memories, though the former tend to be exaggerated. While it retains alignment of the dead, it might be somehow confused about its state and nature, expecting to be recombined with its ka to form the immortal spiritual whole. Some are distraught by their plight and hostile toward anyone approaching their tomb, others seek revenge for perceived wrongs on the living or trying to help those they cared for.