Fantasy Monster: Scouring Mist

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Scouring Mist

A shimmering, bluish mist, blurring and eroding some of the things it touches while leaving others pristine.

CR 9; XP 6,400
N Fine Construct (swarm)

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +27

Defense
AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +8 size)
hp 115 (21d10)
Fort +9; Ref +11; Will +9

Defensive Abilities swarm traits; Immune construct traits, weapon damage

Offense
Speed fly 20 ft. (perfect)

Melee swarm attack (10d6 plus disassemble)

Special Attacks devour, distraction (DC 20)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Statistics
Str 1, Dex 14, Con —, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +21; CMB —; CMD —

Feats Great Fortitude, Hover, Improved Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Run, Skill Focus (Craft [sculpture]), Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Craft (sculpture) +27, Fly +18, Perception +27, Stealth +18

Ecology
Environment ruins, urban, underground
Organization solitary, pair, or gallery (3–10)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Disassemble (Su) Any physical creature or object reduced to 0 hit points by scouring mist swarm attack is torn apart and destroyed, leaving only a fine powder, as per disintegrate. The scouring mist memorizes the shape and structure of disassembled beings. A scouring mist can selectively destroy parts of larger immobile objects leaving tangle of delicate threads and wires forming intricate sculptures of objects and creatures previously disassembled by that particular mist.

Scouring mists look like clouds of polish dust, and they behavior would not be out of place in a sculptor's workshop, either, as they scour exposed stone and other substances into sublime, if disturbing sculptures.

Their origins are not well known—though they seem to be most prevalent in ancient ruins, abandoned quarries, and deep caverns, suggesting they might be the creation of a long gone civilization. Other suppositions propose they are remnants of a forgotten sculptor-deity, magical tools that eons of erosion turned into dust, or leftovers from early stone-golem creating processes.

Whatever their source might be, scouring mists seem to act with intelligence, and deliberation, though they do not communicate in a recognizable manner. They don't seem to recognize other beings as sapient or intelligent—it is not uncommon for them to turn people and animals into dust, only to create their semblance somewhere along their way. They don't seem to be able to gain new patterns for their sculptures any other way, which is a shame and the reason to be wary of them.