Fantasy Monster: Festival Specter

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Festival Specter

A cloud of washed red and dried green, resembling a tattered robes floating on the invisible winds, with a skull for a face, which, despite having no flesh left, seems to be frozen in an eternal frown.

CR 12; XP 19,200
LE Medium Undead (incorporeal)

Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., doomsight; Perception +25

Defense
AC 27, touch 27, flat-footed 20 (+7 deflection, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 insight)
hp 161 (14d8+98)
Fort +11; Ref +13; Will +15

Defensive Abilities incorporeal

Offense
Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect)

Melee 2 touches +17 touch (6d6 or drain joy)

Special Attacks drain joy

Statistics
Str –, Dex 24, Con —, Int 13, Wis 19, Cha 25
Base Atk +10; CMB +17; CMD 37

Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Iron Will

Skills Fly +32, Knowledge (religion) +18, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Stealth +24

Languages Common, Celestial, Infernal

Ecology
Environment urban or rural communities, ruins
Organization solitary
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Drain Joy (Su) A sapient living creature struck by festival specter's touch feels an enormous emptiness inside and has to choose between suffering 6d6 points of damage, or accept a curse that deprives them of ability to feel joy, pleasure, enthusiasm or content. The victim suffers –4 penalty to all skill rolls and to saving throws against fear, despair, or any effects that would make them render them resigned and inactive. When a creature whose joy was already drained is struck again by festival specter's touch, the specter places a compulsion on the victim to perform a single task related to festival preparations, associated rites, or punishing another person for not conforming to the festival specter's expectations, as if dominate person was used, for as long the named task takes (the victim doesn't get an initial saving throw but they can stop themselves from taking individual actions that are directly antithetical to their nature for 1 round with a successful Will saving throw against DC 21). Drain joy is a compulsion and curse effect. Creatures immune to either simply suffer 6d6 points of damage. The saving throw DC is Wisdom-based.

Doomsight (Su) A festival specter has an uncanny ability to predict misfortune, failure, catastrophes, malice, and violence, granting it constant benefits of foresight.

Festival specters are grim and gloomy vestiges of resent and malice focused on certain festivals, especially but not exclusively those related to winter solstices. They demand the most strict and obedient observance of ceremonies, without slightest deviations from their vaguely remembered lives, and yet, they detest any joy and release the associated festivities could bring to the participants.

The worst festival specters are those who are ancient enough to remember the times when the most important festivals involved sacrifice of sapient beings, either regularly or for exceptionally bad years – and for those mad spirits all years are exceptionally bad.

Thankfully, most of them linger dormant for most of the year, and may even occasionally be tricked into believing the festivities are obsessed with hasn't come yet. It isn't easy task, and may backfire spectacularly if they come to conclusion they missed one or more years of festivities, pushing them into frenzied attempts to compensate...