Calpina

Pearlescent, membranous wings hold this small insectile woman aloft in the air. She peers through red multifaceted eyes, and her tough, sharp-edged tongue resembles a proboscis.

Calpina (CR 3)

Small Fey
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Initiative: +7
Senses: Low-Light Vision; Perception +9

Speed: 20 feet, Fly 40 feet (good)
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 16, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
Hit Points: 27 (5d6+10)
Saving Throws: Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +5
Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron

Offense

Melee: bite +6 (1d4 plus Grab)
Reach: 5 feet

Special Attacks: ego drain (1d4 Charisma), fragrant haze, Grab (Medium)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; Concentration +7):

• At Will- Dancing Lights
  
  
• 3/day- Command (DC 13), Hypnotism (DC 13), Sleep (DC 13)
  
  
• 1/day- Suggestion (DC 14)

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
10 (+0)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	11 (+0)	12 (+1)	15 (+2)

Base Attack Bonus: +2
CMB +4 (+10 Grapple)
CMD 14 (16 vs. Grapple)

Feats: Agile Maneuvers, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse

Skills: Bluff +10, Fly +17, Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +9, Perform (dance) +10, Stealth +15

Languages: Common, Sylvan

Special Abilities

Ego Drain (Su)

A calpina feeds on her target's ego at the end of its turn if she grapples a foe, dealing 1d4 points of Charisma damage. Once a calpina has dealt Charisma damage equal to her Constitution score, she is fully sated and cannot use this ability again for 24 hours.

Fragrant Haze (Su)

As a standard action, a calpina can release magical vapors that cause stupor and vertigo in creatures other than calpinas or their larvae. Each living creature within 20 feet must succeed at a DC 14 Will save or be exhausted for 1d4 rounds. A creature that succeeds at its save is immune to that calpina's fragrant haze for 24 hours. The DC is Charisma-based.

Ecology

Environment: Temperate Forests or Mountains
Organization: solitary, eclipse (3-6), colony (6-12 plus 8-24 calpina larvae)
Treasure: incidental


Calpinas are strange, primordial fey whose bodies possesses a combination of insectile and humanoid features. An exoskeleton the color of dull brass encases a calpina's boneless form, and four pink wings that resemble those of a dragonfly emerge from the center of her back. Each calpina has a group of sensitive feelers on her head, which she controls nearly as dexterously as a humanoid wiggles its fingers. She uses her feelers to detect slight alterations in the air currents as well as to latch on to her victims more tightly when feeding. Calpinas view their victims as little more than sources of nutrition. They are, however, intensely curious creatures and may sometimes, albeit rarely, interact with other creatures without harmful intentions. Calpinas are usually just over 3 feet tall, with a wingspan of 5 to 6 feet. Most weigh only 25 pounds.

Ecology

Calpinas originate in the First World, where they thrive in the vast, lush expanses of eldritch forests and impossible mountains. They share their First World habitat with clusters of giant flowers and sentient plant creatures, both of which they rely upon for sustenance. Thanks to their natural curiosity, quite a few calpinas cross to the Material Plane, following the beckoning lights, smells, and sounds that seep in through planar breaches. Most calpinas' lives are more difficult on the Material Plane than on the First World, where the abundant greenery and free-flowing magic makes finding suitable meals easy. With sentient plants being relatively rare on the Material Plane, calpinas that leave the First World adopt a new method of sating their unusual fey diets- feeding on the egos of non-plant creatures. A calpina's tongue is actually a tough, razor-edged proboscis-like appendage, well suited for piercing a victim's flesh. When a calpina begins feeding, she wraps her wings tightly around her target's body to prevent it from escaping. Her supernatural venom draws in a victim's ego, which combine to form a sticky-sweet \"psyche honey\" that she extracts through the same proboscis. The compound eyes of a calpina are usually a dull, dark red, but after feeding they glow brighter. A typical humanoid victim can provide sustenance to a single calpina for up to 2 weeks, but in the spring calpinas become particularly voracious and may feed daily to gather sufficient nutrients for egg production. A calpina fertilizes her own eggs. Although calpinas do not need mates, some join together into colonies each year, forming tight-knit sisterhoods.

Habitat & Society

Calpinas make their nests in hollow, rotting trees or shallow caves in cliff sides at the lower altitudes of mountains. The nests are rather simple, with only leaves, twigs, and other natural materials added for cushioning, warmth, and camouflage. The social and territorial tendencies of calpinas change with the seasons. In early spring, calpinas become largely solitary and nomadic, wandering in search of appetizing prey. A few months later, when they lay their eggs, calpinas band together into colonies of their own kind for mutual protection of their young. They also become fiercely territorial and attempt to kill anyone they can't persuade to leave their territory. Once the eggs have hatched, though, calpinas welcome visitors, as their larvae require substantial quantities of food to grow. Small groups of calpinas called eclipses often work together to lure victims into ambushes, draining their egos to the last drop before leaving the comatose victims for the fey's mindless offspring to eat.

Calpinas feed primarily upon the animals inhabiting their forests. However, more charismatic victims provide larger and well-flavored egos, and for this reason, most calpinas prefer humanoid prey. Especially creative or willful sorts-artists, performers, politicians, and especially halflings and gnomes-prove particularly irresistible to these fey. They may sometimes even capture an unfortunate soul and keep it for their amusement and nourishment for weeks before growing bored. Lucky captives are released alive, though weakened by starvation, and left hazed and covered in curious scars by the constant feeding on their egos. More often than not, a captured creature becomes food for the calpinas' larvae or for forest predators that take advantage of its disoriented state.

Calpinas may engage in conversation with intelligent creatures if approached cautiously. They vocalize in short chirps, habitually repeating the same word over and over again with different nuances. While they are capable of more complex communication, they quickly grow tired of prolonged or abstruse conversations and prefer to savor only a few ideas at a time. Even when they don't intend to feed on an individual, they like to provoke strong emotions and pry at deeply held beliefs. Topics that stir up passions influence the flavor of a victim's ego, and a calpina never knows at the beginning of a conversation whether she'll be hungry by the end. When calpinas face an enemy too powerful to kill or chase away, they may offer useful advice about mountain passes or other local creatures, if only to encourage the intruder to move on. They are cautious by nature, and rarely initiate fights they don't believe they will win. Unless they are defending their young in the summer months, calpinas are quick to flee from a losing battle.

Calpinas are most active in the twilight hours, but they also hunt on moonlit nights, using magical lights to locate, attract, or distract prey so that they can approach close enough to launch an attack. They try to tire or disorient their victims before latching on to feed.