Grimstalker

This creature looks like a hairless elf, slender and graceful, with long arms that end in sharp claws. Its skin is brown and woody and resembles tree bark. It wears clothes made of leaves and vines.

Grimstalker (CR 5)

Medium Fey
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Initiative: +9
Senses: Low-Light Vision; Perception +12

Speed: 40 feet, Climb 20 feet
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+5 Dex, +3 natural)
Hit Points: 52 (8d6+24)
Saving Throws: Fort +5, Ref +11, Will +7
Damage Reduction: 5/cold iron

Offense

Melee: 2 claws +9 (1d4+1 plus poison)
Reach: 5 feet

Special Attacks: sneak attack +3d6

3rd (8/day) - Dispel Magic, Haste, Nondetection, Tongues

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
12 (+1)	21 (+5)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	16 (+3)

Base Attack Bonus: +4
CMB +5
CMD 20

Feats: Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Stealthy, Weapon Finesse

Skills: Acrobatics +16 (+20 jump), Climb +20, Escape Artist +18, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (nature) +13, Perception +12, Stealth +18 (+26 in forests), Survival +9

• Racial Modifiers: +8 Stealth in forested terrain

Languages: Aklo, Common, Elven

Special Abilities

Poison (Ex)

Claw-injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/ round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex; cure 2 saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Ecology

Environment: Any Forest
Organization: solitary or troupe (2-5)
Treasure: standard


The grimstalker or banaan (as they prefer to call themselves) is a fey creature that does not share the beauty and goodness of its kin. Whereas other fey creatures have come to represent the beautiful or mischievous side of nature, the grimstalker most certainly reflects nature at its worst. They are dark creatures, their hearts tainted with the foulest of evil. Unfortunate souls that wander into a forest guarded by grimstalkers are never seen again—except for their skulls, which the grimstalkers hang from the trees as a warning to those that would dare trespass into their domain.

Long thought to be a form of intelligent plant because of their many plant-like features, grimstalkers skulk among the trees of the darkest forests. Even among sylvan communities of elves the grimstalkers are legendary as natural born assassins. Grimstalkers sometimes work with other evil fey such as redcaps (see their entry in this book though such alliances are short and very rare, especially with the malevolent and untrustworthy redcap. It is rumored that powerful evil druids often summon grimstalkers for nefarious purposes.

Grimstalkers strike from ambush if possible, hiding among the trees and dropping on interlopers into their forest. A troupe of grimstalkers that set up an ambush make ample use of the terrain, as well as nets woven from living vines, snares, and pit traps. Grimstalkers also employ trained plant creatures such as assassin vines and scythe trees. In melee they are capable of fighting with their claws or with weapons—their favorite weapons being a sort of spiked quarterstaff and longbows knocked with poisoned arrows.

Copyright Notice Author Erica Balsley.