Stranglereed

This tangled mass of thick reeds sways in the breeze. Hidden under the surface of the water, a wicked maw of barbs and thorns waits in ambush.

Stranglereed (CR 9)

Large Plant (Aquatic)
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +9
Senses: Low-Light Vision; Perception +10

Speed: 5 feet, Climb 10 feet, Swim 20 feet
Space: 10 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 23, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+5 Dex, +9 natural, -1 size)
Hit Points: 114 (12d8+60)
Saving Throws: Fort +13, Ref +11, Will +5
All-Around Vision,
Damage Reduction: 5/slashing
Immunity: plant traits
Weaknesses: vulnerability to fire

Offense

Melee: 2 tendrils +15 (2d8+6 plus Grab), bite +14 (1d8+6)
Reach: 10 feet (5 feet with bite)

Special Attacks: Constrict (2d8+9), Grab (Huge), Pull (tendril, 5 ft.), Strangle, suffocate

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
23 (+6)	20 (+5)	21 (+5)	1 (-5)	12 (+1)	6 (-2)

Base Attack Bonus: +9
CMB +16 (+20 Grapple)
CMD 31

Feats: Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Lunge, Skill Focus (Stealth), Stealthy, Weapon Focus (tendrils)

Skills: Climb +14, Escape Artist +7, Perception +10, Stealth +15, Swim +14

Languages:

Special Qualities: Freeze, Water Dependency

Special Abilities

Freeze (Ex)

A stranglereed can hold itself so still that it appears to be normal vegetation. A stranglereed that uses this ability can take 20 on its Stealth check to hide in plain sight as a regular patch of reeds.

Strangle (Ex)

Stranglereeds have an unerring talent for seizing their victims by the throat. A creature that is grappled by a stranglereed can't speak or cast spells with verbal components.

Suffocate (Ex)

A creature that's affected by a stranglereed's strangle ability can't breathe and must hold its breath or suffocate.

Ecology

Environment: Warm Rivers or Lakes
Organization: solitary or patch (2-6)
Treasure: incidental


An unlikely predator, a stranglereed floats motionless in calm lakes and rivers, patiently waiting for prey to approach before lashing out with two thick tendrils. This horrifically efficient killer gets its name from its uncanny ability to find a victim's throat with its tendrils. Once the stranglereed has secured its prey, it pulls its victim beneath the surface of the water and directs the victim toward a submerged circular orifice ringed with hundreds of gnashing barbs and thorns. Exceptionally voracious, the stranglereed never stops feeding, and in desperate times, the industrious plant can leave the water briefly in order to hunt on land. These vicious, tenacious plants can even chase down their prey if it breaks free of their strong tendrils. Fortunately, a stranglereed can spend only a limited amount of time out of water.

A stranglereed resembles a patch of normal reeds that covers a roughly circular 10-foot diameter area. Submerged in the water under this unassuming vegetation lies a large stalk that ends in its circular mouth. Its length is roughly 8 feet, from its mouth to the tips of its extended reeds. A stranglereed weighs 800 pounds.

Ecology

Above the calm waters, the stranglereed resembles a large but innocuous reedbed. However, underneath the water's murk, a large cylindrical stalk bobs in the currents. At the end of this stalk gapes a maw ringed with multiple rows of sharp barbs and thorns capable of shredding the flesh from prey's bones. Several tendrils grow from under the stranglereed's stalk to root themselves loosely into the bed of the lake, oasis, or river where it dwells. When the stranglereed detects prey, two tendrils specialized for grasping prey shoot toward their target and attempt to grapple it. The stranglereed lashes its tendrils around its target's throat and begins to asphyxiate the target. Once its hold is secure, it reels the prey into the water and into its hungry maw. Over centuries of evolution, the stranglereed has developed the ability to extend the range of these lashing tendrils by using an effective, if awkward, lunge.

Close inspection reveals that the stranglereed has multiple eyes that resemble fuzzy nodules running up its many reed stalks. In fact, over a hundred of these tiny orbs can be detected on a typical specimen, and they grant the stranglereed a superior sense of sight. A stranglereed can venture onto dry land for a limited period of time, which it does when food is scarce or its prey breaks free from its tendrils and flees onto land. Its stalks can change in appearance to match the surrounding flora, a process that takes approximately 24 hours. This enables the plant to blend in with its surroundings whenever it finds itself in a new body of water.

A stranglereed reproduces by expelling seeds that float on air currents much like a dandelion's fluff. Those that land on dry earth soon die or are scavenged by birds and other small animals. Those that land in water grow into full-sized stranglereed stalks within 1 month. A large body of water can be home to a cluster of stranglereeds if the food supply can meet their demands.

Habitat & Society

Typically found in warm, slow-moving water, the stranglereed favors sites that attract large mammals. Watering holes, sluggish rivers, lakes, and especially oases are common feeding spots. While the stranglereed can sustain itself on a diet of fish and other marine life, it seems to prefer the taste of hot blood washing through its gullet. Possessing an animal intellect, the stranglereed quickly adapts to its habitat and soon discovers which creatures it can realistically take down and which are better left alone. Osirion, they pose the greatest danger in and around Tephu, where workers harvest the abundant papyrus reeds for Tephu's profitable papyrus trade. Papyrus harvesters have taken to prodding growths of papyrus with long poles to determine whether the reeds are in fact mundane plants or dangerous stranglereeds. Some enterprising harvesters even seek out and kill stranglereeds to sell to those who use their pulp in the creation of guardian scrolls (for more information on guardian scrolls see page 82 of Pathfinder Adventure Path #79).

When food is abundant, groups of stranglereeds often entwine their tendrils to create a strong matrix that allows them to work together to tackle much larger prey. This prey is often torn apart and split among the various members of the entwined patch. Entwined stranglereeds seem to release their fluff-like seeds more frequently than their solitary brethren. After spending years in an entwined state, these plants can sometimes merge into one larger creature referred to as a bloated patch.

Variant Stranglereeds

Nomads and explorers tell chilling tales of more aggressive stranglereeds dwelling in secluded areas of the Inner Sea that glory in blood-drinking, paralyze victims, and have gigantic mouths. Fortunately, the tales passed from nomad to nomad are often exaggerated, and while stranglereeds that possess some of these qualities do exist, they are simply minor variations on the standard stranglereed.

Stranglereed Bloated Patch (CR +1): This variation of the stranglereed has the giant creature simple template. Because of its enormous size, this variation prefers to swallow its prey whole. The bloated patch's bite attack gains the grab special attack, and any creature grappled in its mouth can be swallowed whole. The bloated patch gains the following special attacks: bite (grab) and swallow whole (4d6 acid damage, AC 16, 14 hp).

Stranglereed Sucker (CR+1): This variation of the stranglereed has the advanced creature simple template. In addition, the tendrils of this stranglereed are lined with tiny suckers that draw forth the victim's blood. This ability not only makes these stranglereeds less likely to lose their prey, but also makes it easier for them to drink their prey's warm blood. Because of this evolution, stranglereed suckers gain an additional +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks when grappling and their tendril attacks gain the bleed ability (2d6).

Toxic Stranglereed (CR +2): This variation of the stranglereed has the advanced creature simple template. When the tendrils of the toxic stranglereed strike its prey, its target must succeed at a Fortitude save or become paralyzed. The toxic stranglereed's tendrils gain the following special attack: paralysis (1d4 rounds, DC 16).