Buzzpurr

Where there are flowers, you'll find Buzzpurrs flitting around from petal to petal and pouncing one another out of the sky. They are just bees, or it would seem. If you get close you realize they are tiny felines, kitten bees. If they are frightened they can bite, sting, and claw. But they are mostly gentle and will go about their play and pollinating without anything more than a pleasant hum. If it is a buzz or a purr is a matter for much debate, and has twice brought the Seated Council to adjourn so cooler heads could prevail.

Further investigation has revealed that buzzpurrs are not in fact native to this world. Although they appear as adorable bumblecats, they are all connected through their hive and a singular queen. Anything that an individual buzzpurr sees, can similarly be known by the queen. They are an unusual kind of hive mind. However, destruction of a buzzpurr prior to returning to its hive will destroy its knowledge and memories before they can be integrated into the hive's mind.

Where an ordinary buzzpurr looks quite like a kitten and a bumblebee, the queens are more of a Tiger and a Wasp. But they have the assembled knowledge, intelligence, and compassion of their entire hive. They are capable of communicating directly, often causing their constituent members to buzz in such a way that it emulates the sound of audible speech.

Basic Information

Anatomy

They are small bumbly kittens of maybe an inch in length, with clear flittering wings and a only mildly unsettling mandibles.

Ecology and Habitats

They can be found anywhere that has flowering plants. Sometimes they'll even be able to find their way to home gardens and into greenhouses that you thought had been sealed off. Apparently not to a buzzpurr.
They are rumored to have a particular taste for a rare bush with flowers of purple and yellow.

Buzzpurr Hives must always be encountered in isolation. They cannot fraternize with their own kind. The presence of a queen causes any buzzpurrs, regardless of previous allegiance, to fall under the sway of the queen. Even the friendliest and kindest Buzzpurr Queens will turn to violence to expel an interloping Queen overtaking their swarm. It is not done out of malice. Individual buzzpurrs lack the cognitive capability to understand who they are, they simply wish to be a part of a hive, and they cannot tell the difference between the oneness with their queen and with another. They will automatically fall under the influence of another queen if they stray too close to them, and the hives will unintentionally cannibalize one another pulling buzzpurrs from one to the other until one of the hives is destroyed.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Adventurers who have entreated with a hive have reported receiving a gift of honey. A surprisingly useful, if delicious, treat.

Unique to Buzzpurr Hives

Buzzpurr Honey

Adventuring Gear

Rare

Buzzpurr Honey is difficult to come by, and must be harvested from a willing hive. When willingly offered it comes in dense honeycombs, small breakable ovals that contain the slowly dripping fluid. By drizzling the contents of a honey packet into the ears, a user is able to render themselves Deafened. The condition lasts until they complete a short rest or 8 hours, whichever comes sooner. Because this deafened conditioned is caused by an object and not a magical effect or affliction, it cannot be removed through magical curative means.




Alternatively, it is delicious and would go excellent in a tea or drizzled over a peanut butter sandwich.

Cost: 100 gp (cannot be purchased)
Weight: 0.1 lbs.

Buzzpurr Pollen Pigment

Artisan Tool

Uncommon

Although they have been found in many places around the Basin, in the spring the Buzzpurr are particularly active in thumperleaf forest which lies to the north of Provenance. These tiny half kitten half bumblebees are particularly adept at collecting the finest of yellows in pollen. If they can be found laden with pollen they can be caught by offering very tiny fish and then played with to shake off all of the pollen.

It takes the danced off pollen from two dozen buzzpurrs to create enough yellow pigment for 25 paintings.

A skilled painter can bring out an additional quality of this pigment. When making the check for painting a picture that includes sunbeams you can attempt a DC 23 Painter’s Tools check with Charisma. On a success the painting radiates warmth for 10ft.

Cost: 75 gp
Weight: 1 ounce

Conservation Status

It is unclear how many buzzpurrs there might be in the Tense River Basin. No one has ever bothered to count. Some people have never heard of them, why only a few generations none were known to exist at all. Which begs the question, does that mean there are more now? Are they invasive? Will everything be this adorable soon? One thing is for certain, the buzzpurrs seem to established themselves here.