[I have not read Folk Literature of the Cuiva Indians, the book that is used as a source here, so I don’t know how accurate this take is. But. Knowing that the Cuiba were traditionally semi-nomadic hunter gatherers, the story of a kori destroying a riverside village seems to me to have a bit of a “and here’s why we don’t make permanent settlements” vibe. Which makes it all the sadder that the Columbian government has forced them villages to become agriculturalists. Which makes them prey to missionaries, and the loss of their language and traditions, and the usual things that happen when small ethnic groups are put on reservations. So this is kind of a bittersweet last monster for South America, before moving onto another continent.]
Kori
CR 12 NE Magical Beast
This mighty creature resembles a shaggy, green furred anteater, larger than an elephant. Its tail is broad and has fins running along it.
A kori is a physical embodiment of erosion. They live in wide, shallow rivers, deltas or swamps, and constantly erode the riverbanks to expand the water’s edges. Using their powerful claws and hurricane breath, they knock down trees to create sunny, muddy patches, where they forage on their favored prey, freshwater clams and crabs. Unfortunately, kori also despise construction of any kind, and go out of their way to swamp boats, flood villages and destroy settled communities.
In combat, a kori usually opens by creating a vast expanse of sticky entangling mud. It can move through such hazards with ease and does so, slogging through to a single victim to tear them limb from limb before moving on. If it is feeling particularly sadistic, a kori will just use control water spells to raise the water level over the heads of mired victims, trapping them to drown. If multiple enemies are able to cluster together or are capable of flying over the mud pit, it blows them away with its hurricane breath, or slams them in unison with a single sweep of its mighty tail.
Areas where a kori dwells are difficult for permanent settlements to develop in, although it will typically ignore nomadic communities. Druids of a more destructive bent consider kori to be their allies, although the kori themselves are rather more ambivalent on the idea. Although kori are mighty combatants, they are relatively vulnerable to poison—it is thought that the arrow and blowgun toxins, ordeal poisons and other pharmacological tools of jungle people have developed in part to help keep these monsters at bay.
A kori is about forty feet long, and stands ten feet high at the shoulder.
Kori CR 12
XP 19,200
NE Gargantuan magical beast (aquatic)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +19, scent
Defense
AC 27, touch 6, flat-footed 27 (-4 size, +21 natural)
hp 161 (14d10+84)
Fort +15, Ref +9, Will +10; -4 vs. poison
Resist acid 10, fire 10; Immune electricity; SR 23
Defensive Abilities freedom of movement; Weakness vulnerable to poison
Offense
Speed 40 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee 2 claws +19 (2d8+9/19-20), tail slap +17 (1d12+13)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks powerful blows (tail slap), tail sweep, wind blast
Spell-like Abilities CL 14th, concentration +18 (+22 casting defensively)
Constant—freedom of movement
At will—control water, soften earth and stone (DC 16)
1/day—control winds, transmute rock to mud (DC 19)
Statistics
Str 28, Dex 11, Con 23, Int 6, Wis 19, Cha 18
Base Atk +14; CMB +27 (+29 sundering); CMD 37 (39 vs. sunder, 41 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Casting, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack
Skills Perception +19, Swim +22
Languages Sylvan (cannot speak)
SQ amphibious
Ecology
Environment warm aquatic and marshes
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Tail Sweep (Ex) As a standard action, a kori can sweep its tail in a 30 foot radius half circle extending from its space. All creatures in the area take damage equal to its tail slap attack (Reflex DC 26 halves). The save DC is Strength based.
Vulnerable to Poison (Ex) A kori takes a -4 racial penalty on all saving throws against poison effects. It takes 150% damage from poison, whether it deals hit point or ability point damage.
Wind Blast (Su) As a standard action, a kori can breathe a powerful wind in an 80 foot cone. All creatures and unattended objects in the area take 14d6 points of bludgeoning damage (Ref DC 23 half) and are affected as if by hurricane force winds. These winds persist in this cone until the start of the kori’s next turn. A kori can use this ability three times per day, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. The save DC is Constitution based.
“El Silbon: The Man Who Whistles” by deviantArt user SmokeBoats, accessed at their gallery here
[El Silbón, like La Coca, is a monster with genuine folkloric bonafides that was nevertheless crystallized into its modern form through literature. His stomping grounds are Los Llanos, a grassland region in Colombia and Venezuela. The biggest difference in regional versions of the story is why exactly he killed his father in the first place, thus damning him to a life as the undead. There are a number that suggest that his father killed his mother or wife, and so he took revenge (sort of an undead Orestes), but I prefer the idea that he was a spoiled brat who killed and ate his father because Daddy failed to catch a deer while hunting. I like my monsters to be truly nasty pieces of work more than tragic figures, especially when their MO is hacking people to death with a machete like Jason.]
Silbón
CR 4 CE Undead
This figure appears as a skeletal humanoid, its body stretched beyond ordinary human proportions into something gangly and horrible. It wears peasant clothing and a wide brimmed hat, and carries a large sack of bones over its shoulder.
A silbón is an undead parricide, one who kills their own parent and is damned to wander between life and death for that crime. They wander from place to place in rural areas, particularly farm and pasturelands, looking for travelers by night to torment and murder. They have a fondness for alcohol, so often target a drunkard trying to make it home, but will happily attack sober individuals as well.
The whistling of a silbón causes creeping fear, but also serves the monster as a decoy. The closer it gets to its prey, the farther away it sounds, and so a silbón uses its whistle to create a sense of false security and to intensify the torment of its prey. Once locked in combat, a silbón is a simple opponent, hacking at its prey with a machete (treat as a short sword that deals slashing damage) or simply its fists. Once a victim is incapacitated, they are mutilated; their bones are added to the silbón’s collection, and their flesh and skins left in a trafficked area to serve as a calling card. If a silbón is lucky enough to kill someone who is intoxicated, they will suck out the stomach and liver as a treat.
Although exactly why the first silbón committed the crime of parricide is debated between different townspeople, it is known that he was punished by being whipped and then torn apart by dogs, leading to his death and subsequent revival as the undead. Because of this mystical link, a silbón can be injured by dogs and whips, even when magic swords fail to dent their bodies. Most silbón fight to the death unless a dog or whip is brought to battle, in which case they attempt to flee at the first opportunity.
A silbón stands incredibly tall for a Medium creature, usually between seven and eight feet in height. As they wear either the clothes they wore in life or those they can steal from their victims, their garb is usually ill-fitting, stretched and torn.
Silbón CR 4
XP 1,200
CE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses alcohol scent, darkvision 60 ft., Perception +13
Defense
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +4 natural, +2 shield)
hp 44 (8d8+8)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +8; channel resistance +2
DR 5/bludgeoning and magic; Resist cold 10, electricity 10
Defensive Abilities sack of bones; Weakness light blindness, vulnerable to whips and dogs
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee machete +8/+3 (1d6+2/19-20) or slam +8 (1d4+2)
Special Attacks eerie whistle
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 15, Con -, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 20
Feats Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Lunge (B), Nimble Moves, Stealthy
Skills Disguise +12, Escape Artist +12, Perception +13, Stealth +15
Languages Common
SQ fast stealth, soundwarp
Ecology
Environment any plains and urban
Organization solitary
Treasure incidental (machete, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Alcohol Scent (Ex) A silbón can pinpoint the location of a source of alcohol or a drunken individual within 180 feet, and detect the presence of alcohol within 1 mile.
Eerie Whistle (Su) A silbón can begin whistling as a standard action, and maintain its whistle as a free action. All creatures that can hear the whistle within 100 feet must succeed a DC 15 Will save or be shaken as long as the whistling lasts and for 1d4 rounds thereafter. A creature that successfully saves is immune to the whistling of that silbón for the next 24 hours. This is a mind-influencing fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.
Fast Stealth (Ex) A silbón can move at full speed while making Stealth checks without penalty.
Sack of Bones (Ex) As long as it carries its sack of bones in one hand, a silbón gains a +2 shield bonus to its Armor Class with no armor check penalty or spell failure chance.
Soundwarp (Su) The distance penalties for Perception checks used to detect a silbón by hearing are reversed within 100 feet. Thus, a creature 100 feet away from a silbón may make Perception checks against it at no penalty, but a creature 10 feet or closer to a silbón take a -10 penalty on their Perception checks.
Vulnerable to Whips and Dogs (Ex) Attacks made by domestic dogs (but not other canine animals) and whips ignore a silbón’s damage reduction. In addition, all attacks made with a whip against a silbón deal lethal damage.
