Pavaró
Image © @gachimushi
[The first bespoke art for this blog! This creature is so obscure that I couldn’t actually find any art that was even remotely close. So a friend drew one during a Pathfinder game.]
Pavaró CR 6 N Fey This odd little man stands slightly shorter than a human, and has the head of a dog. His arms are preposterously long and end in clawed paws.
Pavarós are strange dog-headed fey that function as tutelary spirits of bean fields. They are able custodians—ensuring that the plants under their care are properly watered, removing pest organisms while encouraging those that help the soil or fight off intruders, and ensuring that fields be allowed to fallow in order to re-nourish the soil. Farmers that attempt to skip these steps, or move from broad cultivation regimes to monocultures laden with artificial pesticides and fertilizers, incur the wrath of these creatures, and that wrath can easily be fatal.
A pavaró can also come into conflict with humanoids due to their odd diets. Although they consume primarily beans, peas, and clover, they have a taste for the flesh of other fey creatures. This can work to the advantage of some—roving mites, bogles and redcaps would be wise to avoid a farm guarded by a pavaró—but they target helpful house spirits as well. Even gnomes are fey enough to trigger a pavaró’s appetite.
A pavaró stands about four and a half feet tall, but their weird boneless arms can stretch nearly fifteen feet in any direction. Their claws and teeth are impregnated with iron, the better for tearing into fey meat. They tend to dress modestly as common folk do in the land they inhabit—unlike other house spirits, gifts of clothing are typically appreciated and likely to keep a pavaró around, rather than repel them.
Pavaró Boons and Banes (5th level, CL 10th, DC 18) A pavaró bestows its boon on farmers and wanderers who follow its agricultural teachings but still cannot afford to make a living. This blessing helps keep those granted it alive during tough times. The bane of a pavaró is inflicted as a punishment for those who steal from a pavaró’s fields or damage its crops, particularly if the creature thinks they can be taught a lesson. Repeat offenders are likely to be beaten or slain instead.
Boon: You may cast create water three times a day and goodberry once per day, at a caster level equal to your Hit Dice. This boon lasts for one month.
Bane: All plants innately hate you and attempt to impede your progress. Any square that has plant life in it is treated as difficult terrain for you. Plants that would ordinarily act as difficult terrain slow you even further—you may move a total of 5 feet as a move action or 10 feet as a full round action through difficult terrain created by plants. You suffer a -2 penalty on Armor Class against the attacks of plant creatures, and a -2 penalty on saving throws against spells that effect plants, plant-based poisons, or the special abilities of plant creatures. This bane lasts for one week.
