Con-tinh

Note: This monster appears in cursory form as a type of ghost on p. 165 in 3e OA.  The following conversion may prove more interesting.

Medium Fey (Lesser Spirit)
Hit Dice: 6d6 (21 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 13 (+3 natural)
Attacks: 1 Fist +3 melee
Damage: Fist 1d4
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Project Spirit, Cackling Laughter
Special Qualities: Low Light Vision 60 ft., Symbiosis, Damage Reduction 15/+2, SR15
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +6
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 11, Int 10, Wis ,12 Cha 17
Skills: Spot +10, Hide +7, Listen +10, Move Silently +7, Sense Motive +3
Feats: Dodge, Alertness

Climate/Terrain: Tropical, subtropical, and temperate plain, forest, jungle, hill
Organization: Solitary or Pair
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 7-12HD (Med)

The malicious con­tinh is a lesser spirit believed to be the spirit of a maiden who died before her time. She appears as a beautiful maiden (human or humanoid) with flowing hair and sparkling eyes. She wears the attire of a princess, and carries a large fan and a basket of fruit. A pair of cranes or sky blue doves, which serve as her familiars, sometimes accompanies a con­tinh. A con­tinh's life force is tied to that of a single fruit tree. She carries the fruit of this tree in her basket. The fruit crumbles when anyone other than the con­tinh touches it. The con­tinh speaks the languages common to the area, as well as any languages she knew in life.

Combat

The con­tinh's single desire is to destroy life, especially characters of the race she once belonged to herself (usually, this means humans). She is greatly feared. If an area is reputedly the home of a con­tinh, fools and wise men alike will avoid it, especially after nightfall. The con­tinh cannot leave the area within a 100­foot radius of her tree. She spends daylight hours hiding in it’s branches, and is usually active only at night. However, if the con­tinh's tree is disturbed at any time, she will attack.

Cackling Laughter (Su): The con­tinh has two special attacks. The first is a weird laugh like the cackling of a madwoman. The con­tinh can use this laugh three times per day. Characters within 20 feet of the laughing spirit must make a successful Will save (DC 17) or be stricken with a debilitating insanity. This is a sonic, mind affecting attack. This insanity reduces the victim's Intelligence and Wisdom to 2, and causes the loss of all abilities associated with these scores. (For example, the insanity prevents wu jen and shukenja from casting spells.) Heal or a similar spell restores sanity; each day, victims recover 1 point of both Intelligence and Wisdom until their original scores are fully reinstated.

Project Spirit (Su): The con­tinh also can project her spirit into the body of character once per night with similar effect as the Level 5 Wizard spell magic jar. Potential victims must come within 100 feet of her tree. She can make only one attempt per subject each night, but can try other subjects until she succeeds. A successful Will save (DC 18) means the con­tinh's attempt has failed. If the victim's saving throw fails, the con­tinh inhabits the victim's body and takes complete control of its actions. The victim is unaware of what is happening, and will have no memory of it.

While inhabiting a victim, the con­tinh gains the character's physical abilities but no spells, special abilities, or powers related to the mind. However, the con­tinh retains her mental abilities. The con­tinh herself takes a ½ hit point of damage for every hit point her victim suffers. The projection lasts into daylight hours. If the inhabited character strays more than 100 feet from the con­tinh's tree, the con­tinh is forced to leave the body or be destroyed. Any spell that forcibly ejects the con­tinh also destroys the creature.

Symbiosis (Su): All attacks upon the spirit's personal tree also harm the spirit, hit point for hit point. (The tree has the same hit points and Armor Class as the con­tinh, regardless of the tree's size or type.) Any attack that destroys the tree---such as wood rot ---also destroys the con­tinh. Anyone who destroys the tree of a con-tinh must make a successful Will save (DC 18) or suffer an ancient curse. Such curses typically involve annual crop failure (if the character is a farmer or land­owner) or periodic spontaneous fires in the victim's home (or other building owned by the character or his family). This power is automatic and can occur day or night.

Habitat/Society

According to legend, the Celestial Bureaucracy creates a con­tinh from the spirit of a young maiden who has died before her time, usually as a result of a misdeed. The most common misdeed is an illicit love affair, which ends when the maiden is murdered by a rival or jealous spouse. On rare occasions, sisters who conspired in the same misdeed both become con­tinh, their lifeforces tied to identical, adjacent trees. A con­tinh with a crane or dove as a familiar often sends it scouting for victims. Mistaking the bird for a good omen, unwary victims may follow it straight to the con­tinh's tree. A con­tinh's treasure (whatever she takes from victims) usually is buried near the base of her tree, in a deep hole.

Ecology

The dust of a crumbled fruit from a con­tinh's tree can be used as a component for a potion of longevity.

Conversion Notes:

Cackling Laughter: This was converted using the Harpy’s Song as a guideline

Projected Spirit: I converted this using Mind Jar as a guideline

* Converted by Will Ehgoetz from Oriental Adventures 1e and the Kara-Tur Monstrous Compendium Appendix 2e (Feedback Welcome!)