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Lar

A stirring in the air and rustle through the room reveals a presence—a subtle aura both cautious and curious.

Lar CR 5

Source Pathfinder #27: What Lies in Dust pg. 86
XP 1,600
LG Medium outsider (good, incorporeal, lawful, native)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +13

Defense

AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 14 (+2 deflection, +3 Dex, +2 size)
hp 39 (6d10+6); regeneration 1 (in statua)
Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +4

Offense

Speed 0 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Melee ---
Space 2-1/2 ft., Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks suggestion
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th)
At will — create water, detect evil, ghost sound, guidance, lullaby, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, prestidigitation, purify food and drink
3/day — bless, bless water, dancing lights, produce flame, protection from evil, sanctuary (DC 13), unseen servant
1/day — calm emotions, continual flame, gust of wind, pyrotechnics, whispering wind

Statistics

Str 10, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 14
Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 19
Feats Alertness, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Craft (any two) +10, Heal +11, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +13, Sense Motive +13
Languages telepathy (100 ft.)
SQ genius loci, naturally invisible, statua

Ecology

Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure none

Special Abilities

Genius Loci (Su) As a free action, a lar can possess any inanimate object with which it comes into contact, thereby animating it under its control. The object and lar merge, taking on the statistics of an animated object of the same size (see animated objects in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary). A lar may possess any object of Tiny to Large size. If the animated object is destroyed or targeted by dispel good, the lar is expelled and takes 1d6 points of damage per size category of the possessed object—1d6 for a Tiny object, 2d6 for a Small object, and so on. The lar is then free to possess another object, if one is available. If a lar is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, it is banished to its statua for 24 hours, after which it is fully healed. If the lar does not have a statua, or the statua is destroyed while it is at 0 or fewer hit points, the lar is killed.

Natural Invisibility (Su) This ability is constant, allowing a lar to remain invisible even when attacking. This ability is inherent and not subject to the invisibility purge spell.

Statua (Su) All lares rely on a small stone figure, known as a statua, for survival. This figurine serves as a lar’s home, resting place, and tie to the Material Plane. Lares typically rest within their statua, finding it a comfortable place from which to oversee their surroundings. For every round a lar spends doing nothing besides resting within its statua, it regenerates 1 point of damage. However, being separated from the statua for extended periods of time weakens the lar. For every 5 hours a lar remains outside of its statua, it takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Only returning to the statua can heal this damage. If a lar falls to 0 hit points, even from nonlethal damage, it is banished back to the Upper Planes. While a lar’s statua exists, the connected lar is treated as a native outsider. Any attempt to banish the lar—through dismissal or a similar spell—merely transports the creature back to its statua. If the statua is destroyed, a lar can be dismissed from the Material Plane as normal.

Suggestion (Sp) A lar can influence creatures as per the spell suggestion, with some variations, at will. First, to influence a creature in this manner, a lar must occupy the same square as its target. The lar is considered to be able to speak any language and communicate with any creature—even animals and vermin (which are usually immune to mind-affecting effects)—for the purposes of this effect. The target may attempt to resist a lar’s suggestion by making a DC 17 Will save. The save DC is Charisma-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.

Description

Sometimes referred to as “watchsouls,” lares are subtle, benevolent spirits that prefer to spend their existence on the Material Plane minding the homes and fortunes of deserving mortals. Kind but aloof, lares watch over their mortal wards and help only when they are most needed. Yet where their homes are intruded upon or their charges imperiled, they prove frighteningly effective guardians, turning everything in their tiny dominions into living weapons.

Lares are innately invisible, making the nature of their existence something of a mystery. Originating from the Upper Planes, these spirits have no true bodies and appear only as vague spectral eddies to those capable of seeing invisible beings. Yet while their forms prove vague, their blessings are undeniable.

Summoning a Lar

A tradtion said to have been created and passed down since the days of lost Azlant, many families, homes, and even shops and public buildings along the Inner Sea invite lares to take up residence, seeking the blessings of the divine. Few, however, know when their invitations have been accepted, though, as a lar might prove aloof for months or years as it gauges its new wards. In order to welcome such spirits, families construct tiny effigies called statuae in the shapes of honored ancestors, regional heroes, or fanciful creatures, in which the spirits might come and reside. These statuae are non-magical effigies, typically composed of stone or fine wood and anointed with fine lacquers and oils, requiring 2 days, a successful DC 20 Craft check, and 40 gp to create. Once created, these Diminuative figures typically have a hardness of 5 and 10 hit points. If destroyed, a statua may be recreated in this same method.

Summoning a lar is a more elaborate affair, requiring nightly prayers and small offerings of fruit, incense, flowers, and similar gifts to the statuae. For each night one prays to the figure for their home or family’s protection there is a cumulative 1% chance a lar hears and turns its attention to the petitioner. This attention doesn’t mean that a lar will aid a home, but merely that it has heard the prayer, and it might yet decide that its philosophies and virtues are incompatible with the supplicant. If such is the case, the lar quietly ignores the prayer, and the petitioner’s chance to gain a lar’s attention resets to 0%, all entirely unknown to the mortal.

When a lar does accept an invitation, it may immediately plane shift to the associated statua, claiming it as its own. A lar typically makes some subtle acknowledgement that it has come, perhaps slightly altering its statua’s appearance or lighting candles upon its arrival. It still often takes months, even years, for a lar to become intimate with a family and make its presence actively known, and some never do.