The Bee-Man of Bellis
Level 9Attacks
Abilities
The Bee-Man can use bees to duplicate the effects of Clairvoyance or Message at will, with a maximum range of 13 miles. A successful DC 20 perception check identifies the presence of the bees acting as the sensors for these spells, but a DC 24 nature (expert) check is required to realize they are behaving under outside influence.
The Bee-Man is Slowed 1 for 1 round if he starts his turn in heavy smoke.
Saving Throw DC 25 fortitude
Maximum Duration 6 rounds
Stage 1 2d6 poison damage, Enfeebled 1 (1 round)
Stage 2 3d6 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round)
Stage 3 3d6 poison damage and Enfeebled 2 (1 round)
Trigger The Bee-Man moves at least 5 feet
Effect The Bee-Man gains Concealment against ranged attacks until the start of his next turn or until he makes an attack action, whichever comes first.
Whenever the Bee-Man's full name (Vernon Vestha) is spoken aloud by a creature within 13 miles, he hears it and immediately knows the speaker's direction and distance from him.
According to legend, the forest hermit Vernon Vestha was once little more than a simple beekeeper, tending to his hives somewhere among the forests and townships of northeastern Andoran. Precisely how he started down the sinister path that made him what he is today remains unknown, but it is generally understood that Vernon came to a strange revelation one day: he saw in his bees the ability to divine the future beyond that of any mortal magic and became convinced that if only he could teach himself to hear the messages in their buzzing and interpret the patterns in their swarms, that power could be his as well. His curiosity became an obsession, and obsession quickly spiraled into madness, culminating in the fateful day that he sacrificed his humanity in some inscrutable honeyed rite to become fully one with his beloved bees.
To this day, they say, the Bee-Man still haunts the woods outside Bellis, waiting for someone to call him by speaking his name aloud. He often appears to those who seek his aid, although he seldom if ever grants it without exacting some terrible price in return.
Swarm Dispersion
If the Bee-Man is reduced to 0 Hit Points, his physical body dissolves into a cloud of live bees, which immediately scatter in all directions. Legends vary on the length of time that must pass before the Bee-Man can return, as well as on whether it's possible to permanently destroy him by killing every one of the bees before they can escape.