Qallupilluk

This hag's lumpy hide, tangled black hair, and ragged garments drip with icy water, though she has a curiously sweet smell.

Qallupilluk CR 7

XP 3,200

LE Medium monstrous humanoid (aquatic)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +13

Aura cloying scent (15 ft.)

Defense

AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +7 natural)

hp 76 (8d10+32)

Fort +6, Ref +10, Will +8

DR 5/cold iron; Resist cold 10, fire 10

Offense

Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft.

Melee bite +13 (1d6+5), 2 claws +13 (1d6+5 plus grab)

Ranged javelin +10 (1d6+4)

Special Attacks curse of scales

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +10)

At will—water breathing

3/day—charm animal (DC 13), charm person (DC 13), chill metal (DC 14), sleet storm

1/day—commune with nature, divination

Statistics

Str 20, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 14

Base Atk +8; CMB +13 (+17 grapple); CMD 25

Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes, Stand Still

Skills Knowledge (nature) +9, Perception +13, Stealth +13, Survival +13, Swim +23

Languages Aklo, Aquan, Common, Giant

SQ amphibious

Ecology

Environment cold oceans

Organization solitary, family (2–6 plus 1–4 aquatic monsters)

Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Cloying Scent (Su) Qallupilluks exude a vaguely sweet and unexpectedly pleasant briny scent. This smell comforts and distracts humanoids and animals that come within 15 feet of the qallupilluk, causing such creatures to take a –2 penalty on saves against mind-affecting effects.

Curse of Scales (Su) If a qallupilluk grapples a Medium or Small humanoid opponent, her target begins transforming into an aquatic monster. Starting on the third consecutive round of grappling, the grappled target must succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude save every round or fully transform into a grindylow, reefclaw, bunyip, merrow, or scrag. Once fully transformed, the creature is slavishly devoted to the qallupilluk that created it. If the qallupilluk is slain, the creature loses this devotion but remains transformed. The transformation ends after 1 hour or if the creature is slain. A qallupilluk can make this transformation permanent by performing a ritual that takes 10 minutes and deals 30 points of damage to the qallupilluk. This is a curse and polymorph effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.

A qallupilluk is a sinister and much-dreaded haglike denizen of cold seas. An ambush predator, she waits near gaps and weak points in the ice and listens for the footsteps of creatures above, sometimes humming or tapping on the ice like a trapped seal in the hope of drawing the curious within range of her alluring scent.

When one grabs a victim, she either drowns her prey, saving the body to eat later, or transforms her prey into a monstrous servant that she treats as her own child—and eventually, as a mate. All qallupilluks are female, but they can reproduce with other aquatic monsters. Their offspring are always qallupilluks.

Qallupilluks may craft hovels or lodges from stone or coral on the seabed. A few craft semipermanent homes in the submerged recesses of icebergs. They often know fragments of ancient and obscure natural secrets.