Race: Bayou Faerie

Bayou Faerie

Size/Type: Tiny Fey
Hit Dice: 1d6 (3 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), fly 60 ft. (good)
AC: 16 (+2 size, +4 Dex), touch 16, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/–12
Attack: Needle dart +6 melee (1d2–4) or swamp thorn +6 ranged (1d2–4)
Full Attack: Needle dart +6 melee (1d2–4) or swamp thorn +6 ranged (1d2–4)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Woodland snare, mire hex
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, DR 5/cold iron, bayou camouflage, glamour form, fey resilience
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +4
Ability Scores: Str 2, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14
Skills: Hide +20, Listen +6, Spot +6, Search +4, Perform (sing) +6
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Environment: Warm marshes and bayous
Organization: Solitary, pair, or whisper (3–8)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +2

Description

Bayou faeries are creatures of slow water and heavy air - born not of bright groves or dancing glades, but of still pools choked with reeds, cypress knees rising like knuckles from black water, and the constant, whispering hum of life that never truly sleeps. Their wings resemble the thin, translucent membranes of dragonflies, often tinted with oil-slick iridescence, catching lanternlight in shifting greens, violets, and sickly golds. Their skin tends toward muted tones - moss-green, peat-brown, or pale gray - allowing them to vanish effortlessly against bark, water, and fog alike.

Their eyes are large and luminous, reflecting even the faintest light with an unsettling clarity. In darkness, they gleam like distant swampfire, hovering just above the waterline before vanishing entirely. Their voices carry strangely in the bayou - sometimes lilting and melodic, other times distorted and distant, as though traveling through water even when spoken in open air.

Unlike their woodland kin, bayou faeries are patient to the point of eeriness. They can remain still for hours, even days, observing without movement, their presence betrayed only by the faint ripple of wings or the occasional flicker of reflected light. They prefer not to be seen - not out of fear, but because being unseen gives them control.

Lore

Bayou faeries are deeply tied to the stagnant, fertile ecosystems of marshlands, where decay and life exist in constant, intimate proximity. To them, rot is not death, but transformation - an essential turning of the wheel. They are caretakers of this cycle, ensuring that nothing is wasted and nothing escapes its place within the greater rhythm of the swamp.

Their magic reflects this philosophy. Where woodland faeries entangle with vines and roots, bayou faeries call upon sucking mud, grasping reeds, and creeping waters. Their mire hex is particularly feared among those who traverse the swamps without respect - causing ground to soften, paths to vanish, and footing to betray even the most careful traveler. Many who wander too confidently find themselves slowly claimed by the very earth beneath them.

They are also known to form quiet, watchful relationships with the creatures of the bayou. Alligators drift where they will, undisturbed by unseen guidance. Birds take flight at subtle signals. Even insects seem to gather and disperse with uncanny coordination. A bayou faerie is never truly alone - it exists within a vast, living network of awareness.

Despite their alien nature, some bayou faeries are drawn to mortals - particularly those who show reverence for the swamp or who survive it through wit rather than force. These faeries may guide, mislead, test, or protect such individuals, often all at once. Their aid is never straightforward, and their lessons are rarely gentle.

To harm a bayou faerie is to earn the quiet enmity of the swamp itself. Trails twist. Water rises where it should not. Sounds carry in misleading ways. And somewhere, just out of sight, something watches - waiting for the moment when the balance may be restored.

Special Abilities

Woodland Snare (Sp): Once per day, a bayou faerie may use entangle (caster level equal to its Hit Dice; save DC 12). In marsh terrain, this effect manifests as grasping reeds, sucking mud, and creeping water rather than vines.

Mire Hex (Su): Once per day as a standard action, a bayou faerie may curse a 10-foot-radius area within 30 feet, causing the ground to become unstable and treacherous for 5 rounds. Creatures within the area must succeed on a DC 12 Reflex save each round or be treated as moving through difficult terrain and suffer a –2 penalty on Balance and Reflex checks. Flying creatures are unaffected. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Bayou Camouflage (Ex): A bayou faerie may use the Hide skill in marsh or swamp terrain even while being observed, so long as it is within 10 feet of water, reeds, or heavy vegetation.

Glamour Form (Su): At will, a bayou faerie may assume a Small humanoid form (as alter self, self only). While in this form, it loses its fly speed, its Strength becomes 10 (if lower), its Dexterity becomes 10 (if higher), and its size modifiers adjust to Small. This is a physical transformation.

Fey Resilience (Ex): Bayou faeries gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment effects.

Kelwyn’s Notes

Ah… now this is a faerie that understands patience.

The bayou variety does not dance for your amusement, nor does it flit about in charming circles as so many stories would have you believe. No - this one waits. It watches. It allows you to reveal yourself fully before it decides what you are worth. There is a… deliberateness to it that I find quite admirable.

You see, the swamp is an honest place, in its own peculiar fashion. It does not pretend to be safe, nor does it disguise its nature beneath pleasant illusions. It rots, it sinks, it devours - and yet, in doing so, it creates. The bayou faerie embodies this truth perfectly. It is not cruel. It is not kind. It is correct.

I have observed that those who enter such places with arrogance tend to fare… poorly. The ground betrays them, the water confuses them, and the very air seems to conspire against their progress. This is no coincidence. The faerie is not attacking in the way a beast might. It is simply adjusting the balance - correcting an intrusion.

And yet… for those who approach with respect, with a certain humility, the experience becomes something altogether different. Guidance appears where none should be. Safe footing reveals itself. One might even feel… accompanied. It is a rare and quiet sort of favor, and not one given lightly.

So I would advise, most sincerely - if you find yourself in such a place, and you feel as though something is watching you… it almost certainly is.

Do try to be worth the attention.

Coca Wine

Coca Wine

Type Ingested; Addiction Moderate; Price 15 gp (bottle, 6 doses); Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

This deep red tonic wine is produced by steeping coca leaves in strong alcohol, extracting their stimulating properties into a pleasantly bitter, invigorating drink. Among the upper classes, it is considered fashionable - a civilized indulgence for artists, nobles, and those suffering from “nervous exhaustion.”

A standard bottle contains 6 doses.

EFFECT

A creature may drink a dose of coca wine as a standard action.

Upon consumption, the user gains the following benefits for 1 hour:

• +2 alchemical bonus to Strength and Charisma
• +1 alchemical bonus on attack rolls
• +2 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saves against fatigue and exhaustion effects
• The user ignores the effects of fatigue (but not exhaustion) for the duration

Additionally, the user gains a +2 alchemical bonus on Concentration checks and initiative checks due to heightened alertness.

DRAWBACKS

Coca wine places strain on both body and mind.

When the duration ends, the user must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or suffer:

• Fatigue for 1 hour
• –2 penalty to Wisdom for 1 hour

If already fatigued, the user instead becomes exhausted.

ADDICTION

Coca wine is moderately addictive.

• Initial save: DC 13 Fortitude
• Secondary save: DC 13 Fortitude (after 24 hours)

Failure indicates addiction. An addicted character who goes 24 hours without coca wine takes:

• –2 penalty to Strength, Dexterity, and Charisma
• –1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks

These penalties persist until the character consumes a dose.

OVERUSE

If more than 2 doses are consumed within 1 hour, the user must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become:

• Shaken for 1 hour
• Suffer 1 point of Constitution damage

SPECIAL

• Coca wine counts as both an alchemical substance and an alcoholic beverage.
• Effects from multiple doses do not stack; only the duration is extended.
• A creature immune to poison is immune to addiction and negative side effects, but still gains the benefits.

LORE

Coca wine first emerged from the blending of old viticulture and exotic southern leaves, its rise fueled not by necessity, but by fashion. What began as a curiosity quickly became a staple of refined society - a drink that promised vigor without vulgarity, stimulation without stigma. Its adoption by the elite ensured its rapid spread through salons, courts, and private studies alike.

Physicians and apothecaries eagerly promoted it as a remedy for nearly every ailment of modern life - melancholia, nervous weakness, poor blood, creative stagnation. Whether these claims hold truth is a matter of debate, though few deny its immediate and unmistakable effects.

Among the working class, coca wine is viewed with suspicion or outright distrust - too expensive for common use, and too closely associated with the peculiar habits of the wealthy. Yet in certain urban circles, particularly among performers, writers, and dilettantes, it is consumed with an enthusiasm that borders on dependency.

CONSTRUCTION

Coca wine is not a magic item and requires no spells to create.

Craft (Alchemy) DC 15; raw materials cost 5 gp per bottle.
Ingredients: Fine red wine, dried coca leaves, mild stabilizing reagents.

Kelwyn’s Notes...

Ah… yes. One encounters this particular indulgence in the quieter corners of society’s more respectable decay - a drink spoken of in polite tones, as though refinement might soften what it so plainly is. Coca wine. A stimulant masquerading as sophistication, dressed in the trappings of culture so that its consumers may pretend they are not merely indulging, but participating in something elevated.

Let us not be charmed by its presentation. This is not a tonic. It is not a remedy. It is a leash - silken, perfumed, and willingly fastened about the throat. The body is coaxed into false vigor, the mind into borrowed brilliance, all while something quieter and far more insidious takes root beneath the surface. What it grants is not strength, but the illusion of it, purchased on credit from one’s own future.

I have observed its devotees - artists who swear it sharpens their genius, nobles who claim it steadies their nerves, and the perpetually weary who insist they have finally found relief. And yet, in time, they all arrive at the same destination. The hands tremble. The will softens. The self - that most precious and fragile of constructs - becomes negotiable. One begins by taking coca wine… and ends by quietly rearranging one’s life to ensure it is always close at hand.

They are not wicked, these people. No, that would be simpler. They are… diminished. Reduced, not by cruelty, but by surrender. There is a particular sadness in watching a mind learn to lean upon something that cannot love it in return.

I find it repugnant. Not merely for what it does, but for how elegantly it convinces its victims to participate in their own undoing. There is a vulgar honesty in many vices - drink, excess, indulgence - but this… this insists upon calling itself medicine. That, I think, is the greater offense.

And so it persists, passed between hands that would recoil were the truth made plain, praised in circles that would condemn it under any other name. A most fascinating thing, really - how eagerly one will sip poison, provided it is served in a crystal glass and introduced with proper etiquette.

One cannot help but wonder which is more potent - the substance itself… or the lie that accompanies it.

Traiteur (NPC Class)

The humble healer of Aurelisse’s living earth

Class Overview

Alignment: Any Good (usually Neutral Good)
Hit Die: d6
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Survival (Wis)
Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Traiteurs are proficient with simple weapons and the sickle. They are proficient with light armor but not shields.

Class Table (Summary)

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Gift of Aurelisse, Traitement (minor), Herbal Lore
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Lay on Hands
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Traitement (lesser)
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Marsh Sense
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Remove Affliction
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Traitement (moderate)
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Spirit Intercession
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Greater Lay on Hands
9th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Traitement (greater)
10th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Avatar of the Living Earth

Class Features

Gift of Aurelisse (Ex)

A traiteur does not learn healing - they inherit it. This gift cannot be sold or willingly exchanged for wealth.

• A traiteur who knowingly charges coin for healing loses all supernatural abilities until they perform an act of atonement.
• They may accept humble offerings (food, herbs, tokens) without penalty.

Traitement (Su)

The core healing ritual - a mix of whispered prayer, touch, and intention.

• Functions similarly to spell-like abilities but requires touch and 1 minute of quiet focus.
• Uses Wisdom for all effects.

Daily Uses: 1 + Wis modifier

Scaling Effects:

• Minor (1st): Cure Light Wounds, stabilize, remove fatigue
• Lesser (3rd): Cure Moderate Wounds, remove disease (1/day)
• Moderate (6th): Cure Serious Wounds, neutralize poison
• Greater (9th): Cure Critical Wounds, remove curse

Important Cultural Limitation:

• Traitement fails if the target is across a large body of running water (DM discretion - major rivers, not streams)

Herbal Lore (Ex)

A traiteur may use the Heal skill to:

• Treat deadly wounds in 10 minutes instead of 1 hour
• Gain a bonus equal to class level on Heal checks involving natural remedies
• Identify natural poisons and diseases automatically with a successful check

Lay on Hands (Su)

Beginning at 2nd level:

• Heal a total number of hit points per day equal to class level × Wisdom modifier
• Standard action, touch-based

Marsh Sense (Ex)

At 4th level, the traiteur becomes attuned to wetland and fertile environments:

• Cannot be caught flat-footed in natural terrain
• Gains +2 bonus on Survival and Initiative in marsh, swamp, or river regions

Remove Affliction (Su)

At 5th level, once per day:

• Remove disease, poison, or blindness/deafness
• Requires physical contact and a short prayer ritual

Spirit Intercession (Su)

At 7th level:

• Once per day, reroll any failed healing effect or saving throw affecting an ally within touch range
• Must accept the second result

Greater Lay on Hands (Su)

At 8th level:

• Lay on Hands may now also remove:
  • Fatigue
  • Nausea
  • Ability damage (1 point per use)

Avatar of the Living Earth (Su)

At 10th level, the traiteur becomes a vessel of Aurelisse’s will:

• Fast Healing 2 while in natural terrain
• Allies within 10 ft gain +2 on saves vs disease, poison, and fear
• Once per day, may maximize any healing effect

Role in the World

Traiteurs are not adventurers first - they are anchors of community. They live among the people, often in quiet homes filled with drying herbs, bones, and whispered memory. When they travel, it is not for glory, but because someone, somewhere, is suffering.

They are deeply respected, sometimes feared, and almost never understood by outsiders.

Lore

The gift of the traiteur is rarely spoken of as something learned - it is recognized. Elders will say that the signs appear early, though never loudly: a child who stills a fever with a touch, who knows which root to pull without being taught, who listens more than they speak when the wind moves through the reeds. Yet the knowledge itself is not given freely. It is passed in hushed moments near the end of a teacher’s life, often across generations and often across gender, as tradition quietly insists. The words of the traitement are never written, never recorded, and never spoken aloud outside their purpose. To do so would be to strip them of meaning, like pulling a plant from the soil and expecting it to live.

Among the bayou communities, traiteurs exist in a delicate balance between reverence and familiarity. They are called upon in moments of need - burns, sickness, lingering pains that refuse to fade - but are otherwise left to their quiet lives. It is considered improper to thank them directly, not out of ingratitude, but out of respect for the source of the healing itself. One does not thank the river for flowing, nor the earth for bearing fruit. Instead, gratitude is shown in subtler ways: a basket left at the door, a warm meal prepared, a roof mended without being asked. In this way, the traiteur remains part of the community, never elevated above it, never separated from it.

Yet there are whispers, carried as all things are through the slow waters of the marsh, that not every gift remains untouched by shadow. There are those who have tried to bend the tradition - to take coin in secret, to force the healing where it is not welcome, or to carry their influence across the running waters that were never meant to bear it. Such acts do not fail immediately. That would be too merciful. Instead, the land itself begins to withdraw. Herbs lose their potency in their hands. The words of the traitement feel hollow. And in time, what once healed begins only to quiet the pain, not remove it. The oldest among the traiteurs speak of this not as punishment, but as a correction - the living earth reclaiming what was never meant to be owned.

READER NOTIFICATION

Feat - Crowd Reader

CROWD READER [General]

Prerequisites: Sense Motive 8 ranks, Wis 13
Benefit: Once per round as a free action during a conversation, you may attempt a Sense Motive check opposed by a creature’s Bluff check.

If successful, you gain a +2 bonus on your next Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check against that creature within the next round.

Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks made to detect lies or assess attitudes in a social setting (such as a tavern, marketplace, or gathering).

Feat - Beloved Local Figure

BELOVED LOCAL FIGURE [General]

Prerequisites: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Gather Information 5 ranks, must reside in a settlement for at least 1 month
Benefit: In the settlement where you are well-known, you gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks.

In addition, the starting attitude of NPCs who are aware of your reputation improves by one step (maximum Friendly). This is a mind-affecting, language-dependent effect based on reputation, not magic.

Special: Losing the trust of the community (DM discretion) removes the benefits until reputation is restored.

Feat - Master Bartender

MASTER BARTENDER [General]

Prerequisites: Profession (bartender) 8 ranks, Cha 13
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on Profession (bartender) checks. When serving drinks in a tavern, inn, or similar establishment, you may use Profession (bartender) in place of Bluff or Diplomacy checks related to storytelling, calming patrons, or creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Additionally, when you spend at least 1 minute serving or speaking with a creature while providing food or drink, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks against that creature for the next hour.

Normal: Profession (bartender) cannot substitute for social skills.
Special: A character with 5 or more ranks in Diplomacy gains an additional +2 bonus on Profession (bartender) checks.

Barber-Surgeon (NPC Class)

Barber-surgeons occupy a peculiar niche between healer and tradesman. Though lacking formal magical training, they are often the only source of medical care available to common folk, soldiers, and travelers. Their craft blends practical anatomy, superstition, and tradition - equal parts lifesaving skill and questionable practice.

While capable of grooming and cosmetic work, their true value lies in battlefield triage, crude surgery, and the management of wounds using tools that are as often feared as they are trusted.

Hit Die

d6

Class Skills

Appraise (Int), Craft (Alchemy) (Int), Craft (Barbering) (Dex), Craft (Surgery) (Wis), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Profession (Barber-Surgeon) (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis)

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Barber-surgeons are proficient with:

• Simple weapons
• Razors (treated as daggers)
• Light armor
• Bucklers (but not tower shields)

Base Attack Bonus

Medium progression (as Cleric)

Saving Throws

• Fortitude: Good
• Reflex: Poor
• Will: Good

Class Table

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Barber’s Tools, Field Dressing
2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Bloodletting
3	+2	+3	+1	+3	Leechcraft
4	+3	+4	+1	+4	Stitch Wounds
5	+3	+4	+1	+4	Battlefield Triage
6	+4	+5	+2	+5	Clean Cut
7	+5	+5	+2	+5	Sawbones
8	+6	+6	+2	+6	Iron Stomach
9	+6	+6	+3	+6	Master Barber
10	+7	+7	+3	+7	Surgeon Supreme

Class Features

Barber’s Tools (Ex)

A barber-surgeon begins play with a kit including razors, scissors, needles, bone saw, leech jars, and bandages.

• Counts as masterwork tools for Heal checks
• Without tools, the barber-surgeon takes a -4 penalty on Heal checks

Field Dressing (Ex)

At 1st level, the barber-surgeon can stabilize a dying creature as a move action instead of a standard action.

Additionally, once per day per patient, the barber-surgeon may restore:

• 1d4 + Wis modifier HP
• Requires a Heal check (DC 10)

Bloodletting (Ex)

At 2nd level, the barber-surgeon may deliberately bleed a patient to “rebalance humors.”

• Spend 1 minute treating a target
• Target takes 1d4 damage
• Removes one of the following:
  • Fatigued condition
  • Sickened condition
  • +2 bonus on next Fortitude save within 1 hour

A creature can only benefit once per day.

Leechcraft (Ex)

At 3rd level, the barber-surgeon may apply medicinal leeches.

• 10 minutes of treatment
• Heals 2d4 HP
• Grants +2 bonus vs disease or poison for 1 hour

Stitch Wounds (Ex)

At 4th level, the barber-surgeon can treat more serious injuries.

• Full-round action
• Heal check DC 15
• Restores 1d6 + level HP
• Can be used once per encounter per target

Battlefield Triage (Ex)

At 5th level, the barber-surgeon thrives under pressure.

• May use Heal without provoking attacks of opportunity
• May treat two adjacent allies as a single action (roll once, apply to both)

Clean Cut (Ex)

At 6th level, the barber-surgeon’s blades are exceptionally precise.

• Razors count as masterwork weapons
• Gain +1 to attack rolls with daggers/razors
• On a successful sneak attack (if applicable), reduce target bleeding or apply 1 point bleed damage (DM discretion)

Sawbones (Ex)

At 7th level, the barber-surgeon can perform crude amputations.

• 1 minute procedure
• Removes:
  • Ongoing bleed effects
  • Limb-based penalties (DM adjudication)
• Target takes 2d6 damage
• Grants immediate save against poison/disease at +4 bonus

Iron Stomach (Ex)

At 8th level, the barber-surgeon becomes desensitized to gore.

• Immunity to nausea from non-magical sources
• +4 bonus vs fear effects

Master Barber (Ex)

At 9th level, grooming becomes an art form.

• Can:
  • Alter appearance convincingly (Disguise bonus +5)
  • Provide a shave/haircut granting +2 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks for 24 hours

Surgeon Supreme (Ex)

At 10th level, the barber-surgeon reaches peak non-magical medical mastery.

Once per day, they may perform a major operation:

• 10 minutes
• Heal check DC 20
• Restores 4d6 + level HP
• Removes one of the following:
  • Ability damage (1d4 points)
  • Exhausted condition
  • Non-magical disease

Failure deals 2d6 damage instead.

Optional Equipment

Barber-Surgeon Kit (25 gp, 5 lbs)
Includes razors, needles, thread, bone saw, leeches, alcohol, cloth bandages.

Grants +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks (already included in class feature).