Paladin Hurin didn't understand the cause of his mates depression. He had assumed it was what she was blaming it on; the fact he was away from home all the time, that she missed him, that she was trapped in a loveless relationship with him. He blamed himself, but couldn't find it in him to give up his duty to his god or his people. By the time the truth was uncovered, it was soon enough to be able to save the child the woman carried within her, but not to save his beloved.
Size/Type: Fine Undead (Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 2d12 (13 hp)
Initiative: -2
Speed: Fly 5 ft. (perfect) (1 square)
Armor Class: 16 (-2 Dex, +8 Size), touch 16, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: —/—
Attack: -
Full Attack: -
Space/Reach: ½ ft/0 ft.
Special Attacks: Attach, Sap Hope
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., incorporeal traits, +3 turn resistance, undead traits, Rare
Saves: Fort +0, Ref -2, Will +2
Abilities: Str Ø, Dex 6, Con Ø, Int 3, Wis 8, Cha 8
Skills: Hide +22
Feats: Skill Focus: Hide
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral evil
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —
Lifesense (Su)
A hope maggot notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability. It also has an idea of their Cha score, being able to differentiate between "Weak" (9 or below), "Average" 10-12 Cha, "Strong" (13-16 Cha) and "Very Strong" (18+ Cha) personalities, always favouring the strongest.
Attach:
A hope maggot may automatically attach itself to a helpless target, or one unaware of it's prescence, on the material plane. It then exists on the material plane, but still counts as ethereal for the purposes of being detected, etc. The target does not feel or notice this, even once they begin to experience symptoms of the Sap Hope ability, unless they associate such symptoms with their knowledge of a Hope Maggot. A hope maggot will not detach from it's victim for any reason except the target's death, which makes them easy to destroy once they are discovered and the right spells or tools are available.
Sap Hope (Su)
Once attached to a target, a Hope Maggot begins to slowly drain the part of their soul and force of being that gives them their drive to interact with the world around them. A being afflicted by a hope maggot remains unaware of it, and at first begins to experience feelings of resentment, sadness, disappointment and melacholy, seeing the darker side of life in everything that occurs and in the people around them, and in the later stages, this feelings gradually morph into depression, withdrawel, hopelessness, and a feeling of emptyness. In the final stages of the hope maggot's attack, the target withdraws completely: still concious and alive, but unwilling to do much beyond the basics of survival, seldom speaking or engaging with anyone, seeing little reason to, as they no longer gain joy or fulfillment from any activity. When their Cha score reaches zero, they die: this is an exception to the normal rule of a person merely falling into a coma when their Cha score reaches zero. As their very soul has been damaged by this process, they cannot be revived by any means sort of a True Ressurection.
While the targets Cha score is 13 or over, a hope maggot will inflict 1 point of Cha damage a week. Between 9 and 12, this increase to 1d4-1 points of Cha damage a week, and the subject rapidly spirals into depression. When the targets cha score is 8 or lower, this increases further to 1d6, and once the target has been reduced to 4 cha or lower through this attack, it is too late to save them, even if the Hope Maggot is subsequently removed or destroyed: the target will then die in 1d4 days, but in that time they will feel happy for the first time in weeks or months, and seem like a subdued but content version of their old self.
If a hope maggot's victim is killed through some other means before it has fully drained them, it detaches and moves off in search of another target. Once a hope maggot has killed enough victims to have damaged 18 points of cha in total, it divides into two new hope maggots, which will venture off seperately to destroy more lives.
Rare:
Hope Maggots are exceptionally rare, and noone is sure where they came from. Only a few people have encountered and destroyed them, and so all Knowledge checks made concerning them are at +20 DC.