Diva Ray
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Size/Type | Medium Outsider (Good, Lawful) |
| Hit Dice | 5d8+5 (28 hp) |
| Initiative | +9 |
| Speed | Fly 240 ft. (good) (48 squares) |
| Armor Class | 16 (+5 Dex, +1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 11 |
| Base Attack/Grapple | +5/+4 |
| Attack | Quarterstaff +4 melee (1d6-1); or slam +4 melee (1d4-1) |
| Full Attack | Quarterstaff +4 melee (1d6-1); or slam +4 melee (1d4-1) |
| Space/Reach | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks | Accelerated |
| Special Qualities | Eidetic memory, low-light vision, immunity to sleep, rune resistance |
| Saves | Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +4 |
| Abilities | Str 9, Dex 21, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 11, Cha 14 |
| Skills | Craft (calligraphy) or Decipher Script +8, Hide +10, Knowledge (history) +13, Knowledge (any one) +11, Listen +4, Move Silently +14, Perform (oratory) +6, Search +7, Spot +2 |
| Feats | Fly-by Attack, Improved Initiative |
| Environment | Any lawful-good aligned plane |
| Organization | Solitary, flight (2–4), or flock (6–13) |
| Challenge Rating | 2 |
| Treasure | Standard |
| Alignment | Usually lawful good |
| Advancement | 6–10 HD (Medium) |
| Level Adjustment | +2 |
Description
A blurred form moving with remarkable speed flashes across your sight. You catch a glimpse of an elegant winged creature with vaguely humanoid features, but it is moving entirely too rapidly for you to see much detail.
These extra-planar creatures resemble a flying manta ray, with an elf-like head and two slender arms attached at the shoulders underneath their rubbery wings. The back of their wings is a glossy black, while the underside is a mix of orange and brown hues. Their wings are hairless, but the remainder of the body is covered in a light down.
Diva ray live their lives in a furious rush of energy, moving about with great rapidity and expending themselves within the short span of a dozen years. During that time, however, they live what amounts to several human lifetimes. The diva ray is a nervous creature that is in constant motion. They can also fly silently with great speed, and their enhanced metabolism makes them extremely agile.
Diva rays are literate and can speak common, celestial, draconic, and elven.
Combat
Diva rays are capable of wielding weapons and defending themselves, but would prefer to avoid a fight by fleeing the scene. When defending their own kind or an important location, however, they can prove quite courageous and will fight with determined effectiveness. They are proficient with all simple weapons, but prefer bludgeoning weapons such as the club or staff.
Accelerated (Ex): A diva ray exists at a greatly accelerated pace. When they are not relaxing, this ability functions as the blur and haste spells (caster level 5th). This ability can not be dispelled.
Eidetic memory (Ex): A diva ray can recall with great accuracy anything they have ever witnessed, including the contents of any literature they have read. They gain a +2 competence bonus to any Knowledge skill in which they are trained. (This bonus is factored into the skill modifiers.) They are immune to any effect that would cause them to lose a memory.
Rune Resistance (Su): A diva ray gains a +2 racial bonus on any saving throws against magical effects that are activated by reading.
Diva Ray Society
These beings are innately pacifist, and prefer to spend their time in the pursuit of knowledge and artistic expression. They make excellent servants for any tasks that require high intelligence, and are sometimes used as aids in great libraries on the outer planes. Their ability to recall almost anything they have seen or read allows them to quickly locate a manuscript among an immense collection.
Diva rays typically dwell among the forests, maintaining simple yet elegant homes high among the trees. They are not particularly creative beings, and lack significant artistic abilities. Instead they seek to learn from other intelligent creatures, then pass the knowledge down from generation to generation through their story-telling abilities. Many diva ray communities have verbal histories going back thousands of years, and most have an extensive knowledge of their ancestral kin.
There are said to be an elite race of these beings, known as prima divas, which are non-servile and possess a more formidable array of abilities and lore. These boast exceptional arcane knowledge and exceptional martial skills. Such beings have kept themselves remarkably well hidden among the planes, however, and those who claim to have witnessed their kind are few in numbers.
Advanced Benefits
In addition to the standard changes due to Hit Dice advancement, diva rays also gain the following special benefits.
- 6+ HD ― Gains Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day―detect magic, read magic. Caster level equals Hit Dice for all spell-like abilities.
- 7+ HD ― A diva ray gains the ability to know legends or information regarding various topics, just as a bard can with bardic knowledge. The diva ray adds its Hit Dice and Intelligence modifier to the lore check.
- 8+ HD ― Add 3/day―comprehend languages to spell-like abilities.
- 9+ HD ― Automatically considered trained in the Decipher Script skill and gains a +2 competence bonus to Decipher Script checks.
- 10 HD ― Add 1/day―true seeing to spell-like abilities.