Source Alien Archive 2 pg. 106Ravai CR 6 XP 2,400
N Medium fey (fire)
Init +5; Perception +13
DefenseHP 90; RP 4
EAC 18; KAC 20
Fort +7; Ref +10; Will +8
Immunities electricity, fire, radiation
Weaknesses vulnerable to coldOffenseSpeed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (Su, perfect)
Melee slam +12 (1d8+6 E & F)
Ranged ejection +15 (2d6+5 E & F; critical burn 1d4)
Offensive Abilities flare, grasping vines, implosionStatisticsSTR +0; DEX +5; CON +0; INT +2; WIS +1; CHA +3
Skills Acrobatics +13 (+21 to fly), Culture +13, Diplomacy +18, Mysticism +13
Languages Common, First Speech
Other Abilities luminous, no breath, solar adaptationEcologyEnvironment any solar
Organization solitary, pair, or cluster (3–9)Special AbilitiesEjection (Su) A ravai’s ejection ranged attack has a range increment of 90 feet.
Flare (Su) Once every 1d6 rounds, as a full action, a ravai can spend 1 Resolve Point to emit a burst of solar energy in a 20-footradius spherical spread centered on the ravai. Creatures in the area take 6d8 electricity and fire damage and are blinded for 1 round. A creature that succeeds at a DC 14 Fortitude saving throw takes half the damage and isn’t blinded. Creatures that are vulnerable to sunlight take a –6 penalty to this saving throw. Plants that aren’t fungi and plant creatures that aren’t fungoid take no damage; instead, this effect restores 6d8 Hit Points to such targets.
Grasping Vines (Su) As a standard action, a ravai can use the xenodruid mystic’s grasping vines connection power (Reflex DC 14) as if the ravai were a 6th-level mystic.
Implosion (Su) When killed, a ravai implodes into a gravitational singularity as the forces that hold the creature’s body together collapse. This singularity makes one combat maneuver (+16 attack bonus) against creatures within a 60-foot-radius spherical spread from the slain ravai. If the attack is successful, a creature moves 10 feet toward the singularity plus 10 feet for every 5 by which the result exceeds the target’s KAC + 8. Creatures drawn into the ravai’s space take 6d6 damage and are knocked prone in the nearest unoccupied space. Unattended objects of light bulk or less are automatically drawn into the ravai’s space and remain there.
Luminous (Su) A ravai is supernaturally luminous, shining bright light out to a range of 60 feet, normal light for another 60 feet, and dim light for another 60 feet. A magical effect can reduce the light in this area only if from a source that has a higher level or CR than the ravai. As a move action, a ravai can reduce the area of this light by half or return it to normal.DescriptionThe combustion that occurs within a star is one of the most powerful and vital forces in nature. Through its light and heat, a sun provides energy for life on worlds millions of miles away, and organisms that do not in some way rely on these gifts are rare indeed. It seems only natural, then, that such a crucial process should have associated fey. Ravais resemble humanoid grasshoppers with gnarled, plantlike elements—every surface glowing a mottled red and yellow like the surface of the sun seen through a dark filter. Despite their constant glow, ravais aren’t made of light, at least not as most scientists understand it. Instead, ravais generate strong magnetic fields that condense light into something akin to ordinary matter. This condensed light forms a ravai’s physical body and allows it to withstand the internal heat and pressure of even the most massive stars. An average ravai is 5 feet tall and weighs just 85 pounds. Although they are occasionally mistaken for elementals, ravais have no ties to the Plane of Fire, instead dwelling in mysterious settlements inside the stars of the Material Plane.
As the fey embodiment of a star, a ravai can unleash tremendous destruction with the flaming tendrils that peel off its body like coronal mass ejections. But a ravai’s abilities also reflect the nurturing power of solar energy. The same flares of magical energy that might burn an enemy to cinders can also nourish and invigorate plants and other organisms that rely on the sun for energy. Indeed, without resorting to its magical abilities, a ravai can cause nearby plants to bloom and flourish quickly, even in the harshest conditions. First World lore speaks of ancient Material Plane societies that once summoned and bound ravais for terraforming purposes, harnessing and amplifying fey magic with lost technologies. With the advent of Drift travel, some explorers have ventured deeper into the galaxy in search of these ravai-terraformed worlds, but to date, no discoveries have been reported. However, it is said ravais hunt down any who seek to replicate these mislaid methods.
Ravais make their homes inside stars throughout the galaxy, using the immense energies found there to link their Material Plane abodes to similar regions on the First World. However, ravais have a strained relationship with the fey of the First World. Ravai religion holds that their true patron is Apholine the Flame, an Eldest who long ago retreated to live within a sun. Ravais believe that they should follow her model and that she might return to lead them once they fully understand the mystery that led her to withdraw from First World affairs. Until then, they wait, study, and oppose the shadowy fey creatures called ankou, believing the assassin fey to be tainted, umbral reflections of ravai glory, as well as the future architects of a prophesied apocalypse called the Eclipse.
To a ravai, all creatures born in the light of the ravai’s star are that fey’s metaphorical children. Academically minded ravais take an intense interest in the organisms that arise in their Material Plane solar systems. Through magical scrying and the interception of broadcasts, such ravais carefully study the intelligent species of their chosen system, which ravais dub their wards. A ravai scholar learns its wards’ religious practices, magic systems, and popular culture. This knowledge can foster great affection toward members of ward species, but just as often, a ravai observes with scholarly detachment or the excruciating paternalism one might show for a clever but poorly trained pet.
Most ravais stay close to their homes inside stars unless called forth due to great need, summoning magic, or the orders of an Eldest, whom ravais still begrudgingly revere. There exists, however, a particular caste, faction, or life phase of ravais that is much more likely to be encountered among Material Plane residents. Little is known in specific about these wanderers who leave their solar homes to travel the galaxy. They frequently gather members of other intelligent species, as well as numerous plant creatures, to establish sun cults, study aspects of their wards’ cultures, or pursue strange quests. Such wandering ravais are invariably tight mandibled about their motivations, but a recent Starfinder Society report indicates that several different wandering ravais have referred to the act of leaving their home stars as the Tearing, hinting that their missions among Material Plane cultures are at the direction of an interstellar ruling council of ravais called the Prominences.
|