Sump StewardThis hunched giant has spindly limbs covered in moss and a
riot of vines and mushrooms for a torso. It has two bright red
mushrooms growing where its eyes should be, and it sports a
long beard of woven grass.Sump Steward CR 9Source Pathfinder #141: Last Watch pg. 88
XP 6,400
N Large plant
Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14DefenseAC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 21 (+2 Dex, +12 natural, –1 size)
hp 105 (14d8+42); regeneration 10 (acid or fire)
Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +8
Immune plant traitsOffenseSpeed 30 ft.
Melee greatclub +15/+10 (2d8+7) or
2 slams +14 (1d6+5)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +15)
Constant—speak with plants
At will—entangle (DC 12), plant growth
3/day—quickened entangle (DC 12)
1/day—cloudkill (DC 16)StatisticsStr 21, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 14, Cha 12
Base Atk +10; CMB +16; CMD 28
Feats Alertness, Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (entangle), Weapon Focus (greatclub)
Skills Perception +14, Perform (sing) +8, Sense Motive +11,
Stealth +8 (+16 in forests and swamps); Racial Modifiers
+8 Stealth in forests and swamps
Languages Common, Sylvan; speak with plants
SQ improved woodland strideEcologyEnvironment any swamp or underground
Organization solitary, pair, or choir (3–8)
Treasure standard (greatclub, other treasure)Special AbilitiesImproved Woodland Stride (Ex) A sump steward can move
through any sort of bog or undergrowth (such as natural
thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at
its normal speed without taking damage or suffering
other impairments. It can also move without harm or
impediment through bogs, thorns, briars, and overgrown
areas that are magically manipulated to impede motion.DescriptionHidden away in deep caverns or under the shade of
mangroves in isolated swamps, sump stewards hum
songs while they dutifully tend to verdant colonies of
mushrooms and fungi. Vaguely humanoid in form, sump
stewards carry old tree trunks, rotting logs, or other large
tools to help them tend and protect these colonies while
they make their rounds. As they work, they sing low,
thrumming tunes that echo throughout their domain.
Sump stewards—who, despite their intelligence, have no
name for themselves and only indifferently acknowledge
the names given by other races—have long, spindly limbs
that possess great strength. Their form consists of mosses
and lichens, with vines wrapping their bodies and holding
them together. Mushrooms sprout all over the sump
steward’s form, although two red mushrooms glow where
eyes would be. Some sump stewards grow long beards
made of interwoven moss or grass.
A sump steward stands almost 15 feet tall, though they
are frequently hunched over and seem shorter. They
weigh approximately 1,400 pounds.EcologySump stewards begin life as a pair of red mushrooms.
These rare mushrooms often grow in fungal colonies
tended by older sump stewards, who keep the new sump
stewards sheltered and well-fed. Any creatures that invade
the colony are quickly and firmly escorted away by the
attendant sump stewards. By the time the red mushrooms
are ready to sprout, an attendant sump steward has
usually prepared a pile of twigs, leaves, moss, and other
organic debris nearby. When the mushrooms sprout, they
send shoots out to wrap around the offerings and form a
body; the original red mushrooms serve as the new sump
steward’s eyes. Sump stewards that grow unattended form
bodies from whatever debris is near and might seem
mismatched as a result: some of these unattended sump
stewards might walk with a limp, bear additional limbs,
or have forms that incorporate bones or rocks.
While sump stewards’ bodies can look rather
hodgepodge, they are resilient and strong. The vines
that wrap their bodies regrow quickly and knit a sump
steward back together with remarkable speed. While not
inherently violent, sump stewards don’t hesitate to use
their strength to protect their domain, encouraging local
plants to restrain and delay intruders. If lethal force is
required, they can use their oversized farming implements
as greatclubs and expel clouds of poisonous spores
that functions as the cloudkill spell. Goblins and other
underground races tend to avoid sump steward colonies,
venturing into them only under dire circumstances.
Arcano-botanists posit that all sump stewards are
biological duplicates of one original organism, spreading
asexually via their spores for thousands or millions of
years all across Golarion. It is unknown how long an
individual sump steward lives, but an elven explorer
reported meeting the same sump steward 800 years apart.
It’s even possible that the original sump steward is still
alive, tending to some remote colony to this day.Habitat and SocietySump stewards are social creatures; a group of sump
stewards is called a choir because they sing together.
Every sump steward in a choir sings its own unique song,
and when the voices come together, the subtly different
melodies build upon one another in a haunting music
that echoes throughout their domain. Sump stewards’
social structures are intensely hierarchical. The eldest in
a choir speaks for—and makes binding decisions for—
every sump steward in the choir.
Sump stewards live primarily underground or deep in
primeval forests and swamps, although they can be found
anywhere they can manage to grow their colonies.
While a single sump steward might tend to a relatively
small colony, a choir of sump stewards might have
a domain that encompasses many square miles.
These fungal forests have their
own unique ecology: various
slimes, jellies, and oozes make
their home among the stalks of
giant mushrooms, while large
packs of fungal crawlers (Pathfinder
RPG Bestiary 2 127) scamper along
the floor. Giant slugs sometimes live
within a colony, as they are attracted to
and pacified by sump steward songs.
Sump stewards have a longstanding
but puzzling rivalry with treants. Entire
choirs have been observed to travel far
from their colonies to attack a treant
grove, leaving their treasures and young
sump stewards unguarded as they wage
these attacks. Treants don’t share this violent
animosity, but they think poorly of sump
stewards, likening them to parasites or blights on
nature. The source of this intense enmity isn’t clear;
sump stewards and treants rarely inhabit the same
areas, so they don’t typically compete for resources.
Sump stewards don’t take much stock in what other
creatures think of them, so it’s unlikely that treants’
dismissive attitude toward sump stewards is sufficient
to generate this ire. Whatever the reason, sump stewards
and treants never cooperate, and they usually come to
blows if they encounter one another.Notable Sump StewardsSump stewards exist across Golarion, including the
following locations.
Kaer Maga: One of the most notable colonies of
sump stewards is located under Kaer Maga, in the
deep and mysterious chasm called Nursery Trench. This
chasm is so choked with fungal growth that it is nearly
impassable, although the form of an overgrown cathedral
is barely visible at the chasm’s lowest point. The choir of
sump stewards in Nursery Trench is headed by a steward
called Calando Mosswort. It’s said that the cathedral
Calando’s choir guards holds secrets from before Earthfall.
Mindspin Mountains: A sump steward known as
Lichenback leads a choir in eastern Varisia. Dwarven
traders occasionally pass through Lichenback’s large
colony in the Mindspin Mountains. Lichenback lets
travelers pass if they give up a token, which the sump
steward adds to an impressive collection of mementos in
a collapsed tower choked with fungus.
Fangwood: Fluge Darkwood leads an exceptionally
large choir in the Fangwood Forest, near the strange
blight that pervades the forest’s heart. It’s unknown if
Fluge’s choir has been corrupted by
Arlantia, or if they simply find the
blight more hospitable for rampant
fungal growth. Rumors persist that
the sump stewards’ songs echoing
through the Fangwood are paeans to the
horrid god Cyth-V’sug.
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