Couatl, Tletli
This massive flying serpent’s iridescent scales glimmer like opals, and white-hot flames dance along the feathers of its burning wings.
Tletli CR 14
Source Pathfinder #143: Borne by the Sun's Grace pg. 84
XP 38,400
NG Huge outsider (native)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 120 ft., detect chaos/evil/good/ law; Perception +30
Defense
AC 30, touch 13, flat-footed 25 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +17 natural, –2 size)
hp 200 (16d10+112)
Fort +12, Ref +16, Will +17
Immune fire; Resist acid 15, cold 15, electricity 15; SR 25
Offense
Speed 30 ft., fly 120 ft. (poor)
Melee bite +25 (2d8+11/19–20 plus grab and poison), 2 wings +20 (1d8+5 plus burn and stoke fire)
Space 15 ft., Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (50-ft. cone, 12d6 fire, Reflex DC 25 half, usable every 1d4 rounds), burn (2d6 fire, DC 25), constrict (2d8+11 plus burn)
Spell-Like Abilities ((CL 12th; concentration +18))
Constant—detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law
At will—detect thoughts (DC 17), ethereal jaunt, invisibility, plane shift (DC 22)
1/day—sunburst (DC 24)
Spells Known (CL 12th; concentration +18)
6th (4/day)—holy word (DC 22)
5th (6/day)—dismissal (DC 21), flame strike
4th (7/day)—dispel evil (DC 20), holy smite, wall of fire
3rd (7/day)—daylight, dispel magic, fireball (DC 19), searing light (DC 19)
2nd (8/day)—castigate (DC 18), eagle’s splendor, flaming sphere (DC 18), gust of wind (DC 18), scorching ray
1st (8/day)—burning hands (DC 17), charm person (DC 17), comprehend languages, magic missile, protection from evil
0 (at will)—dancing lights, daze (DC 16), detect magic, flare (DC 16), light, mage hand, message, read magic, resistance
Statistics
Str 32, Dex 19, Con 24, Int 17, Wis 24, Cha 23
Base Atk +16; CMB +29 (+33 grapple); CMD 44 (can't be tripped)
Feats Alertness, Dodge, Eschew MaterialsB, Hover, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Vital Strike
Skills Bluff +25, Fly +15, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (arcana) +22, Knowledge (planes) +22, Perception +30, Sense Motive +30, Spellcraft +19, Stealth +15
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ holy fire
Ecology
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or revelation (3–6 plus 1–2 angels and 1 chicome couatl)
Treasure standard
Special Abilities
Holy Fire (Su) Fire damage dealt by a tletli, including that of its breath weapon and spells, is infused with divine energy. Half the damage of such attacks is fire damage, but the other half is the result of holy power and thus not subject to being reduced by resistance to fire-based attacks. Fire damage dealt by a tletli is considered good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Poison (Ex) Injury—bite; save Fort DC 25; frequency 1/minute for 10 minutes; effect 1d6 Str; cure 2 consecutive saves.
Spells A tletli casts spells as a 12th-level sorcerer, and can cast spells from the inquisitor and paladin spell lists as well as those normally available to a sorcerer. These divine spells are considered arcane spells for the tletli, meaning that the creature does not need a divine focus to cast them.
Stoke Flames (Ex) Once per round when a tletli attacks with its wings, it can cause areas of active fire within 30 feet to spread as a free action. An affected 5-foot square of fire spreads to one adjacent square that is not on fire, possibly burning objects or creatures in that space. The tletli determines which adjacent squares are set on fire.
Description
Of all the couatls, tletlis are among the most vengeful and easily the most actively destructive, channeling their righteous fury to rid Golarion of large swaths of evildoers. While some couatls may offer redemption to evil individuals, a tletli withholds salvation and exacts punishment on whole sects of people whose crimes they deem warrant oblivion. Tletlis do not hunt down individuals, instead targeting gangs, corrupt governments, and even entire settlements that they believe have fallen beyond redemption.
The tletli is a terrifying sight to behold. Its wings are continually shrouded in flame, ranging from warm orange at the base to hot blue at the tips, causing the air around the couatl to radiate with an ominous light best described as apocalyptic. Further magnifying the effect, the beast’s opalescent scales seem to reflect a divine light. A typical tletli is 35 long with a wingspan of 25 feet. It is one of the heaviest couatls, weighing nearly 6,000 pounds.
Ecology
The tletli has a unique connection to the powers of the firmament, even compared to other couatls. The divine intensity of a tletli’s fire is so great that it can penetrate the defenses of even creatures made from flame, and its conflagration is infused with holy power that can wreak devastation among evil outsiders, dragons, and undead.
Tletlis rarely gift their sacred feathers to mortals, but when they do it is a true honor, and one that bestows great power upon the recipient of the holy item. A tletli’s freely given feather acts in all ways as a couatl’s feather, allowing a spellcaster to use it as an additional material component to cast planar ally to conjure that specific tletli without expending the typical payment of gold or other valuables—provided the tletli approves of the service asked for by the spellcaster. Alternatively, a tletli’s feather can be used as an additional material component while casting any damage-dealing spell with the fire descriptor; in this case, the spell gains the benefits of the Maximize Spell metamagic feat, and the spell uses up a spell slot 3 levels higher than the spell’s actual level.
Habitat and Society
A tletli appears only as a last resort, when a particular settlement or area has become filled with irredeemably evil individuals. Ghost towns overrun with undead, blighted forests plagued by evil fey, and interplanar portals that act as gateways for devils or demons are all likely targets for a tletli’s wrath. In addition to their worship of righteous deities such as Sarenrae and Torag, tletlis serve a disproportionate number of empyreal lords, enacting swift justice on behalf of mighty angels and archons like Ragathiel, Olheon, and Damerrich. Like their masters, they assume the role of divine executioners, meting out the most extreme discipline possible to agents of vileness.
Although tletlis are near legendary in terms of their scarcity, those who recognize these massive creatures for what they are quickly understand the destruction soon to come. Legend tells that tletlis were more prominent on Golarion shortly after Earthfall as they worked to fight the evils that arose during the Age of Darkness.
If and when a tletli is called upon to obliterate an irredeemable region, the couatl enlists mortals to aid its efforts, typically in the form of envoys and delegates who extend a final chance for redemption to the sinners in question. A tletli’s prerogative, however, is punishment, not mercy, and woe be unto any who cavort with the wrong kind of company at the wrong time in a tletli’s presence. If there are genuine innocents within a group or settlement on which the tletli has set its sights, the couatl may send an emissary, such as a charmed person, to forewarn the pure of heart, but it otherwise does not hesitate to incinerate the entire locale. Their deific masters understand tletlis’ unrivaled propensity for holy retribution all too well, and they typically send other couatls or celestials like angels to accompany the tletlis in case there are a number of individuals in a settlement that should be evacuated or protected during the razing.
