Homunculus, Expeditious Messenger
A winged ferret swoops down from over a nearby house, as quick and as lithe as any bird of prey. It is only once the little beast has landed on a nearby post that you can clearly see the lines of cracked clay that line its joints; the mismatched feathers that provide its flight; eyes literally made from two glass beads... A message from the boss... just great....
From the little mouth of the clay creature, a familiar voice resonates. "Farrik, It has been two days since your last report concerning the House Vadalis convey to Thronehold. We need to know how the house ambassador will be leaning concerning the negotiations before she gets here. Confirm your time of report, location, and condition of the two assassins we left in your employ along with your report. d'Kundarak. End."
With a few whispered sentences, you give the house scion your report and hurry back to the village inn, making sure that the expeditious messenger is high in the night sky before opening the door. Bloody dwarves... they just have to know every little detail. Besides, its not like the house ambassador is going to survive long enough to reach Thronehold, anyway.
Homunculus, Expeditious Messenger
CR 1/2
XP: 200
Any Alignment (same as creator) Diminutive Construct
Init: +3; Senses: low-light vision, darkvision 60'; Perception +1
DEFENSE:
AC: 17, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 14 (+4 size, +3 Dex)
HP: 5 hp (1d10)
Fort: +0; Ref: +5; Will: +1
Immune: Construct Traits
OFFENSE:
Speed: 20', Fly 100' (Perfect)
Melee: Sting +8 (1d2)
Space: 1 ft.; Reach: 0 ft.
STATISTICS:
Str 1, Dex 17, Con -, Int 8, Wis 12, Chr 7
Base Atk: +1; CMB: -8; CMD: 4
Feats: Lightning Reflexes
Skills: Escape Artist +7, Fly +17, Stealth +15
Languages: All that master speaks
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Message (Ex): Despite the low Intelligence of this homunculi, expeditious messengers are capable of instantly and perfectly memorizing a single, five minute period of conversation, of speech and of making a passable, if clearly not accurate, imitation of people's voices. It's most common use is to deliver a message up to five minutes long in its master's voice, record up to 5 minutes of response from the recipient and returning. It is possible for a expeditious messenger to record a conversation, but it needs to be told when to start recording.
Extended Telepathic Link (Su): An expeditious messenger is unique among homunculi in that it will voluntarily leave the range of the master's telepathic link, which is often necessary for it to deliver the messages that the master commands. However, after one mile, telepathic link to the master is negated until the expeditious messenger returns to within that range. Otherwise, this telepathic link is as complete as it is for all other homunculi, providing instantaneous, perfect communication between master and expeditious messenger.
ECOLOGY:
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Treasure: None
Role: None
Source: ECB, pg. 285
Expeditious messengers are common for those that have need to communicate over long distances and do not trust House Sivis or other methods of communication. These small, ferret-like beings have wingspans almost twice their length and can fly for days on end without being exhausted. The only snag with working with expeditious messengers is making sure that the person they are delivering the message to is the correct person. Unless there is an agreed upon meeting place and time, an expeditious messenger can spend days trying to find the intended recipient or even give the message to someone that happens to look a lot like them. But for covert communication that is nearly impossible to intercept, there are rarely any better alternatives. Like all homunculi, should a expeditious messenger be destroyed, its master takes 2d10 points of damage and should the master be destroyed, or the telepathic link somehow becomes severed), the expeditious messenger goes insane, loosing its Intelligence, feats, and skills. However, if the expeditious messenger is outside of the one mile range of its master's telepathic link when either occurs, the effects are not felt until the remains of either the expeditious messenger or the master are brought to within one mile of each other.
Construction:
Expeditious messengers are made from sculptor's clay, feathers from a parrot, hummingbird and an eagle, and one pint of blood. This body costs 100 gp. After the form is sculpted and let dry in warm sunlight, it is animated through magical rites, requiring an additional 1,000 gp worth of reagents and arcane materials. The person who donated the blood, which is not necessarily the creator, is the expeditious messenger's master. Expeditious messengers can be created with additional hit dice, each additional an additional 2,000 gp to the base cost.
Caster Level: 7th; Price: 2,100 gp
Requirements: Craft Construct, arcane eye, sending; Skill: Craft (sculpture) DC 14; Cost: 1,100 gp.