# Ekolid >[!rimg]+ > ![[Placeholder2.png]] *The demon’s ant-shaped body is the size of a wolf, yet its numerous spindly legs spread nearly 6 feet across. Vertical mandibles gnash above a cluster of black eyes, and three pairs of membranous wings sprout from its thorax. Its insectlike body trails off into a writhing mass of tails, each tipped in an upward-curving stinger protruding from a distended bulge.* <div class="grid-container"><div class="MON">Ekolid</div> <div class="CR">CR 4 (1,200 XP)</div> <div class="SOU">Fiendish Codex 1</div> <div class="SYS">Dungeons & Dragons 3.5</div></div> CE Small Outsider (chaotic, evil, obyrith) **Init** +3 **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., true seeing; **Perception** +13 **Aura** form of madness (60 ft., Will DC 14) #### defense **AC** 14, 14 touch, 11 flat-footed (+3 Dex, +1 size) **hp** 45 (6d10+12) **Fort** +7, **Refl** +7, **Will** +9 **Feint** 23, **Demoralize** 20 **DR** 5/cold iron or lawful **Immune** mind-affecting, poison; **Resist** acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10 #### offense **Speed** 30 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average) **Melee** 6 stings +10 (1d3 plus implant), bite +10 (1d3) **Space** 5 ft., **Reach** 5 ft. #### statistics **Str** 10, **Dex** 16, **Con** 15, **Int** 10, **Wis** 18, **Cha** 13 **BAB** +6, **CMB** +5, **CMD** 18, **TA** +7, **RTA** +10 **Feats** [[Combat Reflexes]], [[Lightning Reflexes]], [[Weapon Finesse]] **Skills** Acrobatics +12, Climb +17, Fly +14, Perception +13, Sense Motive +13, Stealth +14 **Languages** Abyssal **SQ** quickness #### special abilities ### Form of Madness (Su) A creatures within 60 feet that observes an ekolid must succeed on a DC 14 Will save, or begin hallucinating that tiny biting insects are infesting its hair, skin, and clothes. The victim takes a –1 penalty on skill checks and must succeed on a DC 10 Concentration check in order to cast any spells. This madness is permanent, and can be removed with any effect that removes madness or insanity. Looking at multiple ekolids requires a separate save for each one's form of madness, but the effects are not cumulative. Chaotic evil outsiders are immune to this effect. A creature that makes the save is immune to that particular ekolid's form of madness for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based. ### Implant (Ex) Each time a creature takes damage from an ekolid's sting attack, it must succeed a DC 15 Fortitude save, or the ekolid implants an egg just under the creature's skin. An implanted egg hatches at the start of the ekolid's next turn, at which point a ravenous ekolid grub gnaws its way out of the victim. This deals 1d6 points of damage per egg that hatches and nauseates the victim for 1 round (no matter how many eggs hatch), after which the grub is free. A _remove disease_ or a similar effect destroys any unhatched eggs, but immunity to disease does not prevent infestation. Newly hatched ekolids are otherwise harmless, but grow to maturity quickly over the course of only a few hours. A grub has 1 hit point and is considered helpless. The save DC is Constitution-based. ### Quickness (Su) An ekolid is supernaturally quick. It can take an extra move action during its turn each round. #### tactics Although an ekolid is intelligent, its tactics in battle are remarkably simple. Its primary advantage is its speed. An ekolid rushes up to its prey and attempts to implant as many eggs as it can into every available target. Once an ekolid implants at least one egg in each creature in the group it is fighting, it retreats to a secure place to watch its young hatch. If any implanted creature survives the birthing process, the ekolid returns to implant more eggs in the survivors. #### Ecology **Terrain** Warm land or desert (Abyss) **Organization** Solitary or pack (2-4) **Treasure** Standard **Advancement** 7–11 HD (Small); 12–18 HD (Medium) An ekolid is a primeval insectoid demon that sees other life forms as little more than incubators for its eggs. Ekolids are capable of seeding hundreds of eggs in an hour. They have little interest in dead bodies, so the availability of living victims is usually the only thing that moderates their violent reproductive cycle. Newly hatched ekolids grow rapidly, achieving full size over the course of only 6 hours. Fortunately, young ekolids are ravenous during this period and feed upon their siblings, generally ensuring that only one or two demons survive to adulthood. Ekolids prefer warm climates and are most often found in desert layers of the Abyss. They are particularly prevalent in the Driller’s Hives (layer 2) and the Plains of Gallenshu (layer 377), where they are a constant menace to that layer’s armanites. Ekolids have an obvious affinity for the obyrith prince Obox-ob; they are particularly common on Zionyn (layer 663), where they serve him as minions. An ekolid combines the features of an ant, a scorpion, and a spider. Upon close observation, however, it is terrifyingly obvious that it is more than a mere insect. Although its body is only 2 feet long, its legs and ovipositors are long and spindly, making it seem much larger than it actually is. An ekolid weighs 45 pounds. Coloration ranges from brown to red, with a pale yellow underbelly and crimson mandibles. All ekolids have black eyes. ### Society Ekolids are driven by the urge to reproduce constantly, infesting non-ekolids with their eggs. The closest an ekolid comes to displaying recognizable emotion is the horrid gleeful chattering it makes while watching its young hatch from a screaming, living host. Ekolids generally don’t form societies. The most notable exception to this rule are the ekolids of Zionyn. Here, under the rule of Obox-ob, the ekolids build vast hive-cities out of the bodies of those that have served as their incubators. They coat these bodies with a resinous ooze harvested from the shuddering oceans of Zionyn, resulting in morbid cathedrals and towers of the preserved dead. An ekolid city is a nightmarish mockery of a decadent human city, with marketplaces dedicated to supplying exotic creatures to serve as incubators, vast temples dedicated to Obox-ob, and immense open-air forums where the demons can observe “performance hatchings” by powerful ekolid nobles. Rarely, a group of Zionyn ekolids finds its way to the Material Plane, where it builds smaller scale versions of its Abyssal home. In these cases, the ekolids usually just cover the walls of existing stone structures with preserved dead, rather than using them as the primary construction materials.