Seasonal Beasties - Ladies in Grey

In the fall, the earth begins to fall asleep, and sleep was the inspiration for this next seasonal beastie ...

LADIES IN GREY

Women in gray are fey spirits who appear as elegant elven women. The are clad in ruffled silks of teal and dun and dappled bodices of velvet, their collars and wrists ringed in lace. Their skin is as white as bleached bone, their thin, enticing lips are champagne, their hair platinum and their eyes xanadu. They are, no doubt, lovely, but they do not inspire love.

Ladies in grey appear when the wind turns chill and the leaves begin to fall. One might think of them as the harbingers of winter. They walk through the streets of villages and down woodland paths, a chill following them wherever they go. It is said they speak of deep secrets in the hush, honeyed voices, and their raison d'etre is to lay low the powerful to make room for new blood.

In any situation, the ladies in grey will focus their attentions on the most powerful (by levels or possible hit dice) person in their presence. They move swiftly, their bodies and clothes blurring as they do so, and those who enter melee with them must pass a Will save each round or be affected as per the slow spell from the hypnotic quality of their blurred movements. If engaged in hand-to-hand combat, they can produce a slim, silver sickle, but prefer to use their own chilling touch.

Those touched by a lady in grey must pass a Fortitude saving throw or be cast into a deep slumber from which they cannot easily be awakened. The amount one fails the save indicates the amount of time they slumber:

MISSED BY ... DURATION
1 ... 1d4 rounds
2-3 ... 1d4 minutes
4-5 ... 1d4 turns
6-7 ... 1d4 hours
8-9 ... 1d4 days
10-11 ... 1d4 weeks
12-13 ... 1d4 months
14-15 ... 1d4 years
16+ ... 1d4 decades

While slumbering, a victim is placed in stasis - they do not age, nor are the affected by any beneficial or deleterious effects currently on their person, such as spells like bless or poison or disease. They can be harmed and healed while sleeping. While sleeping, half of their life force (i.e. half their levels or hit dice, rounding up) are drained from them and into the surrounding landscape, making plants within 10 feet grow lush and bloom. When they awaken, they must pass one Fortitude saving throw per level or hit dice lost, or lose that level or hit dice permanently.

A person can awaken a sleeping creature with a kiss, but doing so imparts one of their one levels or hit dice to the slumberer. This means that the slumberer need not roll a Fortitude saving throw for one of their lost levels or hit dice.

Lady in Grey, Medium Fey, Average Intelligence: HD 5; AC 14; ATK 1 sickle (1d4) or touch (sleep - see above); MV 30; F13 R11 W11; AL Neutral (N); XP 1250; Special - Sleep touch, blur effect, slow effect - see above.