The Vespidae

Caught between woman and wasp, the vespidae is a mechanical chimera animated by an admixture of electricity and fury. The silver gynoid's legs are mostly human in shape, though they end in sharply pointed toes and are lined with self-regenerating barbs of loadstone. A slim wasp-like thorax extends from the vespidae's tailbone, ringed with red-steel circles. Two sets of arms extend from her shapely torso; a human set from the flanks and insectile ones from the shoulder joints. Her head is human for the most part, though it also mandibles cutting from side of her lips and small compound eyes in its sockets. Her antennae are merely a tuning fork and her wings an exquisite construction of silver and conductive gossamer. Glass slivers line the vespidae's ribs, cheeks, and spine. These give a glimpse of the lumpy blend of chitin and exposed muscle floating in charged chemicals.

Scientific Mishap. The vespidae never intended to be an abomination encased in a silvery shell. She and her lover were both accomplished alchemists and arcanists who also shared a keen interest in insects. The pair kept a variety of bees, hornets and wasps around their estate to both study and cultivate for various agricultural pursuits; but only as a hobby. Their focus for several years remained on inventing what they called waystones. These arcane devices would open up teleportation to the masses instead of it taking years of arcane study to master the spell. Years, incidentally, spent under the thumb of the greedy Planar Guild and then essentially enslaved to their service. The guild's wizards kept the secrets of teleportation magic to themselves and charged exorbitant prices for the service. Catering to the rich and powerful, the Planar Guild had become just another gang of oligarchs abusing the less fortunate.

The lovers dreamed of crippling the Planar Guild and becoming heroines to the common folk. Unfortunately, their experiments ended in a nightmare. One cannot say if it was a stray hornet that flew into a waystone experiment, sabotage by the Guild, or a cruel twist of fate that caused the accident. The vespidae went into one waystone a woman and appeared on the other as a rapidly devolving mess of raw nerves, twisted bones, chitin and oozing flesh. If not for the lover's quick thinking and magical ability the vespidae would have died that day. Perhaps that would have been for the best. She spent months in an vat of electrically-stimulated goo as the lover built an exoskeleton to house the monstrosity. The artifice and lack of waystone results pushed the couple into financial ruin and broke the lover's health. Now mobile, the vespidae intends to take back what the world owes them both and wipe out the Planar Guild for destroying their lives whether they are really responsible or not.

The Vespidae

Medium monstrosity, Neutral evil

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)

Hit Points 127 (17d8 + 51)

Speed 30ft

Fly 40ft

Str 16 Dex 20 Con 16 Int 18 Wis 14 Cha 12

Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +7

Skills Arcana +8, Nature +8, Perception +6

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't adamantine

Damage Immunities lightning, poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, petrified, poisoned

Senses darkvision 120ft, passive Perception 16

Languages Common, Dwarvish, Elvish

Challenge 12 (8400 XP)

Arcing Fury.

Lightning arcs off of the vespidae with a radius of 10ft. Creatures that begin their turn in the area of effect or enter it for the first time must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity save or take 9 (2d8) lightning damage. The vespidae can activate and deactivate this ability as a bonus action.

Innate Spellcasting.

The vespidae’s innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). it can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At Will: Lightning Lure

3/day: Lighting Bolt.

Actions

Multiattack

The vespidae makes 2 scything arms attacks and one bite attack as one action.

Scything Arms.

Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. Hit:15 (3d6+5) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) lightning damage.

Bite.

Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8+5 ) piercing damage. In addition, if the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Constitution save or be Paralyzed for the next minute. At the end of each of its turns, the affected creature may repeat this save with the effect ending on success. Creatures that are immune to lightning damage are immune to this effect

Conductive Stinger.

Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5 ) piercing damage. In addition, if the target is a creature it must make a DC 15 Constitution save or become Vulnerable to lightning damage for the next minute and gained the Poisoned condition for the next minute. At the end of each of its turns, the affected creature may repeat this save with the Poisoned effect ending on success.

Legendary Actions

The vespidae can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The vespidae regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Scythe (1 point).

The vespidae makes a scything arm attack.

Voltaic Pull (1 point).

The vespidae chooses a point it can see within 60ft and fills it with a 15ft long line that is 5ft wide of lodestone barbs. All non-flying creatures within 20ft of that the line must succeed on a DC 15 Strength check or be pulled 10ft closer to the line.

Electrical Mayhem (2 points).

The vespidae casts an available spell.

Galvanic Vortex (2 points).

The vespidae supercharges its carapace with lighting that then lashes out in an electrical tempest with a radius of 30ft. All creatures within the area of effect must succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or be dragged 15ft closer to the vespidae and be Restrained until the end of their next turn.