b'Tauslek Matriarch \n'b'  Large   aberration ,  neutral  \n'b'  Armor Class  15 (natural armor)  Hit Points  85 (9d10+36)  Speed  40 ft., climb 20 ft.\n'b' STATS STR: 16 (+3) DEX:  13 (+1)  CON:  18 (+4)  INT:  7 (-2)  WIS:  14 (+2)  CHA:  18 (+4)  \n'b'\n'b'\n'b'\n'b'\n'b'\n'b'\n'b'  Skills   Deception  +6,  Perception  +4,  Stealth  +3  Damage Immunities  poison  Condition Immunities   charmed ,  frightened ,  poisoned ,  prone   Senses   darkvision  60 ft., passive  Perception  14  Languages  Deep Speech  Challenge  4 (1,100 XP) \n'b' SPECIAL TRAITS \n'b'\n'b'  Alien Reflexes . The tauslek matriarch has advantage on  initiative  checks. \n'b'  Mesmerizing Stare . When a creature  poisoned  by a tauslek or tauslek matriarch that can see the matriarch\xe2\x80\x99s eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the matriarch, the matriarch can force it to make a DC 14  Wisdom  saving throw if the matriarch isn\xe2\x80\x99t  incapacitated  and can see the creature. A creature that fails this saving throw is  charmed . While  charmed  in this way the creature is  incapacitated  and has a speed of 0. The charm ends if the  charmed  creature takes damage, is no longer  poisoned  by a tauslek, or can no longer see the tauslek matriarch. Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it can\xe2\x80\x99t see the tauslek matriarch until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the matriarch in the meantime, it must immediately make the save. \n'b'  Regeneration . The tauslek matriarch regains 5  hit points  at the start of its turn as long as it has at least 1 hit point remaining. \n'b'  Sound Mimicry . A tauslek can  mimic  any sound it has heard, including voices. If the tauslek\xe2\x80\x99s  Charisma  ( Deception ) check exceeds a listener\xe2\x80\x99s passive  Insight , the listener believes the sound is genuine. \n'b'  Steal Memories . The tauslek matriarchs possesses a similar memory stealing power to their lesser kin (see above). The tauslek matriarch maintains its temporary  Intelligence  and skill bonuses for 1d4+1 days, after which they fade into the creature\xe2\x80\x99s subconscious. Unlike a normal tauslek\xe2\x80\x99s ability to steal memories, the tauslek matriarch can call forth previously consumed intellects from its subconscious as an action, gaining the benefits of the particular creature\xe2\x80\x99s consumed  Intelligence  for 2d10 rounds before the intellect drifts away. The tauslek matriarch can only recall a previously consumed intellect once per week. \n'b'\n'b' ACTIONS \n'b'\n'b'  Multiattack . The tauslek matriarch makes two bite attacks. It can\xe2\x80\x99t make both attacks against the same target. \n'b'  Bite .  Melee Weapon Attack : +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.  Hit : 8 (2d4 + 3) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 14  Constitution  save. On a failure the creature takes 5 (2d4) poison damage and gains the  poisoned  condition for 1 hour. On a success the target takes half damage and isn\xe2\x80\x99t  poisoned . A creature hit by the bite is  grappled  (escape DC 13). A creature killed by the tauslek matriarch\xe2\x80\x99s bite is subject to its Steal Memories trait. \n'b'\n'b' ABOUT \n'b' The tauslek was first discovered by jagladine explorers on a forgotten world many centuries ago. Since then, they\xe2\x80\x99ve been subjected to repeated research and experimentation with the tauslek\xe2\x80\x99s unusual ability to acquire memories and intellects spawning a number of bio-engineered technologies pertaining to memory extraction and manipulation. Young tausleks are roughly the  size  of a small dog, while the more advanced matriarchs rival a large horse. They most closely resemble centipedes with four scintillating eyes and a fierce set of mandibles capable of piercing armor. The plates of their carapace are green and outlined in black towards the end of their length. Although tausleks may appear as vermin, an adult matriarch proves far more cunning than any low-order animal, one of the many advantages it uses to hunt sentient prey. In rural areas, tausleks have enough presence of mind to  attack  less dangerous children, while avoiding guard animals and more mindful adults. \n'b'  Memory Scavengers . Communities of tauslek prefer remote nesting sites, located within a short distance of well-travelled highways or small outpost colonies. Intellect absorbed by slain prey imparts the tauslek with enough insight to seek shelter back at their nest. By the time their boosted mental capacity wears off, the now animalistic urges drive it to seek further sustenance, thus repeating the cycle. Complications often arise during these hit-and-run tactics when it slays adventurers and community guardians attempting to exterminate them. More often than not, the tauslek use the newly acquired memories from such encounters to take advantage of what their would-be killers know to inflict further  harm  on the communities which sent them. \n'b'  Matriarchal Nightmares . A tauslek matriarch is a nightmare to behold, a ravenous beast eager to carry off prey and devour its mind one memory at a time. Weighing nearly 500 pounds, it manages to permanently retain some of its stolen intellects, able to call on specific memories from its subconscious when necessary. A matriarch lives well beyond the hunting instincts of an animal, because it doesn\xe2\x80\x99t merely hunt to survive, lusting instead for power, the savored intellects to improve itself, and the shared insights to terrorize others. As such, they prefer to grab lone opponents and retreat with them into  cover  where they can consume the memories of a held foe. Once it slays this initial target, the matriarch then uses the stolen memories to coax the creature\xe2\x80\x99s remaining allies into an ambush, where it repeats the process. Enhancing its own frightening reputation, tauslek matriarchs create a temporary bond with those infected by the poison of its kind, able to perform subtle sinuous motions to captivate those succumbing to the poison\xe2\x80\x99s effects. \n'b'  Manipulated Spread . Members of the Bellanic Accord blame the appearance of tauslek matriarchs on their Hegemony enemies, claiming such creatures never existed on other worlds before the meddling of jagladine scientists spread their threat across the multiverse. These \xe2\x80\x98slanderous rumors\xe2\x80\x99 as decreed by the Hegemony are in fact true-the deadly nature of the tauslek matriarch is directly tied to genetic modifications performed by the jagladine intent on weaponizing the tauslek for the Hegemony. Indeed, the inevitable result of these experiments created the matriarch-now considered a blight throughout worlds of both the Bellianic Accord and Ultari Hegemony, each blaming the other for smuggling these enhanced tauslek past their respective borders. \n'b' Even among Hegemony worlds, tausleks are well known and feared. Their appearance often signals extreme torture and interrogation by jagladine inquisitors intent on breaking the will and minds of their captives. The jagladine maintain that tauslek research has led to significant breakthroughs in intelligence gathering, the psychoanalysis of new alien species, and psionic enhancement. But cultivating and taming a tauslek nest has proven a daunting task even for their fearless klaven jailors in service to the jagladine. As a result, most Hegemony worlds have strict regulations concerning the importation and trade of tauslek.'