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Valkyrie

Valkyrie CR 12

XP 19,200
CN Medium outsider (extraplanar)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., death sense 30 ft.; Perception +22

DEFENSE

HP 200
EAC 26; KAC 28
Fort +14; Ref +14; Will +13
DR 10/cold iron and lawful;
Immunities cold, electricity, poison; Resistances acid 10, fire 10; SR 23

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 100 ft. (Su, perfect)
Melee returning buzzblade spear +26 (3d6+16 P)
Ranged returning buzzblade spear +23 (3d6+16 P) or impulse storm coil +23 (4d6+12 E)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)

1/daymystic cure (4th level)
3/dayarcing surge (DC 18), speak with dead (DC 18), tongues
At willplane shift (self only)

STATISTICS

Str +4; Dex +4; Con +4; Int +2; Wis +5; Cha +8
Skills Acrobatics +22 (+30 to fly), Medicine +22, Sense Motive +27, Survival +22
Feats Shot on the Run
Languages Celestial, Common
Other Abilities battle trained, choose the slain, death sense Gear vesk overplate III, returning buzzblade spear with 2 high-capacity batteries (40 charges each), impulse storm coil with 2 super-capacity batteries (80 charges each)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Battle Trained (Ex)

A valkyrie is proficient with all armor and ignores negative speed adjustments from armor.

Choose the Slain (Su)

A valkyrie can draw a willing soul from a creature within 2 rounds of that creature’s death and store it in her spear. A soul stored this way can’t be returned through magical or technological means, such as raise dead or a regeneration table, unless the spear is first destroyed.

Death Sense (Su)

A valkyrie can instantly determine whether each creature she can see within 30 feet is dead, dying, healthy, undead, or unliving (such as a technological construct) and how many Resolve Points the creature currently has.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary or ride (2–8 valkyries)

Valkyries are resplendent outsiders of mysterious origins known for their ancient tradition of scouring the Material Plane for legendary warriors who perish in combat. Valkyries appear on battlefields throughout the galaxy in search of combatants of great skill and renown, supernaturally aware of who is ready to accept death’s embrace and who yearns to fight on another day. When she locates such a target, a valkyrie can either claim the soul of a deceased warrior or aid the living to continue the battle. Though space travel is a relatively recent development for some mortal species, the valkyries took to the stars long ago to advance their quest of collecting the souls of worthy fighters. As a result, diverse cultures across the universe, recognize these powerful extraplanar creatures as choosers of the slain.

Valkyries are always female and frequently appear as powerful and majestic human or vesk women. A human valkyrie is 6 feet tall and weighs close to 200 pounds, while a vesk valkyrie is 8 feet tall and weighs approximately 300 pounds. Valkyries may take on the appearance of other species if they wish, and references to “warrior angels” wreathed in lightning exist within many cultures.

Valkyries are most often associated with gods of war, conflict, valor, and courage. Some valkyries are independent, serving no deity directly—a fact that suggests the outsiders are mercenaries by nature and have complex, ever-changing allegiances to the divine. Whatever a given valkyrie’s associations, her duty is sacred: to protect the souls of slain heroes on their journeys, where they face judgment and learn their final destination in the Outer Planes.

What qualifies a soul for this honor varies by deity—and various cultures and faiths across the galaxy interpret the worth of a warrior in vastly different ways. Valkyries hold a special place in the some religions, where they are sometimes referred to as Spear Maidens.

Valkyries also come to the aid of warriors who are near death—or even recently dead—but still have a fierce drive to fight on. In this way, a valkyrie’s intervention has turned the tide of battle in countless conflicts across the galaxy.

The mysteries surrounding the afterlife extend to valkyries and their practices, and mortals have questioned for millennia why the striking outsiders shepherd the souls of dead heroes. Some skeptics even posit that valkyries divert souls from their rightful course, collecting them for some great and terrible conflict to come, or stocking grand arenas for the entertainment of beings of unknowable power and alien intellect. This theory holds little credence among scholars, however, who note no recorded conflicts between valkyries and servants of goddesses of life and death, who would certainly object to such subversion.

In the years since the Gap, many valkyries have forgone their traditional sleipnir or pegasus mounts and adopted modern suits of armor. Armor and weapons created by valkyrie engineers blend the latest nanocarbon and polymer technology with powerful magic, resulting in creations that armorers of the Material Plane can only dream about. Occasionally, a valkyrie might gift such a suit of armor, or perhaps a unique weapon, to a mortal warrior she deems worthy.

Angel Frame Powered Armor

Some enterprising and especially talented engineers have managed to create facsimiles of valkyrie-forged technology.

The angel frame is an example of a mortal creation based on valkyrie technology.

Angel Frame (Hybrid)

Price 191,000
EAC Bonus +18; KAC Bonus +22 Max Dex Bonus +6; Armor Check Penalty –2; Speed 30 ft.; fly 60 ft. (perfect) Strength 20 (+5); Damage 2d6 P Weapon Slots 1; Upgrade Slots 2 Capacity 100; Usage 1/minute Size Medium; Bulk 18 (deployed), 1 (undeployed) DESCRIPTION

This surprisingly light suit of hybrid powered armor uses technomagical microthrusters to grant you flight and incredible mobility. In its undeployed form, an angel frame looks and functions as a specific kind of clothing LEVEL 16, often an environmental outfit or travel outfit. In this form, an angel frame grants none of the effects of wearing powered armor and doesn’t use charges. As a full action, you can speak a command word that causes pieces of the armor to deploy from extra-dimensional spaces and fit together around you. Once deployed, the angel frame functions as powered armor with the listed statistics. You can return the angel frame to its undeployed form as a full action by speaking the same command word. An angel frame that runs out of power stays in its deployed form and has a bulk of 18; you can still exit the armor as a full action.

Angel frames tend to resemble a gleaming suit of full plate perfectly tailored to your form, sometimes with wing-like protrusions at its shoulders; its appearance can also be subtly altered to fit your personal aesthetic.