Chinjugami

Biomechanical Staff (Su) As a swift action or as part of a full attack, a chinjugami can manifest a staff in its grasp. The staff’s effective item level is equal to the chinjugami’s CR. The staff has the reach weapon special property and can deal either bludgeoning or piercing damage with each attack. On a critical hit, the chinjugami chooses one of two effects—the staff either sprouts entangling vines, applying the bind critical hit effect, or disrupts the target’s body, applying the bleed critical hit effect. A chinjugami can manifest only one staff at a time. If the kami loses hold of the staff, the weapon disintegrates.

Merge with Ward (Su) A kami has a specific ward—a creature with an Intelligence of –4 or lower, an object, or a location—listed in parentheses in the kami’s stat block. As a full action, a kami adjacent to its ward can merge body and mind with that ward. While merged, the kami can observe the surrounding region with its senses as if it were using its own body, as well as via any senses its ward might have. Typically, this trait allows a kami no control over its ward, although some kami (such as the tsukumogami) are exceptions. If the kami has no control over its ward, it can take no actions while merged other than to emerge from its ward as an action. The kami can emerge adjacent to the ward, provided the kami’s body is at least one size smaller than the ward. If the ward is a location, the kami can emerge at any point within that location. If the ward is destroyed while a kami is merged with it, the kami dies. If the ward is destroyed while the kami is not merged with it, the kami loses its merge with ward and fast healing traits, and the kami becomes sickened. It can take on a new ward by spending 7 days doing so, and it regains its traits and loses the sickened condition once it does.

Some kami have additional abilities and limitations relative to their wards. A chinjugami claims a massive fabricated ecosystem as its ward.

Revitalization Contingency (Su) A chinjugami that is reduced to 0 Hit Points disperses into light that merges with the chinjugami’s ward. For 7 days, the chinjugami is unconscious as it regenerates its body and mind. After that time, the chinjugami regains consciousness and can reemerge from its ward. A chinjugami can be completely destroyed only if its ward is destroyed.

Spirits known as kami hold guardianship over various aspects of existence, caring for them in esoteric ways. Legend holds that the gods created the kami, which propagated throughout the universe. Kami are said to spontaneously manifest as they find new objects to guard, from the tiniest flower to entire cities. Kami that fall to evil ways risk becoming oni.

According to folktales, a personal object that is at least 100 years old can attract a tsukumogami, which thereafter claims the object as a ward and merges with it, the kami then becoming an anthropomorphic version of the object. In addition, the resultant amalgam develops a personality in accordance with the object’s treatment. Treasured objects birth tsukumogami that are kind, while abandoned or abused objects become jealous and wrathful tsukumogami. These creatures often seek companionship from mortals, though tsukumogami that are envious of the living may become aggressive if rebuffed. Numerous reports exist of encounters with furious tsukumogami that sprung to life after the Gap. Though tsukumogami prefer to ward small personal items, their size belies the threat they pose.

A chinjugami is much larger than a tsukumogami and often selects a constructed ecosystem, especially one separated from a planet, as its ward. Although a chinjugami prefers to stay merged with its ward, it can manifest as a titan of metal and greenery. A chinjugami might claim a park on a space station as its host. When a kami claims an occupied ecosystem, it intervenes only in subtle ways, such as removing rust from pipes. It is when such constructed ecosystems are abandoned that chinjugami fully embrace their roles as protectors and stewards of their wards, patrolling relevant areas, performing upkeep, maintaining ecological balance, and ensuring enough resources exist for sustainability. Those chinjugami that guard abandoned spaces are suspicious of strangers, often believing them to be interlopers that might try to reclaim the area only to forsake it again. A typical chinjugami is about 40 feet tall.