#paiute

Archaeological sites once thought lost under Lake Powell reappear as water drops

“Stevens adds, “We don’t know if the lake is ever going to rise this high again, with the climate changes and all that, so maybe there’s an opportunity here for the Navajo people”—an opportunity to take a good look at what was destroyed when the reservoir filled, and what can be saved now, as it empties.”

“Grasshopper” © Sergei Ashihmin, accessed at his ArtStation here

[The haakapainizi is a bogey from the legends of the Kawaiisu people of southeastern California. I know of it through @a-book-of-creatures​. A grasshopper is a weird choice for an ogre from a Western standpoint, but they are pretty freaky looking, especially big lubber grasshoppers. It is said by the Kawaiisu that it can cover twenty miles in a single step, which gave me an excuse to come up with mechanics for the classic fairy tale concept of seven league boots (seven leagues = twenty one miles)]

Haakapainizi
CR 14 NE Magical Beast
This vile creature looks like a grasshopper the size of a rhinoceros, with spiny hind legs and small covering its abdomen. Its head is disturbingly similar to a human face, with a lower jaw split into savage mandibles. It carries a basket on its back.

The haakapainizi is a bogeyman of the deserts, a cruel shapechanger that feeds preferentially on the weakest members of society; children, the sick and the elderly. It can take the guise of either a mundane humanoid or a giant, and prey on the children of stone and desert giants as readily as those of humans or gnolls. Their preference for the weak is partially out of spite and partially out of sloth. A haakapainizi is a powerful combatant, but they would rather take easy victims than exert themselves, and they delight in the tragedy that their depredations cause.

Haakapainizi prefer subtlety and trickery, luring victims into striking distance with sweet words or proffered gifts. That these gifts are their own vile secretions is the first cruelty they heap on their victim, before grabbing them, stuffing them into their magical baskets and leaping away. A creature in the basket is usually overwhelmed by a powerful enchantment and can only be rescued from without. If cornered or prevented from escaping, they will engage in a full on brawl with their claws, mandibles and a powerful kick.  If opponents can regularly do damage to them in melee, they transform into a swarm of locusts, both to avoid weapon damage and to make themselves more maneuverable and easily hidden. Haakapainizi rarely fight to the death, but their gluttonous natures sometimes do get the better of them.

A haakapainizi lairs in a cave or hut distant from its hunting ground. They can leap so quickly that it is effectively teleportation, traveling miles with a single bound. This is not very precise travel, so they do not use it to hunt or ambush prey (although they won’t hesitate to attack if they accidentally come upon a potential victim). They have no friends and no allies; haakapainizi are peevish and temperamental and reject any sort of companionship except as a ruse in order to attract a victim. How they reproduce given their universal misanthropy is unclear—perhaps they are transformed from mundane grasshoppers that scavenge on humanoid flesh. Despite their many strengths, haakapainizi are somewhat weak willed, and can easily succumb to mind-influencing magic. The cult of Deskari sometimes uses them as charmed minions, but the shapeshifters bear no love or loyalty to the Lord of the Locust Host.

Haakapainizi      CR 14
XP 38,400
NE Large magical beast (shapechanger)
Init+5;Sensesdarkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +10, scent
Defense
AC29, touch 14, flat-footed 25 (-1 size, +5 Dex, +14 natural)
hp200 (16d10+112)
Fort+17,Ref+15,Will+8
DR10/magic;SR25
Offense
Speed40 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor)
Melee2 claws +23 (1d6+8/19-20 plus grab), bite +23 (1d8+8),kick +21 (1d12+12 plus push)
Space10 ft.; Reach5 ft. (10 ft. with kick)
Special Attacks basket, fool’s gift, powerful blows (kick), push (10 ft.)
Statistics
Str26,Dex21,Con24,Int15,Wis12,Cha19
Base Atk +16;CMB+25 (+29 grapple); CMD40 (48 vs. trip)
FeatsBlinding Critical, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Deceitful, Improved Critical (claw), Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack
SkillsAcrobatics +18 (+34 when jumping), Bluff +18, Climb +17, Craft (weaving) +10, Disguise +18, Fly +1, Intimidate +10, Perception +10, Stealth +11; Racial Modifiers +12 to Acrobatics when jumping
LanguagesCommon, Giant, Sylvan
SQchange shape (humanoid or giant, alter selforgiant shape I), seven league leap, swarm form
Ecology
Environmentwarm desert and hills
Organizationsolitary
Treasurestandard
Special Abilities
Basket (Su) If a haakapainizi begins its turn with a creature grappled in its claws, as long as the creature is size Medium or smaller, it can stuff the target into its basket as a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. A creature in the basket must succeed a DC 22 Will save or be dazed as long as it remains in the basket, and for 1 round thereafter. A creature that succeeds this save is immune to the dazing effect of the basket for the next 24 hours. This is a mind-influencing ability and the save DC is Charisma based. A creature in the basket can try to cut its way free with any light slashing or piercing weapon. The basket has AC 17 and 20 hit points. If a creature cuts its way out of the basket or the basket is damaged enough to allow a victim to escape, the haakapainizi cannot put prey in its basket again until it has spent 1 hour mending it.
The basket has other special qualities while in the haakapainizi’s possession. The weight of creatures in the sack do not count against the haakapainizi’s carrying capacity, and the haakapainizi can fit up to two Small creatures or one Medium creature in the basket at a time. If used by any creature other than the haakapainizi that owns it, this container functions as a mundane basket. If a haakapainizi’s basket is lost or destroyed, it can craft a new one with proper materials and a week of work.
Fool’s Gift (Su) As a standard action, a haakapainizi can produce a lump of mucus and cloud the mind of a creature within 30 feet, making them think that it is delicious food that they are compelled to consume. Unless the creature succeeds a DC 22 Will save, it spends its next actions moving towards the haakapainizi, taking the mucus (a standard action) and eating it (another standard action). Once a creature eats the mucus, it must succeed a DC 25 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 minute. The save DC for the compulsion effect is Charisma based, and the save DC for the nausea effect is Constitution based.
Seven League Leap (Su) As a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, a haakapainizi can leap up to 21 miles, arriving at its destination instantly. This travel is imprecise—it arrives 1d10x100 feet away from its intended destination in a random direction. A haakapainizi can use this ability a number of times per day equal to its Strength modifier.
Swarm Form (Su) As a standard action, a haakapainizi can transform itself into a swarm of Diminutive locusts. In this form, it cannot use natural attacks, its basket, fool’s gift or seven league leap abilities, but its flying maneuverability increases to good, it gains a swarm attack and gains the distraction special attack. It can resume its normal form as a standard action. A haakapainizi’s statistics in swarm form differ from its normal statistics as follows: AC28, touch 28, flat-footed 18 (+8 size, +10 Dex); Ref+20;Defensive Abilities immune to weapon damage, swarm traits; Attackswarm (4d6 plus distraction); Special Attacks distraction (DC 25); CMB-;CMD-;SkillsAcrobatics +23, Fly +17, Stealth +36