In some farmsteads there is a wives tale about the scarecrow child. They believe its the spirit of a child that died while working the fields. Deprived of the simple joys of a child's life it's spirit returns to inflict terror on the family that forced it into hard labor.

The scarecrow child is not the spirit of a child as some tales say. It is an evil undead creature that preys upon the fears of its victims. It delights in macabre pranks and insipid tricks. It looks like its name suggests a child-sized scarecrow. If the location it inhabits has a scarecrow it takes on the likeness of that one. If not it usually has a potato sack for a head and rags or old clothing stuffed with straw. A cheerfully painted face adorns the head of the creature.

It is drawn to places where there is much suffering or intense emotions. Usually it finds itself in rural areas preying upon farmers and families that are far from crowded areas. Then it will haunt the area, stalking the various members of the family. Although it can not speak it loves to taunt it's victims by moving when no one else can see it or by sneaking into their rooms at night and jumping out when they are sleeping or scratching at the window sill and peering inside. The scarecrow child will also be found by day standing proudly in the fields or causing mischief by killing livestock and breaking farming equipment.

If it is caught it will play dead. Seeming to be nothing more than a pile of cloth and hay. Burning or destroying the body of the scarecrow child will only delay it's return by 30 days. In order to totally destroy it the remains of the scarecrow child must be submerged in holy water.

Combat
The scarecrow child will only fight when running is not an option. It prefers to summon a flock of crows to distract its enemies while it makes it's escape. But if unable to escape the scarecrow child will silently turn on its enemies and attack with sharp claws.

Undead:The scarecrow child is immune to mind influencing effects and to poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromantic effects. It ignores mind-influencing effects. It is not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, ability drain, or energy drain. It is immune to anything that requires a Fortitude save (unless it also works on objects). The scarecrow child uses its Charisma for Concentration checks. It is not at risk from death from massive damage. The scarecrow child has darkvision with a range of 60 feet. It cannot be raised.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by the claws of a scarecrow child receive one negative level. The Fortitude save to remove the negative level has a DC of 15.
Frightful Presence (Ex): When a scarecrow child charges or attacks those creatures within 30 feet of the scarecrow child must make a successful Will save or become affected by fear, DC of 15 to save. Each round of fighting the creatures in the area of effect must make the save or they suffer the effects of being frightened or shaken. Only those creatures with hit dice less than the scarecrow are affected. Any creature that makes a successful save is immune to the fear effects for one day.
Summon Creature (Sp): Once a day a scarecrow child can summon 2d6 common crows. These crows are under the command of the scarecrow child and will attack any enemy the scarecrow child chooses. He may control them for four rounds before they break free of the summons.
Fast Healing (Ex): A scarecrow child regains 2 hit points a round so long as it has 1 hit point. When reduced to 0 hit points the spirit of the scarecrow child returns to the abyss defeated. If the remains of the scarecrow child are not soaked in holy water it will return 30 days later.
Skills: A scarecrow child gains a +4 racial bonus to Move Silent and Hide checks.

Society

This creature has not yet been play tested.
This is not a kender type creature.