By making a melee attack as a standard action, a devourer can deal necrotic damage. A Death save halves this damage. The soul of a creature slain by this attack becomes trapped within the devourer's chest. The creature cannot be brought back to life until the devourer's destruction releases its soul. A devourer can hold only one soul at a time. The trapped essence provides a devourer with 5 essence points for each Hit Die possessed by the soul. A devourer must expend essence points when it uses a spell-like ability equal to the spell's level. At the start of an encounter, a devourer generally has miracle or wish.