The Night Serpent:
Dendar the Night Serpent is a vile elder evil as old as the world itself. She roams the Fugue Plane, devouring the nightmares of the living and looking forward to the day when she has collected enough of the fears of humankind to initiate the end of the world.
On the Fugue Plane and others Dendar is solitary, though it is rumoured that at least one apocalyptic cult reveres her. Dendar would have no interest in this if she knew, but may use them as disposable pawns or kill them instantly if they had no use. Fanatics to the end, the cult would accept this or if needed to perform a task they would do it to the death.
In combat Dendar prefers to confront attackers head-on, using her awesome bite attacks and venom to incapacitate a single combatant at a time. She prefers to target spellcasters first, since her nightmare scales can eliminate or severely weaken melee fighters before she finishes them off. She often just slithers over creatures in her path, crushing them under her awesome weight.
Dendar tries not to kill her opponents, preferring to put them into and endless sleep with her venom so that she can feed upon their nightmares forever.
Most mortal challengers do not worry Dendar, and it would take a concerted effort by several of the most powerful angels, demons or devils to give her pause. Should she ever find her opponents actually damaging her she would not hesitate to unleash the nightmares from her gizzard in an attempt to trap her attackers inside their greatest fears forever.
History:
some say that Dendar was created the first time a mortal creature had a dream. They believe that she was created to be the dreams opposite and that had the first mortal had a nightmare instead a beautiful creature of goodness and light would now roam the Gray Wastes swallowing good dreams rather than nightmares.
Since her creation Dendar has been devouring the nightmares of mortals, gathering them in her gullet where they can swim in an eternal miasma of fear and hatred. She takes pleasure in swallowing the fears of mortals and immortals alike, particularly kings and gods.
She has been known by many names throughout history, and it is said to be the harbinger of the end of the world. Mostly she spends her time in her lair, contentedly gorged on the worlds unremember nightmares but can sometimes be found wondering the abyssal planes. Usually she lives in a vast cave near the river surrounding the Fugue Plane and the hiss of her breathing echoes throughout the entire plane as she sleeps. Although if anyone should approach, she is automatically aware and she awakens to savor the sweet taste of their worst nightmares before she destroys them.
Appearance:
The Night Serpent appears as a three hundred foot long serpent with scales that range in color from midnight black to deep green. These scales represent the physical embodiment of the nightmares that she has swallowed over the millenia. Her slit-pupiled eyes are sickly yellow-black of rotten eggs, and her forked tongue flickers incessantly over her smooth lips.
Dendar's mouth unhinges at the jaw to reveal a maw large enough to swallow a dragon without trouble, she has four jagged fangs that can sink deep into the flesh of her enemies. Her tongue is a weapon too, able to knock giants from their feet with a single swipe and entangle bitten foes so she can swallow them whole. Beneath her tongue is a viscious pit of greasy spittle and the bones of enemies past, she secretes the essense of nightmares she has devours - constantly regurgitating the souls of those she has destroyed.
Colossal Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar)
- Health: 54d8+864 (1,296HP)
- Initiative: +11
- Speed: 80ft, Climb 80ft
- AC: 42 (-8 Size, +6 Dex, +34 Natural) Touch 8, Flatfooted 30
- Base Attack/Grapple: +54/89
- Attack: +65 Melee, (4d8+19 19-20/x2 plus Nightmare Venom bite)
- Full Attack: +65 (4d8+19 19-20/x2 plus Nightmare Venom bite)
- Space/Reach: 50ft/40ft
- Special Attacks: Crush, Ignore Armor, Improved Grab, Nightmare Scales, Nightmare Venom, Spell-like abilities, Swallow Whole, Unleash Nightmares
- Special Qualities: DR20/Epic and good, Darkvision 120ft, Fast Healing 10, Immune to charm/death and fear effects, Immunity to petrification and poison, low-light vision, resistance to all elements 10, spell resistance 40, true seeing.
- Saves: Fort +45, Reflex +35, Will +39
- Abilities: Str 48, Dex 23, Con 42, Int 23, Wis 26, Cha 24
- Skills: +64 Bluff, +64 Climb, +73 Concentration, +44 Diplomacy, +47 Hide, +76 Jump, +76 Knowledge, +65 Listen, +63 Move Silently, +63 Search, +45 Sense Motive, +43 Spellcraft, +65 Spot, +31 Survival, +76 Swim
- Feats: Ability Focus (nightmare venom), Improved Initiative, Blind-fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-like ability (shadow evocation)
- Climate/Terrain: The Fugue Plane
- Organization: Solitary, though with powerful worshippers in an apocalytic cult that reveres her.
- CR: 26
- Treasure: Unknown
- Alignment: Neutral Evil
Crush (Ex): As a standard action, Dendar can jump, roll or slither onto her opponents using her whole body to crush them. She can crush creatures of large size or smaller, up to as many as will fit under her gigantic body. Creatures crushed by the Night Serpent take 4d8+28 points of bludgeoning damage and must attempt a dc45 reflex save. Failure means that the creature is pinned beneath her body, automatically taking crush damage each round the pin is maintained.
Ignore Armor (Ex): Dendar's incredibly sharp fangs pierce any armor as if it were paper. Not even the most powerful magic armor protects against her viscious bites. As a result do not count armor and natural armor bonuses when determining an opponents AC or any defensive enchantments upon them.
Improved Grab (Ex): Must hit with a melee attack to begin a grapple without provoking an AoO.
Nightmare Scales (Su): Anyone striking the Night Serpent in melee combat causes one of her scales to fly off. Each scale contains a consumed nightmare which is unleashed on the character in the form of a Nightmare spell (DC26).
Nightmare Venom (Ex): Anyone struck by Dendar's bite must succeed on a DC53 fortitude save or fall into a coma. While in this state, the character is assailed by a constant stream of his worst nightmares. The only way to recover from this state is through the use of a Wish or Miracle spell and even then the character must succeed on a dc53 will save or take 1d4 points of wisdom drain from the experience. Which can later be recovered with the highest restoration magic, but often leaves significant mental trauma on the victim.
Spell-like Abilities: At will - Dream, Fear (dc25), Nightmare (dc26), Shadow Conjuration, Plane Shift (dc25), Shadow Evocation (dc26). Caster level 30th.
Swallow Whole (Ex): When Dendar begins her turn with a grappeld opponent in her mouth she can swallow that opponent with a successful grapple check. Once inside the creature takes 2d10+28 points of bludgeoning damage per round from her muscular contractions. There are worse things however.
The undigested nightmares of those eaten before reside within Dendar's belly, anyone trapped within is automatically assailed by these nightmares 1d6 times per round as if they has struck her in combat.
There are two ways to escape this nightmare prison, deal 100 points of damage to the serpents gizzard which has an AC27 with a light or slashing weaon. Once a creature escapes this way muscles close the hole immediately, others must find their own escape.
The second method is under Dendar's control. If she ever uses her unleash nightmare ability with a creature in her gizzard it is automatically expelled along with all the nightmares and anyone in the wake of the attack suffers its effect, including the persons ejected from within who may even end up right back in Dendar's belly.
True Seeing (Su): As the spell, constantly.
Unleash Nightmares (Su): The Night Serpent can cause any being on any plane to relive her worst nightmare. Unless the creature succeeds on a DC26 will save she goes completely insane. This insanity can only be cured by Limited wish, Wish or Miracle. Dendar can unleash this ability in combat as a breath weapon every 1d4 rounds, although she is loathe to do so since it delays the end of the world just that much longer.
If she does so all creatures within a 100ft cone must make their saving throw, those that fail are carried by their own nightmares into the Night Serpents belly, in addition to being driven insane.
