Creeping Cone Swarm
Level 10Abilities
Trigger The creeping cone swarm is reduced to fewer than half its Hit Points or is reduced to 0 Hit Points
Effect A 15-foot area of acid explodes from the creeping cone swarm. Creatures in the area take 3d12 acid damage (DC 25 reflex save). Non-blight bonded creatures damaged by this effect are exposed to Ayrzul's Blight.
The creeping cones shake off a barrage of jagged, stony scales. Each creature in a 10-foot area within 30 feet of the swarm takes (2d12+7)[slashing|options:area-damage] damage (DC 29 reflex save).
Each enemy in the swarm's space takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage (DC 29 fortitude save). A creature that fails its save falls Prone.
30 feet.
A creature entering the aura must succeed at a DC 26 fortitude save or become Sickened 1 until the end of its turn (Sickened 2 on a critical failure).
While within the aura, an affected creature takes a –2 circumstance penalty to recover from the sickened condition. A creature that succeeds at its save is temporarily immune for 1 minute.
Caustic fluid seeps out from the scales of these sluglike cones, which spawn in unsuspecting hosts until they're mature enough to seek a place to root. Moving in writhing swarms that seek a habitat flush with prey, creeping cones spread Ayrzul's Blight when destroyed, but leaving them to grow unchecked poses a great risk to other creatures.
The Plane of Wood contains many unique ecosystems formed around species of wondrous trees; when Ayrzul's Blight mutates one of these trees rather than killing it, it can have a cascading effect on the tree's biome. Multiple species often mutate in tandem, becoming warped mockeries and a vector for Ayrzul's Blight. These "blight bonded" creature families are parasites and predators and typically form twisted symbiotic relationships.