Hollow Serpent
Level 15Attacks
Abilities
30 feet. A cloud of choking, acrid dust swirls about the hollow serpent, draining moisture from any enemy within. A creature entering the aura or starting its turn in the aura must succeed at a DC 34 fortitude save or become Enfeebled 2 and Slowed 1 for ( on a critical failure). A creature that succeeds is temporarily immune for 24 hours.
Trigger An ally within the hollow serpent's reach is attacked
Effect The hollow serpent interposes a coil of its body or tail between the ally and attacker. The triggering attack targets the hollow serpent instead of the original target.
(1d10+7)[bludgeoning] plus Drained 1, DC 36 fortitude
The hollow serpent Strides or Climbs and makes a jaws Strike at the end of that movement. If the hollow serpent began this action Hidden, it remains hidden until after this ability's Strike.
Medium, 4d6 void plus Drained 1, Rupture 32
A hollow serpent is the dried and shriveled husk of an enormous constrictor snake, animated by fell magic to serve its masters. According to the oldest holy books of serpentfolk, the first hollow serpents were raised by Ydersius. The god took the cast-off skins of great snakes and filled them with hunger and hatred, a bottomless yearning for mortal life that could never be filled. In due course, the priests of the serpentfolk learned to replicate their lord's trick, and in the millennia since the serpentfolk's fall, the knowledge has slithered into the libraries of other necromancers and sorcerers.
Despite their menacing reputation and great power, hollow serpents are a relatively uncomplicated creation. They were designed first and foremost as guardians, and serpentfolk liches of a suitable level of power are sometimes accompanied by hollow serpents. A few have struck out on their own over the years, usually due to outliving their original creators. Driven by their hunger and dim intellect, they take up residence in remote ruins or deep caverns. Those that study such things believe at least one serpent, perhaps one of the original creatures made by Ydersius, survives in the mountains west of Geb.