Hooktongue
Level 14Attacks
Abilities
Hooktongue can go for 10 years without feeding. After this, its hunger makes it Slowed 1 but doesn't otherwise impact its lifespan. If Hooktongue is slowed as a result of starvation, it can remove this condition by using Swallow Whole to gulp down a meal.
Hooktongue automatically tries to counteract any detection, revelation, or scrying divination attempted against it, using its Stealth modifier for the counteract check.
Hooktongue attempts to capsize an aquatic vessel of its size or smaller that it's adjacent to. It must succeed at an Athletics check with a DC of 35 or the pilot's Sailing Lore DC, whichever is higher.
Saving Throw DC 34 fortitude
Maximum Duration 6 rounds
Stage 1 2d6 poison damage and Clumsy 1 (1 round)
Stage 2 3d6 poison damage, clumsy 1, and Confused (1 round)
Stage 3 4d6 poison damage, Clumsy 2, and confused (1 round)
Hooktongue sprays poison from its throat in an 80-foot area that deals 15d6 poison damage (DC 34 reflex). A creature that fails or critically fails this save is exposed to Hooktongue Venom as well. Hooktongue can't use Poison Spray again for .
Large, (2d10+10)[bludgeoning] damage, Rupture 28
Hooktongue dissolves into water, appearing only as a long, serpentine silhouette on the waves. While in this form, Hooktongue's swim Speed increases to 600 feet, it automatically succeeds at Athletics checks to Swim, and it gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks in water. Hooktongue can remain in this form for 8 hours but can't enter salt water when using this ability. Hooktongue can return to its normal form using a single action, which has the concentrate trait.
Legendary creatures lurking in remote lakes, water orms always find their way into the tavern tales of lakeside communities. To some travelers, every lake of respectable size seems to be surrounded by towns full of fishers claiming to have spotted a water orm. These elusive creatures inhabit lakes mainly in cool and gloomy regions. Some claim that water orms are an offshoot of sea serpents and linnorms, but no credible link between these creatures has been found.
Water orms have many features that sea serpents do not, such as the ability to understand the rudiments of language. Their natural inclination to avoid contact and remain hidden often remains at odds with their equally compelling curiosity about those they might spy upon the shores of their lakes. Water orm sightings usually occur when they can't help but to rise up to the surface to take a peek at someone particularly unusual on the beach or floating on the water's surface.
These creatures are extremely long-lived and can go for decades, or even centuries, with very little to eat. This allows water orms to subsist in lakes without surfacing for many years, even in bodies of fresh water without ample food sources. Water orms might lie in a silty lake bed for years, their elusiveness only contributing to their mythical reputation. When a pet or child goes missing near a lake, rumors might hold that the local water orm is responsible, leading to folk tales that caution residents against venturing out alone near the water.
While most water orms are described as serpentine or long-necked reptiles, others look similar to bizarrely elongated seals or whales, impossibly large sea horses, or long-necked creatures with paddles resembling those of elasmosauruses.