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Legacy of the Dragons
Qualleg Large Aberration (Aquatic) Hit Dice: 8d8+24 (60 hp), dying/dead –4/–17 Initiative: +2 Speed: 30 feet, climb 20 feet AC: 25 (–1 size, +2 Dexterity, +10 natural, +4 deflection), touch 11, flat-footed 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+11 Attack: Tentacle +6 melee (1d6+1) Full Attack: 2 tentacles +6 melee (1d6+1) Space/Reach: 10 feet/15 feet (Face/Reach: 10 feet by 5 feet/15 feet) Special Attacks: Manipulate enveloping liquid, spells Special Qualities: Enveloping liquid, darkvision 180 feet, enveloping liquid, wall walker, weaknesses, DR 10/magic (or 15/+2), SR 22, Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +8 Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 16 Skills: Concentration +14, Knowledge (magic) +15, Listen +13, Spellcraft +13, Spot +13 Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Eidetic Memory, Expertise, Improved Trip B Environment: Any subterranean Organization: Solitary, pair, or cabal (3–12) Challenge Rating: 10 Treasure: Double standard Advancement: By character class Level Adjustment: +5 This strange creature is suspended within a mobile sphere of thick, gelatinous material that protects it from the elements and allows it to survive. Once, the quallegs possessed a mighty arcane tradition, but their glory has faded. They strive to regain their lost glory, though few of the intelligent creatures they meet can fathom their plans and motivations. The qualleg is a long, finned, fishlike beast with a single red eye that glows with a malevolent light. As it moves, the liquid that surrounds it keeps pace, allowing the qualleg to remain at its center. Quallegs are difficult for members of other races to understand and cope with. They are obviously sentient—they speak with each other in strange, keening tones and build settlements beneath the earth—but few can comprehend their motivations, desires, and plans. They appear to select goals at random, with some quallegs pursuing material wealth and others attacking trivial topics with equal vigor. Some quallegs welcome outsiders with open arms, communicating by means of halting Common or even notes scribed on parchment. Others of this race attack any intelligent creatures they encounter. To understand quallegs, one must first
piece together their origin and nature. Only then do their actions begin to make sense. First and foremost, the qualleg is a creature of magic. The liquid sphere that surrounds each one, and the creature’s fishlike body, suggests that quallegs are aquatic in nature. While they are indeed adapted to life beneath the waves, the material that surrounds them is highly infused with magical energy. Quallegs need this energy to sustain them in much the same way that other creatures require oxygen, water, and food. Quallegs originally dwelled in a realm of pure magical energy. Deep within the earth, they flooded caverns with raw magic, turning them into seething oceans of crackling energy and roaring torrents of power. They swam within this ocean, built cities, and mastered the arcane arts. In time, their methods of sustaining this realm proved unreliable. As one generation gave rise to another, the quallegs’ knowledge shrank. In an event they call the great schism, the quallegs splintered into a variety of cabals, each with a divergent view on how best to restore their race’s power. The quallegs’ realm crumbled and waned, leaving behind isolated settlements of these creatures. Quallegs today can still manipulate magical energy with skill equal to an experienced magister’s, but they are mere children compared to their ancestors. Memory of their race’s ancient glory pushes quallegs to restore that greatness. Some of the cabals have formed alliances and worked together in pursuit of short-term goals, while others have retreated far from their ancestral lands to follow their own cryptic plans. For this reason, quallegs appear to follow incomprehensible priorities. Some of them seek out powerful magic items and artifacts, while others believe that their ancestors derived power from runes, or from a strange process involving mundane rocks and water, or even from the life force of other sentient creatures. What remains consistent is that quallegs are fanatical in the pursuit of their goals.
Combat To successfully battle a qualleg, one must first contend with the magical liquid that constantly surrounds the creature. Land-based creatures risk drowning if they remain within the liquid for too long. Quallegs use this fact to their advantage, pressing into opponents and cornering them while using their spells to defend themselves until their opponents drown. Quallegs make good use of their Expertise and Improved Trip feats. Most quallegs prefer to avoid direct physical confrontation; instead, they rely on their spells to overcome their foes and tend to be conservative rather than reckless. With their long reach, quallegs use attacks of opportunity to trip their opponents, slowing their progress and forcing them to waste precious seconds. When casting spells, quallegs prefer defensive magic that boosts their armor or foils their enemies’ attacks rather than spells that deal damage.
