Cloaker, Shadowcloak Elder

Illus. by S. Ellis

Cildabrins are subterranean hunters that prefer temperate or warm underground regions. Incapable of spinning normal webs, cildabrins roam their territory like great wolves, looking for any prey they can catch and tear to shreds with their powerful pincers. Once they catch their food, it is poisoned into submission or killed. The cildabrin then retreats to its lair—a warm, dark cave—to eat at its leisure. It devours its prey like a scorpion rather than a spider; its pincers tear off shreds of fl esh small enough for the creature to chew with its mandibles. A cildabrin has no interest in any gear or valuables its prey carries, beyond the possibility that scattering such items around its territory might attract more prey. Sages speculate that cildabrins might be a created race, not one that evolved naturally. Those who espouse this theory point to the aberration’s remarkable similarities to two other natural kinds of arachnid creatures: hunting spiders (such as tarantulas) and scorpions. Cildabrins seem incapable of true speech but can communicate with other arachnids. They are sentient; they merely lack the means to vocalize sounds. When roaming underground, cildabrins sometimes stray perilously close to dungeons, sewers, crypts, and other subterranean elements of civilization. Despite legends to the contrary, it does not seem that cildabrins are tools of the drow. The dark elves fear these terrible beasts at least as much as other humanoids do. In fact, some religious sects among the drow consider the appearance of a cildabrin to be a dire omen. For their own part, these aberrations seem to prefer dwarf fl esh above all else.

COMBAT

As a solitary hunter, a cildabrin prefers to stalk its prey. It slowly closes the distance to the quarry after using its spell-like silence ability, and then leaps to the attack. If hunting a lone fi gure or a small group, a cildabrin remains in melee, trying to kill or incapacitate as many targets as possible. If engaging a large or powerful group of prey, a cildabrin uses its Spring Attack feat to snatch up one or two targets, tries to trap any remaining foes in its spike stones, casts darkness to cover its escape, and then fl ees to kill and consume its prey later in safety. Its long claws and segmented, scorpionlike tail give it exceptional reach in combat.

Constrict (Ex): A cildabrin deals an extra 1d6+10 points of damage with a successful grapple check.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a cildabrin must successfully attack with a pincer. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, the cildabrin establishes a hold and deals constrict damage. Cildabrins gain a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks. A cildabrin might choose to grapple with one pincer only (grapple bonus +3), especially against Small opponents or opponents that have been weakened by its poison. This tactic leaves the monster free to move or use its other attacks against different opponents.

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 20, initial and secondary damage 1d6 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—darkness, silence (DC 16), spike stones (DC 16). Caster level 11th. The save DCs are Charismabased.

Skills: Cildabrins have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks. A cildabrin can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

Cildabrin

CLOAKER , SHADOWCLOAK ELDER

Advanced 7th-level Shadow Cloaker Sorcerer Huge Aberration (Extraplanar) Hit Dice: 10d8+70 plus 7d4+49 (181 hp) Initiative: +7 Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), fl y 60 ft. (average)

Armor Class: 26 (–2 size, +3 Dex, +11 natural, +4 mage armor), touch 11, fl at-footed 23 Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+26 Attack: Tail slap +16 melee (2d6+8) Full Attack: Tail slap +16 melee (2d6+8) and bite +11 melee (2d6+4) Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Engulf, moan, spells Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/magic, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, plane shift, resistance to cold 15, save bonus, shadow blend, shadow shift, spell resistance 22 Saves: Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +16 Abilities: Str 26, Dex 17, Con 24, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 22 Skills: Concentration +14, Hide +8, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +10,

Listen +15, Move Silently +21, Search +6, Sense

Motive +6, Spellcraft +10, Spot +15 Feats: Combat Refl exes, Flyby Attack,

Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (tail), Improved Natural

Armor, Spell Focus (illusion) Environment: Plane of

Shadow Organization:

Solitary, mob (1 shadowcloak elder plus 3–6 cloa kers), or fl ock (1 shadowcloak elder plus 7–12 cloakers) Challenge Rating: 11 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Usually neutral evil Advancement: By class Level Adjustment: —

COMBAT

Shadowcloak elders are clever and resourceful opponents with numerous strange abilities. They coordinate the efforts of their cloaker followers, so that some cloakers constantly moan while others attack the weakened a nd d i s or iented prey. A shadowcloak elder hovers out of melee range to attack enemy spellcasters with its own spells while its minions do their grisly work, counting on its shadow blend power to stay out of sight. I f con f ronted by a dangerous spellcaster, a shadowcloa k elder might swoop in and engul f the enemy, hoping to smother the offending caster with one bold stroke. Engulf (Ex): A shadowcloak elder can tr y to wrap a Large or smaller creature in its body as a standard action. The shadowcloak elder attempts to initiate a grapple that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and makes an immediate bite attack against the engulfed victim with a +4 bonus on its attack roll. It can still use its whiplike tail to strike at other targets. Attacks that hit an engulfi ng shadowcloak elder deal half damage to the monster and half to the trapped victim.

Moan (Ex): A shadowcloak elder can emit a dangerous subsonic moan (a sonic, mind-affecting ability) as a standard action. By changing the frequency, a shadowcloak elder can create one of four effects, which are described below. Shadowcloak elders are immune to the moans of other cloakers. Unless otherwise specifi ed, a creature that successfully saves against one of these effects cannot be affected by the same moan effect from the same cloaker for 24 hours. All save DCs for moan effects are Charisma-based.

Unnerve: Anyone within a 60-foot spread automatically takes a –2 penalty on attack and damage rolls. Those forced to hear the moan for more than 6 consecutive rounds must succeed on

A great, menacing shadow hovers in the air, with hateful red eyes and a crooked maw full of needlesharp fangs. Its raylike body ripples in shades of black, gray, and pallid white, and it has a long, lashing whip of a tail. Deep underground, cloakers build citylike nests of swooping shadows and crawling darkness. The secret rulers of these dark cities lurk behind the perceived leaders—the shadowcloak elders, cloakers of great size and power, tainted with the substance of shadow and skilled in dark sorcery. Sinister and inscrutable, shadowcloak elders occasionally emerge from secrecy to lead their lesser fellows in raids and patrols of the nearby territory, in search of slaves and food. A n average shadowcloak elder has a wingspan of 12 feet and weighs 400 pounds. Shadowcloak elders speak Undercommon.

A shadowcloak elder is a cloaker advanced to 10 Hit Dice (size Huge), with the shadow creature template and seven sorcerer levels. Shadowcloak elder

Illus. by D. Crabapple