The Lord of Sloth
Ooze, Elder Black Pudding: CR 12; ECL 20; Size G; HD 20d10+160; hp 267; Init -5; Spd 20 ft, climb 20 ft.; AC 5, touch 1, FF 5; BAB +15/+10/+5; Grapple +35; Atk: +20 melee (3d6 + 12 plus 2d6 acid, Slam); SA Acid, constrict 2d6+4 plus 2d6 acid, improved grab; SQ Blindsight 60 ft., split, ooze traits; AL NE; SV Fort +14, Ref +1, Will +8; Str 27, Dex 1, Con 27, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10.
Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +4, Intimidate +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (Planes) +1, Listen +4, Sense Motive +5, Spot +3; Blind-Fight, Iron Will, Negotiator, Weapon Focus.
Special Abilities: Blindsight; Area of Apathy; change form.
Area of Exhaustion (Su): The Lord of Sloth projects a magical effect similar to being hit by a ray of exhaustion. This affects all within 30 feet of the Ooze and is a permanent effect. The radius of effect extends an additional 5 feet in all directions for each round that Sloth does not move, up to a maximum range of 100 feet. If the Ooze moves, the area of effect resets to 30 feet. Once a character has saved versus the effect, he need not save again for one day, even if he leaves and re-enters the area. A creature that remains in the area will remain either exhausted or fatigued for 24 hours, depending on the result of the save. Once the creature leaves the area, the duration is calculated as the spell. The residue of this effect can be felt up to a mile around Sloth, and although it has no game effects, it will tend to produce lethargy in those within the radius. It is as if cast by a 15th-level Sorcerer (Save DC 17).
Change Form (Su): The Dweller has granted Orax the ability to change into the form of a morbidly obese human. Changing forms is a standard action. While in human form, his area of apthy ability is inoperable and he has the following statistics:
CR 12; ECL 20; Size M; HD 20d10+160; hp 267; Init -2; Spd 20 ft (base 30 ft); AC 16, touch 8, FF 16; BAB +15/+10/+5; Grapple +35; Atk: +14/+9/+4 melee (2d6 + 9/crit 19-20, Greatsword +1); AL NE; SV Fort +14, Ref +4, Will +8; Str 27, Dex 6, Con 27, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10. Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +4, Intimidate +1, Knowledge (Arcana) +1, Knowledge (Planes) +1, Listen +4, Sense Motive +5, Spot +3; Blind-Fight, Iron Will, Negotiator, Weapon Focus. Special Abilities: Blindsight, change form. Possessions: Greatsword +1, Half-plate +1.
More than four hundred years ago, Kiborus the Cold Master, vampiric chancellor of the Nameless City, conducted a series of magical experiments in the sewers deep beneath the city. Kiborus sought to create a new form of life, shaping the bodies of the dead into a sentient creature that would obey his every command. His efforts met with mixed success. He became the first known individual to create a flesh golem, but he was unable to instill true awareness into the creature. Again and again he attempted to grant it sentience, and again and again he failed—until at last one of his experiments succeeded and produced a powerful servant.
There was, however, an unforeseen consequence. To awaken his creation, Kiborus had poured the life force of countless tortured souls—many of them his own enemies—into the inert vessel of flesh. The golem could not contain all of this stolen essence. The excess awareness spilled from the creature and seeped into the sewers themselves.
There, among the filth and darkness, it found one of the lowliest creatures imaginable: a mindless black pudding.
Something strange and unique occurred. The sentience merged with the ooze, granting intelligence where none had existed before. For the first time, the creature became aware of itself. It understood its existence, its suffering, and the being responsible for both. Upon awakening, it desired only one thing: the destruction of Kiborus, its unholy father and creator.
Thus was born Orax, Black Pudding of the Nameless City.
For years Orax schemed in the darkness beneath the city, determined to undermine Kiborus and eventually destroy him. His newfound intelligence allowed him to unlock powers that had lain dormant within his strange form. He learned to sap the strength and vitality of other creatures, weakening them before hunting them down. The servants of Kiborus quickly became his prey, and one by one they vanished into the sewers. Yet no matter how many minions he consumed, Orax never lost sight of his ultimate goal: the destruction of the vampire who had created him.
Two years after the experiment, Kiborus finally learned of the creature stalking his servants. He discovered the power Orax possessed and, more troubling still, the hatred the ooze bore toward him. By then many of his followers had already perished. The Dweller did not tolerate weakness, and Kiborus knew that his position within the Nameless City was beginning to slip. Orax had become a threat that could no longer be ignored. Gathering a band of his most loyal and powerful henchmen, the Cold Lord descended into the sewers to destroy his creation once and for all.
The existence of Orax, however, had already attracted the attention of another.
The Dweller had long been engaged in a subtle and far-reaching scheme to expand the power of her dark master, Vornoth. One by one she sought candidates worthy of becoming the Lords of Sin. Yet she struggled to find a suitable champion for one of the strangest and most elusive of the sins: Sloth. Orax seemed the perfect choice.
When Kiborus and his followers finally located the black pudding in the depths of the sewer system, they found that he was not alone. The white-robed Dweller herself stood beside the creature. With a slight wave of her hand, she dismissed the vampire and his forces. Though furious, Kiborus obeyed and slunk away.
The Dweller then offered Orax a bargain. She promised to fulfill his greatest desire. Kiborus would die, and he would die painfully.
The price was eternal service to the Dweller and to Vornoth himself. Orax agreed without hesitation.
The ooze and the enigmatic Dweller then retired into the depths of Frostspire. There, using the power of the Book of Seven, the Dweller enhanced Orax's natural abilities, strengthening his power to exhaust and weaken those who came near him. The Book also granted him the ability to assume human form, for the Dweller knew that he would need to rule a kingdom. Finally, she imbued him with the Dark Will so that he could command armies and lead the forces of darkness. Thus Orax, Lord of Sloth, was born.
Yet the Dweller betrayed him.
She still considered Kiborus too valuable a servant to sacrifice, and she knew that Orax's will was now bound to hers through the power of the Book of Seven. When she sent him at the head of a dark army to conquer Zeland he had no choice but to obey. The revenge he had been promised was denied him. Still, in the deepest recesses of his being, Orax never forgot.
Many misunderstand the nature of his sin. Orax is not slothful because he is lazy. Indeed, he can be patient, calculating, and relentless when pursuing his goals. Rather, he embodies a deeper and more terrible form of Sloth: spiritual surrender. Since the moment of his creation, Orax has existed in a state of resentment and stagnation. He does not strive to build, improve, or create. He clings to old grievances and allows them to define him. His victims feel their strength, ambition, and willpower drained away in his presence, mirroring the emptiness at the core of his own existence. Orax is the temptation to give up, to cease striving, to accept bitterness in place of purpose. He is not merely idle; he is the embodiment of despairing inertia.