The Lord of Sloth
| Orax, the Lord Level 27 Solo Brute of Sloth (ooze form) (Leader) Huge natural beast (ooze) XP 55,000 |
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Initiative +16 Senses Perception +18; dark vision HP 886; Bloodied 443 AC 39; Fortitude 44, Reflex 39 Will 37 Saving Throws +5 Immune acid; Resist 25 psychic Speed 4, climb 3 Action points 2 |
 Enervating Pseudopod (standard; at-will) ◊ Acid
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| Reach 3; +28 vs Fortitude; 4d10 + 10 damage, ongoing 10 acid damage, and the target is slowed (save ends both). A target already slowed is immobilized (save ends). A target already immobilized becomes unconscious (save ends). |
 Pseudopod Storm (standard; at-will) ◊ Acid
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| The Lord of Sloth makes up to 3 Enervating Pseudopod attacks against different opponents. If the Lord of Sloth is bloodied, he may attack the same opponent twice. |
 Engulf (Standard; at-will) ◊ Acid
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| Close blast 3; +28 vs Fortitude; 3d8+8 damage, and the target is grabbed. Sustain Minor: The Lord of Sloth sustains the grab, and the target takes 3d6 acid damage and loses a healing surge. A target that has no healing surges instead takes damage equal to its level. |
 Ichor Missile (immediate reaction; when an enemy damages the Lord of Sloth with a ranged, burst, or blast attack) ◊ Acid
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| Ranged 20; targets the triggering enemy; +30 vs AC; 3d10+10 damage and ongoing 10 acid damage (save ends). |
| Soporific Aura (standard; recharges when the Lord of Sloth makes an opponent become unconscious)
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| A wave of enervating sloth washes over the battlefield. Close burst 5; +28 vs Will; 4d6+15 and the target is slowed (save ends). A target already slowed is immobilized (save ends). A target already immobilized becomes unconscious (save ends). Allies in the burst gain a +2 bonus to attacks until the end of the Lord of Sloth's next turn. |
| Mercurial Body |
| The Lord of Sloth ignores difficult terrain and does not provoke opportunity attacks by moving. |
| Split (when the Lord of Sloth is hit by a weapon attack; at-will) |
| A 27th-level black pudding spawn appears in a square adjacent to the Lord of Sloth or in the nearest unoccupied square. |
| Shape Shift (minor; at-will) |
| The Lord of Sloth assumes his human form. |
| Alignment Evil Languages Kingdom Common, Blackspeech (Can only speak in human form) Skills Dungeoneering +23, Endurance +27, Intimidate +21, Stealth +24 Str 27 (+21) Dex 23 (+19) Wis 20 (+18) Con 28 (+22) Int 13 (+14) Cha 16 (+16) Equipment in human form Chainmail, Greatsword |
| Orax, the Lord Level 27 Solo Brute of Sloth (human form) (Leader) Medium natural humanoid XP 55,000 |
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Initiative +16 Senses Perception +18; dark vision HP 886; Bloodied 443 AC 39; Fortitude 44, Reflex 39 Will 37 Saving Throws +5 Speed 5 Action points 2 |
| Greatsword Slice (standard; at-will) ◊ Acid
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| +30 vs AC; 4d10 + 10 damage and ongoing 10 acid damage. |
| Shape Shift (minor; at-will) |
| The Lord of Sloth assumes his ooze form. |
| Alignment Evil Languages Kingdom Common, Blackspeech Skills Dungeoneering +23, Endurance +27, Intimidate +21, Stealth +24 Str 27 (+21) Dex 23 (+19) Wis 20 (+18) Con 28 (+22) Int 13 (+14) Cha 16 (+16) Equipment Chainmail, Greatsword |
Lord of Sloth's Tactics
The Lord of Sloth will try to make sure he is in ooze form before the battle begins. If not, he will turn to an ooze at the first opportunity. He will begin his attack with soporific aura and use an action point in the same round to use engulf or pseudopod storm. He will then use pseudopod storm or engulf to knock his foes unconscious. He will try to stay engaged with his opponents at all times, closing any distance as quickly as possible and using any spawned minions to try to go after any enemies attacking him at range. His minions will also help him flank opponents and knock them unconscious.
Lord of Sloth Lore
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.
*****
| The Lord of Sloth's Level 27 Minion Brute Black Pudding Spawn Medium natural beast (blind, ooze) XP 2,750 |
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Initiative +16 Senses Perception +18; blindsight, tremorsense HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion. AC 38; Fortitude 43, Reflex 35 Will 36 Immune gaze; Resist 25 acid Speed 4, Climb 3 |
| Slam (standard; at-will)
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| +27 vs Fortitude; 15 acid damage and the target is slowed (save ends). |
| Mercurial Body |
| The Lord of Sloth's Black Pudding Spawn ignores difficult terrain and does not provoke opportunity attacks by moving. |
| Alignment Unaligned Languages -- Str 24 (+20) Dex 23 (+19) Wis 20 (+18) Con 28 (+22) Int 10 (+13) Cha 10 (+13) |