Ortho: The Seareivers

Cross-posting some work I did for my LJ project, since I know most of Planeswalker isn't a dedicated follower. If you've seen the earlier posts there, nothing new will be found here.

The defeat of the Chaos-loving Empire of Pan Thaera was one of the great triumphs of the early Harmonium, but one that did not come without a cost. The rulers of the Empire, in their fear of everything that the Harmonium stood for, took every measure imaginable to combat the crusade - including some measures that any right-thinking person would consider unspeakable. Scorched-earth tactics, contagious insanity, demon summonings, and many other atrocities were committed, leaving the Harmonium with many lifetimes' cleanup work after the conquest of Thaera was complete.

One of the most horrific and longest-lasting of the Empire's creations was the birth of the Seareivers. Huge oceangoing monsters trained to think of humans and their ships as natural prey, these killing machines were released without a care into the waters of the Ocean of Foam in order to counter the Harmonium invasion force - and if they destroyed neutral shipping, that was an acceptable loss. Even after the Empire itself was defeated, the seareivers proved to be wily opponents and cunning prey, eluding Harmonium hunting flotillas and occasionally striking at undefended ships. A small but dangerous population still survives today, in the deepest oceans of Ortho.

Each seareiver is a unique lifeform, different in likeness from any other, but they all have a same general shape and appearance. Most seareivers are serpentlike, streamlined for fast movement both inside and outside of the water, and with the reflexes needed to take full advantage of such a body type. They are also fantastically tough, with armorlike outer scales or plating covering a layer of tough fatty tissue that absorbs most shocks and blows harmlessly. Only below these defenses come the inner muscles and vital organs of the beast.

Seareivers attack either with their terrible bite, or by striking enemies with long, flexible tentacles that extrude from their bodies at random points. These tentacles are thin, but as tough and well-armored as the rest of their bodies, and strike with incredible force. The tentacles also carry some sort of poison or foul curse, that can paralyze and eventually rot skin on contact. Seareivers have almost no weak points that can be attacked - eye-equivalents and other sensory organs are often armored, and rarely necessary in any case as the beast works as much via tremorsense as sight, and the thing's mouth is coated with so much razor-sharp bone and chitin as to be near-impenetrable.

Seareivers may once have existed in many different forms, but today only two types survive - Lesser and Great. The lesser seareiver is small, comparatively, perhaps only ten feet in total length, but are incredibly fast and stealthy. They will lurk beneath the surface of a strong wavefront, aware of the passage of any ships but invisible to any observer that doesn't know exactly what to watch for - and then strike, propelling themselves from the ocean's surface to the deck of the largest galleas in one mighty leap. Once a pack of lesser seareivers has boarded a ship, they become killing machines - attacking any air-breather they come across until it stops moving, then moving onwards to strike at other enemies. If nothing remains alive, they descend to the vessel's waterline, tear holes in the sides of the ship, then exit while the ship sinks behind them.

As terrible and vicious as the lesser seareivers are, the Great seareivers are worse. As long from tip to tail as any Harmonium ship ever constructed, and almost as massive, these creatures don't bother with emerging from the water, or sweeping the decks for exposed crew. They simply lurk a hundred feet or so below the ocean's surface, then rip the bottom out of whatever they see as a target. While a great seareiver possesses tentacles that can strike at any creature foolish enough to approach it, its most terrible weapon is its bite, which is easily enough to disembowel anything it comes across - living or not.

Fortunately, both lesser and great seareivers are rare, and found only in the deepest oceans. The lesser seas don't give these horrible creatures enough room to hide in, and Harmonium military forces will attack any seareiver on sight. Packs of lesser seareivers avoid extinction through numbers, speed, animal cunning and pure ferocity; great seareivers are slower and less intelligent, but are also believed to be able to hide themselves on the very bottom of the ocean floor if need be to avoid detection. In spite of a great desire to do so, the Harmonium has never been able to fully exterminate either kind of seareiver.

Little is known - or desired to be known - about the ecology and life of such loathsome creatures. They are known to feed on flesh of any kind, though whether such a diet is needed for them to survive or just a sadistic touch by their creators is uncertain. Their continued survival indicates that they can breed somehow - yet more evidence of the insanity of the Pan Thaerans and the folly of working with chaos. Seareivers frequent both the Ocean of Foam and the Ocean of Fevers, but strangely have never been reported within the Ocean of Fog.

Any suggestion that the seareivers were originally unleased by factions within the Harmonium to terrorize the Pan Thaerans is treasonous and will be punished with the utmost exaction. Evidence purporting to support such a claim is a forgery and a lie.

Seareiver, Lesser
Size/Type: Large Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 8d10+32 (76 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 20 ft, swim 60 ft
Armor Class: 18 (-1 size, +2 dex, +7 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+16
Attack: Tentacle +14 melee (1d8+6 plus paralysis)
Full Attack: 4 tentacles +14 melee (1d8+6 plus paralysis) and bite +12 melee (2d6+9)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/10 ft
Special Attacks: Paralysis, pounce
Special Qualities: Resistance to acid and fire 10, tremorsense 60 ft, water dependent
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +9, Spot +3
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Multiattack
Environment: Any aquatic
Organization: Pack (8-20)
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Advancement: 9-15 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: -

Paralysis (Su): The touch of a lesser seareiver's tentacle paralyzes affected beings for 2d4+1 rounds (Fort save DC 18 to negate). The save DC is Constitution-based.
Pounce: If a lesser seareiver charges a foe, it can make a full attack. This ability can only be used if the seareiver begins its turn immersed in water.
Water Dependent (Ex): Lesser seareivers can survive out of water for 10 minutes per point of Constitution (after that, refer to the drowning rules).

Skills: Lesser seareivers receive a +8 racial bonus to all Swim checks. They receive a +4 bonus to Hide, Listen and Spot checks while underwater. They receive a +15 racial bonus on Jump checks if it begins its movement in water, and does not land prone if the Jump check is successful.

Seareiver, Greater
Size/Type: Colossal Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 36d10+396 (594 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: Swim 40 ft
Armor Class: 18 (-1 Dex, -8 size, +17 natural), touch 1, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +36/+67
Attack: Bite +51 melee (6d6+22)
Full Attack: Bite +51 melee (6d6+22) and 8 tentacles +46 melee (2d8+7 plus paralysis)
Space/Reach: 30 ft/20 ft
Special Attacks: Improved grab, paralyze, sundering bite, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Resistance to acid, cold and fire 20, tremorsense 120 ft, water dependent
Saves: Fort +31, Ref +19, Will +16
Abilities: Str 40, Dex 8, Con 33, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 11
Skills: Hide +20, Listen +4, Spot +22
Feats: Ability Focus (paralysis), Alertness, Cleave, Diehard, Endurance, Great Cleave, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Natural Attack (tentacle), Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Knock-Down [B], Power Attack, Spring Attack [B]
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 18
Treasure: Standard (swallowed)
Advancement: 37-54 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: -

Paralysis (Su): The touch of a greater seareiver's tentacle paralyzes affected beings for 4d6 rounds (Fort save DC 33 negates). The save DC is Constitution based.

Sundering Bite (Ex): A greater seareiver's bite attack ignores the first 15 points of hardness when making sundering attacks.

Swallow Whole (Ex): A greater seareiver can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Huge size or smaller by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 4d6+15 points of crushing damage plus 8 points of acid damage per round from the creature’s gizzard. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 50 points of damage to the gizzard (AC 20). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. A greater seareiver's interior can hold 2 Huge, 4 Large, 16 Medium, 64 Small, 256 Tiny, or 1024 Diminutive or smaller opponents.

Skills: Greater seareivers receive a +4 bonus to all Hide, Listen, Spot and Swim checks while in water.