Ssathrek

Ssathrek, Voice of the Drowned Stillness

Male Lizardfolk Shaman 5
NE Medium Humanoid (Reptilian)

Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Reptilian)
Hit Dice: 2d8+5d8+14 (52 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), swim 30 ft.
Armor Class: 19 (+1 Dex, +5 natural, +3 armor), touch 11, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: heavy mace +7 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: heavy mace +7 melee (1d8+3) and bite +2 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: spells, Mire’s Patience
Special Qualities: hold breath, swim speed
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +8
Ability Scores: Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 12
Skills: Concentration +10, Heal +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Listen +6, Spot +6, Survival +8, Swim +11
Feats: Combat Casting, Augment Summoning, Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Environment: Warm marshes and swamps
Organization: Solitary (leader of Mirecoil Brood) or with 4–8 lizardfolk
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard plus ritual items
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +2

Ssathrek casts divine spells as a 5th-level shaman (caster level 5th). Typical Spells Prepared (5/4+1/3+1/2+1): 0 - detect magic, guidance, resistance, virtue, create water; 1st - obscuring mist, cause fear, inflict light wounds, entangle; domain - doom; 2nd - hold person, summon swarm (insects), bull’s strength; domain - death knell; 3rd - bestow curse, deeper darkness; domain - contagion.

• Mire’s Patience (Su): Once per day, Ssathrek may designate a creature within 60 feet as a standard action. For 5 rounds, the target’s base land speed is halved, it cannot take 5-foot steps, and it takes a –4 penalty on Balance, Escape Artist, and Swim checks as the swamp itself resists their movement. A successful Will save (DC 15) negates this effect.

• Hold Breath (Ex): Ssathrek can hold his breath for a number of rounds equal to four times his Constitution score before risking drowning.

Skills: Ssathrek has a +4 racial bonus on Swim checks and may always take 10 on Swim checks, even when distracted or endangered.

Ssathrek is a massive and heavy-bodied specimen of his kind, his physique built for endurance rather than speed. His scales are a dark, mottled green-black, blending seamlessly with the stagnant waters of the swamp, and their constant sheen of moisture gives the impression that he has never truly left the water. Bone fetishes and lengths of cord, softened by rot but carefully maintained, hang from his shoulders and torso, each one bearing the marks of ritual significance. His eyes are dull gold, unblinking and steady, reflecting neither aggression nor curiosity, but a quiet, unwavering awareness. When he stands motionless, which is often, he appears less like a living creature and more like a natural extension of the swamp itself.

He frequently positions himself partially submerged, allowing the murky waters to obscure much of his form, with only his head and upper torso visible above the surface. This habit reinforces the unsettling sense that he is not merely inhabiting the swamp but is instead being held by it. His movements are slow and deliberate, never hurried, and when he acts, it is with an economy of motion that suggests long practice in conserving energy. Even in combat, he avoids unnecessary exertion, favoring positioning and timing over brute force.

His voice is low and measured, carrying across still water without strain, and he rarely raises it. There is no outward anger or zeal in his demeanor, only a calm certainty that borders on inevitability. Those who encounter him often find this composure deeply unsettling, as though he has already accounted for their presence and found them insufficient to alter what is to come.

Ssathrek’s rise to leadership came not through strength, but through absence of failure. In his earlier years within the Mirecoil Brood, he avoided unnecessary conflict and drew little attention to himself, allowing others to compete and fall away. When the tribe’s former shaman was lost beneath the flooded levels of Half-Sunk Watch during a failed ritual, Ssathrek did not claim power outright. Instead, he continued the rites, one by one, until it became clear that he was the only one capable of maintaining them.

Under his guidance, the Mirecoil Brood has shifted into a far more dangerous force. Their hunting methods have become patient and deliberate, focusing on isolation, exhaustion, and control rather than immediate violence. Captives are no longer swiftly killed, but kept and worn down, their strength treated as something to be slowly diminished. The tribe now shapes its environment as a weapon, using water, mud, and terrain to weaken their prey before closing in.

His devotion to Sstheres is absolute, though it manifests without fanaticism. Ssathrek does not seek to spread her influence aggressively, believing instead that the world is already moving in her direction. As places are abandoned and structures fall into ruin, he sees her domain expanding naturally. To him, there is no urgency - only certainty. All things will slow, falter, and sink, and when they do, he intends to still be there, waiting.