The Ssathrakaal

Ssathrakaal

Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Reptilian)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d4+1) or longspear +4 melee (1d8+1)
Full Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d4+1) or longspear +4 melee (1d8+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with reach weapon)
Special Attacks: Constrict (1d6+1)
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., scent, amphibious movement, stability
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 12
Skills: Swim +14, Balance +7, Bluff +5, Hide +7, Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats: Improved Initiative
Environment: Warm marshes, swamps, woodlands and extraplanar (distant dimensions)
Organization: Solitary, pair, clutch (3–6), or enclave (7–20 plus 1–3 sorcerers of 3rd–8th level)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: Standard (often includes spears, glaives, fauchards, or ranseurs)
Alignment: Usually lawful neutral
Advancement: By character class (favored class: Sorcerer)
Level Adjustment: +1

Ssathrakaal are a serpentine humanoid race remembered as the former masters of Da’Ma, though they no longer dwell within that luminous dimension. In the current age, they persist only in scattered enclaves across distant dimensions, their presence reduced to small, insular communities that cling to fragments of a once-dominant culture. Their absence from Da’Ma is complete and unquestioned, as though the dimension itself has quietly closed behind them.

Physically, Ssathrakaal possess long, coiling tails in place of legs, their bodies moving with a fluid, controlled grace that makes even stillness seem deliberate. Their scaled forms vary in coloration, often reflecting muted natural tones or pale, almost sculpted hues. Their narrow features and reflective eyes lend them an unsettling beauty, one that is often enhanced by their naturally poised posture and measured movements.

Their physiology grants them remarkable stability. A Ssathrakaal gains a +4 racial bonus on checks to resist bull rush and trip attempts due to the anchoring strength of its tail. In addition, they can constrict opponents during a grapple, dealing 1d6 points of damage plus 1½ times their Strength modifier with a successful grapple check. While not instinctive grapplers, they are capable of leveraging their form with calculated precision when pressed into close combat.

Ssathrakaal favor polearms and long-reaching weapons, particularly spears, glaives, fauchards, and ranseurs. These weapons complement their natural balance and allow them to maintain distance while controlling the flow of combat. When combined with their poised stance and measured reactions, this preference results in a fighting style that emphasizes positioning, patience, and deliberate strikes over reckless aggression.

They are equally capable in aquatic environments, possessing a swim speed of 20 feet. Ssathrakaal gain a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks to perform special actions or avoid hazards, may always take 10 on Swim checks even when distracted or endangered, and can use the run action while swimming in a straight line. This adaptability reflects their historical affinity for marshlands and water-rich territories.

Though their civilization has long since declined, Ssathrakaal culture has not entirely vanished. Many enclaves maintain strict internal traditions, preserving echoes of their former philosophy of control and structure. Among them, sorcerers are highly regarded, seen as inheritors of the arcane practices that once allowed their kind to shape the fabric of reality itself.

At higher levels, Ssathrakaal sorcerers often pursue mastery of dimensional travel through spells rather than innate ability. They study and refine magic that allows them to traverse planes, manipulate spatial boundaries, and observe distant realities. These individuals are frequently encountered as leaders, scholars, or wanderers, seeking either lost knowledge or a renewed understanding of their place in existence.

Though diminished and displaced, the Ssathrakaal endure as a quiet, persistent echo of a bygone era. They are neither conquerors nor victims in the present age, but survivors of a philosophy that once sought to define the world itself.

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.

Letiche

Small Humanoid (Aquatic, Reptilian)

Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 40 ft.
Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +3 / +0
Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d6+1 plus grab)
Full Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d6+1 plus grab) and 2 claws +4 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, capsize, death wail
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, hold breath, swamp stride, damage reduction 5/magic
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +5
Ability Scores: Str 13, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 7, Wis 14, Cha 11
Skills: Hide +11, Move Silently +9, Swim +9, Listen +6, Spot +6, Survival +4
Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Warm marshes and bayous
Organization: Solitary, pair, or clutch (3–6)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 5–8 HD (Small), 9–12 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

Special Attacks

Improved Grab (Ex):
To use this ability, a Letiche must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it can attempt to drag its opponent into the water.

Capsize (Ex):
A Letiche lurking beneath the surface can attempt to overturn a small watercraft (such as a canoe, skiff, or rowboat) as a full-round action. This requires a successful Strength check opposed by the highest Balance or Profession (sailor) check among the occupants (DC 15 if none apply). Creatures in the boat must succeed on a DC 14 Reflex save or be thrown into the water. The save DC is Dexterity-based.

Death Wail (Su):
Once per day, a Letiche may emit a horrifying, infant-like wail as a standard action. All creatures within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or become shaken for 1d6 rounds. Creatures that fail by 5 or more are instead frightened for 1 round, then shaken. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Wisdom-based.

Special Qualities

Hold Breath (Ex):
A Letiche can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to 4 × its Constitution score before risking drowning.

Swamp Stride (Ex):
A Letiche moves through natural difficult terrain in marshes, bogs, and shallow water without penalty and leaves no trail unless it chooses to.

Description

The Letiche is a stunted, nightmarish figure standing no more than four feet tall, its hunched silhouette barely distinguishable from the tangled roots and reeds of the bayou. Its skin is a sickly green-gray, slick with moisture and patterned with faint, uneven scales that glisten in dim light. Long, webbed fingers end in cracked, claw-like nails, and its feet splay outward like those of some malformed amphibian.

Its head is the most disturbing feature - vaguely human in shape, but stretched and warped. The mouth is too wide, filled with small, needle-like teeth, and its eyes reflect light like an alligator’s, glowing faintly in darkness. When still, it can be mistaken for driftwood or a half-submerged corpse, but when it moves, it does so with unsettling, jerking speed.

The creature smells of stagnant water, rot, and mud. In the silence of the swamp, its presence is often betrayed only by faint ripples in black water - or the soft, almost pitiful sound of something that might be mistaken for a crying child.

Behavior

Letiches are ambush predators, preferring to remain submerged with only their eyes and nostrils above water. They are patient, sometimes watching prey for hours before striking. Small boats are their favored targets, as they delight in isolating victims and dragging them beneath the surface one by one.

They are cruelly intelligent in a primitive way, often testing prey - tapping at the hull of a boat, circling silently, or mimicking distant sounds to lure travelers into vulnerable positions. Once panic sets in, the Letiche strikes swiftly, aiming to pull victims into deep or murky water where visibility is nearly nonexistent.

Despite their size, they rarely flee once committed to an attack. Instead, they become more aggressive when injured, emitting their signature wail - a sound that blends infant distress with something far older and filled with malice.

Lore

Among the people of the bayou, the Letiche is not merely a monster - it is a warning. According to one widely told tale, these creatures are the restless spirits of unbaptized or abandoned infants, denied peace and twisted by the swamp into something vengeful. Their cries echo what they once were, a haunting reminder of neglect, sin, or misfortune.

Another tradition speaks of them as living beings - children lost to the swamp and raised among predators. Over time, they become something else entirely: neither human nor beast, shaped by survival into cunning, amphibious hunters. These versions of the legend often describe Letiches as territorial and even capable of forming small hunting groups.

Scholars and occultists argue over their true origin, but most agree on one thing - the swamp changes things. Whether born of spirit or flesh, the Letiche embodies that transformation: innocence drowned, reshaped into something patient, hungry, and unforgiving.

Some grim tales suggest that particularly old Letiches grow larger and more intelligent, eventually leading small broods. In these rare cases, they may even begin to mimic human speech more convincingly, using it to lure victims deeper into the mire - where the water is black, the roots run deep, and nothing that is taken is ever returned.