Obox-ob (3.5e Monster)

Information About Obox-ob
Alternative Names and Titles: Miska the Wolf-Spider, The Deposed Prince, The Last of the Obyrith

Symbol: A scorpion dangling from a jawless human skull, its tail wrapped through the eye sockets.

Portfolio: Obyrith, poison, vermin, vengeance.

Domains Granted: Chaos, Corrupt, Evil, Vengeance, Vermin

Favored Weapon: Rapier (stinger).

Obox-ob's Statistics Block
''This immense monster has large, barbed legs protruding from each side of its long, serpentine body, which is covered with a multi-plated layer of chitinous armor that gives it a highly vermin-like appearance. Spines protrude from almost every conceivable angle, making the prospect of actually striking its body almost impossible. Upon closer inspection, you see that each spine is coated in a dark slick concoction, likely a demonic poison beyond the potency of anything you have previously experienced. At one end of the creature’s body is a tail that splits into three long sections, each tipped with a vicious stinger. On the other end is a neck punctuated by three sets of glaring red eyes above a lamprey maw from which slithers a long tongue ended in a corkscrew-shaped point.''

"They are all unworthy of the power they hold, failures to the name of demonkind. I will see every last one of them struck down as I take their place, and take their power."

Obox-ob is perhaps the most ferocious and savage demon in the Abyss, an obyrith that all demons know and fear. He is the lord of venom, and his destructive power matches the horror stories that are told of his infamous rampages through his layer of the Abyss.

When the Queen of Chaos was fashioning the first obyrith, she went about it as most creators do; she began by copying what had been previously successful, including the goddess Lolth, whose use of spiderkind inspired the Queen of Chaos to create a arachnoid creature.

She had expected her creation to be similar to Lolth’s: a stealthy, patient predator who struck with perfect precision and grace. The result fell far short of her vision. Born of the Queen’s experiment was a fearsome, almost feral entity that fought without even the slightest semblance of tact. A gigantic spider with multiple humanoid arms in addition to arachnid limbs, the creature immediately slew several other test subjects in a fit of rage. As he tore them limb from limb with his bare hands and impaled others with his legs, tossing webs and venomous spittle every which way, the Queen of Chaos looked on in amusement and decided to accept the beast as a servant: it would come to be known (and feared) as Miska the Wolf-Spider.

Miska was not particularly intelligent, but he turned out to be incredibly loyal. After witnessing his effectiveness against certain other demons, the Queen turned him on targets of her choosing, his vicious abilities making short work of whatever she set him upon. These early trials of the Wolf-spider’s strength became the basis for the bebilith demons, and convinced the Queen to give him a larger role in her plans. She decided to set him loose on a foe that she did not expect him to survive an encounter with. This suicide mission entailed the death of another Voidborn, a powerful scorpion-like monster said to be over 200 feet long (the remains of which are rumored to still be on what is now Obox-ob’s plane). With his typical zeal, Miska hunted down and attacked the beast with fury, believing it to be an aggressor against the Queen. And it was thus that he committed his first act of revenge.

The battle was hardly without risk, however. The Queen did not expect the Wolf-Spider to return, and quickly offered his position as her personal manservant to another demon. Her prediction was proven partially correct; the entity known as Miska the Wolf-Spider died in battle against the nameless Voidborn. As his heart slowed to a halt, he realized the slain opponent still moving in what the Wolf-Spider had assumed to be its death throes. With horror, Miska found himself impaled on the Voidborn’s stinger as he took in his final breath.

Realizing its fate and Miska’s, the Voidborn poured its essence into the dying obyrith, determined to save a piece of itself by resurrecting its foe. When the Wolf-Spider awoke, he was unknowingly in a significantly different form. His body was now long like that of a centipede, having stretched out behind him and grown three huge scorpion tails. His head, once that of a perpetually sneering human, was now a grotesque mockery of its former self. All of this was completed by a layer of ridged, plated armor all over his body, covered in poison-tipped spines.

Not knowing of his replacement or of his shocking new appearance, he returned to his Queen in triumphant victory. It was much to his surprise that she ordered him attacked, thinking him to be the wrathful Voidborn attempting to exact penance for a failed assassination. It was only when he engaged his successor in combat that Miska realized his new form, and the rush of power that it brought to him. With this destructive might, he destroyed his replacement in a tremendous barrage of venomous spines. And so he committed his second act of revenge, taking the life of the one who usurped him, without even knowing it.

Once he reached the Queen of Chaos, he prostrated himself before her in a show of trust that few other demons would ever display. This deference caused her to recognize him immediately, at which point she reinstated him as her Prince of Demons. With his new form and rank came a new name-he would no longer be Miska the Wolf-Spider, but rather Obox-ob, demon prince of vermin and the once again the enforcer of the Queen‘s dominion over the Abyss. Any who slighted the Queen of Chaos will knew that that Obox-ob would find them to exact vengeance on her behalf.

It was in this post that Obox-ob served until the rise of the tanar’ri and the collapse of the obyrith empire. In the final battle, he led the obyrith armies against those of the tanar’ri while the greatest of the rebel lords sought out the Queen herself. By the time Obox-ob realized she was in danger, he rushed to aid her only to be cut off by Pazuzu, who up until that moment had feigned loyalty to the obyrith in order to allow an opportunity for the Queen’s destruction. It was Pazuzu who had convinced Obox-ob to leave the Queen to her own devices and instead lead the armies, and for this he has never forgiven the other demon lord.

With the Queen’s defeat and Pazuzu’s treachery, Obox-ob swore to commit yet another act of vengeance. He would destroy those who collaborated to destroy the Queen (among them Demogorgon, Orcus, and of course Pazuzu), who he hates with undying fervor. Now he is biding his time, waiting for the moment that his power is sufficient to reignite the war and bring about a different result than the last.

Combat
Obox-ob relies heavily on his plethora of natural attacks and various poisons to win battles, destroying opponents with multiple attack patterns that are all conduits for his extremely potent venom. Obox-ob never suffers penalties to attack rolls for making a full attack with all of his natural weapons. Although he does possess significant spell-like abilities and falls back on them if necessary, his desire for melee often overrules his common sense, leading him to refrain from the use of spell-like abilities as a primary means of battle.

 (Ex): Obox-ob has the ability to advance his portfolio. This is considered identical to the wish spell, but may only be used to produce effects appropriate to Obox-ob's portfolio or goals. Obox-ob may only use this ability once per minute.

 (Ex): Obox-ob's constantly rattling armor causes a powerful hypnotic effect to come over those within 120 feet of him. All creatures within that area must succeed on a Will save (DC 35) or be affected as though by a song of discord spell (CL 24th) for the duration of that round. Creatures save each round against the same DC regardless of previous successes or failures. This save DC is Charisma-based. This is a mind-affecting effect.

 (Ex): Although Obox-ob is not a true deity, he has many of the powers of such. He can grant spells to clerics, and gives access to the Chaos, Corrupt, Evil, Vengeance, and Vermin domains. His favoured weapon is the rapier (or, if applicable, a stinger) and his portfolio is obyrith, poison, vengeance, and vermin.

Additionally, Obox-ob is immune to any attack that changes his form, mind-affecting effects, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain and any ability that would cause him to die or be instantly destroyed, unless such an effect comes from a creature that has a caster level or character level (or CR, for monsters) over 20.

Lastly, Obox-ob can burn off some of his essence to stop magic dead in its tracks. As a free action that can be used outside of his turn, Obox-ob can lose 55 hit points to counter any spell, supernatural ability or spell-like ability in Medium range, as if by greater dispel magic (although it can counter supernatural and spell-like abilities as if they were spells). This ignores temporary hit points, and can be used any number of times. For any ability with an ongoing or permanent duration, this merely suppresses it for 6 rounds.

 (Su): Those struck by Obox-ob’s tongue can be infected by the raw essence of chaos, causing random (but always terrifying) effects. A creature struck by the tongue must roll a d12 (on which demons receive a +1 bonus) and then consult the table below). All effects require the victim to make a Fortitude save (DC 35) in the event that they are unwilling. This DC is Charisma-based. If the template is not able to be applied to the creature, roll again.

 (Ex): When Obox-ob is slain, he explodes in a massive cloud of poison that spreads to blight the landscape for miles around as a storm of toxic rainfall that lasts for 11 minutes and 1 round (or exactly 666 rounds). Creatures within ten miles of the site of Obox-ob’s death must make saves or be affected by his poison for each round they remain within that radius. Creatures further than 1 mile away gain a +4 bonus on their saving throw.

This storm permanently blights the landscape even after the storm ends. The 10-mile area is permanently warded by antipathy and antilife shell effects, with a DC 35 Will save to resist where applicable. Anyone who manages to enter is subject to the effects of cloudkill as long as they are within the radius. The consumption of any fruit or drink from this area forces the imbiber to make a Fortitude save against Obox-ob's poison.

Other obyrith (or creatures with at least two levels in Ravaged by Obox-ob) are immune to this effect.

 (Su): Obox-ob is an ancient evil, and one of the greatest of his kind. As a result, he receives a +8 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls, a +8 resistance bonus to all saves and a +6 deflection bonus to AC. Obox-ob also has maximum hit points per hit die.

Additionally, the Abyss itself protects Obox-ob from any attempt to scry on him. Anyone that uses a divination effect on Obox-ob or the area within 1 mile of him must make a DC 35 Will save or become dazed for 1 round, and ending the effect automatically. Additionally, if the save is failed and Obox-ob wishes it, he can use an immediate action to transport himself over to the location of the user of the divination effect, even if it is on a different plane.

Lastly, Obox-ob's very presence is a blight on the surrounding area. He radiates a desecrate spell effect to a radius of twenty miles, and the innermost mile of this is subject to an unhallow effect instead, both at caster level 24th.

 (Ex): When Obox-ob hits an opponent with one of his spines or stingers, they must make a Fortitude save (DC 39) or take 1d10 points of damage to an ability score of his choice. If struck by the poison multiple times, the target must make a separate save to resist ability damage each time. There is no secondary damage to this poison.

Obox-ob’s poison is so terribly virulent that it even works on any creatures with a Challenge Rating of 20 or less, regardless of any immunities they may have.

 (Sp): As a full-round action, Obox-ob may bestow his ravage on a creature eligible to gain a level. That creature gains its first level in the ravaged by Obox-ob racial paragon class. If Obox-ob attempts to ravage an unwilling creature, it receives a DC 35 Will save to resist (Cha-based).

If Obox-ob wishes, he can attempt to share the senses of a creature that has at least one level in ravaged by Obox-ob. This works identically to a scrying spell, except it must be centred on the creature in question. The creature doesn't get any say in the matter. Obox-ob may use this ability at will. This has a caster level of 24th.

Additionally, if any creature with at least one level in ravaged by Obox-ob attempts to affect Obox-ob or the area within 20 miles of him with any ability, Obox-ob may choose to use dominate monster on that creature as a free action that he can use even outside of his turn. The creature receives a DC 35 save as normal. This has a caster level of 24th, and the DC is Charisma-based.

Obox-ob lusts after the means to create retrievers, but has not acquired these secrets due to the efforts of Demogorgon and other demons to keep them from falling into the hands of the obyrith.

 (Ex): Simply being in Obox-ob’s presence fills one’s mind with a powerful mental toxin that incites delirium and, if unchecked, total catatonia. Any intelligent non-demon that sees Obox-ob must succeed on a Will save (DC 35) or be contaminated with this venom, taking 1d8 points of Wisdom damage per turn until cured by a wish or miracle spell. Whilst taking damage from the poison, the victim also has a 50% chance of suffering hallucinations (treat as being affected by a persistent image spell) each turn.

Creatures who save successfully against the poison are still partially affected by it, as are those who later cure it. Any creature that is forced to make a save against the poison is now permanently haunted by Obox-ob in their dreams, suffering the effects of a nightmare spell every time they attempt to rest for the remainder of their days. This affliction also spreads through physical contact, infecting every creature that an uncured victim touches. Wish or miracle cures the target of these nightmares permanently, but the caster of the spell must make a save (using the normal save DC) or contract the nightmares.

Caster level 24th, DCs are Charisma-based (default 35).

 (Ex): Obox-ob’s body is covered with deadly, poison-pricked spines that are useful as a weapon is nearly all forms of combat. A creature that grapples with Obox-ob automatically takes 24d6 points of piercing damage and must make a Fortitude save against his poison.

As a swift action, Obox-ob can launch a flurry of six spines, rolling a single attack roll against the opponent’s Armor Class and then rolling a 1d6 to determine how many spikes hit. A target hit with at least one spike is affected by Obox-ob’s poison, the DC of which increases by 1 for every additional spike that hits.

If he wishes, Obox-ob may also launch a larger amount of spikes as a standard action, covering the equivalent of a 30x30 foot area (the exact dimensions of which are chosen by him at the time of the attack). Creatures in this area take 48d6 points of damage (with a DC 38 Reflex save allowed for half damage) and must make Fortitude saves against his poison. These DC's are Con-based.

 (Ex): Obox-ob sees naturally as though he were under the effect of a true seeing spell.

Obox-ob's Worshipers
Obox-ob is interested in attracting worshipers for the same reason as almost any demon: he desires power. Since his most bitter enemies work to attract cults for the purposes of gaining followings as deities, he believes that he too must gain worshipers in order to possess the power necessary to challenge them.

It has so far proven a prudent investment. Obox-ob is popular amongst those who use subterfuge and poison in their professions, including rogues and assassins of all kinds. As the prince of vengeance, Obox-ob also accepts prayers from those who hold particular vendettas for which they seek bloody recompense; it is speculated that he is in fact particularly sympathetic to these souls, and will aid them in their quest in return for future assistance on the Prime or elsewhere.

Lastly, he holds tremendous appeal to those who revere vermin. His favored Abyssal servants are the swarms of ekolid that inhabit his plane, the bebilith that he has managed to subjugate, and obviously the klurichir who, despite not being vermin-like in nature, are eternally loyal to any remaining obyrith lords. Despite all his efforts, Obox-ob has only managed to contact one of the remaining klurichir, who are spread so thin throughout the Abyss that communication with them is practically impossible.