#hypnalis

[dailycharacteroption]

Aerochemist (Alchemist Archetype)

 When you live on a flying city, the most constant danger is gravity, constantly threatening to pull you down to your death the moment your flight fails.

It only makes sense then, that the people that live in such a city would discover every possible way to prevent this as possible.

In the Golarion Setting, the Shory people were famous for their flying cities even long after their fall. While magical flying structures may never again rise to the prominence they once had, there are still those that dig through the ruins of their once-great civilization seeking lost discoveries in science and magic that can be applied for future generations.

Whether they are scions of such a civilization, those seeking their forgotten secrets, or just alchemists fascinated by flight, today I present an alchemist dedicated to finding ways to keep aloft.

As we will see, flight in the name of the game with the aerochemist, and they learn to master the third dimension in earnest!

 The aerochemist’s research begins with an aeromantic concoction meant to make one lighter than air for an extended period. At first, it does indeed lighten them, allowing them to leap great distances and heights with ease, as well as slow their fall. Over time, the effect lasts longer, and can even allow for true flight or even walking on air. What’s more, they can also learn to brew a version that can be administered to multiple people at once, though this version lasts for a much shorter amount of time.

Once they are in the air, these alchemists learn quickly how to use gravity to their advantage, making them experts with attacking with their bombs and other thrown weapons from above.

Additionally, they are also skilled fliers due to their continued practice.

A relatively simple archetype, this is a good pick for an alchemist seeking to use flight to their advantage. With that in mind, you miss out on getting a mutagen or cognatogen, so I’d recommend going for a primarily bombing and blast-extract based build, pounding foes from above.

 While it’s one thing to develop the power of magical personal flight, I can imagine that, as inventors and scientists, these alchemists would delight in delving into engineering to create flying vehicles, discover air-based magical phenomena, and more!

  The Annual Crafter’s Symposium is coming up, and the wyrwood aerochemist Windvane has been carefully devising a formula that allows living and constructs alike to fly under their own power. They just need a few more ingredients to properly boost the potency of the formula.

 On the world of Neccurza, mist, fog, and even clouds cause the barrier between the material and the ethereal to thin. Because of this, the still-floating ruins of the city of Talogia are home to all manner of ethereal beings, including hypnalis serpents, which delight in preying upon explorers of the ruins.

 The general has called the party to his tent with a special mission. The enemy force has a contingent of flying alchemists that bomb the front lines from the safety of invisibility and flight, and he needs them stopped. They party must infiltrate enemy territory and slay or sabotage the alchemist soldiers.

[dailycharacteroption]

Shieldbearer (Warpriest Archetype)

 The shield, as one of the oldest inventions of defense, is naturally also an equally old symbol of protection. It’s only natural then that more defensively-minded warpriests would see the value in focusing their efforts on such items.

We’ve covered a lot of shield-based archetypes on this blog, ranging from fighters to paladins that bless their shields to even brawlers who fling their shields around in the manner of a certain superhero from Brooklyn. Today’s subject bears the most similarity to its paladin counterpart, but make no mistake, these warriors use their shields for both offense and defense.

I can imagine that this archetype is primarily favored by gods of protection rather than those of aggressive behavior. However, gods of warfare in particular would favor some of their warpriests with this archetype regardless of their demeanor, as defense is just as important to consider as destroying one’s foe.

 Not only are these warpriests trained to both block and strike with their shields, they also use them as a focus when concentrating on their magic.

They also treat their shield as their primary sacred weapon, adding their divine might to it. However, they learn to bless their shield’s offensive capabilities later.

However, they also channel the power normally used to bless their armor to bless their shield instead, bolstering it and adding various enchantments unique to shields as needed.

Their focus on their shield also means they can only channel energy when their shield is in hand, and furthermore, it radiates from the face of the shield itself, effecting a broad conical area, rather than the normal full radius.

With the ability to buff not only their shield as a weapon but as a tool of defense, this archetype rapidly makes their shield out to be the most important part of their equipment (after their holy symbol). With this in mind, this archetype is great for a tailored defense, but it can be vulnerable if their shield is sundered. Thankfully a defensive build with spells that buff up equipment and the ones wielding them is a good choice, allowing them to endure much before directing their wrath back at foes.

 Whether it’s being part of an advancing phalanx or a last line of defense at the gates, being a shieldbearer means being in front of other people, your body and your shield being a barrier between your foes and civilians and fellow soldiers behind you. As such, courage and valor are common traits for these warpriests to exemplify.

  Having left home so long ago, the half-elf Berian has been on his own so long that the prospect of finding a new family that accepted him was an unexpected blessing. On the very night that he realized how blessed he was, he offered a prayer to The Stalwart Goddess for the strength to protect this new family, and she answered, her light filling his shield.

 In some places, devotees of the Soul Warden sometimes emblazon a variant of their holy symbol, one combined with the serpentine hood of a hypnalis, the warpriests seeking to emulate the ethereal serpent’s ability to banish creatures back to their home realm, though in the case of these divine casters, this refers to otherworldly planes, rather than material denizens.

 In ancient times, the shields of the Kurasian Elves were said to be strong not because they were the first to use iron, but because of the blessing of their goddess. Though that kingdom is long gone, their shields are prized relics of the church that are sometimes gifted to warpriests that prove their mettle.

[lpbestiary]

The hypnalis is a legendary serpent described in several medieval bestiaries. It is said to resemble an asp, and will kill its victims in their sleep.

In the modern day, the hypnalis is sometimes adapted as an enemy in roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, where it is more often known as the "dream serpent."

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.

[myth-lord]

Name: Hypnalis

Alternate Names: Dream Serpent, Nightmare Cobra

Mythology: Egyptian Mythology and inside the Medieval Bestiary

Size: Medium to Large (dire variants)

Environment: Urban, Deserts, anywhere warm, inside nightmares and dreams

In Mythika: Beautiful white cobra monsters which bite will put you into a short coma and which can enter your dreams and even kill you inside it. Hypnalis are intelligent serpents and very mean, they often team up with Nue or Nocnitsa and are among the most feared of the dream-walking monsters.  

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnalis