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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Abilities | Monsters | NPCs

Thessekka

As a leader in the xulgath incursion of the surface of the Isle of Kortos, Thessekka—a xulgath alchemist with the powers of a stoneliege and more—has risen swiftly through the ranks of her Darklands kin, although her hunger for domination is far from sated.

Thessekka has hungered from the moment of her birth: hungered for food, hungered for companionship, and hungered for power. As she grew, she began to learn stone-binding, with an eye toward earning her place as a stoneliege, a rare and prestigious position. Such was her desire for power, however, that moments after she completed the ritual to become a stoneliege, she threatened the alchemist who performed the ritual and demanded he teach her all he knew of mixing chemicals and warping flesh. Thessekka proved an eager and intelligent student, and once she had exhausted the alchemist's knowledge, she killed and ate him. But this, too, failed to fill the ravenous void within her. When rumors of an invasion of the sun-blighted surface rippled among xulgath tribes, Thessekka knew she had found a mission that might finally satisfy her.

Thessekka bullied a few minions into joining this invasion force alongside her, but she lacked the influence of a true leader. Instead she was given the position of a hardscale, a subsidiary position below Surkitama, a leader in her clutch. Surkitama's force was assigned to a surface region called the Swardlands, where three aeon towers stood that held aeon orbs stolen from the xulgaths five millennia ago. Surkitama's force was to secure these towers from uplander interference before finding a way to crack the stolen orbs to bring destruction to the surface world. Always looking for opportunities to seize power, Thessekka used the journey to gather misfits to her side, including the dero Ginjana Mindkeeper and the roper Ro'oosk. She also won the trust of a duergar explorer, eyeing his useful magical ring, only to kill him and take the ring for herself.

Surkitama's force moved swiftly upon reaching the Swardlands, locating and securing the three aeon towers. By this time, Thessekka had risen in prominence enough to command one of the tower garrisons. She quickly established a hold over her assigned garrison, the Wellspring Tower, and set up an alchemist laboratory within it. Without much oversight from Surkitama, who had underestimated the difficulty of travel among the towers and was preoccupied with trying (and failing) to conquer the Swardlands, Thessekka devised a way to siphon the aeon orb's energy even as Surkitama's leadership began to falter. Thessekka used her ring of stoneshifting to secretly journey between the towers and foment rebellion in the discontented clutches under Surkitama's command.

When golems at the Liferoot Stone decimated the xulgath garrison there, Thessekka knew her time to strike was at hand. Traveling via the ring of stoneshifting, she rallied her disgruntled allies to move against Surkitama's loyalists. Able to appear and disappear in an instant, she prevented the xulgath leader from bringing the full force of his power to bear against her. And when the shadowy form of a dero slipped unseen into Surkitama's personal chambers, Surkitama became just another of Ginjana's experiments, and Thessekka stepped into the power vacuum to lead all the xulgaths in the Swardlands. By the time her xulgath superiors discovered her coup, Thessekka's efforts to siphon the Wellspring Tower aeon orb were proving successful, so she was given official command of the Swardland forces.

Campaign Role

Thessekka is the true mastermind behind the xulgaths in the Swardlands. Once she has drained away the energy of all the aeon orbs and met her obligations to her xulgath masters, she plans to carve out her own surface world kingdom. She sees the soft humanoids who currently inhabit the Swardlands as mere cattle for her consumption, and she plans to subjugate them as the bountiful land that has sustained them dies. With her ring of stoneshifting, Thessekka can move freely between the three aeon towers and directly oversee operations. At first, she dismisses the heroes as too feeble and too few in number to pose a real threat, and she keeps her focus on other towers. By the time the heroes prove themselves a true threat by clearing the xulgaths out of two aeon towers, Thessekka realizes that dismissing them was a mistake. She confronts them at the final tower, where she plans to end their threat and devour their charred corpses.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 42
Unspecific Lore: DC 40
Specific Lore: DC 37

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

ThessekkaCreature 14

Legacy Content

Unique CE Medium Humanoid Xulgath 
Source Pathfinder #153: Life's Long Shadows pg. 90
Female xulgath commander
Perception +26; darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 30 feet
Languages Aklo, Common, Draconic, Undercommon
Skills Arcana +24, Athletics +28, Crafting +28 (+30 to Craft alchemical items), Intimidation +23, Medicine +24, Nature +22, Survival +22
Str +6, Dex +1, Con +4, Int +4, Wis +2, Cha +1
Infused Items Thessekka carries the following infused items: 1 greater acid flask, 2 greater alchemist's fires, 1 moderate bravo's brew, 2 greater frost vials, 1 greater quicksilver mutagen, 1 greater tanglefoot bag. These items last for 24 hours, or until the next time Thessekka makes her daily preparations.
Items ring of stoneshifting, expert alchemist's tools, formula book, formula book, greater alchemist goggles, infused reagents
AC 35; Fort +26, Ref +19, Will +22
HP 255; Resistances physical 14
Powerful Stench (aura, olfactory) 30 feet. A creature that enters the area must attempt a DC 34 Fortitude save. On a failure, the creature is sickened 2, and on a critical failure, the creature is also slowed 1 for as long as it is sickened. While within range of Thessekka's stench, the creature takes a –2 circumstance penalty to saves to recover from the sickened condition. A creature that succeeds at its save is temporarily immune to all xulgaths' stenches for 1 minute.
Speed 20 feet, burrow 10 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +28 [+23/+18], Damage 3d8+12 piercingMelee [one-action] claw +28 [+24/+20] (agile), Damage 3d6+12 slashing plus GrabRanged [one-action] alchemical bomb +27 [+22/+17] (range increment 30 feet, splash), Effect varies by bombPrimal Innate Spells DC 34; 4th shape stone
Alchemical Formulas greater acid flask, greater alchemist's fire, greater antidote, moderate bravo's brew, greater comprehension elixir, greater frost vial, greater quicksilver mutagen, stone fist elixir, greater tanglefoot bagEarthen Blow [one-action] (earth, transmutation) Frequency once per round; Effect Thessekka commands nearby earth to attack a foe. Thessekka makes a claw Strike against a creature that is within 60 feet of her and 10 feet of an earthen surface, such as dirt, mud, stone, or sand. The Strike originates from the surface's square and has a reach of 10 feet. On a critical hit, the target is also knocked prone.Earthen Torrent [two-actions] (earth, transmutation) Frequency once per minute; Requirements Thessekka is standing on or next to at least 10 cubic feet of dirt, stone, or other earthen material; Effect Thessekka creates a violent wave of roiling earth. Creatures in a 15-foot cone take 10d10 bludgeoning damage (DC 34 basic Reflex save; on a critical failure, creatures are also knocked prone).Expanded Splash Thessekka's bombs with the splash trait deal 4 additional splash damage and deal splash damage to all creatures within 10 feet.Quick Alchemy [one-action] Cost 1 batch of infused reagents; Effect Thessekka creates a single alchemical item from her formula book (see Alchemical Formulas). This item has the infused trait, but it remains potent only until the end of her next turn.Quick Bomber [one-action] Thessekka Interacts to draw a bomb, then Strikes with it.Stone Throes [one-action] (earth, transmutation) Thessekka turns her own body into solid stone like a statue and immediately becomes petrified. Any creature grappled or restrained by her becomes immobilized; to get free, the creature must damage the statue enough to break it or succeed at a DC 36 Acrobatics check to Escape. The only action Thessekka can take while petrified is to use Stone Throes again to end the effect.