Leviathan

“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.”
― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

Queequeetodon is an enormous white whale with intricate markings across its head and body. Its eyes match the color of the seas - blue, green, grey, or wine-dark as circumstances dictate.

The leviathan, sometimes known as the Shaman of the Deep, is extremely intelligent, and is able to cast both wizard and cleric spells, but does not suffer spell loss or corruption. Rather, Queequeetodon suffers disapproval for failed spells as does a cleric.

Note that Queequeetodon needs no material components and performs no spellburn, even if a spell normally requires them. Whalesong may be noted when he casts spells, but most appear to be naturally occurring events....even if the weather seems to change with preternatural swiftness, or the sharks in the waters seem strangely focused on particular sailors.

In addition to his mystical ability, Queequeetodon's physical prowess is incredible. The white whale can ram a ship, or strike it with his powerful flukes. If using the seafaring rules in Tales of the Fallen Empire, these attacks do 3d50 hull points of damage each. If you are using the rules from Crawl! Fanzine #11, these attacks do 3d50 x 10 damage. This damage is specific to attacks against ships and similar structures only.

A normal creature subject to this creature's bite attack is automatically swallowed whole. There is a 95% chance that the creature is pushed back into Queequeetodon's stomach, there to suffer 3d10 damage per round. Otherwise, the creature remains in the leviathan's mouth, and can attempt a DC 20 Strength check to escape when Queequeetodon makes another bite attack (or otherwise opens his mouth). A character inside the whale may attempt attacks from within, but there is a -1d shift to all d20 rolls for characters in the whale's stomach, and character's in the whale's mouth increase their danger. If a character in the whale's mouth makes a successful attack, roll 1d7, modified by the character's Luck:

(1 or less) the character is immediately swallowed, along with anything else in the whale's mouth; (2-3) the whale swallows, affecting everything in its mouth, but characters succeeding in a DC 20 Strength check can hold on, taking a mere 2d6 buffeting damage rather than being swept to the gullet; (4-5) characters within the mouth must succeed in a DC 15 Reflex save or be expelled through the whale's blowhole, shooting 5d30 feet in the air before falling into the water for 1d6 damage per 10' fallen (Reflex DC 15 for half damage); (6-7) nothing happens; or (8 or more) the character (and only the character) is expelled through the whale's mouth - other characters may attempt to escape by making a DC 20 Strength check, as noted above. Surviving in the open water may still prove beyond the character's prowess.

Despite the dangers of confronting Queequeetodon, men still hunt him for the occult powers inherent in his oil and ambergris. The exact nature of these powers is left to the judge, based upon the needs of his campaign, but the following ideas are suggested:

• Wrapping a dead man in linen soaked in Queequeetodon's spermaceti oil will restore life and wholeness, no matter the condition of the body or how long it has been dead. This must be done within 24 hours of the leviathan's death to be effective.
• The 1,000 gallons of oil in the whale's head can be used in magic involving fire or water. Each pint used allows a +4 bonus to the spell check.
• Each of Queequeetodon's 120 teeth can be used in a ritual to bind a single spell, making the spell effect last an additional 1d7 centuries, even if it would normally be instantaneous (specific results at judge's discretion).
• Ambergris from the Shaman of the Deep can cure poisons and diseases if consumed. Note that the whale need not be killed to gain this substance.
• 100 gallons of Queequeetodon's oil can be condensed into a single focus crystal, allowing any spell cast through it to gain an automatic +10 bonus to the spell check. Multiple crystals can be used. However, each crystal can only be used once before being destroyed.
• Any who partakes of Queequeetodon's freshly slain flesh will gain 1d30 permanent bonus hit points and a permanent +2 bonus to AC as their own flesh hardens.
• Any being who consumes one of Queequeetodon's eyes (a mammoth undertaking which will take a week or longer) gains the ability to cast second sight. The characters rolls 1d20+4 plus Personality modifier. On a roll of 11 or less, the spell is lost for that day. On a natural roll of "1", the character suffers a unique corruption. These corruptions will make the character pale, result in hair loss, and drive the character into the water, eventually turning him into a new Shaman of the Deep. If there is more than one Shaman of the Deep, they must contest the title until one is slain.
• A being who drinks blood from the whale's still-warm corpse ceases to age. Neither magical nor mundane aging affects him any more.

Queequeetodon, Shaman of the Deep: Init -6; Atk bite +20 melee (3d20 plus swallow whole) or fluke smash +15 melee (3d24) or ram +10 melee 3d30); AC 25; HD 30d12+120; hp 350; MV swim 80’; Act 2d20; SP smash ships, swallow whole, spellcasting; SV Fort +20, Ref -6, Will +20; AL N.

Spells (+10 to spell check): animal summoning, bolt from the blue, curse, dispel magic, neutralize poison or disease, second sight, weather control.

“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began.”
― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick