Apophis

In the myths of ancient Egypt, Apophis was a unique, magical crocodilian-snake monster (crocodile’s head with six snake bodies emerging from it) that lived in the underworld. Every night when the sun set and journeyed through the underworld, Apophis (also known as Apep) tried to devour it.
The animal form of this only comes at night, when the moon is either obscured by clouds or not in the sky. It first appears in this plane in water, but can come on land at any time.
It seeks out light - to extinguish it and kill those who dare to make it! Apophis has the ability to see in pitch blackness, and it finds light offensive. Its mana organ also creates a sphere of Light-Extinguishing, which is similar to the Darkness spell.
It is impossible to tell from which direction an apophis is approaching, unless it is heard (-4 to Hearing rolls). An exception would be if a party had a number of light-sources, and could observe which dimmed first. Attacks against it follow the rules for fighting in total darkness. A fighter must make a Hearing-2 roll to have an idea of where the apophis is, and is then at -10 to hit it! Likewise, a human defends at -4 if he makes a Hearing-2 roll — otherwise he gets no active defense. These penalties are also assessed in the quick Contest of DX in any attempt to grapple or avoid a grapple. Spells cast at it are at -5 for not being able to see the subject. Only the Dark Vision spell will enable someone to see the apophis. Directions yelled by such a person nullify the need to make a Hearing-2 roll for those who hear the instructions.
The apophis attacks by grappling with its snake bodies, and then biting with its jaws. The apophis actually
has ST 16, its snake bodies have ST 11.
The head has DR 4, and the apophis is only killed when either all six snake-bodies arc cut off, or half of its HT is taken in the head. Six points of cutting damage are needed to cut through a snake body — impaling damage is not doubled.
Since no aimed shots are possible when fighting an opponent that cannot be seen, the GM should roll randomly to determine where the blow landed. Label the snake bodies 1 through 6. Roll one die: if the result is a 1, the attacker hit the crocodile head. Otherwise, roll the die once more to determine which snake-body is hit.
Anyone can hit the same snake body over and over (at only -2 to skill for being in close combat) if it is grappling him.
Apophis will eat anyone it manages to kill, then go off to find another fire to put out. Just before the sun rises (or moon, if it is fuller than quarter-phase), it disappears back into the nearest body of water, subinerging from sight, and presumably from this plane
==Area of Darkness==
Candles are only visible from a foot away; torches, lanterns and firelight only illuminate adjacent hexes. The brightest Continual Light spell only reaches ten yards — it cannot be seen beyond that. Even the stars seem to fade away. When the apophis closes to ten yards of a light source, it is further reduced. Candles go out; torches, lanterns, and firelight can only be seen a foot away; and the brightest Continual Light is reduced to five yards effectiveness - and even in that range appears no brighter than an ordinary torch. Within five yards of an apophis, all torches, lanterns and campfires go out, while the magical light is visible only in adjacent hexes
Category:Myth