Suzara the Scold

__NOTOC__
From a distance, Suzara the Scold resembles a beggar in a ragged cape and huge tattered hood. Suzara is the Scourge of Blight, and her true appearance reflects her status as the most dangerous of all ghazneths. She is tall and skeletal, with a pair of leathery black wings and a mane of coarse hair often mistaken for the aforementioned cape and hood. Her red eyes cannot be said to glow, but they are always visible, giving her an otherworldly look.
Suzara the Scold was once Suzara Obarskyr, wife to Ondeth Obarskyr (founder of Cormyr). Never fond of life in the wilderness, Suzara became a ghazneth more than 1,300 years ago after abandoning her husband and eldest son in the city named for her (Suzail) to return to a less toilsome life in Impiltur.
==Combat==
Not one to seek out combat, Suzara is nevertheless quite capable of defending herself. Because of her speed, she receives a —7 initiative bonus during any round she is not surprised, while her supernatural Strength (19) provides a +7 damage bonus to her attacks. When pressed, she prefers to slash opponents with her talonlike nails and bite with her teeth for 1d4/ 1d4/ 1d6 points of damage plus Strength bonus.
Suzara suffers damage only from weapons made of cold-forged iron, regenerates up to 11 hp per round, and absorbs any magic used against her. (See the introduction for details.)
During any round in which she has the initiative, Suzara can forgo her attacks and allow her opponent the first action. If the opponent casts a spell at her, she may take refuge behind a wing and negate the effects of the spell while still absorbing its levels. She suffers the full effects of any spell striking her body, but only for as long as it takes to absorb the spell levels.
Suzara's primary weapon is her power to blight. See the Ecology section for details on how she uses this power.
==Habitat/Society==
Suzara has spent the last 1,300 years alone in a cramped tomb, feeding on the bitterness she bore Ondeth for dragging her away from her comfortable life in Impiltur. Recently freed, she is actively working to destroy her husband's legacy. She especially enjoys taking long walks through Cormyr's more remote regions, spreading blight and disease through the croplands, On the rare occasions when she feels the need of company, she joins her fellow ghazneths in a small keep they have constructed on the edge of the Farsea Marsh.
==Ecology==
Like all ghazneths, Suzara feeds on magic. When she is not spreading her blight or aiding her fellow ghazneths in terrorizing Cormyr, she hunts magic. At approximately 1,360 years of age, she can hold up to 1,360 levels.
For each level she expends, she can:
# Detect magic up to 136 miles away for one day; or
# For one turn, automatically cause all crop plants within 136 yards of her to contract a fungal disease and die within 1d10 days; or 
# Regenerate 11 hit points; or 
# Cause any one inanimate item of no more than 1,100 pounds to rot, crumble, or rust away within 1d10 rounds.
# Cause any one living being she touches to make a successful saving throw vs. deathmagic or age 10 years.
Note that the first two powers are automatic; as long as Suzara has any magic levels available, she must expend them to keep these powers active.
Category:Creatures
Category:Dragon Magazine Creatures