Second contestant
Quote Originally Posted by Albida
Albida, Who Darkens Heaven And Freezes Earth



LE Advespa Spirit Shaman 1 / Monk 2 / Swordsage 1 / Sacred Fist 8

"The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them."

"Royalty is not curved in the slightest. Turn the wheel on its side and you will see its shape. Cut the wheel in half and you will see its shape between the two halves."

Spoiler: Avowal
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The scene was, if described in the right terms, not altogether unfamiliar. Atop a freezing mountaintop were two figures: one a master of his art, body and soul finely honed, with unfailing discipline and impeccable form. The other his student: younger, her movements a hair's breath less exact, her eyes lacking that calm certainty that accompanies enlightenment. They were quiet for a long time, unbothered by the cold. In perfect stillness, they meditated for a number of days.

Of course, such a description would let out a number of important details. Both master and student were grotesque creatures, their skin gleaming blue armor, their limbs thin and insectile. The master was roughly humanoid, but possessed of a long tail and antlike head. The student was the opposite: her face was that of a woman, but her body locust-like, with a long scorpion tail. She was the one to break the silence.

"Oh master." she spoke. "Favored spawn of He-Who-Became-Levistus, the Frozen Overlord, whose crystal form is perfection! Wise master, who has learned the secrets of the dead and pondered the finality of Mabar! I find myself still wondering about the question I once before posed. If our master has achieved perfection during his imprisonment, and can now be harmed by man nor beast, then how was his escape foiled, those many eons ago? And if we seek to grant him dominance over all the earth, then why do we wield spells of ice and darkness, instead of summoning gouts of hellfire to melt his frozen prison once more?"

The master, never one to spoil his student by answering swiftly, remained silent for another day. They watched the sun crawl up over the horizon, abruptly change course, and set within two hours. Arctic days were short, this time of year. The convenience posed was minor, of course: both could see in darkness perfectly well. After the sun had been gone for many hours, he at last responded:

"Consider the shark."

The student nodded.

"In the water, it is a thing of perfection. It fears none but is feared by all. It may live for a thousand years, and grow to rival the greatest wyrms. It may survive the world's end: and in the past, when the earth was scoured by flame and lightning, its ancestors did just that.

And yet, if plucked from the sea and cast upon dry land, it will flounder helplessly, gasp for air, and perish. In this, it is little different from the slimmest sardine."

"I see." said the student. "The dragons were cunning. They built no mere prison, but a place of transformation. Even if an overlord managed to escape, as He-Who-Became-Levistus did, they would emerge changed and unfit for this world."

"The dragons were not cunning enough." the master replied . "They never foresaw the prisoner mastering the wards meant to twist him. They never expected a mind keen enough to achieve enlightenment in utter solitude. And they utterly failed to imagine one who embraced his prison: who declared that if escape was impossible, he would instead seek power over this icy void. And so he attained perfection, and it is truly so that within his realm, his will is irrevocable law."

"How is mastery of an empty space a mastery worth pursuing?" asked the student, for she correctly knew that power could only be meaningful if there was one to exercise it against.

"It is not." answered the master, which shocked the student. He was quiet, for a number of hours, and she knew that this was not the final thought to have, that there existed a lesson at the heart of this all, and so pondered all that had been spoken of.

In the end, they stated the conclusion together: not from mind to mind as their former conversation had been, but loudly, nearly-human voice mingling with insectile buzz. The sound echoed over the darkness-blanketed glacier, which grew rapidly now that the sun was kept from it.

"If the prisoner must remain within his prison's walls, then let us expand them outwards."


Spoiler: Build
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Abilities:
Pointbuy / racial modifiers / post-ASIs (str str str wis):
STR 15 / 25 / 28
DEX 12 / 14 / 14
CON 12 / 18 / 18
INT 14 / 12 / 12
WIS 14 / 14 / 15
CHA 10 / 8 / 8

Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
8th Advespa (4 RHD, 4 LA) +4 +4 +4 +4 Balance +5 (5), Concentration +6cc (3), Hide +7 (7), Jump +7 (7), Knowledge (Religion) +6cc (3), Listen +7 (7), Move Silently +7 (7), Spellcraft +4cc (2), Spot +7 (7), Tumble +7 (7) Multiattack, Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment (Hunger)), Brand of the Nine Hells (Levistus) (B), Mark of Stygia (B) Outsider (Evil, Lawful, Baatezu), Improved Grab, Poison, Spell-Like Abilities, DR, SR, regeneration 2
9th Spirit Shaman 1 +4 +6 +4 +6 Balance 5, Concentration +5 (8), Hide 7, Jump 7, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Listen 7, Move Silently 7, Spellcraft 2, Spot 7, Tumble 7 - Spirit Guide (Scorpion), Wild Empathy
10th Monk 1 +4 +8 +6 +8 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (9), Hide 7, Jump +1 (8), Knowledge (Religion) +2 (5), Listen 7, Move Silently +1 (8), Spellcraft 2, Spot 7, Tumble 7 Combat Casting, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Stunning Fist (B) AC bonus, Unarmed Strike, Decisive Strike
11th Monk 2 +5 +9 +7 +9 Balance 5, Concentration 9, Hide 7, Jump +1 (9), Knowledge (Religion) +3 (8), Listen 7, Move Silently +1 (9), Spellcraft 2, Spot 7, Tumble 7 Combat Reflexes (B) Feign Death
12th Swordsage 1 +5 +9 +9 +11 Balance 5, Concentration 9, Hide +3 (10), Jump +2 (11), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently +2 (11), Spellcraft 2, Spot 7, Tumble 7 - Quick to Act +1, Discipline Focus (Tiger Claw), Maneuvers
13th Sacred Fist 1 +6 +11 +11 +11 Balance 5, Concentration +3 (12), Hide 10, Jump 11, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft 2, Spot 7, Tumble +2 (9) Nightbringer Initiate Unarmed Damage, AC bonus
14th Sacred Fist 2 +7 +12 +12 +11 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (13), Hide 10, Jump 11, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft +1 (3), Spot 7, Tumble +3 (12) - -
15th Sacred Fist 3 +8 +12 +12 +12 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (14), Hide 10, Jump 11, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft +2 (5), Spot 7, Tumble +2 (14) - Unarmored Speed
16th Sacred Fist 4 +9 +13 +13 +12 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (15), Hide 10, Jump 11, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft +3 (8), Spot 7, Tumble +1 (15) Shape Soulmeld (Dread Carapace) Sacred Flames 1/day
17th Sacred Fist 5 +10 +13 +13 +12 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (16), Hide 10, Jump 11, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft +3 (11), Spot 7, Tumble +1 (16) - -
18th Sacred Fist 6 +11 +14 +14 +13 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (17), Hide 10, Jump 11, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft +3 (14), Spot 7, Tumble +1 (17) - Blindsense 10 ft.
19th Sacred Fist 7 +12 +14 +14 +13 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (18), Hide 10, Jump +3 (14), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft 14, Spot 7, Tumble +1 (18) Open Lesser Chakra (Arms) -
20th Sacred Fist 8 +13 +15 +15 +13 Balance 5, Concentration +1 (19), Hide 10, Jump +3 (17), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Listen 7, Move Silently 11, Spellcraft 14, Spot 7, Tumble +1 (19) - Sacred Flames 2/day


Spoiler: Magic and maneuvers
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Spells per Day
Level 0lvl 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
9th 3 1 - - - - - - - -
13th 3 2 - - - - - - - -
14th 3 2 1 - - - - - - -
15th 3 3 1 - - - - - - -
16th 3 3 1 1 - - - - - -
17th 3 3 2 1 - - - - - -
18th 3 3 2 1 1 - - - - -
19th 3 3 2 2 1 - - - - -
20th 3 3 3 2 1 1 - - - -

Spells retrieved per day:
Level 0lvl 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
9th 3 3 - - - - - - - -
13th 4 4 - - - - - - - -
14th 5 5 3 - - - - - - -
15th 6 6 4 - - - - - - -
16th 6 7 5 2 - - - - - -
17th 6 7 6 3 - - - - - -
18th 6 7 7 4 2 - - - - -
19th 6 7 7 5 3 - - - - -
20th 6 7 7 6 4 2 - - - -

Sample spells retrieved:
0 - Create Water, Detect Magic, Fire Eyes
1 - Conjure Ice Beast I, Path of Frost, Snowsight
2 - Earthbind, Gust of Wind, Frost Breath
3 - Lion's Charge, Sleet Storm
4 - Wall of Water
5 - Avalanche

Swordsage maneuvers (4 readied)
-Sudden Leap
-Shadow Jaunt
-Burning Blade
-Mighty Throw
-Mountain Hammer
-Fire Riposte

Step of the Wind is Albida's stance.


Spoiler: ECL Benchmarks
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ECL 8: We start off with an Advespa (4 RHD, 4 LA) from MM2, then use Fiendish Codex II's rules (page 107) to swap its Summon Baatezu for Brand of the Nine Hells and Mark of Stygia. Essentially, 1/day we can get 10 minutes of resistance to cold 20 and 1d6 cold damage on all our six natural attacks (claw/claw/claw/claw/bite/sting), we can make a weapon deal extra cold damage, we can move across icy surfaces without issue, and we get a +4 bonus on attack and damage rolls if we and the target are on icy ground both. It's obviously very situational at this point, but it's a huge bonus that should come into play often enough.

Even when not in our element, we're rather capable. We're Large with a ton of natural attacks, we have good strength and Improved Grab (grabbing something also results in an automatic hit with our poison sting), we've got the standard devil traits (energy resistance, telepathy, seeing in darkness), we have some SLAs (produce flame is a nice ranged option, pyrotechnics can eliminate light sources, command is a nice Will-targeting disruption effect), and lastly we have DR, SR, and regeneration. Like, honest-to-goodness updated-for-3.5 regeneration, overcome by acid (which we hilariously still resist!) and holy weapons alone, and you can't even get around it with suffocation. Yes, we've got only 4 HD, but we're probably less likely to randomly die than any other party member.

Also, while not key to the build, page 108 of the FCII lets us swap out Disguise Self for Silent Image, which is a no-brainer trade given that our unique body shape does not lend itself to effective use of that first spell. Silent Image, meanwhile, can be used for general utility, providing cover to hide behind, and concealing area spells we cast.

ECL 10
A level of spirit shaman (druid is of course incompatible with a LE alignment) means we can cast Path of Frost (Dragon Magic) to trigger our Mark of Stygia bonus in any environment (our cold resistance lets us ignore the damage, and the targeting restrictions don't prevent the path from going through your own square). Monk gives us an actual weapon to make iteratives with in the form of our IUS, plus a solid 2/day debuff in Stunning Fist, and Combat Casting helps with safely getting our spells and SLAs off.

Decisive Strike is taken because we are going to be wearing armor later on, and this at least has some theoretical use if we ever really need a Stunning Fist to work.

ECL 15
Swordsage gives us an initiative bonus, the benefit of Weapon Focus with our claws and unarmed strikes, as well as some neat maneuvers. We get even more bonuses against foes on icy ground with Step of the Wind, bringing us up to +6 to hit, +4 damage, and +4 on trip/bull rush attempts.

The second monk level grants Combat Reflexes and Feign Death to become immune to a number of nasty effects on short notice (reflex saves aren't too scary between our energy resistances and regeneration, so evasion isn't that important to have). Combat Reflexes itself is of course nice with our reach.

Our Sacred Fist levels give us an AC bonus in light armor (the heaviest we're proficient with anyway) and up our landspeed to the point where running is faster than flying (ideal, as we plan on being on the ground anyway). Airborne foes can be forced to land with druid spells like Earthbind (SpC) or punished for staying aloft with Gust of Wind.

ECL 20
Unarmed Strike damage increases to a hefty 2d8 (and we've got three attacks with it), our land speed is up to 60 (giving us a +12 bonus on our Sudden Leap check), and our AC bonus ticks up by a point. Sacred Flames lets us get some bonus damage against cold-subtyped foes (who are most likely to be immune to our difficult terrain).

Sleet Storm, despite only being a 3rd-level spell, is everything we want out of our spirit shaman side. Between icy ground and total darkness, most creatures will be moving at one-quarter speed: and with our massive bonuses to bull rushes and their inability to make AoOs against us, nothing is stopping us from pushing them back every time they start to leave the area. That is, if we don't just grapple them, trip them, or move and drop them with Mighty Throw (and just for fun, remember that you get at least 3 AoOs a turn and can just use them to bull rush a foe back when they try to move past you). We're not affected thanks to our Mark of Stygia as well as Snowsight (Frostburn). Avalanche, our 5th-level spell of choice, can create large amounts of snow and ice on short notice as well, and this time it explicitly sticks around until melted.

Our Pyrotechnics SLA can be combined with the Fire Eyes (MotW) orison to do something similar, though it requires your DM to agree that being a poison-immune fire-immune devil who does not need to breathe conveys immunity to smoke inhalation. Even if our sight-granting spells are somehow negated, blindsense means we're never truly helpless in obscured environments, and our high speed lets us leave the area even with the movement penalty.

Lastly, we have access to Enervation and Deeper Darkness thanks to Nightbringer Initiate (as a devil, we can of course see through the latter always, so might as well keep it up for days). Wall of Ice isn't on our list, but Wall of Water (SpC) and our plentiful cold spells can deliver a decent imitation, so we have access to every spell a 16 RHD brood spawn might expect to have. Though when brute force is enough to solve an issue, just cast Lion's Charge (SpC) and swing away: spirit shamans are nothing if not flexible! You may question the utility of a spell like Dispel Magic, but consider that even if it's not touching a full caster, it'll be effective against several SLAs, half-casters like rangers, and many spells cast from items.

With Shape Soulmeld and a Dread Carapace, all our natural weapons get -1 to hit, +1 damage, and the benefit of Improved Critical - we also get a +2 bonus to our hefty grapple checks (now up to +28) out of the bargain. Plus, it makes us look like we're covered in an otherworldly blue exoskeleton: sound familiar?


Spoiler: Comparison
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Outsider typing - check!

RHD - we have RHD yeah

Natural armor - Advespa grants us +7 natural armor

Natural attacks - Brood Spawn grants two claws and a bite: we have four claws, a bite, and a sting. We replicate brood spawn's restriction on manufactured weapons via Sacred Fist.

Icy touch - Brand of the Nine Hells grants this effect

Breath Weapon - Plenty of druid spells deal cold damage in a cone, like Frost Breath.

SLAs - We access every single SLA that a 16 RHD brood spawn would possess, except Wall of Ice which we can replicate by freezing a Wall of Water.

Ability scores - Like a brood spawn, we focus on strength first and foremost.

DR - Advespa grants this

SR - Advespa grants this

Resistances - We are immune to fire and can resist lightning via spells

Ice Step - Gained via Mark of Stygia

Immunities - Feign Death can give us short-notice immunity to ability drain, mind-affecting effects, and most ability damage. Sheltered Vitality can do the same for the first and last of those. We can cast Mantle of the Icy Soul to become immune to cold for nine hours with no drawback.

Light sickness, sonic vulnerability - As weaknesses rather than features, I did not spend a lot of effort trying to include them in the build.

Power Attack and Improved Critical - Replicated via Shape Soulmeld (Dread Carapace) and the totem avatar bind.

More notably, we have an actual good reason to combine all these traits together. Being a devil gives us our defensive abilities but also qualifies us for BotNH, which means we get Mark of Stygia and are incentivized to spread icy terrain, and the druid spells we call upon to do so also give us Lion's Pounce so a natural weapon flurry build gives us lots of chances to land our bonus damage.

Also... we're a monstrous flurry of claws and teeth, clad in unnatural blue armor, utterly dedicated to serving a being of great evil who's currently frozen in a block of ice. It doesn't get much more similar to Big L's spawn than that.


Spoiler: Source list
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Advespa - MM2 plus update booklet
Spirit Shaman - CDiv
Swordsage - ToB
Sacred Fist - CDiv

Feign Death Monk - Exemplars of Evil
Decisive Strike Monk - Player's Handbook II

Brand of the Nine Hells, Mark of Stygia - Fiendish Codex II
Shape Soulmeld, Open Lesser Chakra - Magic of Incarnum
Touchstone - Sandstorm
Nightbringer Initiate - Eberron Campaign Setting