The great claws glisten wetly beneath the stars. Hot crimson flows endlessly down razored edges and drips softly to the porcelain snow. A dark wet circle spreads around armoured feet and a river of steam rises into the cold night. The only sounds are the rhythmic thrum of deep breathing and the gentle clattering of thousands upon thousands of teeth.
Scarlett Claws appears as a giant vesk warrior standing 10 feet tall with emerald green scales, crisscrossed by scars from millennia of battles. She is clad in ancient but immaculate plate armour stained a deep rust red. Around her neck she wears a multilayered necklace of stained and chipped ivory teeth that cascade down her breastplate like a pale wave. Her appearance is dominated by her namesake claws and the spikes that extend from her tail. They are always thickly coated in hot blood that never dries and falls from them in unending droplets. The blood paints her armour and marks her footsteps in scarlet.
She wields a deadly flanged doshko of terrifying size and carries guns big enough to destroy a squad of soldiers. Finally, she is wrapped in bandoliers of grenades and strings extra explosives from her tail spikes like baubles; in her opinion, you can never have too many options.
An immortal agent of Damoritosh, Scarlett Claws appears magically in the cold dark places on the outskirts of vesk settlements when the winter nights are longest and fresh snow lies thickly on the ground. She stands in the freezing shadows on a spreading pool of blood, waiting for challengers.
In the old half-remembered tales of Veskmas she was once a fierce mortal obsessed with challenging herself against greater and greater foes. She is said to have died in furious battle against overwhelming odds, her weapons broken, fighting only with teeth and claws, all the while screaming out to Damoritosh in pain and joy. The god was so impressed by her strength of will that it made her a herald and a saint for the vesk people. Her divine mandate is to remind the vesk people that Damoritosh does not care how far they have come, only that they continue to fight against stronger and stronger foes.
Scarlett Claws seeks to challenge young vesk to achieve greatness through combat. She rewards those brave enough to face her, and strong enough to survive, with gifts of weapons and armour.
She matches the strength of her blows to the abilities of her challengers, for Scarlett Claws knows that not all vesk are equal fighters and she values courage and strength of will above physical might. She is always a very difficult foe but she does not wantonly kill those too young to have yet tempered their courage with good judgement. Young vesk who lose to her will retreat with new bruises and damaged pride. Older vesk will face a much more lethal experience, for both Damoritosh and Scarlett Claws believe there is no reward without risk. Elder vesk who know that their time is close may challenge her alone in order that their final moments be filled with battle and fury instead of a slow ignoble decline. One part of the legend hints that such a sacrifice is looked upon favorably by Damoritash and that an extraordinary challenger who wins in suicidal single combat may actually replace her as herald. Debate rages as to whether she has ever been replaced, or if the mantle of Scarlett Claws simply changes any victor into the monolithic herald of The Conqueror.
The only other desire that can be attributed to her is adding to her necklace of teeth. She only adds a tooth if it falls from a challenger who shows exceptional skill or courage and it matters not if the challenger survives the fight. She has fought millions of combats in her timeless existence and it is telling that her necklace is not much larger. Only the very very best are worthy and so losing a tooth to Scarlett Claws can be considered a greater honor than defeating her. Very occasionally, tiny vesk children who are knocked unconscious in their challenge, come around with a new gap in their smile, a gift of new armour and a note telling them to be a little more careful next time… just a little. Such occurrences are the stuff of legends and signify that the child has the potential for greatness.
Traditionally Veskmas is a celebration held in the dead of winter on Vesk Prime. A practical people, vesk typically adopt whatever winter festival is present on the worlds they conquer or occupy and re-label it for their own use; thus Scarlett Claws appears wherever and whenever vesk celebrate Veskmas, a silent call to arms for those who would be strong. In the wilderness, she might appear by remote standing stones, or deep in frozen forests. Near smaller communities, she will be on the outskirts, away from warmth and safety. In urban environments, she will be found in the depths of the sewers or on the top of soon-to-be condemned buildings. In every case she will be far from random bypassers. One must always choose to seek Scarlett Claws, and your fight will be with her and her alone.
The longer she stands unchallenged in one place, the shorter her temper becomes. If the blood that pools beneath her ever completely covers the snow at her feet she becomes enraged at the cowardice of her people and will bring her challenge to them in fury. Once challenged, successfully or not, she remains for one or two more nights, then retreats to Damoritosh’s realm awaiting the next Veskmas.
Young vesk spend their Veskmas season creating plans with their friends to head into the dark and cold to hunt Scarlett Claws; for the few who can find and impress her, the gifts of armaments begin them upon storied careers as warriors and fighters. Many vesk who seek the outsider do so for the hope of valuable rewards, fame, and the pride of bringing battle to one of Damoritosh’s chosen. Sometimes, adventurers will be hired to try to stop a foolhardy challenger from actually making it to Scarlett Claws; if they’re too late, they may find themselves facing her themselves, as Scarlett Claws never turns away from a fight.
Scarlett Claws CR 18
XP 153,600
CN Large outsider (extraplanar)
Init +8;
Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +31
Aura ominous presence (60 ft., DC 23)
DEFENSE HP 375
EAC 32;
KAC 34
Fort +19;
Ref +19;
Will +18
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Havoc (unique dimensional blade doshko) +33 (13d12+29 P) or
claws +33 (13d6+29 S)
Ranged Bedlam (unique paragon cluster launcher) +30 (explode [16d6, 30 ft.])
Space 10 ft.;
Reach 10 ft.
Offensive abilities Damoritosh’s armory, chamber of gifts, holiday mercy, master of war, natural weapons, sanguine steps, Veskmas baubles
TACTICS
Before Combat Scarlett Claws stands waiting for PCs to initiate combat; if they approach within 60 feet, she will assume they are challenging her and immediately attack.
During Combat Scarlett Claws prefers to engage foes in melee with her doshko and claws, making combined full attacks where possible and throwing grenades at foes out of melee range. She teleports into range and punishes any foe who tries to attack from greater than 60 feet away. She uses her Holiday Mercy and Master of War abilities if enemies show great courage but are very young or low level. Scarlett Claws will ignore summoned creatures unless it is tactically sensible to address them and does not allow herself to get bogged down fighting insignificant cannon fodder. If the PCs show particular grit or unusually innovative tactics, she laughs deeply, appreciating the opponent’s fierce spirit - “Ho ho ho!”.
Morale Scarlett Claws fights until the battle is over - whether it is by her defeat or by her choice.
STATISTICS
Str +11;
Dex +8;
Con +6;
Int +0;
Wis +0;
Cha +0
Skills Acrobatics +31, Athletics +36, Intimidate +31
Languages Truespeech
Gear Courage (unique vesk overplate V), Havoc (unique dimensional blade doshko), Bedlam (unique paragon cluster launcher), frag grenade VII, Incendiary grenade VI
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Ominous Presence (Ex) Scarlett Claws's presence unsettles her foes. At the beginning of their turn opponents within 60 feet of her must succeed at a DC 23 Will save or be shaken for 1 round. Once an opponent has succeeded at its saving throw it is immune to Ominous Presence for 24 hours. This is an emotion, fear, mind-affecting, and sense-dependent effect.
Holiday Mercy (Su) As a free action Scarlett Claws may choose to make all damage she deals non-lethal (including bleed). This ability has a range of 60 ft.
Sanguine Steps (Su) Scarlett Claws may use teleport (as the spell) at will. This is primarily used to engage cowards who attack from extreme range. Using this ability provokes attacks of opportunity but is not interrupted by damage.
Veskmas Baubles (Ex) Scarlett Claws keeps some of her grenades hanging from her tail spikes. She may use her tail to throw a grenade as a standard action or as part of a full attack. A character may attempt to grab a grenade from her tail with an unarmed melee attack vs EAC. Damoritash magically replenishes her grenades as they are used.
Damoritosh’s Armory (Su) Scarlett Claws is proficient in all weapons and armor. As a move action, Scarlett Claws may draw any weapon from her null-space Chamber of Gifts.
Chamber of Gifts (Su) Scarlett Claws carries a magical unique null-space chamber with no bulk limit. Scarlett Claws treats any weapon drawn from the Chamber of Gifts as though it had the called weapon fusion. If Scarlett Claws is reduced to 0 hit points, her weapons and armor disappear. The Chamber of Gifts does not vanish when Scarlett Claws does; instead, the people who defeated Scarlett Claws find a bounty of tailor-selected weapons and armor within the null-space chamber (GM’s discretion). After the Chamber of Gifts has been examined, it disappears, disgorging anything left inside onto the ground.
Master of Warfare (Su) Scarlett Claws always provides her foes with a battle that tests her opponents to their absolute limits, while still providing the brave and the lucky with a narrow path to victory. As a free action, Scarlett Claws can adjust her strength, speed, and weaponry to be a more appropriate threat level, changing her attack bonus and damage dice for her attacks as though she were a CR of her choice. Scarlett Claws typically presents herself as an epic encounter (CR+3) compared to the APL of her challengers.
