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Lightning Serpents

This monster and location came from a larger adventure with a space elf.I don't have my notes so stats are pretty sketchy.

Lightning Serpents

These serpents, once worshiped on the island where they live, grow to be larger than one person can put their arms around, sometimes dozens of feet long. They grind against the iron-wood bark of their native trees to build up a static charge, large enough to raise them slightly off of the ground. This height gives them even greater stealth through their forests, and the charge can be a second nasty surprise when dispersed on a bite.

Pseudo stats

Moving full distance within their native environment grants them a full charge. This grants a movement speed bonus, and is expended in any bite attack. They have two attacks
  • They can slash at you with their scales. This occurs during a move action that abuts your position twice (e.g. a turn with you inside the corner). This doesn't release a full charge
  • They can bite you. If the serpent is charged, this does additional damage and has a change to paralyze (save again every subsequent turn to recover)
Have them take up at least three 5'x5' squares if you're using such rules.

Shrine

The serpent shrine is a small structure remaining from past supplicants. Three stairways lead up to a smaller enclosed structure. Between the three stairs are two stone statues of serpents with open mouths. When triggered half-way up each stairway the appropriate statue(s) will each breath lightning, taking a moment to turn if necessary. This electric charge comes from the magnetic ring atop the shrine.

At the top of the stairs a door leads into a small room with a statue, walls covered in murals. The murals depict a few scenes including a serpent nurturing an egg by breathing lightning on it, a temple similar in style to this one, but larger, a map of the island, with the central temple connected by lines to each small shrine. In the center of the room is an iron statue of a serpent coiled around an empty cavity. The serpent is actually ungrounded, connected only to a rod that extends down into the floor. A careful character may spot the necessary gap. Any electricity applied to the snake will pass through the building and raise the magnetic ring on the roof. Ratcheting in place, this ring will be ready to fall to expend energy to fire the stair traps or engage the true purpose of the place.

When a full charge has been applied to the ring and the egg-like macguffin has been placed in the center of the snake's coils, the macguffin may be activated to deplete the ring and exchange the contents of the room with a matching room in the central temple.
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