Armored in dense, bony plates, this four-armed creature drools wretched strings of black bile from its fanged maw.
Charda CR 7
XP 3,200
CN Small monstrous humanoid (aquatic)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +13
Defense
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +7 natural, +1 size)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +7, Ref +10, Will +7
Defensive Abilities ferocity, Immune cold, poison
Offense
Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft.
Melee bite +13 (1d6+3 plus 1d6 cold), 4 claws +14 (1d4+3)
Special Attacks black bile
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +9; CMB +11 (+19 bull rush and trip); CMD 23
Feats Combat ExpertiseB, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Trip, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Intimidate +6, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +13, Stealth +18, Survival +10, Swim +18
Languages Aklo, Undercommon
SQ amphibious, cold vigor, overwhelming
Ecology
Environment cold aquatic or underground
Organization solitary, pair, gang (3–5), or tribe (6–14)
Treasure standard
Special Abilities
Black Bile (Su) A charda's body seethes with freezing black bile. Its supernaturally cold, black bile is the source of the additional cold damage when a charda bites a creature. As a standard action, a charda can expel its full store of bile as a breath weapon that can take the form of a 60-foot line or a 30-foot cone. All creatures in this area take 8d6 points of cold damage (DC 18 Reflex half). A charda can use this breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds—while its black bile is recharging, it does not deal additional cold damage with its bite. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Cold Vigor (Ex) When a charda is in a cold environment, it becomes more animated and gains a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls.
Overwhelming (Ex) A charda gains a +8 racial bonus on bull rush and trip attacks.
In the darkest depths of the earth, in strange frozen rivers and subterranean lakes of frigid black water dwell the mysterious and ferocious chardas. These xenophobic humanoids rarely venture far from their domains, settling in small tribes and building rocky huts underwater or muddy domes along the subterranean shore.
A typical charda stands just under 4 feet tall but weighs 250 pounds. Chardas reproduce by laying eggs in small clutches of two to four, which they bury among rocks offshore. Females fiercely protect their own clutches, but show no predisposition toward protecting the clutches of other chardas, even those within their tribe.
Devoutly religious, chardas prefer to worship gods of war or cold. They hunt in small packs composed of both males and females. Hunting and slaying help determine an individual's power within the group. Chardas often engage in infanticide and cannibalism. While they patrol their territories in groups, they fight individually with little strategy or structure. Chardas do not assist each other with their kills, as they perceive aid as a weakness and a dishonor to both themselves and their foes.
