The Power of Ten

Chapter 7-209: Oh, THAT’S Why it was Making Me Take Those Feats...

I remembered this not-a-horse falling out of the sky, hitting the ground and losing the Old God riding it as it did so. I had ignored it as it scampered for a clear area away from the vivus, totally ignored by its rider, who had commenced freezing alive. Basically, it had just stood there in its little circle about a hundred yards off, forgotten and watching as its master’s horde fell out of the sky, burned away to nothing, and then the Old God Himself had frozen, shattered, and Lit Off in the Offering to Aru.

Or, since it was night, maybe Sylune. The Sun King and Queen of Stars were pretty open-minded about such things.

The thing was no longer the bonded mount of a greater being, and so had naturally lost a great deal of its strength and aura. It was definitely a magical creature of some power and size, but no tougher than an average Nightmare now.

It was a creature of Fire. A bonded mount. An Elemental being, part of an aspect of nature...

I closed my eyes and sighed. Obviously, the things in the Shroud knew things I most certainly did not.

This thing was an Eidolon!

Every Eidolon was different, its form and growth determined by the master it was linked to. While it was technically possible for anyone to Bind an Eidolon if it was willing, Binders were the only ones who got them automatically, as their focus on Summoning magic was like a beacon to the things.

They could get even stronger than a Druid or Ranger’s Animal Companion, which were the basic standard for combat-worthy pet creatures.

Aelryinth’s big snake Feature was an example of what happened when you merged Familiar and Animal Companion, and then its status was elevated to Eidolon. It was a seriously overpowered reptilian powerhouse that could take on a lot of Powered all by itself, hence its name: it was a Class Feature better than their whole Class!...

Now this Eidolon was here, and it was looking at me. Me, who the Shroud had forced to take a bunch of Feats strictly related to powering up an Animal Companion that I didn’t think I would need.

I sighed. I couldn’t let it rove around freely, as that would just lead to it getting slaughtered repeatedly, given its nigh-demonic appearance. Indeed, it probably couldn’t even exist on this plane freely without an anchoring master...

“You want to serve me?” I asked it directly, in Pyric. The fire-gouting reply was eager, and its burning tail swished excitedly.

“Come, then.” I motioned it up and closer, the link already starting to build with that affirmation. Class Levels came together, stacked on top of one another, and began to harmonize. A burning Seal started to materialize upon its forehead.

“Let me show you what I am doing here. Watch. Judge. I will not give you a Name. Your Name is your own to decide. When you see what I am doing, and what kind of mistress I am going to be, you will tell me your Name, and your service to me will begin.”

Somewhat confused, the eidolon still stood there in the air beside me, mane burning, tail swishing, clawed hooves flaming, and the core of fire burning inside its skeletal chest clearly visible.

I kept about my task. This was not something that was going to get resolved in an hour.

-----------

Binder and Druid Levels stacked for Animal Companion and Familiar bonuses. Binder harmonized with Arcane through Name Theurgy, so effective Wizard Level was the one that applied. Blighters could get undead Animal Companions. An Eidolon qualified for Animal Companion bonuses through the Name of Nature and Theurgic Companion.

Wizard Fake Eleven plus Corrupt not-Druid Fake Seven was Eighteen.

Familiar Effects at 18: +9 to Natural Armor, Intelligence base 14, grants Alertness, Improved Evasion, Empathic Link, shares Buffing spells when close, can deliver touch spells, can speak with master, speak with animals, lesser spell resistance, and I could scry on him as I wished. Health/Soak equal to half the Wizard’s.

Animal Companion effects at 18: 15 Hit Dice, +12 Natural Armor (non-stacking with Familiar), Attack Bonus +11; 8 Feats to assign; +6 to Str/Dex; Linked, Share Spells, Improved Evasion, Devoted, 3 ability score increases, 7 bonus tricks, Multiattack. Str 16, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 6. At 4^th Level, +2 Str/Con. Low Light Vision and Scent, size L Animal, +4 Nat AC, Hoof/Hoof/Bite for d6/d6/d4, Speed 50, all using Horse as a model. Gained Combat Training and all the Tricks associated with it, a nice bonus.

So, defaulting to Heavy War Horse as a basis, it seemed...

Eidolon Benefits at 18: 14 Hit Dice, Attack bonus +14, 6+Int bonus Skill Points/level, +14 Natural Armor, Str/Dex +7, 23 (+3) Evolution points, Max attacks 6, Darkvision, 7 Feats, Str 14 Dex 14 Con 13; 7 Int, 10 Wis, Cha 11, medium, d6 Bite... a Pony-Wolf starting basis. I eyed his form, which really wasn’t equine in structure, especially those jaws, and the clawed hooves. Aesthetics?...

None of these explicitly stacked, it was take the best of each. I didn’t have to pay in Evolution points for anything one of the other advancements gave.

I had to pay for the magical abilities of this old fellow, and decide his Feats.josei

Once Bound, I could actually completely change the form of my Eidolon between Levels or with magic, but I was also restricted by the Druidic limitations on creatures, if I wanted to take advantage of such.

So, no dragons, for instance, although I could make him look like a dinosaur. Tempting...

For now, equine/wolf/stag worked just fine.

I went into the Evolutions, with 26 points to spend, spreadsheeting while making up the massive Node Tap at the border of the lava lake.

9k free pyromana a day in this place. This place could not be allowed to sit idle!

Let’s see. Got four legs, bite, claw, hooves, size Large, scent, low-light vision, darkvision for free, as well as a Combat-Trained mount.

Putting the Stat Line together, and taking the superior Size L boost from Evolution for free, he ended up with Str 21, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 10. Base Nat AC was +4, Move was 50, with 15 Hit Dice. With base Level adjustments in place, that improved to Strength 28 and Dexterity 20. Natural AC improved to 18, so I guess the bones were worth something.

Base Claw/Claw/Bite damage was now d6/d6/d8. Multiattack was free. But now, I would have to start paying for stuff.

An esoteric one I grabbed straight off: Share Owner’s Evolution. For two points, it shared any elemental subtypes that I had. So, it got to keep the Fire subtype from an Elemental standpoint... and if I went Cold, it would get that as well.

It was another two points for Energy Attacks based on subtype.

That would all come in useful when I went through the Ceremony of the Frozen Soul, and doubled up on Subtypes...

I had to pay four points for his Air Walking ability, and they fluttered away. I wasn’t going to put up with wings when riding, at least for now. If he could fly without them, that was better for maneuverability, and he wasn’t any slower. Wings were just an alternate, points-eating attack form at this point.

Fine, he could keep the horns, too. Gore attack, two points. 10/26 spent... I eyed the horns, looked down at him thoughtfully, and picked Reach Attack for his bite or horns, watching the bones that made up his neck turn almost accordion style.

Then a point on Improved Attack for the horns, and I supplemented it with two Feats... Improved Natural Attack and Spirited Charge.

Those triple horns were now base 2-16 damage, triple damage on a charge. They gleamed on him like a pair of ready swords and a spear.

12/26, and five Feats to go...

Breath Weapon Subtype, +2 extra uses, 6 points. 3 uses of a Breath Weapon per day, d6’s = to hit dice. So, a 15d6 fire cone attack out to 75 feet. Good enough for fodder.

18/26. Trample, standard horse ability, mash underfoot those he ran over.

Devilsight, three points, 21/26.

I finished out with Damage Reduction 10/Good for 5 points, which would protect him from most small arms fire, at least. I put the three Stat points into his Constitution, raising that to 22.

As an Elemental Eidolon, he got Immunity to damage of his Element, and immunity to crits and precision damage. As a Fire Eidolon, he got +20 to speed.

As a Blighter, my mount automatically got the benefits of the Skeletal Creature Template, which didn’t really change its appearance much, and still didn’t make an Eidolon undead.

It amounted to +2 Dex, immunity to Cold, +2 Nat AC, and the standard immunities of undead creatures. I had a feeling it had possessed the same Template all along, but I specifically didn’t want him vulnerable to vivus, so I forwent the undead negative energy immunities. He could share my Death Ward for the same effect. At the least I wouldn’t have to worry about him succumbing to mental attacks.

His Health was completely average for what he was, which was worrisome, since he didn’t accrue Karma and so couldn’t max his Health. The only way I knew to do that was the Perfect Creature Template, which only applied to Summoned creatures, not to Eidolons.

Pity.

There was plenty of magic to instantly reform an Eidolon according to needs... and I still had five Feats to pick for him. I believe he came with the Elemental Familiar Archetype for whatever he was picking off me...

Power Attack was a no-brainer. He was a beefy fellow, and killing weak stuff faster would only help.

Raise Breath Weapon and Full Breath Weapon would be nice. Extra Breath Weapon would give three more of them a day.

Mmm. It meant I’d have to keep him in a form with a Breath Weapon, but that was fine, too.

And Improved Speed, +10 on land, +20 Flying. That was still slow for a flyer to me, but I could increase it with spells, if I chose to memorize them. How could I have so many spells available and still not enough for every niche need?...

Hmmm. No. That was very inefficient. I didn’t need a fighting partner, why boost his Breath Weapon? It was more for emergencies... and, sure, staying on theme.

If I wanted to ride, he needed to be fast. That was pretty much it.

Profound Lightfoot! Rising and Racing Winds! Fast Movement!

Let’s abuse some Eidolon universality and get some wheels on you!

There we go. Improve his base speed to 70, and then use Profound Lightfoot tied to his Attack Bonus to get even faster. Since his base was 70, and Rising Winds was the swiftest lightfoot, it basically tripled his base speed.

230 on the ground, 250’ flying speed, with the caveat that a tailwind added directly to his speed when aloft, and I could generate a NICE Gust of Wind...

MUCH better. There were two or three other spells I could add on top of this... as well as magic Horseshoes!

Hoot, he would be able to outrace dragons and angels a-wing!

Of course, I had to make them, but it all went on the stack... and calling up Windgraf Mochtal for the unique task of making Horseshoes of Speed should get him all sorts of piqued up on what I wanted them for.

After all, who rode horses when there were perfectly good motorcycles around?