Warden Archon

Description

(From Planes of Law - Monstrous Supplement - 1995):

Wardens are the guardians of the portals between Mount Celestia’s layers. These archons prevent unworthy cutters and unauthorized travelers from passing through. Likewise, they prevent lanterns from journeying upward through the layers, though they grant dispensation to those lanterns relaying messages.

Unlike grizzly bears, which devour virtually any edible foodstuffs, warden archons are herbivores. They are prodigious eaters, consuming any roots, vegetation, shrubbery, and even trees found in their home. However, they eat only for one hour at the break of day, and they will forgo this repast if need be. Some sages speculate that the warden archons’ tremendous consumption is in preparation for their next station, for sword archons consume nothing.

They have the great strength and acute senses of a grizzly bear, though not its unpredictable nature. Wardens converse via telepathy, though they can (and often do) communicate vocally with ursine animals.

Combat: Warden archons are never surprised – at least on Mount Celestia. Since they’ve never been encountered beyond that plane’s borders, it’s still dark as to whether they can be surprised elsewhere. Furthermore, they’ve been known to play stupid in order to draw an enemy near, often confusing a clueless onlooker into thinking the wardens might not be so smart (the enemy, of course, quickly discovers otherwise).

If said enemy is foolish enough to approach, thinking himself undetected, the warden archon attacks as if it were a bear. Each hand delivers 1d8 points of damage, and its powerful bite causes 2d6 more. If both hands hit in a single round, the warden grabs its enemy and wraps him in a powerful hug. This hug delivers 1d10 points of additional damage, allowing the warden to make its bite attack at +4. To break free, a victim must make a successful bend bars/lift gates roll. Until he breaks free, he cannot use his arms or hands for combat – nor can he cast any spells.

Wardens have access to the lesser/greater divination schools of wizards as well as spells from the priestly divination sphere. A warden can cast any spell of 4th level or lower as if it were an 8th-level priest. Although any given spell can be cast only once per day, the warden can cast at will.