Boalisk

A boalisk was a variety of tropical constrictor snake.

Description
A typical boalisk measured in length and was almost indistinguishable from a regular constrictor snake.

Varieties

 * Elder boalisk serpent, those rare ancient boalisks or guardian boalisks who gained increased intelligence with age, as well as the ability to communicate via speech and learn new tongues, even though they always spoke with a hissing lisp. Unlike their younger kin, elder boalisks were not scared of flames and were intelligent enough to be cunning and understand the value of glittering and magical items.


 * Guardian boalisk, a larger and more intelligent species of boalisks that reaches the length of . Unlike their smaller counterparts, guardian boalisks possessed a petrifying gaze, in addition to the magical sight that inflicted the rotting disease. The effects of guardian boalisks' magical gaze extended into the Astral and Ethereal planes. These creatures could also mesmerize others by swaying slowly and staring down their victims. This paralyzation lasted as long as the snake continued to move.


 * Striped boalisk, the longest and deadliest species of constrictor snake found in the Serpent Hills. Their bodies had horizontal stripes of red, black, yellow, or brown that ran lengthwise their bodies. Like their boalisk cousins, they reached, with an occasional ancient specimen reaching.

Abilities
Boalisk were immune to medusae's petrifying gaze.

Behavior
Boalisks were excellent hunters and trackers. When a gaze's disease infected a victim that rotted flesh off their bones, boalisks could track the afflicted creatures by the smell of rot if they managed to escape. This was a preferred strategy as those afflicted eventually became too weak to fight and were easy prey.

Combat
Boalisks possessed a dangerous gaze that infected a target with a rotting disease identical to mummy rot. But even a blinded boalisk was a dangerous foe that attempted to constrict and bite its opponents.

Habitat
In their natural tropical habitants, boalisk were often found in company of constrictor snakes. A significant population of striped boalisks could be found inhabiting the Serpent Hills in the Western Heartlands of Faerûn, as well as the Forest of Wyrms. A regular boalisk was a somewhat common danger in the Starwood of Cormanthor. These deadly snakes and their guardian cousins were found in the jungles of Malatran Plateau and in the ruins of the ancient city of Donen.

Usage
Boalisk eggs, as well as their young, were a valuable commodity. Each egg could cost around 3,000 gold pieces, while a young boalisk specimen was valued around 5,000 gp. Boalisk hide could be sewn into a quality blanket that could be valued at 200 gold pieces.

Relations
Because of the immunity to their gaze, medusae often kept boalisks as pets and guardians.

Serphidians of the reptile god Sseth could assume the form of a boalisk.

History
In the late 14 century DR, the Year of Sorrow and Hope of the Malatran calendar, a group of heroes of the Living Jungle entered an ancient ruined city Donen on the Malatran Plateau. The settlement had been destroyed countless centuries in the past, and its inhabitants, the Ancients, were long gone. The adventurers were accompanied by a spelljamming arcane traveler named L'riyt. The group encountered a massive elder boalisk serpent who had been alive since the days of the Donen's golden age. The creature was intelligent and did not tolerate invaders into its ruined domain. Later, L'riyt revealed that the boalisk once was nothing but a tiny snake that lived in the city of the Ancients.

Appearances

 * Licensed Adventures & Organized Play
 * The Sickness