Dambastra

Dambastra ("The Black Adder")

Dambastra — The Black Serpent God with Golden Veins

Dambastra — known across the Farseas as The Black Adder — is the black snake god with golden streaks, deity of transformation, serpents, dusk, lies, and hidden knowledge in the Swamp Gods pantheon.

Cifer Nachash standing beside the coiled avatar of Dambastra

Domain, Ambition & The Silverwing Serpent

Unlike Papa Croakus, Dambastra has no prophecy — only a cold conviction that he alone knows what is best for the Farsea Swamp. Through his champion Draxxus and the Church of the Silverwing Serpent, Dambastra has worked to subvert The Siv's guardianship of The Spirit Road and Oghrann, scheming to free Papa Croakus from Tycho Irungarten's captivity only so Dambastra can usurp the top seat of the Swamp Pantheon.

Dambastra also manipulated the Verdant Grove druid Myrk to funnel power into Eadaz, accelerating the crisis that birthed the Mushroom Queen. During his bid to seize control of the swamp's ley network, Dambastra became magically fused with Sigma Irungarten, trapping both entities in the amalgamated form known as Sigmastra.

Spells Granted (Guardian's Grimoire & Serpent Cult Arcana)

Signature Clerical Invocations & Avatar Powers (CR 15)

  • Serpent's Tongue: Cult invocation that renders spoken lies and forged compacts completely undetectable to divination magic or Zone of Truth.
  • Viper's Strike: Infuses melee or spell attacks with golden-veined serpent venom that deals necrotic-poison damage and prevents the target from regaining hit points.
  • Scale Shift: Allows teleportation through dusk shadows as a bonus action.
  • The Silverwing Mark: Grants Dambastra the power to scry through a branded follower's eyes — or detonate the mark in a lethal burst of arcane venom.

Spells from the Guardian's Grimoire

  1. Swamp's Embrace (Level 4): Melds the caster into the shadowy terrain of the marsh, shedding their outward silhouette for unnatural stealth and ambush awareness.
  2. Fog of Concealment (Level 2): Cloaks clandestine meetings and serpentine strikes in thick dusk mist.
  3. Bogfire (Level 5): Ignites volatile marsh gases into a searing curtain of green-gold flame.
  4. Guidance of the Swamp Gods (Level 6): Communes with the Black Adder to uncover buried secrets, ancient leverage, and forbidden transformations.

See also: Swamp Gods, Guardian's Grimoire, Draxxus, Cifer Nachash, Church of the Silverwing Serpent, Sigmastra, Sigma Irungarten, Myrk