Shala_Sphinxtu

Age:2000
Sex: Female or Herm on request.
Height: 12ft 7in
Weight: "Thats a Riddle isnt it?" (1.4tons)
Length: 9ft

~Backround On The Great Sphinx~
"So im not such a riddle. when we meet."

Sphinx, mythological creature with a lion’s body and a human head, an important image in Egyptian and Greek art and legend. The word sphinx was derived by Greek grammarians from the verb sphingein (“to bind” or “to squeeze” and oh do i like to bind and squeeze :3), but the etymology is not related to the legend and is dubious. Hesiod, the earliest Greek author to mention the creature, called it Phix.

The winged sphinx of Boeotian Thebes, the most famous in legend, was said to have terrorized the people by demanding the answer to a riddle taught her by the Muses—What is it that has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?—and devouring a person each time the riddle was answered incorrectly. Eventually Oedipus gave the proper answer: The sphinx thereupon killed herself ((O.O "Really!? Humans shure blow things out of purportion. Why would I of done that..Humans can be Bafoons somtimes. I just left.")). From this tale apparently grew the legend that the sphinx was omniscient, and even today the wisdom of the sphinx is proverbial.

The earliest and most famous example in art is the colossal recumbent Sphinx at Giza, Egypt, dating from the reign of King Khafre (4th king of 4th dynasty, c. 2575–c. 2465 bce ). This is known to be a portrait statue of the king, and the sphinx continued as a royal portrait type through most of Egyptian history. Arabs, however, know the Sphinx of Giza by the name of Abū al-Hawl, or “Father of Terror.”

Through Egyptian influence the sphinx became known in Asia, but its meaning there is uncertain. The sphinx did not occur in Mesopotamia until about 1500 bce, when it was clearly imported from the Levant. In appearance the Asian sphinx differed from its Egyptian model most noticeably in the addition of wings to the leonine body, a feature that continued through its subsequent history in Asia and the Greek world. Another innovation was the female sphinx, which first began to appear in the 15th century bce. On seals, ivories, and metalwork the sphinx was portrayed sitting on its haunches, often with one paw raised, and was frequently paired with a lion, a griffin (part eagle and part lion), or another sphinx.

About 1600 bce the sphinx first appeared in the Greek world. Objects from Crete at the end of the middle Minoan period and from the shaft graves at Mycenae throughout the late Helladic age showed the sphinx characteristically winged. Although derived from the Asian sphinx, the Greek examples were not identical in appearance; they customarily wore a flat cap with a flamelike projection on top. Nothing in their context connected them with later legend, and their meaning remains unknown.

After 1200 bce the depiction of sphinxes disappeared from Greek art for about 400 years, though they continued in Asia in forms and poses similar to those of the Bronze Age. By the end of the 8th century, the sphinx reappeared in Greek art and was common down to the end of the 6th century. Often associated with Oriental motifs, it was clearly derived from an Eastern source, and from its appearance it could not have been a direct descendant of the Bronze Age Greek sphinx. The later Greek sphinx was almost always female and usually wore the long-tiered wig known on contemporary sculptures of the Daedalic style; the body became graceful, and the wings developed a beautiful curving form unknown in Asia. Sphinxes decorated vases, ivories, and metal works and in the late Archaic period occurred as ornaments on temples. Although their context is usually insufficient to enable their meaning to be judged, their appearance on temples suggests a protective function.

By the 5th century clear illustrations of the encounter between Oedipus and the sphinx appeared on vase paintings, usually with the sphinx perched on a column (as can be seen on a red-figure Nolan amphora by the Achilles Painter in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston or on the Vatican Museum’s Attic cup "Aww im in a Musium. A place filled with so much Knowladge." ). Other monuments of Classical age showed Oedipus in armed combat with the sphinx and suggested an earlier stage of the legend in which the contest was physical instead of mental. Of such a stage the literature gave no hint, but battles of men and monsters were common in Asian art from prehistoric times down to the Achaemenid Persians, and Greek art may have adopted from the Middle East a pictorial theme that Greek literature did not share.

~Those who have beaten shala in her game of riddles~
School_of_vore's lilly,

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Sheela Sphinxtu, level 14
Sphinx, Bard (Skald), Master Skald
Signs of Influence Option: Attract Attendants
Signs of Influence Option: Demand Audience
Signs of Influence Option: Welcome Guest

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 14, CON 11, DEX 13, INT 16, WIS 14, CHA 19

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 11, CON 10, DEX 10, INT 14, WIS 8, CHA 18


AC: 24 Fort: 24 Ref: 27 Will: 27
HP: 98 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 24

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +16, Heal +15, History +16, Intimidate +19, Perception +17

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +8, Athletics +11, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Dungeoneering +10, Endurance +7, Insight +10, Nature +12, Religion +11, Stealth +8, Streetwise +12, Thievery +8

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Sphinx Racial Power: sphinx Claws
Bard Utility: Skald's Aura
Bard Feature: Words of Friendship
Bard Attack 1: Disruptive Words
Bard Attack 1: Cautionary Tale
Bard Attack 1: Vicious Mockery
Bard Attack 1: Staggering Note
Bard Attack 1: Blunder
History Utility 2: Root Understanding
Bard Attack 3: Cunning Ferocity
Bard Attack 5: Haunting Tune
Intimidate Utility 6: Scatter the Cowards
Bard Attack 9: Exposure of Weakness
Bard Utility 10: Veil
Master Skald Attack 11: Inspiring Success
Master Skald Utility 12: Assured Skill
Bard Attack 13: Earthquake Strike

FEATS
Level 1: Words of Wrath
Level 2: Alertness
Level 4: Envoy to the Fey
Level 6: Strike and Shove
Level 8: Executioner of Undeath
Level 10: Improved Defenses
Level 11: Disciple of Lore
Level 12: Spear Expertise
Level 14: Toughness

ITEMS
Chainmail x1
Adventurer's Kit
Longsword x1
Light Shield x1
Wand Implement
Amulet of Health +3 x2
Hellthorn Longsword +3
Chainmail of Cleansing +3
Safewing Amulet +3
====== End ======