“First came the sound of gravel shifting. Like something slithering its way towards us. And then a soft, cold moan snapped the darkness. That’s when we saw it: some awful, withered thing, possibly once a man, unable to move its legs, crawling–crawling, damn it!–towards us. When Gregor locked eyes with it, he too lost feeling in his own legs, and fell to the ground. Gregor screamed. I’ll never forget his scream. Gregor begged us not to go, cursing us as we fled. Gods help us, we left him there. We left Gregor there…”
There is a reason that no humanoid dares set foot in the Eyries at the north side of The Forsaken Peak. For any living thing that enters is sure to meet its doom. Of course, the infamous Creature is horrible enough. But it’s hardly the only danger within the twisting, sloping labyrinth of old animal caves and monstrosity hidey-holes.
The Eyries’ tunnels are supernaturally desecrated and no amount of hallowing can remove its evil from the coarse, angry walls. That which dies does not stay dead, but rises, often as a grim reflection of the horrific way it met its fate.
For example, those who die in the Eyries drained of blood from the winged horrors known as stirge return as bloodless ones. These pitiful corpses stagger to life, driven by a mindless compulsion to drink the blood of others. Sadly, the blood does not stay within their bodies long as it drips out from their dried, ruined carcasses, sending them into a frustrated rage. Unable to move their lower half, they crawl along the surface of the caverns, gravel dragging under them. Those who lock eyes with one of these bloodless ones may find his or herself unable to move their lower half as well, a victim of the terrible crawling sickness.
Bloodless One
Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 7
Hit Points 26 (4d8 + 8)
Speed 15 ft.
Abilities Str 16 (+3), Dex 5 (-3), Con 15 (+2), Int 3 (-4), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 5 (-3)
Saving Throws Wis +2
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned, prone
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands all languages it knew in life but can’t speak
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Crawler. The bloodless one is permanently prone.
Immobilizing Gaze. If a humanoid or giant starts its turn within 30 feet of the bloodless one and the two of them can see each other, the bloodless one can force the creature to make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw if the bloodless one isn’t incapacitated. On a failed save, the creature is cursed with the crawling sickness and loses function of its legs. The cursed target falls prone in its space and cannot stand from the prone position without assistance. While cursed, every foot of movement while crawling costs the cursed target 2 extra feet (instead of 1 as normal). If a creature has a flying speed, its flying speed is unaffected. However, burrowing, climbing, and swimming speeds are affected similarly by this condition. The curse lasts until the creature finishes a short or long rest.
Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces the bloodless one to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, the bloodless one drops to 1 hit point instead.
Actions
Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, the creature is grappled (escape DC 13), and the bloodless one attaches to the target. While attached, the bloodless one doesn’t attack. Instead, at the start of each of the bloodless one’s turns, the target loses 5 (1d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss. A humanoid slain by this attack rises 24 hours later as a bloodless one.
The bloodless one can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement. It does so after the target dies. A creature, including the target, can use its action to detach the bloodless one with a successful DC 13 Strength check.
Thanks for reading!
This is only the first new monster for the second part of The Secret of Forsaken Peak, The Eyries. Expect more creepy undead to torment your players with.
See you soon.
Art by Guy Davis.