Arboreal Husk

Huge plant (husk), chaotic evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 149 (13d12 + 65)
Speed 25 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
23 (+6)	8 (-1)	21 (+5)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)	16 (+3)

Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Druidic, Elvish, Sylvan
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +4

SPECIAL TRAITS

• False Appearance. While the husk remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a diseased or dead tree.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The husk can use Sow Despair. It then makes two blighted branch attacks.
• Blighted Branch. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
• Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/120 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
• Raise Trees (1/Day). The husk magically animates one or two dead trees it can see within 60 feet of it. These trees have the same statistics as an arboreal husk, except they have Intelligence and Charisma scores of 1, they can’t speak, and they have only the Blighted Branch action. An animated tree acts as an ally of the husk. The tree remains animate for 1 day or until it dies; until the husk dies or is more than 120 feet from the tree; or until the husk takes a bonus action to turn it back into a dead tree. The tree then topples over.
• Sow Despair. Each creature of the husk’s choice that is within 30 feet of the husk and can see it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the husk’s Sow Despair for the next 24 hours

ABOUT

Arboreal husks typically manifest from treants who fail to protect their forest wards from evil depredations. These brokenhearted, twisted guardians of the trees go on to sow the same kinds of despair they felt upon seeing their home so ravaged.

Whereas most arboreals attack only creatures whose aims are incompatible with the prosperity of the forest, such as loggers and invading warmongers, arboreal husks are not so picky when it comes to choosing foes. To these husks, all living creatures are potential despoilers of nature, from an elven druid experimenting on plants with her nourishing primal magic to the lowly squirrel stealing acorns for the winter. No amount of reason or charm can sway an arboreal husk from the basic assumption that anyone in its vicinity means harm to it and its ruined domain.

Some arboreals have tried to revert their disturbed husk relatives to their original goodly natures, though so far none have succeeded. An arboreal husk rooted in a healthy forest doesn’t recover-in fact, the opposite occurs, as the forest around the husk wilts and dies in its ruinous presence. Thus, untainted arboreals have no choice but to slay their twisted siblings. Rather than hunt down and destroy known husks in their territory, arboreals often choose to hire adventurers to take on this terrible task.

If an arboreal is typically the guardian of a forest, then what do arboreal husks protect? The answer is at the root of the existential crisis that causes such husks to exist in the first place: nothing. Some woodland sages insist that all husks, including arboreal husks, can be redeemed if placed within a flourishing natural realm.

But husks themselves blanch at the thought and seem to revel in their despair. If there is any validity to this claim, then the act of transplanting a husk into a new home must be undertaken necessarily by force.