Bil’djooli Navarch

Medium aberration, lawful evil

Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 273 (26d8+156)
Speed 30 ft., swim 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	22 (+6)	22 (+6)	15 (+2)	22 (+6)	15 (+2)

Saving Throws Int +8, Wis +12, Cha +8
Damage Vulnerabilities poison
Senses darkvision 60 ft., truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Bil›djooli, Ultari.
Challenge 17 (18,000 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Bil’djooli Traits. The bil’djooli aquamancer has the Hold Breath, Interstellar, Jet, Underwater Camouflage, and Vulnerability to Toxins traits of a standard bil’djooli.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The bil’djooli navarch uses one of the following attack options: bil’djooli rod and 2 tentacle slams, or 4 tentacle slams.
• Bil’djooli Rod. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft. and range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage and 3 (1d6) energy damage (acid, cold, fire, or lightning), or 19 (4d6 + 5) energy damage (acid, cold, fire, or lightning) if used to make a range attack.
• Bil’djooli Rod Blast (Recharge 3-6). The bil’djooli navarch fires a single focused ray that deals 21 (6d6) points of energy damage, or half as much on a successful DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, to each creature it hits in a 60-foot line. The energy type can be chosen as part of the attack – acid, cold, fire, or lightning damage – but it consumes her bonus action if it differs from the energy type of a previous attack made by it.
• Tentacle Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour.

REACTIONS

• Side Shot. Any time an attack hits or misses the bil’djooli navarch, she may use she reaction to make a bil’djooli rod range attack. To do so, the bil’djooli navarch must be wielding a bil’djooli rod.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The bil’djooli navarch can take 4 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The bil’djooli navarch regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

• Decisive Strike. One of the bil’djooli navarch’s allies that can see and hear her immediately makes a single melee or ranged attack with advantage. The damage dealt by this attack bypasses all damage resistances (but not damage immunities). This attack doesn’t count toward the ally’s actions on its turn.
• Rise Up. All allies that can see or hear the bil’djooli navarch can add 1d10 to their next attack roll.
• Directed Assault (1/Day). By finding a gap in the enemy’s defenses, the bil’djooli navarch allows her allies to take advantage of the weakness. All allies of the bil’djooli navarch within 30-feet of it or an enemy can move up to their speed and make one melee ranged attack. This attack is made with advantage and has its critical hit chance increased by 1 (for example a 20 becomes a 19 or 20) and if a critical hit is rolled the damage is maximized. This attack doesn’t count toward the ally’s actions on its turn.

ABOUT

A nefarious race of sentient predatory oozes, hetzuud gained notoriety as spies and infiltrators capable of altering their shape and density to interact with almost any environment. They excel at mimicking other creatures and objects by modifying their texture and coloration. Multiple hetzuud can also merge into deadlier, greater-sized oozes with dangerous combat abilities, controlling multiple pseudopods with deadly effect.

An adult hetzuud weighs around 200 pounds and can squeeze itself into 4 cubic feet, or a 1-foot-radius sphere.

Hetzuud maintain a culture of collective development and expansion rather than individual rights. This stems from the natural instinct to merge together for mutual protection. They prove inherently amoral, regarding other species as rivals to dominate. Hetzuud place great emphasis on contributing to their overall society, and hetzuud who champion individualism serve little purpose, leading their peers to inevitably shun, exile, or destroy them.

Procreation of a new hetzuud brood can occur between two or more individuals. They must remain merged during the incubation process, which takes eight hours. Afterward, a newborn hetzuud separates from its parents and takes 2 years to mature. To produce viable offspring, hetzuud must ensure considerable genetic diversity between participating parents and they can sense by touch if another member of their species would make a suitable mate. Producing more than one offspring per merge is considered taboo.

Hetzuuds have little parental instinct or loyalty beyond their natural impulse to preserve their race. They place their young in caves or enclosed areas safe from other predators, and then leave them to grow and mature unattended, feeding on whatever sustenance they can acquire. Elder hetzuud reclaim their young after they learn to mimic other creatures and objects, training them as workers, retainers, or soldiers. After a period of indentured servitude to pay for such training, young hetzuud eventually seek their own fortune, but always in close alliance with the collective society.

The governing leadership of hetzuud enclaves inevitably consists of long-lived elders grown to Huge size. They store and process information collected from other species and civilizations in an attempt to use such knowledge for the betterment of hetzuud society. When a momentous decision concerns the entire race, these elders merge together in an extremely rare act. The last such convocation occurred when the hetzuud decided to join the Ultari Hegemony.

A silvery puddle-like blob of malleable goo transforms into a new shape, its surface rapidly taking on detailed textures and color.