Boojum Snark

Large fey, neutral

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points 112 (15d10 + 30)
Speed 20 ft., swim 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
22 (+6)	15 (+2)	18 (+4)	2 (-4)	14 (+2)	19 (+4)

Saving Throws Str +9, Dex +5, Con +7
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silver
Damage Immunities fire
Damage Vulnerabilities lightning
Condition Immunities prone
Skills Athletics +9, Perception +8, Stealth +8
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception
Languages —
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Amphibious. The boojum snark can breathe air and water.
• Charmed By Soap. A boojum snark has disadvantage on saving throws versus spells that inflict the charmed condition if the caster uses at least 1 pound of soap as an additional material component. Similarly, Charisma checks made against a boojum snark have advantage if at least 1 pound of soap is offered to it.
• Elusive. As a full-round action while in water, a boojum snark can move up to 100 ft. without leaving any trace of its passing (identical in effect to a pass without trace). When it does so, an elusive boojum snark’s Dexterity (Stealth) check is automatically considered to be a result of 30. In addition, except when in combat, a boojum snark is considered to be under the effects of a nondetection spell. Neither of these spell effects can be dispelled except with dispel magic cast with a 9th level spell slot. If the caster of a divination effect wears thimbles during the casting, the boojum snark’s saving throw has disadvantage.
• Planar Acclimation. A boojum snark cannot be banished.
• Shell. A boojum snark carries a giant empty seashell into which its whole body can retract for defense and camouflage. While in its shell, a boojum snark can only use its bite attack. A boojum snark’s shell has an AC of 22, a damage threshold of 8, and 65 hit points. A boojum snark can move into or out of its shell with a bonus action.
• Vanishing Gaze. The boojum snark can use its action to force an opponent to make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw or be banished to the fey realm. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to the boojum snark’s Vanishing Gaze ability for 24 hours.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The boojum snark makes two attacks: one with its bite, and one with its tentacle.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 6) slashing damage
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 6) piercing damage.
• Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the boojum snark cannot use its tentacle attack on another target.
• Flame Breath (Recharge 5-6). The boojum snark exhales a fiery blast in a 30-ft. cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) fire on a failure, or half as much damage on a successful one.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The boojum snark can take 3 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 boojum snark regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. Claw. The boojum snark makes a claw attack. Withdraw. The boojum snark uses a withdraw action.

• Dodge (costs 2 Actions). The boojum uses a dodge action.

ABOUT

A boojum snark’s body has the general form of a large walrus or sea lion, with a thick, coarse hide covering rolls of blubber, yet with gills along its upper flanks. Surrounding its jaws, that are lined with large, sharp teeth, is a mass of stiff bristles that give the creature a whiskered appearance. Its front flippers are equipped with long claws, but instead of rear flippers, its body tapers to a long, powerful, prehensile tail akin to a suckered tentacle of a giant octopus. On the creature’s chest, and from about midway along its body as it tapers toward the tail are feathers; dull and drab on some boojums—easy mistaken as just a variation in the hue of its otherwise dark skin—yet bright, colorful, and unmistakeable on others.

Like a bizarre hermit crab, the creature also carries a large empty seashell. On land, the boojum usually remains in its shell, using its strong and dextrous front flippers to drag itself around while its suckered tail grips the shell tightly from inside. In the water, it frequently emerges fully from the shell, but will not range far from it. It swims using sinuous whole-body movements while using its tentacle to hold the tip of its shell, which it pulls along behind it.

The body of a boojum is around 12 feet long, with its tail adding an additional 15 feet in total length. It weighs 4,000 lbs.

Snarks are very rare and highly elusive creatures yet they can sometimes be found lairing in the shallows around isolated volcanic islands filled with chasms and crags in uncharted reaches of oceans. Rarer still, are the boojums, mythic snarks who can cause those who meet their gazes to softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again.

Usually active only in the twilight hours of late evening, a snark spends most of its time sleeping in a salvaged seashell it carries and into which its whole body can retract—either for defensive purposes, or to hide from a predator or from prey. Most frequently, snarks use the shells of giant sea snails, although the shells of other giant sea creatures, and even hollow pieces of coral, wood, and stone are sometimes used.

Snarks are carnivorous and feed on a diverse variety of creatures for which they hunt or forage. Larger marine animals such as dolphins, seals, sea lions, sharks, and orcas are particularly relished though they will happily dredge through mud for molluscs and other bottom-dwellers. Strangely, snarks are also particularly attracted to the taste of soap.