Cyhyraeth

Family: Daemons

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 187 (25d8+75)
Speed fly 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
7 (–2)	27 (+8)	16 (+3)	13 (+1)	16 (+3)	27 (+8)

Saves Cha +13, Dex +13
Skills Intimidation +13, Perception +8, Stealth +13
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Common
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Rejuvenation. When a cyhyraeth is destroyed, it reforms in 5 (2d4) days at its location of origin. To permanently destroy a cyhyraeth, a hallow spell must be cast at its location of origin and no deaths can occur in the area of the spell while it is being cast.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The cyhyraeth makes two cursed staff attacks.
• Cursed Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, 5 ft. reach, one target. Hit: 14 (1d12 + 8) bludgeoning damage and 16 (3d10) necrotic damage. A creature damaged in this way must succeed a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or imagine that the cyhyraeth is covered in mist, obscuring their view of it. The creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against the cyhyraeth and the cyraeth has advantage on attack rolls against the creature until the end of the affected creature’s next turn.

  Curse of Accidents (1/Day). The cyhyraeth can curse a location up to 100 feet in radius. For 24 hours, any creatures that roll a 1 on an attack roll or ability check takes 5d6 points of damage from some accident that happens. The GM should decide the type of damage dealt.

REACTIONS

• Corpselight Attraction (1/Day). When the cyhyraeth kills a living creature, it can summon a will-o’wisp from the corpse.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The cyhyraeth 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 cyhyraeth regains spent Legendary Actions at the star t of its turn.

• Cursed Staff. The cyhyraeth makes a cursed staff attack.
• Heart Grip. The cyhyraeth chooses one creature it can see and forces it to make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, the creature is stunned until the end of its next turn.
• Moan of Demise (Costs 2 Actions). The cyhyraeth utters a horrible moan of agony which causes all creatures within 100 feet to attempt a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, a creature is frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can attempt a new saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end this effect.

ABOUT

A cyhyraeth is a spirit that arises after a tragic death has claimed its life along with others. Its hazy and indistinct appearance results from the many different echoes of those who died along with the spirit. While a cyhyraeth is intrinsically tied to the site of the tragedy, it is not limited to that site and travels to various locations, acting as a harbinger of death wherever it travels. It is attracted to imminent mass deaths, like those caused by a massive battle or an accident involving many casualties, or the imminent demise of powerful or important figures. The spirit keeps its ears open for rumors of upcoming conflicts or persistent problems at a site to determine the whereabouts of its next haunting. It also listens for news on traveling personages of interest.

Symbol of Death. Macabrely complementing its role as a harbinger of death, a cyhyraeth has a suite of preternatural capabilities allowing it hasten death wherever it appears. At important and troubled locales, it spends considerable time determining how events will transpire to trigger multiple deaths. While it does this, it imbues the location with a curse, such that any trivial accident compounds itself. A cyhyraeth prefers seagoing vessels as its primary targets, where a simple mistake by a ship’s captain or during an innocuous task performed by the crew results in the ship foundering with all hands on board. Other targets for its curse are tenement buildings on the verge of collapse or areas beset by regular fires or by a virulent disease.

Destroying a cyhyraeth is difficult, since it rarely sticks around to allow its victims to complete the deed, and is half of the solution to eliminating it. Finding its location of origin, sanctifying the spot where it died, and ensuring no deaths occur on the site is the only way to truly rid the world of a cyhyraeth.

Mortal Moaning. On a more personal level, a cyhyraeth lets loose with a moan not unlike that uttered by a person on the verge of death. Hearing the moan hastens the listener’s death by causing it to become more susceptible to physical harm.

Hearing the moan a total of three times causes the listener to drop dead. While the cyhyraeth typically has a target chosen as the recipient of its inexorable death-bringing, its moan doesn’t discriminate and affects all creatures within listening distance. The spirit desires to remain until it kills its intended target but is satisfied if it weakens its target and must flee because of stiff resistance.