Eater of Dust

Medium aberration, neutral evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 114 (12d8 + 60)
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 14 (+2) 20 (+5) 10 (+0) 15 (+2) 17 (+3)

Saving Throws Str +9, Con +9, Cha +7
Skills Athletics +9, Intimidate +7, Perception +6
Damage Resistances acid, cold
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Condition Immunities blindness, lightning, poison
Senses blindsight 60 ft, passive Perception 16
Languages understands Abyssal, Common, Infernal, Void Speech, but cannot speak; telepathy 100 ft.
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)

Special Traits

  • Innate Spellcasting. The eater of dust’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
  • Regeneration. The eater of dust regains 5 hit points at the start of its turn. If it takes fire damage, this trait does not function at the start of its next turn. The eater of dust dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and does not regenerate.
  • Unending Hunger. An eater of dust can devour any substance with its mawblade, regardless of composition, and never get full. It can even gain nourishment from eating dust or soil (hence the name given to the race by various fiends). If an eater of dust’s mawblade is ever stolen, lost, or destroyed, it slowly starves to death.
  • Weapon Bond. A mawblade is part of the eater of dust. It can strike any creature as if it were magically enchanted and made of silver, iron, or other materials required to overcome immunities or resistances. An eater of dust always knows the location of its mawblade as if using the locate creature spell.

Actions

  • Multiattack. The eater of dust makes two mawblade attacks, or makes one mawblade attack and casts inflict wounds.
  • Mawblade. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, one target. Hit: 19 (4d6 + 5) piercing damage, and the target must make a successful DC 17 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion.

About

This terrible creature resembles an imposing knight wearing baroque plate armor made of calcified resin. Its helm is a blank gray oval without eye slots or mouthpiece, and it carries a glistening greatsword with one or more slavering, fanged mouths.

Eaters of dust can consume just about anything with their horrible animate mawblades, including most gems and metals, but they prefer the flesh and souls of mortals to any other form of payment.

Mercenary Companies. Eaters of dust roam the lower planes selling their services to arch-devils, demon lords, and other fiendish rulers for the chance to sample new flavors and devour interesting morsels. Eaters of dust often operate in small but deadly military units led by a powerful leader.

Armor Shell. While many sages confuse eaters of dust for some obscure variety of fiend, they are aberrations escaped from a far-flung dimension of madness and nightmares. Indeed, their armor is not armor at all, but a secreted resin that hardens into a shell as strong as steel. When cracked, it exudes a nacreous blood, and the resulting scar resembles mother-of-pearl. Heavily scarred eaters of dust seem to have a huge number of such mother-of-pearl inlays, but these are all marks of wounds they have survived.

Destroy Magic. Eaters of dust take particular delight in destroying and devouring powerful magical weapons and armor, especially intelligent or holy weapons, and charge recklessly into battle against opponents wielding such delicious viands. They are have nothing but contempt for most other life forms, attacking and eating their allies at the first sign of weakness. A typical eater of dust is 7 feet tall and weighs more than 350 lb. While an eater of dust cannot speak, it can telepathically communicate with almost any creature.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Beasts. Copyright 2016, Open Design; Authors Chris Harris, Dan Dillon, Rodrigo Garcia Carmona, and Wolfgang Baur.