Sea Bonze

Gargantuan undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 280 (16d20+112)
Speed 40 ft., swim 80 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	28 (+9)	25 (+7)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	24 (+7)

Saving Throws Con +12, Int +10, Wis +9
Damage Resistances acid, fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities cold, lightning
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Skills Intimidation +19, Perception +10
Senses blindsight 120 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages Aquan, Common
Challenge 19 (22,000 XP)

Special Traits

• Innate Spellcasting. A sea bonze’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 21). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
• 3/day: antilife shell, control water
• 1/day each: control weather, storm of vengeance
• Untraceable. The sea bonze is immune to all spells and effects made to learn its location or gain information about it.

Actions

• Multiattack. The sea bonze makes two slam attacks.
• Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, 20 ft. reach, one target. Hit: 59 (10d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
• Dooming Gaze. A sea bonze can gaze at one creature within 120 feet and attempt to overwhelm its mind with fear. That creature must succeed a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed. A paralyzed creature can attempt another saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end this effect. Once a creature that was paralyzed breaks free from that condition, they must attempt another DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of the sea bonze. A frightened creature can attempt another saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end this effect. A creature that is immune to the frightened condition is immune to both effects of this ability.
• Draining Strike (3/Day). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, 20 ft. reach, one target. Hit: 117 (18d12) necrotic damage plus the target must succeed a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or gain 1 negative level.
• Elusive (1/Day). A sea bonze has long been the stuff of maritime legends, but despite countless attempts to hunt them, they are rarely encountered unless they wish it. While in water, the sea bonze can move up to 400 feet in a single movement without leaving any trace of its passing (while under the effects of a pass without trace spell). The sea bonze gains advantage to its Dexterity (Stealth) ability checks while making this movement.

About

Sea bonzes are formed from the combined despair and horror of death at sea, such as when a ship sinks and its entire crew drowns. No single restless soul empowers a sea bonze—it combines the anger and doom of all who die in such close proximity. Reawakened as mammoth ship-wreckers, these angry spirits have no memory of their past lives and seek to inflict the doom they suffered on others who ply the seas. Their hatred does not make them mindless, however, and more than one lucky crew member has talked her entire ship’s way out of total annihilation. Sea bonzes have an unusual respect for those with wit and guile and sometimes consider sparing those they deem worthy of their esteem. Those who try to defend themselves with brawn and weapons, however, receive no mercy from the enormous monsters.

Nothing but Death. A sea bonze’s body is black and leathery like that of a squid when seen up close, but an ever-present mist clings to it even in the water, causing it to appear at first glance to be made out of the black waters of the ocean itself, or a bank of shadow and fog rising up from the waves. The entire creature is featureless and smooth, making its empty visage and its two gleaming pinpricks of light for eyes all the more horrifying.