Skelzi

Family: Skelzi

Medium humanoid, chaotic evil

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	15 (+2)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)	10 (+0)	10 (+0)

Skills Stealth +4
Senses passive Perception 10
Languages Common, Unique
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Blood Whip. A skelzi’s vicious blood whip causes wounds that bleed profusely. A creature must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw every time it takes damage from a blood whip. If the saving throw fails, the wound bleeds freely and the creature takes 4 (1d4 + 2) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. Bleeding continues until it is ended with magical healing or if the affected creature or another creature adjacent to it binds the wound by spending an action and making a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check. Every bleeding wound causes additional damage and must be treated separately; a character that was struck three times by blood whips, for example, takes 3d4 + 6 damage at the start of its next turn if none of those wounds is treated before then. A blood whip behaves as a normal whip when wielded by anyone who is not a skelzi.
• Chameleonic Hide. If they shed their garments, skelzis can hide when they are lightly obscured, their Stealth bonus increases to +6, and they have advantage on Stealth checks and on initiative rolls.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. A skelzi makes one Claw attack and one Blood Whip attack.
• Blood Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage and the target must make a successful DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take continuing damage from bleeding (see Blood Whip above).
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) slashing damage.

ABOUT

Skelzis originate from beyond the Material Plane. They have humanoid bodies with leathery skin, but their human appearance is rendered alien by the long, sharp beak that protrudes from the birdlike skelzi face. Moreover, a skelzi’s hide is chameleonic and can change to blend with its surroundings. The creatures usually travel robed and masked so that they are less alarming to other races and to conceal their chameleonic power until the need for it arises. A typical skelzi stands six feet tall and weighs 160 pounds. A number of vampiric skelzis exist, having been transformed via ritual by Fuulagh (see the blood orchid entry) and through other means. About half of them are also spellcasters (see sidebar).

Skelzis are aggressively expansionistic, so countless colonies and more than a few empires exist across the infinite planes of existence. Great skelzi empires tend to be decadent, corrupt, torpid, and slow to respond to threats. When they do respond, it is likely to be with overwhelming force.