Xornid

Family: Xorn

Small elemental (earth), neutral

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d6 + 24); Wound Threshold 12
Speed 25 ft., burrow 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	12 (+1)	18 (+4)	6 (-2)	12 (+1)	10 (+0)

Skills Perception +3, Stealth +3
Damage Resistances piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t adamantine
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 40 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Primordial
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Earth Glide. The xornid can burrow through nonmagical, unworked earth and stone. While doing so, the xornid doesn’t disturb the material it moves through.
• Stone Camouflage. The xornid has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in rocky terrain.
• Treasure Sense. The xornid can pinpoint, by scent, the location of precious metals and stones, such as coins and gems, within 30 feet of it.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The xornid makes two claw attacks and one bite attack.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) piercing damage.

ABOUT

The xorn is a strange creature of elemental origin whose unlikely body can bring to mind a plant: six root-legs and a central trunk with three eyes, topped by a mighty maw. It famously feeds off gems, crystals, and precious stones, and can move through earth almost as smoothly as a fish through water.

Using its extraordinary sense of smell, the xorn can spot the crystals and gemstones it has a big appetite for. Even if the stones have been extracted or set in items, it can still sniff them out. A xorn who has not eaten in a long time can behave aggressively, bringing its many limbs to bear against anything wanting to deprive it of its meal.

Though a xorn digests crystallized mineral matter, its waste can be of great value to miners, as this elemental excretes chemically pure lumps: gold, silver, copper, mithral, sulfur, arsenic…

All the components mixed in minerals are sorted and compacted during their transit through the xorn’s digestive tract. A true living ingot-casting machine! Such an anatomical peculiarity is a boon for miners, since it requires no fuel or chemicals. Provided one is willing to give up gemstones of any kind, one can get a lot out of a xorn. Thus, certain communities enslave xorns to exploit them. One must be careful, however, as the elemental can react violently when it panics or feels in danger.