Incorporeal Swarm. The shade host can occupy another creature's space and vice versa; it can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. Each creature it moves through takes 11 (2d10) necrotic damage; no creature can take this damage more than once per turn. The shade host takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. The shade host can't gain temporary hit points.
Howling Hatred. The shade host emits a horrific howl while it can see any living creature and isn't incapacitated. Each creature that starts its turn within 20 feet of the shade host and can hear the howl must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is frightened until the end of its next turn. While frightened in this way, the creature rolls a d8 to determine what it does during its turn. On a 1 to 4, the creature drops whatever it is holding and must move at least 30 feet away from the shade host, if able. On a 5 or 6, the creature is stunned until the start of its next turn. On a 7 or 8, the creature is overwhelmed with despair until the start of its next turn. During this time, it can’t attack or target any creature with harmful abilities, spells, or other magical effects.
Negative Energy Aura. Creatures within 5 feet of the shade host can't regain hit points.
Shade Host Weaknesses. The shade host has the following flaws:
Repelled by Salt. The shade host can’t willingly pass a line of salt by nonmagical means.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity. The shade host takes 5 radiant damage when it starts its turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Multiattack. The shade host makes three melee attacks.
Annihilating Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (4d8 + 3) necrotic damage.
Create Specter. The shade host targets a humanoid within its space that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target's spirit rises as a specter that becomes part of the shade host, the shade host regains 22 (5d8) hit points. While the specter is part of the shade host, the dead humanoid it came from can’t be revived.
Description
Shade Host
Bond in Death. At times when war and disaster befall the realms, many peoples die in the same place within a short span of time. These tragedies sometimes create a bound between the unfortunate souls, birthing a shade host. These vengeful apparitions cluster together into hosts that drift towards their warm-blooded victims with terrible inevitability. Hordes of these ethereal shades swarm across cursed lands and the grim barrows of the Shadowfell. They are tireless, implacable, and numerous — most Shadowfell explorers can do little other than avoid them or, at best, block off their route with mystical wards long enough to find an escape from the plane. Witnessing the night sky darkened by these masses is a frightening sight, earing their mad wailing is much worse. The ceaseless moan of the host can quickly damage the sanity of a person. Survivors struggle to find sleep for weeks on end, earing the bloodcurdling wails whenever they close their eyes, some never recover and simply go insane.
Black Mist. The shade host as a collective resemble nothing so much as a vast, black swirling mists, through which protrude mournful, wailing faces and grasping hands, moving as one like a flock of sparrows. Their touch draws some of a victim's soul into the host, dragging them into a waking nightmare and ultimately raising them as a specter to join the host. Theories abound on what creates a host, whispers of mass suicides or necromancy rites involving the murders of dozens of innocents can be heard. The truth is that a shade host formation is mostly random and, thankfully, somewhat rare on the material plane without external meddling.
Optional: Wraith Rejunevation
Often, simply destroying the physical form of a wraith isn't enough to get rid of it permanently. Most wraith haunt a specific location and sending them to their final death will require some extra work. If destroyed, a wraith will regain all its hit points in 24 hours, unless prevented to in the following ways:
Shade. Reforms at the place of its haunting unless its remains are covered by at least a pound of salt and then burned.
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