Diatomaceous. The arborleth can breathe air and earth.
Sickly Cloud. While above ground, the arborleth is surrounded by vile poisonous fog. A creature that touches the arborleth or that hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is diseased for 1d4 hours. The diseased creature is poisoned.
Probing Telepathy. If a creature communicates telepathically with the arborleth, the arborleth learns the creature's greatest desires if the arborleth can see the creature.
Multiattack. The arborleth makes three branch attacks.
Branches. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. The disease has no effect for 1 minute and can be removed by any magic that cures disease. After 1 minute, the diseased creature's skin becomes dark and stiff, the creature can't regain hit points unless it is partially buried in earth, and the disease can be removed only by heal or another disease-curing spell of 6th level or higher. When the creature is not partially buried, it takes 6 (1d12) acid damage every 10 minutes unless dirt is applied to the skin before 10 minutes have passed.
Roots. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft. one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature it must make a DC 14 Strength save or become grappled.
Mentally Entangle (3/Day). The arborleth targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed by the arborleth until the arborleth dies or until it is on a different plane of existence from the target. The charmed target is under the arborleth's control and can't take reactions, and the arborleth and the target can communicate telepathically with each other over any distance.
Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw. On a success, the effect ends. No more than once every 24 hours, the target can also repeat the saving throw when it is at least 1 mile away from the arborleth.
The arborleth can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The arborleth regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The arborleth makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Root Swipe. The arborleth makes one root attack.
Psychic Drain (Costs 2 Actions). One creature charmed by the arborleth takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage, and the arborleth regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes.
Description
The Arborleth is a sort of cousin to the Aboleth, from a timeline where they evolved to live in the forests rather than the sea, as such it can blend in somewhat well within a forest but upon closer inspection the 'branches' sway a bit too much in the wind and the overall appearance is more disconcerting than any normal tree should be.
Lair and Lair Actions
Arborleths should not exist but managed to flee a collapsing timeline and conceal themselves in the wooded areas of the plane of Chaos. Over time some have used their devious intelligence to migrate to the material plane. An Arborleth spends most of its time planted in the wilderness occasionally drawing up its roots to interact with visitors or deranged worshipers.
Lair Actions
When fighting inside its lair, an arborleth can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the arborleth takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:
- The arborleth casts mind spike (no components required) on any number of creatures it can see within 60 feet of it. While maintaining concentration on this effect, the arborleth can’t take other lair actions. If a target succeeds on the saving throw or if the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the arborleth’s mind spike lair action for the next 24 hours, although such a creature can choose to be affected.
- Trees within 90 feet of the arborleth surge outward with grasping vines. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a tree must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the air and restrained. The arborleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
- The earth in the arborleth’s lair magically becomes a conduit for the creature’s rage. The arborleth can target any number of creatures it can see standing on the earth within 90 feet of it. A target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage. The arborleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
Regional Effects
The region containing an arborleth’s lair is warped by the creature’s presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Trees within 1 mile of the arborleth’s lair are unnaturally twisted, with branches and roots resembling tentacles that create patches of difficult terrain.
- Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the arborleth that drink such water vomit it within minutes.
- As an action, the arborleth can create an illusory image of itself within 1 mile of the lair. The copy can appear at any location the arborleth has seen before or in any location a creature charmed by the arborleth can currently see. Once created, the image lasts for as long as the arborleth maintains concentration, as if concentrating on a spell. Although the image is intangible, it looks, sounds, and can move like the arborleth. The arborleth can sense, speak, and use telepathy from the image’s position as if present at that position. If the image takes any damage, it disappears.
If the arborleth dies, the first two effects fade over the course of 3d10 days.
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